Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Atlanta Buford/Mall of Georgia — Hotel in Sugar Hill

I stayed at the Fairfield from 4/9-4/13. My little ones (ages 2 & 3) were staying in a ground floor room. At 8:30 on 4/12 the fire alarm sounded. I quickly got my sleeping little ones up and went to the door. The first floor hallway was filling with smoke. Several individuals were opening their doors to see what was going on. Two doors down from our room was the elevator electrical room which smoke was coming out. The front desk manager kept opening the door to the electrical room and had the assistance of another guest who were guessing and trouble shooting what was going on. The alarm company called to see if they needed to send fire which she declined (I can verify because I myself called the fire department to see why they were not coming to address the smoke and alarms and was told that the manager declined there services saying there was no fire). After opening the electrical room door several times the smoke continued to billow out and the alarms sounded again. We evacuated our room and went to the lobby to make sure all was well. The manager put in a call to their emergency maintenance number and they troubleshooted over the phone that it was just an elevator motor that burned/shorted out. Several individuals were concerned with her lack of concern. Upon asking the manager what was going on she said she unplugged the elevator and everything was fine. Meanwhile the hall was filled with smoke. I asked her if our room could be moved because not knowing if any other wires were possibly shorted out she informed me she could move me to the third floor (no thanks since there was now only one working elevator). She could have cared less that people were a bit concerned. She then went up and down the hallway of the first floor spraying air freshener to mask the smoke smell. I take issue with her lack of concern for other guests. She turned the alarm off twice while smoke was coming out from the electrical room, thank goodness there wasn't an electrical fire but had there been no one would have had the chance to evacuate since she turned off the alarm. Where there is smoke there can be fire and I would have rather she let fire deem the electrical room and wires safe instead of her. Totally disheartening and I am glad there wasn't a major problem, but if there was the front desk manager is not equipped for being responsible for the well being/safety...

Finally a hotel during covid that gets it right. I’ve been traveling the past several months dealing with the Covid issues of being short staffed, inability to service rooms etc. and have been so disappointed in the excuses of not offering great customer service in the name of Covid at major hotel chains. Not here! The staff and management at this hotel have clearly figured out how to keep the “Fairfield” experience while still keeping their safety protocols in place. Upon check in they let you know they are not servicing rooms but feel free to come down or call down for towels or trash service. Coffee is available in the lobby area 24/7. Hot Breakfast is still served daily.

The room upon checking in was spotless clean and there are several individually wrapped wipes for you to wipe down whatever you wish (I come armed with my own Lysol and wipes).

Each day I was able to leave my towels and trash outside my door and picked up fresh towels at the front desk after breakfast.

The hot breakfast is not a buffet but individually wrapped sandwiches that a staff member serves you along with options of cereal, banana, yogurt or an individually wrapped bagel you can toast on your own. (I can’t tell you how many hotels are phoning it in saying they cannot provide hot breakfast and just provide a wrapped muffin and granola bar).

There wasn’t a time I needed something that the front desk clerk said no. I needed a spoon one night for a dessert I brought back - she found me one. I got up at 5:30 am one morning and came down for coffee and was told to wait while a new pot got brewed. I came downstairs for a new box of tissues and they couldn’t find them right away - they were delivered to my room within 10 minutes.

Each day and evening was greeted with good morning and good evening at the front desk and breakfast area.

Really appreciated...

Our stay was okay but I will likely not book here again. The staff was very friendly and the hotel was generally clean. ||Hotel is in need of general maintenance and more detailed cleaning. For example, the covers in the chairs in the breakfast area are all peeling off (see photo). Many things in the room were broken/in the process of breaking and/or poorly repaired (see photo of ceiling). There was black discoloration on the caulking in the shower and drips/stains on the bathroom door. When I got the hair dryer out of its little bag, it was covered in something sticky and had someone else’s hair stuck to it (see photo). We could here everything happening in the hallway, probably because of the way the door was installed - you could see light coming in all around it (see picture). The room fridge kept dripping water from the freezer on everything. Pool area was okay but the tiles could use a good scrub and the ceiling needs repaired. ||Breakfast was the most concerning and disappointing thing for me. The young man tending to breakfast was not wearing hotel ID and was dressed very casually. He would go from emptying trash to refilling food without washing his hands or wearing gloves. One of the waffle makers was broken but there was nothing there to indicate this, so people kept using it and getting terrible results. On our last day, my son filled a cup with waffle mix and half of it was a yellow watery substance. We didn’t use it. Both my kids wanted cereal but I wouldn’t let them use the milk because the fridge with the yogurt and milk was set at 61F and products were warm. It did appear they attempted to adjust it on our last morning there but it was still 60F. ||In summary, not the worst stay but some changes are needed and we will look for another hotel next time we come to...