I honestly do not understand these rave reviews. This property has subpar staff and the management clearly does not care. In fact, when I spoke to one of managers on day 2 and listed all my issues, she had a clearly memorized speech about being sorry - offered nothing in compensation, not even some marriott points - even knowing I'm a Bonvoy titanium member with family in the area, so potentially a repeat guest. The good? The room was clean. Got an upgrade for status without asking. The food at breakfast was mostly good for Bonvoy status holders. The gentleman at the Bell Stand got me a taxi quickly. The bad? Buckle up... This list is for a stay of just 48 hours - too many negative issues for a 2-night stay.
1. messaged around 2 whether I could check in around 3 instead of the 4pm check-in. Got a response about 45 minutes later of "We do have rooms roe early check in". I thought it was a quick typo - I don't think so based on my check in. I arrived about 3:10. The doorman apologized in advance for the line. There were about 20 people in a line at check in. The line was consistently that long in the afternoon from what I saw and heard from other guests. I saw there was an elite desk. 3 people ahead of me. I went there. They had maybe 5 people checking in regular guests. 1 for elite (the desk had 2 computers - they could have put a 2nd person). The ENTIRE regular line and more, that arrived after me, were checked in, and I was still waiting over 30 minutes later. When there was only 1 person in front of me, my daughter went to the other line - 10-12 people in that line - and she got to the front of that line in the time it took the elite desk to finish one person. The person that checked me in was clearly new - don't put the new guy that is slower than everyone else in charge of your most loyal customers. He only gave me 1 key, which I didn't notice until I walked away, and you can't go ANYWHERE without a key at this hotel (had to tap like 4 times to get from my room to the pool), so my daughter couldn't leave my side to get to and from the pool, lounge, etc. Or we'd have to go waste another 30 minutes in line to get a 2nd key. Additionally, the lobby is designed poorly, and is VERY loud, so I could barely hear what the man was saying during the check-in process.
2. Headed to the elevator. They have ONE sensor to tap your card - for 5 elevators and like 40 floors, so you end up standing in line to even start the process - and the sensor is in front of 2 of the elevators, so when those are being loaded or unloaded, you can't even GET to the sensor. The letters labeling the elevators are hard to read with the lighting they chose. Terrible design and system. They do light up - not when you call the elevator and it says "elevator C" - they light up about 5 second before it opens. Same on the way down. metallic sign with a clear letter that lights up as the elevator arrives. Lord help you if you're old and slow with a cane - you'll never make it.
3. They advertise a heated pool. Heated by the sun maybe. It was closer to polar plunge than heated. No more than 65 degrees. No one had been up there to clean out the used towel bin in hours - it was full and nowhere to put your used towels. food debris on the pool deck, which drew ants. chairs had not been wiped down properly any time lately.
4. Stopped in the M Club on the way up to grab an apple or something. The staff had taken away all the snacks over an hour before their 5 pm happy hour. Only water, soda and coffee available. There's a woman outside the club at breakfast hour asking your room number. I'm not sure what that accomplishes, as she doesn't have a list of rooms that are eligible or a way to ask for a room key to prove who I am - she just writes it down. It just slows down the entry process. People say it's the best M Club they've ever encountered. It's not. But that's a commentary on the downgrade of M Clubs I guess. The offerings at 5 pm were above average - I popped in on my way to dinner to see what they had - some gumbo type items, salad, mini desserts.
5. Went back to the room to change for dinner. Pot smoke smell in the hall. Housekeeping was on the floor cleaning, so clearly none of them reported it. It had seeped into our room, as our bathroom now smelled like pot. Another guest said he found someone's joint in the drawer in his room when he checked in.
6. Took a quick shower. Hair dryer was broken. I called down. They use AI for their phone system - not a good AI - I said "Hair dryer broken". I got some cryptic AI response that gave me zero confidence someone would come. I asked to speak to a human. I supposedly was put in the express line for my status. After 10 minutes, no one answered. I messaged on the app that I was leaving for dinner - clearly now with wet hair - and I expected a hair dryer upon my return. 3.5 hours later, returned to no hair dryer. I messaged again, and the front desk manager brought one up while we were out for drinks.
