Courtyard by Marriott West Orange — Hotel in West Orange

Blatantly Discriminatory Experience at Courtyard Marriott West Orange

I’ve stayed at this hotel before and expected a professional experience—but what happened during our most recent visit was completely unacceptable and honestly traumatic. My husband and I booked two adjoining rooms to accommodate our family and a few guests. We are Bonvoy members and repeat customers, but this time we were treated as if we didn’t belong there.

Our children were in the pool for less than 15 minutes when Sebastian Alexandra, the Assistant General Manager, abruptly told them all to get out. When asked why, his only explanation was, “You need wristbands.” This was the first time we were hearing about this policy. It wasn’t shared during booking, check-in, or anywhere on the Marriott website.

My husband and I went down to the pool to ensure everyone had left, and while there, we briefly greeted someone we recognized—who was not even with our group. Sebastian saw a few kids still near the pool (only about three, and not with us) and immediately ran to call the police without saying a word to us. He assumed they were with our party and escalated the situation in a way that was completely unnecessary and clearly biased.

When we questioned him further, he gave inconsistent information, and handed us a random sheet of paper about the rules that we had never seen, agreed to, or signed. One of our guests even asked, “Did we see or sign this?” And the answer was no.

To make things worse, when looking at our booking, Sebastian commented that we “booked through Expedia”—in a condescending tone, as if we didn’t deserve the same level of respect because we didn’t book direct. Completely uncalled for.

All children were under responsible adult supervision and well-behaved. Yet instead of addressing any concern with professionalism, he chose to call the police on a group of Black children, some of whom were not even staying with us. If this was truly about policy, then why weren’t we ever asked to leave?

This wasn’t policy enforcement—this was targeted, discriminatory treatment.

Update: I contacted Expedia to request a refund. They reached out to the hotel, and Sebastian refused, claiming the situation occurred because “the children were causing a commotion.” This is completely false. It’s disappointing that instead of taking accountability, he doubled down on false accusations to avoid issuing a refund.

This entire experience was humiliating and hurtful. We will never return, and I urge Marriott to investigate and take...

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