Courtyard by Marriott Cranbury South Brunswick — Hotel in South Brunswick

The general manager (who comped us a breakfast after the people in the room next door had been partying all night) and the restaurant staff seem to be the only people there who know what they are doing.

Fire alarm went off on Thursday evening; guy at the front desk was walking around laughing and filming with his phone instead of directing guests to proper staging area or even checking if everyone was safe. Fire brigade arrived after about 10 minutes and then left without any staff making an effort to inform guests it was safe to come back in. Other person behind front desk seemed supremely disinterested and only gave an explanation after being asked. Apparently a malfunction was the reason, as it happened again 10 minutes after and in some rooms they were apparently unable to shut it off only after an hour. No apologies whatsoever were offered, only a half-hearted offer to move us to another room, which makes absolutely zero difference if the alarm goes off in the entire hotel. Note that we were traveling with a 2-year-old as well, who we had to take out of bed and rush out with several times. Again, zero apologies offered for the inconvenience. Alarm went off twice more the next day, apparently due to a test which was not announced beforehand.

General lack of service: no responses to several messages we sent through Booking.com app before arriving to ask for a baby bed. Luckily they did have one, but had to take it up to the room myself, and saw several other people walking around with hotel luggage carts, which would suggest severe staffing shortage.

Food options in the restaurant were either not available or not prepared as advertised (vegetarian burger was not available, grain bowl was not prepared as listed on the menu), though I suspect this is more due to issues with supplies than with staff.

Bathroom had black mold on the ceiling, housekeeping seemed very understaffed, did not always empty trash cans and never removed dirty glasses we took up from the bar on the first night. Water leaking from the ceiling in the restaurant and lobby areas.

Poolside was full of discarded cups, trash and clothing when I wanted to take my daughter for a swim one morning.

Dry-cleaning service is not available on the premises (I realize it is not explicitly stated that it is) but outsourced to a local dry-cleaners, which would take 3-4 days when we asked for it. To their credit, they did provide an alternative after we insisted that that was too long.

All in all most of the staff seemed either utterly disinterested in their jobs or in dire need of...

Used the app. Had a special instructions place with different items to make are stay more enjoyable. We asked for 1st floor, got the top floor, asked for 2 firm pillows, and of course extra Towles!! Checked in and he couldn't find any, "special instructions" and half the building was under renovation. Are 4th floor room was at the end of the hallway, 408. All the ice machines were not working so the long walk to the elevator, dogging the workers to get to the bar for ice. Stopped at the front desk and asked when a complimentary breakfast would start and found out that they changed it to a restaurant and now everything is paid for. $$$$ That news sucked! Asked for 5 towels, 3 face cloths. Got 3 towels 2 face cloths. I never counted them, because I figured it was very easy to accomplish but even the small things they weren't even taken care of. After getting back to the room and realizing that I was pretty much done with courtyard marriott, New Jersey!! I uploaded a picture of the room with what Looked like something from a Ikea that belonged in a student Dorm. To top it off, when we checked out, I asked the new host. If there was anything in the computer that specified special instructions upon our arrival. She found one specific thing about the first floor recommendation. And tride to make excuses for the day Host. Now, it being a month and a half later, i'm writing because of the problem that we discovered on the 1st of August 30 days after week. We had been at the hotel. An attempt of a withdrawal of $50.00 from the hotel off the same account and amount deposit we paid and received back after are stay July 1st thu 3rd. I was told by the staff general manager that I needed to contact my bank. It was not the courtyard's responsibility, but my bank was responsible. Does that make any sense to anyone? So if I come into your house and take a jar of helmen's mayonnaise and you ask me to return it, I will tell you to call the company and dispute it with them. Common sense? Anyone? No one from Marriott will return my phone call. I'm very disappointed, buyer, beware, get a hotel down the road. It'll be well worth it. We overpaid, for what we got. We got nothing but aggravation. Very...

I had been booked here blindly and had been hoping for a place that was more like a suite with a kitchen for a three-night stay, but ended up here, which is more like a business-traveler setup. Fortuitously, there was at least a refrigerator and microwave so it worked out ok. This property was clean, modern, and everything worked well, so no complaints there. Due to it being in the midst of the pandemic, they told me at check-in there were several modifications, including there being no room service unless explicitly requested each day, then asked if I wanted it the next day, to which I said no. However, when I went out the next day, I noted that the room was serviced after returning. This wasn't the end of the world but I had wished communication was clearer- I put up the DND sign for the rest of the stay. There also weren't many cars in the parking lot but it felt like all guests were concentrated near each other- I'd have preferred they spread people out during a pandemic. When I checked into my room, there wasn't a single DND sign on any door- except for the room right next to mine. The worst part of this stay was having a room facing the highway- the hotel is at the intersection of a stoplight right off the turnpike and there is a TON of trucker traffic- literally counted 20 in a minute one day and it's almost 24-7, so, throughout the night there were trucks stopping and starting up again and it was tough to sleep. I would highly recommended telling them you want an even-numbered room, as those all face the parking lot and presumably don't have this noise. Finally, it's a bit imposing to get a run in here due to being at the intersection of heavily-trafficked highways. However, if you run along the shoulder west (away from the turnpike) and turn right at the first light, the traffic thins out a lot and you can get a pretty decent run in; I was able to get an 8-miler in. Overall, decent place but get an even-numbered room to...