Courtyard by Marriott Shelton — Hotel in Shelton

*FOR ANYONE THINKING ABOUT BOOKING YOUR WEDDING ROOM BLOCK OR HOSTING YOUR WEDDING AFTER PARTY HERE, PLEASE READ THIS:

I want to start this review off positively. The hotel itself is beautiful, brand new, very clean, great location, etc. Check-in was easy and the front desk staff was very nice and helpful. The manager Anthony was very respectful and heard us out when we reported a disaster to him the next morning. The hotel provided refunds for all our guests who booked our wedding room block because we were supposed to have our wedding after party at this hotel… I want to note that this disappointing review is toward one staff member, the head chef, Dave Jensen. We had spoke to this employee (the head chef) named Dave Jensen the day before and he had assured us that the hotel would be ready for our after party, making all these reassuring promises to us. “Acting” very nice and professional. (Key word here is acting. Because it was all an act) Unfortunately Dave completely lied to us. He circulated a false story about our guests, (which the bar tender, Amber, told us afterward that everything he said was a lie and he created this story. Why? I don’t have the slightest clue. Maybe because he wanted to go to bed) he blamed his own bar tender saying she refused to serve anyone else (even though barely anyone got served to begin with) the bar tender told us a comment he had said about myself (the bride) and another female, which was completely disturbing and sexiest to hear, let alone find out that he said that about us… I wish we could have filed a report right then and there after hearing what he had said about us. We were completely disgusted by this employees behavior. The bar tender was extremely upset and apologized to us letting us know that she would have kept the bar open, however it was Dave who told her to shut it down …. (Dave lied to us saying his bar tender refused to serve anyone else and that’s why he ended the party after barely an hour …. Come to find out it was a total lie and it seems obvious Dave just wanted to go to bed and didn’t want to be bothered to run our WEDDING after party after promising so much to us the day before!) (keep in mind this started to happen at 10:45 pm.. guests had barely been there for a full hour at this point…) Meanwhile he didn’t even stay to explain himself, as he quickly disappeared upstairs. However, the bar tender, Amber, continued to stand behind a closed bar apologizing to us about how bad she felt saying she wished that they could have stayed open and this was a waste of time for everyone. I would like to thank Amber for still staying downstairs to calm us down, give us waters, and handle whatever she could to diffuse the situation of how upset we were. Unlike Dave who was supposed to be running our wedding after party but instead ran up to bed. How lazy…. This was beyond unprofessional & unbelievable for everyone…. And to say myself and everyone else were very upset by this employee Dave is an understatement. Although this hotel is beautiful, brand new, and the other staff members seemed to be delightful and professional, including the head manager Anthony who I whole heartedly respect for listening to us about this nightmare …. we would like to WARN anyone who may be considering having this hotel host your wedding after party. The disappointment and disturbing lies this employee (the head chef) Dave Jensen created was absolutely awful and it’s a shame because all other staff was very nice. JUST MAKE SURE HE DOES NOT TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR AFTER PARTY. We want to warn people and make sure this does not happen to anyone else on their wedding day, as your wedding day is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life. How disappointing, as this employee, the head chef, Dave Jensen should be ashamed of himself for causing this and saying sexiest comments toward women behind their backs. Disgusting. I would never in my life write such a strongly worded review like this if the situation wasn’t an absolute nightmare :( Wedding parties,...

STAY AWAY! Let me start off by saying the costumer service at this hotel is absolutely terrible. The first time I went there to look at the rooms the two people working behind the desk just talked to each other and did not knowledge me. So I left. My mom being a marriott member caused me to try again. Well , during the 10 months I was planning my wedding there were three different people in charge of my wedding. The person in charge each time left the marriott. I did not understand why there was such a big turn over in staff until now. That should have been a big enough red flag for me as it is. Well... I continue to book my wedding block there and now it is time for my guests to book their rooms. The people that were booking their rooms did not put them under my room block (causing a lot of issues) Anyways, two days before the wedding my mother had a bad feeling that something would go wrong so she went to the hotel to talk with the new manager in charge of my wedding room block. The first thing listed in my contract was Extended Bar hours. (Usually the bar at the hotel closes at 11. Well for my wedding they assured me they would keep the bar open for me.) So fast forward to the night of my wedding (It was the bestttttt day/night of my life until... i arrive on our bus with 50 guests from the wedding back to the hotel) We walked in ready for a last drink or two to continue celebrating. Now I cannot express in here how extremely rude the people where working. The bar manager told me the bar was closed and there was nothing she can do to reopen it. They were never informed by their manager to keep it open. (I found out two days later that they could have reopened the bar they just didn't want to.) They refused to open the bar. The woman in charge of my wedding block admitted that she dropped the ball and forget to tell them to keep the bar open. However, her team should have picked up the pieces and made it right and at that time reopened the bar and deal with the mistake in the morning. I was embarrassed as I invited all of my guests back to the hotel for a little after party. They completely ruined that. The guy working the front desk actually told my mom - "come back tomorrow night we will be open late for the wedding tomorrow." The bar manager (i wish i remember her name but she had blonde hair and was the rudest person i have ever met - to be honest i think she should be fired - it would be in the best interest of the hotel) Told me that i should be grateful because she put strawberries and champagne in my room. (This was also in my contract. She did not accommodate me or show any sympathy. She did not apologize for the mistake. Ok- Point of my story is - do nottttttt book with the marriott in shelton for you wedding - even if your saving money because you are a member. Do not take the chance of them ruining your one special night like they ruined mine. Ill never...

Zachary Walzer,

Thank you for your response.

I just wanted to clarify for the readers so they are not mislead. As I stated in my review I made an error and purchased the same night twice. If I go out to a restaurant and pay for my dinner twice by accident, is it right for the restaurant to say, sorry but the mistake was yours. As an organizational psychologist I see this as a growing trend amongst corporations, the ommission of doing what is right, taking corporate responsibility. In your words the error was corrected, well if by being corrected I paid for the night in error twice, then paid for the additional night, I guess it was corrected, at a deficit to me. As I stated earlier I will not be a patron of this establishment in the future. Not only was the organization unwilling to be accommodative, there was also the propensity to be deceptive as to what the final outcome to the readers of this review. The review was meant as feedback for the organization to try to do better in the future.

In the lyrical words of the poetic Lauryn Hill,

"You might win some, but you just lost one."

Response from the owner a week ago Dear Eric Hun,

Thank you for your review of our hotel. I am sorry to hear that your mistake of booking the wrong night to stay impacted your stay, and that you did not find our front desk staff to be helpful. Reviewing notes from the remainder of your stay, I see that the matter was sorted, and the reservation was cancelled with no penalty. However, should you require any other assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the hotel directly and speak to me.

Truly yours,

Zachary Walzer

Operations Manager

Courtyard Shelton Well, this was the first time I stayed at a Courtyard in a while, I typically stay at other chains, now I know why. I stayed at the Courtyard for 2 nights, then wanted to extend for an additional night. I used a third party (Expedia) to book and pay for the room. However I chose the day I had already paid at the property. Once I made the error, I recognized it, went to the front desk and informed them. I was told I needed to call Expedia since I paid already for the stay. I contacted Expedia, and they were extremely helpful. However Expedia stated Courtyard was unwilling to waive the penalty, so I would need to pay again for the additional night stay. I guess doing what is right for the customer no longer applies in today's hospitality industry. Needless to say, I will be staying at a different location not part of the Courtyard chain, and I will never stay in a Courtyard hotel again. In addition, I will share my experience as often...