Residence Inn Milwaukee Downtown

I stayed at this Marriott on Nov. 28–30 and unfortunately the experience fell far below expectations. I do want to start by recognizing the hotel employees working Friday and Saturday — they were wonderful, helpful, and clearly doing their best. The person at the desk Sunday morning, however, was not helpful at all. The hotel itself is very outdated. There were burns on the carpet, filthy windows, and the overall condition simply didn’t match the price point. I had two rooms (714 and 718) and spent nearly $1,000 for this stay. Noise was a major issue. A woman staying in the room above us — part of the supportive housing program — had all her grandkids in one room, and one of the kids screamed late into the night. Sleep was nearly impossible. The hotel currently houses individuals from a supportive housing complex, including people with disabilities and mental health challenges. While that is absolutely fine, there were issues with how things were being managed. People were cutting in line at breakfast, others were filling large containers to bring back to their rooms, and the whole area felt chaotic. The breakfast buffet itself was extremely disappointing. There was no fruit available, the shredded cheese was white and looked like it had been sitting out, and the only meat option was turkey sausage. Nothing about the buffet felt fresh or appealing. And as soon as items were brought out, some guests immediately emptied them into boxes and took them upstairs, leaving very little for anyone else. The worst part of the stay was the elevator situation. Only one elevator was working, and at one point even that broke. The single front desk employee had to escort guests one by one through a freight elevator. With a full hotel, families, luggage, and a dance competition crowd, it created long waits and a lot of frustration. The staff who were trying to help did what they could, but the hotel needs major updates, better oversight of shared spaces like breakfast, and stronger overall management. For the price, this stay did not meet Marriott standards.

If you add it all up, I spent over three weeks at this hotel in three different rooms so I feel I can give it a fair review. To start with the bad, as another reviewer has stated, the homeless people in the breakfast/lobby area are a problem, and the staff seemingly all turn a blind eye to this. I get that homelessness is not an easy thing to solve, and it's great that Residence Inn is doing their part to give them a free breakfast, but there are better ways to do this than having them hang around in the lobby mixing with the paying guests. Some of these individuals may have been staying there on a sponsored program .. I saw several of the same group most days. But each day I witnessed literally people coming in off the street, stuffing their plate with breakfast buffet and then walking out. One guy took a backpack in which he filled up with food.. despite the breakfast area being directly visible from the reception desk, nothing was said or done about this. Often the group were slow in the line and rude.. after a while I resorted to coming down and taking the breakfast up to eat in my room. This problem seems to be very specific to this hotel - I stayed at Marriott downtown and the Westin on different occasions and did not encounter this at these other locations. The breakfast itself was OK at best. Two cereal selection, a nice selection of yogurt, a rotating menu of fairly unappetizing unhealthy warm food .. bananas. Coffee was weak. The next constant annoyance in this property was the elevators. More correctly said, elevator - singular. There were two, but the right one is perpetually out of service. During my stays this sole elevator was broken on three separate occasions.. there are no accessible stairs, so staff are forced to usher guests up in the service elevator around the corner.. far from ideal. One was always waiting for this elevator, and it showed one floor higher than it actually was (e.g. floor 6 instead of floor 5). One gets used to it quickly, but I saw a few confused first time guests! Reception staff were mixed, overall good. Brianna was great. Alex .. was friendly some days and quite rude others. There was a young guy who was also nice, Sandy - she was fantastic, friendly and very helpful when I needed to extend/rebook my stays. All of the staff as mentioned turned a blind eye to who was coming in and out of the lobby as mentioned. Lets talk about the rooms! They were, for downtown, huge to the point of being too big. Of the three rooms I had (506, 719, and 614): 506 was best laid out but, 719 had the best view of the river, 614 was on the laundry floor which was beyond convenient given the elevator situation. The bed was comfortable and I slept well. The rooms have nice tall windows, but in 614 the windows were filthy. The vanity sink is separate from the bathroom which is actually a very nice thing. Bathroom is dated, with a shower/tub in one. OK pressure, and clean despite it's age. Kitchen was of the same dated nature, but functional. The TVs in all rooms had the worlds most laggy, slow settop box attached. .. seriously RI - you must update these! Each click of the remote took 5-10 seconds to respond. It was painful. I had no major problems during my stay which was on the whole fairly good. I did leave some clean laundry (I think at least) which the hotel was not able to locate, and I can't be sure it was here that I left it. The rooms were cleaned every 3rd day, which worked out fine. The hotel is connected via internal walkways all the way to third street market, a very decent place for a meal and a beer. I would REALLY have liked to give this place 4 stars because overall it was a good stay, but the homeless in the lobby/breakfast is not OK for a chain like Marriott and is hurting their brand. Thanks again to Brianna and Sandy, the two staff members who left the most positive impression on me.

