Review: Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Sparks/Reno

I arrived at the Marriott Fairfield Inn and Suites in Sparks/Reno at about 9:45pm after having picked up my 2013 Chevy Impala rental car from Alamo at the Reno airport.  There was a noticeable haze in the air from all of the wildfires in the area.

When I arrived at the hotel, I was able to find a spot near the entrance.  After retrieving my bag, I entered into the lobby to find the front desk agent, Connor, just leaving his post to go do something.  When he noticed me, he immediately went behind the desk to check me in.

Fairfield Inn and Suites Reno Sparks Review

Connor was very amiable and upgraded me to a King Suite in room 314, which was located on the top floor and above the portico at the entrance of the hotel, which faced opposite the highway, which made the room quiet from outside noise.  Connor remarked that I had reserved a "double points" stay, which was close to accurate.  I booked a Marriott Rewards promotion, where I would receive 2000 Marriott Reward points for each night of my stay.  In this case, I was staying two night, so I should receive an extra 4000 Marriott Rewards points.  Connor then confirmed with me that I would like the 200 MR points as my welcome gift.

When I entered my room, I noticed that the suite was similar to one that I had stayed at near the Newark airport.  The room was spacious with the large bathroom to my left as I entered the room.  I entered into a separate seating area with a couch and chair, plus a tv and work desk.  The walled off bedroom area, also had a television and a seat.  The room looked newly remodeled, except for the thermostat, which looked like it was original to when the hotel was built.  Nonetheless, the thermostat worked.

I was awoken at about 6am to the sound of the next room's television.  The rooms must be poorly situated, where the television is on the opposite side of the wall of the the next room's bed.  The walls seemed pretty thin that morning.

I went down to the complimentary breakfast at 7:45pm and found only two businessmen working at a table.  I poured myself a cup of coffee - definitely not Starbucks quality - and perused the offerings on the breakfast buffet.  Nothing new jumped out at me.  Warm items were waffles, oatmeal, scrambled eggs and turkey Canadian bacon. The other offerings were the same as you would find at any other Fairfield Inn.  I did notice that they only offered orange and apple juice.  I decided to try a bit of the scrambled eggs (actually pretty good) and Canadian bacon (very so so).  I am always a sucker for Belgian waffles, so I made myself a waffle and put lots of butter and syrup on it - yum!

I went down to the front desk before a conference call at 9am to see if they might have some hair gel, but he could not find any behind the desk.  He suggested looking in their market or heading over to Target, which was less than a mile away.

The noise from the neighboring room in the early morning occurred again on the second morning, but I was checking out anyway.  When I awoke, the night auditor had conveniently slid the bill under my door.  I brought my key card down to the front desk when I checked out, hopped in my rental car and headed to the airport.

Review: Courtyard by Marriott Edison Woodbridge near Metuchen, NJ

My daughter and I stayed at the Courtyard Edison Woodbridge for a fencing tournament taking place on Sunday, September 14 at the Metuchen Sportsplex.  We chose this hotel for it's proximity to the sports complex and the low price - a AAA rate of $89.  I could have used Marriott Rewards points or a free night certificate, but I like getting better value for my points and certificates, so I decided to just pay for it, since it was a very low cost.  To top it all off, it is the top rated hotel on TripAdvisor in the area.

Courtyard Edison Woodbridge Review

When we checked in, we were told that I would be receiving 400 points for my arrival gift and could choose a Market item - my daughter selected Baked Lays.  We were given the key to Room 209, which initially disappointed me, since I requested a high floor room, but was surprised to see a nice welcome spread in my room.  There was a water and chocolate on the bed, with an elephant constructed from 3 wash clothes to greet us.  Also, on the footstool was a fiber pillow, as I requested.

The room itself was like any other Courtyard, though there was a 50 inch flat screen tv in the room, which made viewing of Notre Dame's Shamrock Series defeat of Purdue that much sweeter.  The bathroom was of decent size and the separate vanity area was adequate.  Some of the walls and furnishings showed some wear, but it did not detract noticeably from the experience.  The tub had a large stain, but the shower had good pressure.

At halftime of the game I ran down to the Bistro to order to go some Thai chili wings and a diet Mountain Dew.  It took about 12 minutes to bring it out to me, but it was placed into a nice handled bag that I could easily transport to my room.  It was expensive at around $13 for 6 wings and a 20oz diet Dew.  It tasted good and was adequately filling.

I had a hard time sleeping that night between not trying to toss and turn, so that my daughter could sleep and the radio that was loud, though not quite blaring from the room next door.  I finally became enlightened at 4am and turned on the air conditioner fan, which drowned out the music.

The next morning, the receipt was conveniently placed under our door.  As I looked over the expenses, I noticed that the "free" Market item from checkin was not quite so free, as my bill showed a charge of $2.57 and tax.  I had some time and headed down to the front desk, where the front desk agent rectified the charge.

If the price (or points) were right, I would stay at the Courtyard Edison Woodbridge again.

Review: Courtyard Old Town San Diego

On the night of Thursday, September 11, 2014 I stayed in Room 428 at the Marriott Courtyard in Old Town San Diego.  I had stayed there many times before, since it is convenient to the 5 and 8 highways and usually has very competitive rates.  My rate for this night was the $134 AAA rate and I did not pay for parking, since I normally find easy parking on the street.

Courtyard Old Town San Diego Review

The outside of the hotel is different from any other Courtyard that I have seen.  It was constructed in the Mission style to match the architecture of Old Town San Diego.  The pool here is small, but the outdoor covered patio is very nice and relaxing.

Check in was easy, since they know me.  The front desk person informed me that I would be getting 400 points as a gift for my stay and a Market item for which I chose a diet mountain dew.  He also informed me that they would be having a wine hour from 4:30-5:30 that evening - an event that has taken the place of the free bistro item cards that they used to hand out to me when I arrived.  He said that they do the wine hour Monday through Thursday.  I have participated in one of their wine hours before and they usually have one choice of red and one choice of white.  I could not make the wine hour, since I had a happy hour appointment at Jimmy O's in Del Mar.

Since the hotel was busy, they could not give me an upgrade, but did put me on the 4th floor in a room that faced the courtyard, rather than the highway.  My room was much quieter because of it.  The room looks like any other Courtyard room, since it was recently renovated.  One nice feature was the Keurig machine in the room.  I do not remember that the last time that I stayed here.

The bathroom was large with the normal tub/shower combo.  The light took a few seconds to flicker on, while the same switch controlled the noisy overhead fan, so there was no way to turn the fan off without turning off the light, as well.  The vanity sink outside the bathroom was small, but adequate for my needs.

Unlike the Sheraton Mission Valley and even the Hotel Solamar, the air conditioning at the Courtyard Old Town was great.  I was able to get my room cooled down quickly and was very comfortable in the room.

My wake up call on Friday morning rang 4 minutes earlier than requested at 4:26am, so I got up, showered and packed up the rest of my belongings.  The receipt for my stay was conveniently delivered under my door and had the correct charges.

I will definitely be staying here again in the future, because of its convenient location and affordable price.