Courtyard by Marriott Marina del Rey — Hotel in Santa Monica

I don't like to complain about specific person since anyone can have a bad day, my complain could be more about policy or training. We left our home on Wed, stayed in one Marriot Courtyard and one in another hotel before getting to Marina Del Rey on Friday. We got there before 11pm. The first person I met was at front desk, did not sense welcome feeling at all. That sense got stronger when I asked if the room is facing water. It's our first stay (most likely the last), I had no knowledge of hotel structure configuration to know how many rooms facing water. The feeling I got was that, I had chosen long stay which has a lower rate and is ridiculous to ask for better room (although the email confirmation I got from Marriot, mentioned I have all the rights to ask for upgrade).

She seemed to be thinking and hesitantly gave bunch of coupons for drinks, we're in town for business and don't have time to use them but just took them since it seemed was something she was so reluctant to do (never used them and returnedthem at the time of check out. We also got a room facing bare piece of land with construction on the street which involved jackhammer from 8am.

In 2023 we stayed 37 days in hotels which 31 days were in Marriot family hotels (we paid for 26 and were invited (and were paid by our host) to Orange County for 5 days last January which we asked for Marriot chain, they booked Renaissance Newport beach under my wife's name. That's 37 days more than 99% of people stay on average in any hotel.

I don't ask for special treatment but definitely ask to be respected and if someone take a step for me, I go a mile for that person. Anyone can read my google reviews for Marriot in Istanbul or Sheraton Guanzhou. We were so impressed with their service that for Istanbul we went back two years in a row and they even top their service the last time. The funny part is that on most of times there were language barrier involved on those locations out of North America but it didn't diminish the services and here can't blame it at language since there wasn't such an issue here.

Regardless, hotel is clean, room is clean, love the bathroom cleanness, rest of staff been very polite and friendly specially the valet guys are the nicest, the lady who was working at valet desk the night we arrived was so kind and helpful.

On Tuesday before our last day, I went to front desk to ask for change (to tip house keepers and valet guys). Same lady was working, she took my money and when she counted the amount she was giving it back to me, raised her hand 5-6 inches above the counter and dropped the money from there. Up to that moment I thought she might've had a bad or long day when we arrived but this was on Tuesday 12:55 pm on April 16th (if anyone is interested can go check the security camera). Didn't want to confront her, went outside for my vehicle and asked valet guy about hotel manger which he said that it was Mr.Mark but he had just left.

The day we checked out, same lady was working as well as another person. I went to the other lady, told her that we were checking out and mentioned the issues we had with other lady, she was nice, listened and apologized. I mentioned that after all our check out I receive email from Marriot hotel that we stay to comment about our stay and I will write about our experience, also told her that everyone else was good, specially the valet service.

All said, I still plan to use Marriot but was so upset that didn't stay longer in LA, instead went to Vegas Vdara which was A1 in their service and definitely will...

We booked 4 rooms at this hotel in June 2023 for a family graduation. I looked into re-booking this hotel for another weekend and was actually kind of shocked by the reviews because our entire family of 16 people (incl young children) all had a pleasant stay. Thus, this review to clear up some of the things I am seeing stand out.

Firstly, we had a very pleasant experience with the valet. We had 4 cars, left multiple times over the course of 2 nights, forgot things in the car and had to run back out and use valet to retrieve them... and I can't stress this enough, we had no issues with the valet! $50 a night may be expensive to some, but this is LA, and this is normal. I SUSPECT that some people have to brace LA traffic during rush hour and arrive over it, thus the misplaced irritation at the valet.

Secondly, the resort fee WAS slightly confusing but the staff was completely understanding and answered all our questions. It's always inconvenient to have to account for something afterwards in order to 'get your moneys worth', but it is what it is. I am uploading a photo of this fee breakdown and I would suggest calling beforehand to understand how to use it.

The rooms: We did experience some differences in quality among our rooms spread out on different floors. There were some that were standouts and others that could have been better but all in all, they were comparable. One I remember had a bathroom vanity that had been badly water damaged which was surprising for a new hotel. They were clean and odorless.

The ambiance DID have a bit of a party atmosphere after 5 pm. I was told by my friend who lives in MDR that it is a bit of a 'spot' bar wise at the moment. Once the kids were asleep, my husband went down to get us a few drinks and reported back that it took a while because it was packed and he hadn't had to fight this way up to the front of a bar line in a while (lol). There was also a rooftop event that was a bit noisy for our room but it wrapped and we slept comfortably with two young children. Hotels make their money on such events, if you're traveling with children bring a sound machine.

The downstairs bar/restaurant had good food and drinks, much better than your typical hotel fare. The outdoor patio was stunning, a lovely place to have lunch...but we didn't have great experiences with the waitstaff. Again, this wasn't like shockingly bad, we just weren't blown away. Post pandemic, restaurants have been struggling to keep staff on board and it shows everywhere, including hotels. Unless you are in a fine dining experience or at a 5-star hotel, I feel it is unrealistic to expect the world of the staff esp when you have

All in all, this hotel has an excellent location, good walkability, and tasty food in the...

We were fine with this hotel, but lots of dogs. Our air conditioner would kick off throughout the night, even with the master key in. We ended up sleeping with balcony door open, but lots of noise outside. But the reason we will never stay here again is the condescending, rude valet men. Who do they think they are? Very condescending, very rude, always yelling that they are too busy to help. They ignore you. And mouth off at you if you question anything, if you disagree with anything. So if you keep quiet and don't disagree, you will be fine. But they are liars, and they know it, to CYA. Very rude. We travel hundreds of trips each year and we have always loved valet service, but not here. I told my husband about this experience, and he is very upset. I cried every time I had to deal with them. I had a wheelchair in my trunk and had to stand and wait for over 1/2 hour to get the car. Then when I asked if we could self-park because I am handicapped, one of them said, "well you didn't ask." What? Why didn't he just tell me upfront because he could see my handicap placard. Then when we came back one evening, another person said we were not allowed to self park, and when I tried to explain that another guy told us we could, he said if we did, he would tow us. What? That kind of threat to me? And he was lying and being really rude. I got out and talked to a gal at the front desk, but she said the valet service was an independent company. But Marriott, the buck stops with you. The valet service at this hotel RUINED OUR VACATION. We hated driving up and then trying to get our car. We cringed knowing we would have to deal with them. Very very very rude. One kid would not even give me his name, and rambled when the gal at the desk ask him where the manager was; she tried. But he was very rude. I can't imagine how they get away with this. We are the customer, not them. Did their parents teach them this? To disrespect the elderly who are disabled? It is unbelievable they can get away with this. To treat someone like this. Never this hotel again. And we have always loved valet. But never again this hotel, which is sad, because we come to California many, many times a year for business and leisure. But never again, I cried each time I had to deal with them. And they are lying about how it transpired. I have no incentive here to lie at all. I am being truthful, and this ruined our vacation. Shame on them and shame on their parents for not teaching them how to respect and...