7. The room has that stupid frosted glass door for the bathroom, so if one person gets up during the night, the whole room will be lit up. Also, they installed a thermostat that has a digital panel. IT BRIGHTENS every time it kicks on. In a bedroom. So dumb. Bring a sticky note or something to cover it if you're a light-sensitive sleeper.
8. Witnessed a huge back up in the valet line multiple times. Yet staff kind of standing around talking. They do offer an hourly parking rate, which was not on their website, in case you have guests you know in town coming to have dinner with you. Although there are less expensive options nearby.
9. The bathroom ceiling is very low. hit the ceiling panel when taking my shirt off. The shower ceiling has less clearance - can't be more than 6'6" If you are a tall person, you might hit your hand on the ceiling when washing your hair.
10. They are eco - no water in room - of all places in the USA to limit your tap water drinking, this is the place. There is a water dispenser in the lobby - found it the day I checked out - no one told me at check in. Bring your own water bottle or they will sell you one, of course. The M club doesn't have bottled water - a dispenser with plastic cups with lids, but they are so flimsy they bend when trying to attach the lids. I started putting my water in the paper coffee cups after the first try
11. there's a wall at the back of the M Club that opens into the restaurant for breakfast. That isn't obvious. I just thought that was another part of the M club that they close off after breakfast (I've seen that before). There's a tiny sign they set up that says "restaurant" with and arrow one way and "m club" with another arrow to tell you to walk back into the M Club to eat. There was someone standing in front of it when I went to sit down, so I didn't even see it. Since I had just walked through the M Club and it was packed, I assumed this restaurant seating was spill over seating. It wasn't. And a server in the restaurant very rudely informed me "You can't sit there" and couldn't get me out of my table fast enough. No offer to assist me in doing so either. And since I hadn't seen the sign, I was thoroughly confused why she was so mad at me. I then stood in the M Club, juggling my plate and glass and banana, hovering over someone to get a table to eat my breakfast, at a table designed to have drinks, not eat. The chocolate croissants that are a standard at Marriott were stored in the refrigerator or something - they were cold. Maybe not fully defrosted?
12. I reviewed my bill the night before check-out. There was a charge for "pantry" for about $40. Since I hadn't charged anything to the room, I knew it wasn't me. I called. I actually got a human in less than 10 minutes this time. She informed me that only the front desk could remove the charge. I lucked out that there was a short line early in the morning. The person at the desk typed about 150 things into his computer to say "It's a food charge." I asked 7 ways to Sunday when it was charged and where because I wasn't even in the hotel on day 1 except for an hour at the pool and to sleep. I offered to show him receipts from 3 places I had eaten and drank that day around town to see if the time on them would prove it wasn't me. He finally went in the back. I waited. 10 minutes I waited. Finally, he came back and said it was a mobile order. I inquired further, wondering if it was done through the Marriott app, and perhaps my account had been hacked - I've never done a marriott mobile order, so didn't know what that meant. He honestly couldn't explain how the charge happened. One of the managers was walking by and came out and explained that when someone does a mobile order, they have to close the charge out and add it someone's bill by entering a room number - someone must have entered the wrong number. The guy at the front desk should know that - I can't be the first person this happened to - and why did that take over 10 minutes to figure out and resolve? That's the manager I spoke to about my stay - the one that couldn't care less about any of my negative encounters. "I'm sorry you had a negative experience. We hope you'll give us another chance." Um, why would I?
13. Walls are kind of thin. I woke up the first morning to the apple phone alarm in the room next door.
14. Housekeeping was good but slow. We returned around 4pm on day 2 hoping to rinse-off real quick before heading to dinner and our room had not yet been cleaned - there were no carts in the hallway - so not sure where they were - they came while we were at dinner....
There are better hotels in NOLA - I'll go back to staying at those. Do better, Marriott. I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone. I have booked elsewhere for my next trip.
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