Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta Vinings/Galleria — Hotel in Vinings

I had the absolute worst hotel experience of my life last week at this hotel. I have stayed at many hotels and if you can't read the entirety of this review, just understand that I have never written anything like this. But I have also never had such a horrible experience at a business. I am a wife and mother, and if you can stay anywhere else in Atlanta, DON'T BOOK HERE!

DETAILS:

We decided to take our two small boys to a Braves game this summer from out of state. I'm a Marriott Bonvoy member, so I booked the room in April through the Marriott website for a June date.

We drove down to Atlanta the day of the game and as we were driving, I received a welcome email from the hotel that prompted me to check-in thru my Marriott app. It was early afternoon and in the app, I was given the option to indicate our late check-in because it would be after the game. I received confirmation and was even told an electronic key would be sent to my phone when my room was ready, so that I could avoid the front desk.

Flash forward to after the game. We arrived at the hotel exhausted with our two little boys around 10:45pm to check-in. I noticed that the electronic key had never loaded in the app. When entering the hotel, I was impressed by the lobby but that is where my amazement ended. The man at the front desk wasn't friendly and what should have been the smoothest check-in of my life, quickly turned into a nightmare. The man stared blankly at the computer screen when I told him my reservation name before he excused himself to go get help. Then another man walked over, looked at the screen and said "Yah we don't have a room for them." The other man turned to me and said "We are over-booked." I quickly explained I had already checked in on the app so there must be a mistake. He then told me they did have one other room but those guests hadn't arrived yet. That made NO sense -- but he said he would call and verify that they were coming. (Not sure why I was never called me to verify I was coming before they gave my room away?!) They called and the family said they were on their way. I asked if we could take another room and maybe all sleep in one bed or use cots. They said that wasn't possible. As this conversation is happening a line begins to form at the desk. Many families are checking in after the Braves game. The man half-heartedly explained they could try to get us a room at another hotel free of charge but it would take "a while" and there's no guarantee of the star rating or if anyone would have availability. I found out later, there was an NBA playoff game AND a Braves game in Atlanta that same night so there was no hotel availability anywhere within 60 miles of downtown. Meanwhile, my children and husband are exhausted and waiting for me to sort this out at the front desk. I nearly begged the man. I told him we were from out of town and I had exhausted children. He never apologized. At one point he said "I'm new so I don't really know what's going on."

As I am making phone calls to other hotels, 3 other families check-in, and a man enters the lobby screaming at the top of his lungs and flailing his arms in anger on his cell phone. He paced around the lobby and then continued into the hotel. It was obvious he was under the influence of something. It felt very dangerous, and I immediately told my husband to take our kids to the car while I continued to call hotels. Within a few minutes, the POLICE showed up. I cannot make this up. They stopped at a car parked in the parking lot and then proceeded into the lobby to speak with the front desk. After we had been there an hour, my husband finally said, we are better off driving and finding a hotel. So he went inside and told the front desk we were leaving and asked for the general managers number.

It was a literal nightmare. The worst part is, I never book a hotel until I read all the reviews. I am very meticulous and when I booked this room months ago, I literally could have booked at ANY hotel in Atlanta. So PLEASE learn from my mistake and BOOK...

The room we stayed in the 1st night had some issues. 1. The air conditioner was very noisy and kept me up at night. 2. The shower curtain was too short and a puddle would form on the floor. 3. The knob in the shower needed to be tightened; it would move all the way to the left and forced me to take a hot shower. 4. The power outlet did not work and therefore we were not able to have coffee in our room. Our only other option was to pay for one in the lobby. 5. There were stains on the carpet throughout the room and outside the door that seemed recent. My guess is that it was vomit. 6. The extra toilet paper roll seemed to have been dropped in water at some point. I refused to use that. 7. The phone did not work. Actually, there was not even a cord to plug into the wall. It was a decoration. We let the front desk know and they immediately switched our room. It was the right thing to do but it is a huge inconvenience to have to do this, as we are the type to unpack everything. When we switched rooms, it did not seem like it was not cleaned well and during the Covid pandemic, that is concerning. 1. There was a used towel hanging on the back of the door in the bathroom. 2. One of the beds had several hairs on the sheets. 3. The other bed had black "crumb" like things on the sheets. 4. The air conditioner would suddenly start releasing warm air. 5. The ottoman and carpet had splatter of what seemed to be makeup. 6. There was a dirty sock that was not ours in the room. We were there 3 nights and my total was over $400. I expressed all of this to the young man at the counter upon checkout and he apologized. I asked to speak to a manager and he brushed it off by saying 'your concerns will be addressed' and said extra points will be placed in my account. As of today, (5/24/21) no extra points were added. However, I think the right thing to do was to refund some/all of our money.
The hotel is set up and decorated nicely. There are pleasant smells upon entering the hotel and also in the rooms. The lobby was great as it had booths with personal televisions in each (perfect during this time in our history). I love that there was a refrigerator and microwave in the room. They even included wine glasses, which was a nice touch. The TV had fantastic app options. The Paul Mitchell products in the shower was great. Pillows were great, sheets were of great quality and mattress was very comfortable. The outdoor areas were very nice with a...

First off- we booked a room here and because it was for our anniversary they upgraded us for free which was nice. The room was big, view was great. Comfortable and mostly clean room. (The shower was weird though)

Then we get to the bad parts. We asked if we could check in early if possible- we were told they were still cleaning so we’d have to wait. That’s fine, I understand. So we just went to a tea shop for a bit and waited. We got to the hotel just before check in and the rooms were still not ready. The lady at the counter was not friendly at all. It felt like we were burdening her and interrupting her day. She was very aloof and rude to be honest. Unprofessional. (I’m sorry I forgot to take names, I should have) Thankfully the guy there was friendly. He treated us much better and did his best to get our room settled, and told us happy anniversary.

Next issue though was we arrived at check in time and the room was not done. They asked us to wait. It took them 30 minutes to finally get the room done. We had somewhere to go and this delayed us. We wanted to check in early so we would have extra time, instead we left late. Not professional at all.

Then when we finally got our room and we were getting ready they walked in when my wife was changing. Absolutely unacceptable.

They did not give us any details about parking, they didn’t tell us about breakfast. We asked for a toothbrush, because we forgot to bring some and they told us we had to pay. Most places give you these things. They wanted $4. Again, another lady at the desk that was very rude and inattentive.

We did not know the details about breakfast, so we missed it. It was not shown clearly online. They were rude when we asked about it and said “it’s over, you missed it.” Very un accommodating I would have offered a muffin or something.

Also the website says they offer Starbucks coffee like they make drinks. It’s just a coffee pot in the lobby with poorly made coffee.

We wanted to go swimming but the pool was taken up by 3 people. It isn’t very big but they basically made it their own. A guy at the pool has beer cans lined up around the pool. We decided to wait a bit, but then we were told the pool would be closed for awhile. Also something I feel like you should be informed about when checking into a hotel.

We are Hilton members and I really wanted to like the hotel because the location and accommodations were nice but we’d never return....