Residence Inn by Marriott Waco South — Hotel in Waco

After spending 11 nights traveling and staying at 4 older Marriott properties, we opted to stay the final night of our road trip at the Residence Inn South Waco. It appeared to be a newer property. After reading reviews, we thought it was a no-brainer, sound choice, especially since our concerns about staying at some of the older Residence Inns had been unfounded. What a mistake! ||This hotel looks nice, but it has serious housekeeping issues. Our first indicators were very minor….no shower gel in the shower, half roll of toilet paper (no extra roll), no caffeinated coffee. When we started really looking at the bathroom, though, we were disgusted. The shower has a lot of serratia marcescens bacteria growing in it! See attached photos. This pink bacteria is all over the base of the shower and in the drain. Every other Marriott hotel we stayed in had a strong bleach smell in the shower, and guess what, their showers were very clean! We saw no evidence of bacteria at these other, much older locations! ||We considered asking to be moved to a different room, but at check in (around 4 pm), the front desk employee led us to believe the hotel had limited availability for a room in a quiet area. We were placed in a 2nd floor studio room (226) after requesting a top floor room. ||The bathroom does not have an exhaust fan, and the door to the bathroom is hung to have it close automatically rather than stay open. This appears to be intentional, so we are thinking that all of the other rooms proven have bacterial growth as well, since bleach is not being used to clean. We chose to attempt to disinfect the entire room and bathroom using Lysol and hope for the best. ||A quick trip to check out the fitness center revealed the overpowering stench of unclean equipment. The towel hamper was completely full of stinky towels! The equipment all looked new but was visibly dirty with dried sweat.||This is truly a mixed review — the employees we encountered all seemed nice. The man who checked us in and brought us the missing items referenced above was pleasant. The man who checked us out was also kind, polite, and friendly. He wrote down the information I provided about the bacteria and said he would report it to housekeeping and the general manager. ||Breakfast was good. We liked the little quiches. Bacon, sausage, and eggs were also available. Grapes as the fresh fruit was a nice touch. ||The new room design is good. The sofa was actually comfortable! The furniture was all in good condition.||The amenities are nice — outdoor pool, little putting green, basketball court, fire pit, and grill. If the hotel rooms and fitness center were clean, this would be a nice hotel to stay in...

I booked this hotel for my family trip to Waco. I'm a platinum elite member and asked if there is any upgrade for me. in most of hotel I travel, they politely say they couldn't make it even though they did their best. but, she, Tamila xxxx(I asked her full name but keep saying just name.(Why she hesitated it if she was right?) I asked three times then finally write her name in her manager's, Amanda Richardson, business card in cursive, hardly recognize her full name anyway. I suspect that she did it intentionally), said 'why I need to do'. After that I noticed that something goes wrong with her and may have tough time during my stay. at the room, I found bunch of male ants(with wings and fly!). I was shocked and went to desk alone (not to make my kids shocked). She keep asking to pack all my bag again and back to desk and return key first. no other excuse or understanding for my whole family situation. I asked to provide another room key first then we could move more easily. She denied. No other choice and I ask my kids all dressed up again and back to desk. Then, we got new room. I don't expect so much more than I pay. and don't expect four or five start hotel service in residence inn. and I had good experience in most of Marriott brand hotel globally. but, if you run your business, you need to understand how one your employee ruin all your business in a second. I understand how this kind of hourly base job is tough in US. but, if you don't change your mind, you never be happy in your life until you find better job and ruin other's life and...

Hotel looks new and nice on the outside and the lobby, but I wouldn't stay here again - spiders, dirty carpet, and poor service. When we checked into our room (about 9pm) the carpet was dirty and there was a lot of hair on the floor in the bathroom and in the shower. Also, there were two spiders - one on the wall and one on the ceiling. We went back to the front desk and Bailey was working the counter and said that there was nobody else working and she could not leave the desk to address the problems. They were completely sold out, had other rooms that had not been checked in yet, but said she was unable to switch rooms since we had already checked in. She offered to loan us a vacuum, but I declined, and said that she could send someone in the morning to take care of the spiders. I stood on a chair and killed the spiders myself. The next day I asked to speak with Amanda Richardson, the GM, since she had her business card on the desk. She wasn't available, so I asked them to have her call me. She didn't call me. The following day I checked on Amanda again to see if she was there and they told me she was not available. If you don't mind not having any service people to take care of issues, and you don't mind spiders and dirty carpet, then this is your place :) I like Marriott properties, but this one is poorly ran and you...