Residence Inn by Marriott Williamsburg — Hotel in Williamsburg

Great. Stayed at the Williamsburg location for a week while in transit to spotsylvania. The first night we were on the ground level(checked in at 3am) and we had ants. On our way out(morning checkout time around 10-11 am) we asked to be moved to another room. One of the lady’s at the receptionist desk asked us for our room number and whether or not we had left any items in the room. We explained we came in around 3 am from cleaning the house we’re selling and left nothing behind.

The lady let me know that when we came back she will have another room for us and just to let the person at the front desk know and they’ll take care of everything. (We found it odd she never called, texted or emailed)

When we arrived at the hotel to sleep( around 3 am again) we gave the representative our room number and explained to her what happened. We then asked for our new room keys anticipating any easy checkin but we were told by the receptionist that there were no other rooms and they were double booked. ( she never asked for id or even what our names were but we didn’t immediately think anything of it.)

The receptionist looked for about 15-20 minutes at her computer and through her desk to see if maintenance had possibly sprayed the room or if their were any notes about another room being available for us. After looking through the maintenance log she realized they did spray the room. She then told us it would probably be fine to sleep in the room and there shouldn’t be anymore ants. After expressing our concern and trying to troubleshoot how we could possibly get another room we were really disappointed.

We headed back to the same room but weren’t able to immediately access the door as our keys were not working. We walked back to the front desk to have more keys made( it was about 3:30-3:45 am when we finally able to open the doors)

Once we opened the door we quickly realized someone was already in the room!! Imagine walking in on someone sleeping in the early am after dealing with all that frustration! You cannot imagine how furious I was that I walked into someone else’s room in the middle of the morning!!(I sleep with a gun next to my bed, cwp, had all my rifles with me as we were MOVING!!) talk about triggering!

After going back to the front desk and telling the woman what she just put me through, she laughed it off saying that happens all the time. Not to me.. not to my family. I actually lock doors for this very reason.

It’s now after 4am before she magically finds the notes and sees where we had another room waiting on us.. Throughout this entire process she never asked for our names or id’s. We had to tell her first and provided this information to her to make sure we didn’t have any further issues. Not sure how much I slept the first night but I was really really shocked when she told me she didn’t even have plans to tell the guy that was in that room that someone, outside of staff walked into their room in the early am. Um.. I would want to know.

Also stayed at the Fredericksburg location and it wasn’t much better. After the first 2 night things were better. No issues other than that.

LOCK YOUR...

First let me say that the folks that work at this property are both its strength and its utter weakness. I witnessed one of the receptionists go into the kitchen area to gossip with one of the individuals that serves breakfast while the front desk phones went unanswered for about 15-20 min. Two people waited at the front desk and finally departed when no one came to assist them.

However, this is not the main reason for this review. If you travel on business and are accustomed to making reservations for your party, do yourselves a favor and don’t take that approach with this property. I made reservations for a party of four which included myself and three coworkers. To be fair, there were no issues with my party’s check-in. However, a 5th member of my organization arrived and was automatically added as a member of my group by the receptionist. To make matters worst, at the end of our stay they billed his room to my credit card. So, here I am on vacation having to clear up a problem that should never have existed to begin with. I made sure that when my party checked in, each individual provided their personal credit card and Bonvoy information.

The 5th individual who checked in was never an identified member of my party and the folks at the front desk should not have assumed he was. This was an obvious clerical mistake that should have been fixed immediately once the error was found. Unfortunately, the property is holding the return of my funds until the 5th individual contacts them.

Needless to say, this property will no longer receive any of my business nor can I recommend it to anyone else. Whether on business or leisure travel, this should never happen to anyone. This property should hold themselves accountable for their error and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Additional Information: This property is clearly well visited and has high volume. At the time of my stay, the property had one working elevator of two. The grill was in dire need of being properly cleaned and the fire pit was also broke and not functioning. The day of my arrival, I complained about the fish smell that permeated my room which was obviously due to someone cooking fish in the room days before. How does the cleaning crew think that it’s ok to leave a room in that condition for the next guest?

While everyone on this property was nice, that’s just part of running a business. You also have to know what you’re doing and when you choose to do it - then do...

We never expect too much from extended stay hotels. We've stayed in good ones and less than stellar ones and it can be hard to tell which you will get until you're there and trying to sleep. The Residence Inn in Williamsburg exceeded our expectations.

Room: The room was spacious enough for our needs and the bed was reasonably comfortable. My only complaint about the room itself is that all the lighting was so dim. We could turn on every lamp in the evenings and it wasn't enough for my middle-aged eyes to read by unless I was directly next to one of the lamps. It is definitely a personal preference of ours to have semi-bright light available in the evenings.

Noise: Maybe most importantly, we did not hear much from our neighbors during our 3+ week stay, even when the hotel was fully booked and crowded. We were on the top floor at thee end of the hall, so I'm sure that helped. By far most of the noise was from the hallways or room doors closing and this being a very family oriented spot, most of the comings and goings seemed to be before 9pm.

Housekeeping: The housekeeping service was inconsistent. We tended to keep things tidy and mostly just exchanged our towels and set the trash & recycling in the hall to be emptied, as needed, but we did request to have the room cleaned/serviced some since we were staying so long. Sometimes when we requested service the room was thoroughly cleaned and the trash emptied. And sometimes we got fresh sheets and towels but the room wasn't cleaned at all (floors, counters, trash, etc). Also, they ferquently did not leave new trash can liners when emptying the trash.

Breakfast: Breakfast was decent, though we did not partake of the hot offerings, so I cannot comment on that. We prefer light breakfasts of some bread items, boiled eggs, and maybe some yogurt and/or fruit so that's what we ate most mornings. Related: I now have a cinnamon-raisin bagel addiction.

Front Staff: The staff and management were the highlight of this hotel. They were always helpful and friendly. They were very welcoming with greetings and anytime we needed any kind of assistance, they were there with a smile and an excellent, friendly attitude. Of all the extended stay hotels we've pretty much ever stayed in, the staff at this one has been among the best.

Overall: I would recommend this hotel. The value is good, the location is great, and the staff is friendly and...