Sunday, April 3, 2011

Traverse City, Michigan -- Courtyard by Marriott

Status perks
I received an upgrade to a whirlpool room when making the reservation. We had originally planned to stay at the Fairfield Inn because the hotel is newer and the rate was $10 less. On the morning of our departure, I found out the Fairfield was full, so there would be no chance for a guestroom upgrade. Since this trip was around spring break time, I figured the hotel pool area would be filled with kids.

I decided to call the Courtyard to ask what kind of room and rate they could offer us. The employee I spoke with offered the same rate I had found online. I asked if she would be able to provide a Gold member upgrade to a suite or whirlpool room, and she said she could upgrade us to a whirlpool room. When we checked in, I asked if we could be upgraded to one of the suites, and I was told no. Since the Gold membership benefits say: When you check in, we’ll upgrade you to our best-available guest room at no additional charge, I figured it was worth a try. Another area of the Marriott site implies that this does not include suites; however, this is not clear.
 
Guestroom
I would have been even more impressed if we had been upgraded to a suite; however, I still thought the room was great! There was a large walk in shower in the bathroom, and the whirlpool tub was in the bedroom area. The tub was large and clean! Any time I plan to use the whirlpool tub in a hotel room, I always clean it first. This is one of the few times that I found I had not needed to clean it.

The bed was comfortable, as well as the soft chair. It would have been nicer, if the seating had included another chair or small couch instead, with seating for two people. The desk chair was comfortable, and the two level desk provided a large work area.

There was a small fridge in the room, and the large window fully opened. I was glad we had received a room on the back of the hotel overlooking the pond instead a room on front overlooking the road and parking lot.  Some of the rooms have a balcony, although our room did not have one. The room and guestroom door were soundproof. We thought the room was comfortable, and we slept well. We did not hear hardly any noise from the hall.
view from guestroom window



Lobby & public areas
We could see the outside patio from our room; however, we did not venture out there because it was damp and cold the night of our stay. It looked like there is a covered fireplace on the patio. The lobby area was chic looking and looked comfortable. The photos on the website are accurate.

Misc.
The restaurant and lounge were open until 11 p.m., although we did not visit. We opted to walk to the Mexican restaurant/bar next door instead. The in room coffee and coffee near the front desk in the morning was good quality. Starbucks coffee was also available for purchase.

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