We booked our reservation for six nights. On the 1st day, we noticed several people loitering in the lobby and in the breakfast area. We were in and out each day, and each time we passed through, there were still the same people loitering in the lobby. When I went to the gym on the sixth floor, it smelled like BODY ODOR, WEED, and CIGARETTE SMOKE. On the 4th day, I overheard a Marriott employee yelling at one of the “homeless” people that they were sick and tired of them smoking in the hotel, and if they keep it up, they will kick them out. He just sat there and appeared to totally ignore the employee. Later that day, I asked who these people are. The front desk employee said they were their “guests” and wouldn’t say anything else. Knowing this was total B.S., I asked to see a manager. The manager, LAURIE BRACK, resisted answering ALL of my questions about this “group”, and rudely said “ If I don’t like it, I can leave”. As a paying guest, I have a right to know why the place looks like a homeless shelter. After dealing with the rude manager, I left for about 15-20 minutes. When I came back, there was a women whom I never seen before in the lobby. She then verbally accosted me of complaining about her “people”. I told her I did not like the appearance of “homeless” people loitering in the lobby. She continued to get in my face with an angry, defiant tone and even said my dead mother was a “PIECE OF SH**”. This woman must have been tipped off by the front desk staff or the manager, because she waited in the lobby for me to come back. As the unidentified women accosted me, THE FRONT DESK STAFF STOOD THERE AND DID NOTHING. The staff was more concerned with protecting the “homeless” staying in the hotel versus simply addressing a long time Marriott guest’s concerns. DO NOT STAY HERE!! There are plenty of other hotels that don’t have homeless wandering around, and staff that will not discriminate nor allow harassment of their guests. I never felt so humiliated by a hotel staff or a manager. We packed up, and went to another hotel down the street for a more civilized experience. When I checked out, the 2 employees (MYRNA PEREZ and JUAN) that witnessed the lobby confrontation, and the Manager LAURIE BRACK, refused to answer any questions about the aggressive lady in the lobby and the homeless group. Total disrespect towards me and my family. IT SEEMED LIKE A BIG COVER UP. I will write a more detailed letter to Marriott Corporation with the names of the employees involved and more details. They need to be held accountable for their disgraceful actions toward me. I’m sure the manager will reply to this with some canned politically correct response, but don’t be fooled. Future guests deserve better.

Great location located in the city center and on Milwaukee’s river walk! The room was clean, comfortable and well-appointed, although a few of the towels appeared stained and worn and the sofa had a few rips from wear and tear. Also equipped with a kitchenette, large desk, sofa and large windows, this hotel offers all suite rooms with city or river views. The hotel has onsite covered parking, has an onsite workout room, large lobby with nearby computer stations and a covered pedway to the Public Market. The breakfast buffet was a pleasant surprise with egg white frittatas, fresh scrambled eggs, sausages, fresh fruit, biscuits, bagels, yogurt, oatmeal with great topping options including candied pecans and hot coffee and tea selections! And…who doesn’t love a noon checkout?

Location is great. Only two employees were friendly: Stephanie (breakfast) and Briana ( front desk). Dissatisfied with: 1. Only one elevator working and then, this one stopped working for hours; 2. Room appeared tired,nothing compared to pictures; 3. Poor ventilation in bathroom: 4. Front desk staff needs training in welcoming smile and attitude; 5. Housekeeping team appeared overwhelmed.

We were upgraded whoch was great but it seemed a waste aincw we were only staying one night. The bed was comfortable. The body wash dispenser was laying on the floor of the shower. Overall the property shows like it is very upscale but it could use some updates in the rooms.

Friendly staff

There is no management team in this hotel so don't expect any help or service. The daytime front desk staff is helpful; forget the after hours & weekend staff - they'd rather die than be helpful. The hotel is in a great location; it's just so far less than what you'd expect from a Marriott in terms of basic customer service. And, you can't walk up & down the stairs because you're locked out of all of the floors except the ground floor exits. Front desk staff don't even have uniform clothing; that's how unprofessional & ridiculous it is.

The room was huge and comfortable

Bed was very uncomfortable!