Residence Inn by Marriott Milwaukee West — Hotel in Wauwatosa

Thoroughly OK. The location is very convenient for where I needed to be. A 15min drive to work, 20min back with afternoon traffic. The rooms are decent. There is a lot of wear and tear on the rooms. The hotel is about 6 years old, and you can tell. Some rooms have been partially updated in the bathrooms (new showers). But in most of the rooms I've stayed, the lights by the bed have this decorative rubbery plastic thing that is falling off.

The kitchens are stocked differently. Typically they have 4 of everything (knives, spoons, forks, plates, bowls, salad plates, cups, mugs, wine glasses). However, sometimes things have been broken, and there aren't 4 of the breakable things, or cutlery has gone missing. One time, I had a room with 8 spoons (tea and tablespoons), and 8 forks (salad and regular forks); I was super happy with that! The pots and pans vary per room. I like a small sauce pan to heat up water in the morning for tea. I don't drink coffee, don't ask me to use a coffee pot and make my tea taste like coffee, and it doesn't make the water hot enough. Some rooms have a small sauce pan. Some have a big saucepans, some have saute pans, some have skillets. Most of them, the teflon is coming off, so you get black flecks in your food. Some of the pans have been burnt by previous guests, so they don't cook evenly. I didn't know it was possible to burn metal.

The front desk staff is super helpful; over my weeks of staying here, I've had many conversations with the people at the front desk. They are very friendly. They will get you things when requested when housekeeping doesn't provide the stuff you need, like toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher powder.

Housekeeping is the low point of this hotel. I have experienced them not coming on days they were supposed to do the big clean or towel/trash refresh. They don't replace TP or stuff as mentioned above. They have taken blankets that were on the bed and not replaced them. They put my personal kitchen tools in the dishwasher that I had handwashed (and set aside to dry) and started the dishwasher (they didn't need to be cleaned, and now the marking are coming off). They take my mostly full bottle of dish soap and replace it (wasteful). I will no longer be using their services, and will be taking care of the room myself because there is no consistency. I can ask the front desk staff for things when I need it, put my trash out, and they'll take it from outside my door. But after 14 weeks of staying in the hotel, never knowing what to expect when I came back on a housekeeping day, I'll just spare them my room.

Aside from the housekeeping, I would've...

We took the family to the Milkwaukee Zoo and wanted a room that had plenty of space for young kids. We got a king suite and it was the perfect set up! Having a full fridge and real dishes and silverware was great for a family's worth of leftovers. The continental breakfast was also pretty great, with lots of hot breakfast options! We did have a couple complaints though. One of the requirements we had when choosing a hotel was a pool. Well, they had one but I couldn't stand to be in it more than a few minutes. 2 of our children braved the cold (along with my husband so they could be supervised) but their lips were purple when they got out and they didnt last long.... it was very disappointing. Also, there was a very rowdy family with 8 kids, that the mom basically just dropped her kids in the pool area and let them run wild. They were very rowdy and a few of them were way too young to be left at a pool unsupervised. A couple other families, including ours, eventually left after being constantly splashed or having to tell them to stop doing things (like put hotel chairs in the pooll). We told the front desk and they said they would take care of it. The next morning the kids wanted to hit the pool again. We figured it would be better, after the staff had been made aware. The same family was there again, with the mom present, but she wasn't keeping them in line... instead she was taking videos of them slip and sliding across the pool deck into the pool on towels. The entire pool floor was soaked. All the towels were gone. I had figured they would be told they weren't allowed in the pool anymore, but obviously that wasn't the case. We left the pool again after that and didn't return until they were all gone, about an hour before checkout.... for a short swim because the kids really wanted to swim. Other than that family and the hotel's handling of the situation and the coldness of the pool, though, we would definitely give it another shot. They were doing a lot of remodeling on the first floor so I'm hopeful pool heater improvements may be included in that? because we really did like our room! And the location was in a safe part of town, as far as...

I really do like staying here & still gave it an overall score of excellent but my only complaint is I had stayed here pre-pandemic & back then, the breakfast selections were outstanding & they used to have a little cocktail hour in the evening. Now I feel the free breakfast is fair/average & needs improving upon post pandemic & they have not yet been able to bring back the cocktail hour yet but this is not a deal breaker for us to stay here. The suites are always clean with comfortable bed & pillows. I like the layout of the suites & that they have full size refrigerators & cooktops for those long term stays. The bathrooms are spacious & we have always had hot water for showering. The front desk staff are extremely friendly & helpful to make sure you have what you need during your stay. If you have any problems or issues of any kind, they do their best to get it corrected for you immediately. We have stayed here many times now to be close to Froedtert Medical Facility so I know how the kitchen is usually stocked with things you may need for longer term stays & being able to cook in the room. I have had to make a few requests during our stay at times as some of the pots & pans in the rooms seem to vanish. Quiet location away from the hustle & bustle of the freeway & other hotels but still close enough for shopping & dining. Meijer has online shopping with delivery to the hotel for a small fee as well as several pizza places & many other cafes & restaurants thru door dash & grub hub. Pet friendly rooms with a pet deposit. They have a on-site laundry room & comes in handy for long stays. The exercise room has nice up to date equipment & the pool is always clean & inviting. There is also a trail system for hiking right outside the hotel. Easy drive to & from the airport if needed. I have never had any major complaints regarding this hotel directly & will continue to stay at this...