Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Downtown/Lake Union — Hotel in Seattle

If I were to depict my experience with a movie title, it would undoubtedly be "A Series of Unfortunate Events." I strongly advise seeking an alternative hotel.

Opting for the 'Arena' package with a 'lake view,' which included breakfast and parking, we had certain expectations. However, our encounter took an unfortunate turn. Our check-in was scheduled for 3 pm, but upon arrival, there were no available clean rooms. Consequently, we were compelled to wait for an hour before finally being granted access. The reason provided for this delay was a shortage of staff.

Once the check-in process was eventually completed, to our dismay, the room we were assigned did not offer the promised lake view. Expressing our discontent about the premium we had paid for this feature, we were met with a standard, bureaucratic reply: "This is the only available room based on availability." The phrase 'based on availability' was reiterated multiple times, as if to emphasize its significance. However, the management failed to acknowledge that we had paid extra for the specific lake view. We suggested a refund, but their response was, "We can comp you the parking" – despite the parking having been prepaid. Their stance remained, "This is all we have."

Dissatisfied, I insisted on speaking with the manager. After persistent negotiation, we were eventually transferred to a moderately acceptable room (not an upgrade) on the lowest floor, at least affording a view of the lake. The situation at breakfast was no better – lengthy queues and, once more, the familiar explanation: "short staffed." Our unfortunate saga continued when we discovered a bug on the arugula of the avocado toast served during breakfast. Disgusted, we brought this to the attention of the manager, who compensated us for that day's breakfast.

This experience stood in stark contrast to our previous stay at the Portland Marriott (which was excellent), making this particular encounter feel like a complete nightmare. Adding to the list of misfortunes, the hotel experienced a power outage during our stay, although it was resolved within an hour.

In this day and age, if anyone utters the phrase "short staffed" in the year 2023, it is advisable to flee from such an establishment. It showcases a readiness of the management to compromise on customer quality and safety rather than invest in appropriately skilled staff, likely deemed 'expensive.'

In conclusion, I regretfully cannot endorse or recommend this hotel to anyone based on my...

We stayed at the Courtyard Seattle Downtown/Lake Union on Saturday, Aug. 7, to Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, for a personal trip, selecting the hotel for its location, which is convenient to other sites but outside the downtown core. The Marriott website is full of words like "explore," "escape" and "retreat," but I wouldn't use any of those words to describe this experience. After three nights, our experience was just disappointing.

We used a big portion of our accumulated Marriott rewards points for this hotel. I understand that means we won't get the best room, but when the hotel was obviously not full, it would have been nice to have a view of something aside from construction cranes and a collection of tiny houses for temporary homeless housing, especially when the hotel apparently has wonderful views of the lake. Fortunately, at least that side of the hotel was quiet.

No housekeeping is provided during a stay of less than seven days, something that was not shared until just prior to arrival. The shower drain was so slow that it made the person showering stand in more than an inch of gray water and turn off the water mid-shower for fear of overflowing the basin. When we alerted the front desk to the issue, the staff picked up the radio immediately, but even if someone went to address the problem, it persisted for our stay. The bulk soap in the shower was not full when we arrived and then ran out on the final morning — we had to go down to get a bar of soap from the front desk to finish showering.

The room itself is designed to be comfortable, yet the conditions of the room we experienced made me want to spend as little time there as possible. The air-conditioning unit leaked condensation, making a large wet area on the carpeted floor nearby even as it blasted frigid air when set to 70 degrees. The lack of any housekeeping made the experience less restful and relaxing.

Individually, none of these issues would ruin a hotel stay, but cumulatively, they left a bad impression of this property. Even with current pandemic restrictions and challenges with staffing, all of them were avoidable: fix the drain, fill the soap, put loyal customers in the nicest room you have available. And if you're going to keep your rates the same but not have a basic service like housekeeping, at least make an effort to acknowledge the inconvenience and difference in experience by offering some other comfort like a couple bottles of water or daily voucher...

this hotel has lots of problems mostly with management and poor communication. We were booked in a 2 bedroom suite and they were overbooked. We got to the hotel at early am (like 9:30 am) and the room wasn't ready so we left our luggage and went and explored Seattle. We came back about 12:30 and the room wasn't ready yet so we sat around the hotel as they said they would try and get our room ready ASAP. At 2:00 pm they called and said room was ready so we hauled all our stuff down to front desk only to find out they said they didn't know who called us but our caller ID said it was their front desk. So we hauled all our stuff back up and sat by the kids room until 4:00 when I went down and asked to get into our room as it was now check in time. The manager named Jacob tried to call house keeping with no luck so a kind maintenance man went up and checked our room and said it was clean- and ready so they brought our things up to our room. Jacob apologized over and over for the poor communication ( the front desk gal told us not until 5:30 before we could get in) and he said that we could come down to the resteraunt/bar tonight and everything would be on them. We came down about 5 but there was no bartender a guy that worked there but wasn't a bar tenders showed up later but was limited on what he could make for cocktails. The cook in the back came out and waited on us and we had some appetizers and split a salad and had couple drinks. The manager said not to worry about anything that he went and talked to the bar tenders and kitchen staff that they would take care of the bill. When we checked out I asked the manager Michael if we had any charges on our account and he said No. everything was taken care of ( we spent over 1200 on 2 nights here) so we left. 2 weeks later on my credit card they charged us for the food and drinks so when I called them and said these were suppose to be comped they said someone would call us back but they didn't so I called and talked with Jacon who sent me to James who refused to honor what Jacob had promised. 4 adults heard the whole conversation about supper and drinks on them but James said too bad they were charging us anyway. Im disputing my credit card charges and going to report on social media what they did. This goes against integrity and honesty and I will never stay with them ever again!!!! Don't believe what they say as they aren't honest and I, a Bonvoy...