Residence Inn by Marriott Seattle Downtown/Lake Union — Hotel in Seattle

My family stayed at the Residence Inn on Lake Union this past Veterans' Day Weekend. We were displaced from our home in Olympia due to a small kitchen fire (completely my fault...whoops!) and after a chaotic, roller coaster two weeks, our stay here was a breathe of fresh air (literally!) and relieved a ton of stress and pressure off our shoulders. I called the night before we arrived to confirm a couple things and Kim was incredibly helpful. She checked us in the next day and remembered me and was very welcoming.

The hotel is in incredibly good shape, very clean and well kept. I love the open atrium and unique design of the hallways. Not many hotels have this design and I really like it. It was a busy weekend with lots of travelers coming and going and we never had any noise disruptions and truly didn't hear any other guests once in our room.

We had a 2BR Suite that was the perfect amount of room for my husband and I, our 4 and 6-year old, and our dog. We're so thankful that they are pet friendly because it would have been heartbreaking to leave our sweet puppster behind. The view from the balcony was also absolutely beautiful. We all enjoyed watching the Sea Planes take off and land.

We absolutely loved the kids' activity center and I think we've added a Foosball Table to our Christmas List this year! The indoor pool was warm and very clean...I think my kids spent a good 15 hours total in it!

Breakfast was jaw-dropping...we knew breakfast was included but we had NO IDEA what we were in for. Multiple varieties of eggs, breakfast meats, pastries galore, homemade waffles, fruits, oatmeal with endless toppings...and it goes on and on and on. We fueled up each morning and stayed full for hours! Only small negative thing I could say about our entire experience didn't even affect us...we were down for breakfast by 8am every morning. We never had this problem, but I noticed on Sat & Sun guests coming down for breakfast around 9am had to wait in quite a long line as they waited for clean plates and bowls to come out from the kitchen. This is an easy fix with adding a couple dozen more plates to the next kitchen order. ;)

We really loved having the kitchen in our room. We brought food from home that we didn't want to spoil and had a nice home cooked meal each night. We were also able to make lunches to take out with us on our days of exploring. The room had plenty of utensils, cooking tools and other necessities that made us all feel more relaxed and not like we were having to stay in a hotel because of damage at our home.

Other amenities we liked and feel worth noting...Netflix and YouTube available on all TVs (with our logins, of course), the Gold Elite Member WiFi was great and we never had any issues, the $5 Food/Beverage credit for not having our room cleaned daily - very helpful when it came to consolation beers downstairs after the Seahawks loss, the super short walk from the parking garage to the lobby, and the friendliness of the staff members.

This is a well run hotel and our experience here will certainly have us checking out other Residence Inns first...

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 Jacob 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, am Bonvoy member too. This is why there is poor management at this location. 4 adults heard manager Tell us supper with food and drinks was on them for the poor communication and lack of professionalism on their part. Don't trust anything they tell you. If they say the room is ready...it isnt!!!!! Marriott should take another look on how poor this location is run. If you ask for shampoo and clean towels like we did you don't get this either. They are trying to cover up the fact they lied and billed us...

I'm going to start by saying I did not stay at this location, but I will provide why I am giving a one-star review to this property.

I made an initial reservation in February 2022 followed with an adjustment in July 2022. The finalized dates were 10/12-10/16.

As we got to the airport on 10/12, I went to check into the hotel via the app and no reservation existed. I even had a cancellation number. I called the front desk who confirmed the cancellation and said they were even in an oversell situation for the night. They sent my call to the global reservation desk who confirmed the lack of availability at this location.

I called back the front desk to tell them how dissatisfied I was and how I could not trust a Marriott (would you?). We had two flights this day, and after the first flight, I got a voicemail from the Residence Inn telling me they had the room, and actually the cancellation was a glitch in their system. I was actually supposed to get an upgrade!! I told them I could not take the reservation, we had just taken the lowest possible rate at another hotel that included a pre-pay. We were still out nearly $400 compared to our original reservation.

I wrote an email to the staff and to Bonvoy that it was scary for the few minutes I didn't have a reservation. We were going to a city that we have never been to late at night, so we wanted to have a clear goal to get to upon arrival. I told them that due to the last minute cancellation and the extra incurred price, I would expect 50,000 points. They said that since they ultimately offered me a reservation, they don't see what they did wrong, and offered me 5,000. I told them I did NOT accept that and decided to enjoy the rest of my vacation, putting this out of my mind.

The vacation is over now, so I was able to spend some time addressing what had happened. The hotel went ahead and added 5,000 points to my account even though I clearly stated I did not accept that. The Bonvoy customer service I spoke with said because the hotel added the 5,000 points, they couldn't do anything.

The bottom line is no I did not stay here, so my one star review is not based on my experience.

But, the front desk and reservations staff dropped the ball. After all of that to claim they "offered me the reservation" is true only in the most simplified sense of the word. They offered after it was too late.

I am a platinum member closing in on 400 nights in my lifetime. I do not have the trust in the system to make a reservation in a desirable city. Yes, I will be forced to stay at a Marriott property in the future, but my employer will pay for that and any unintended cost due to any future...