Bangor, Maine / Marriott Courtyard

view from room

April 2012, Weekend, 2-nights, King guest room #408

Status perks

I asked about an upgrade at check-in, and after the agent looked on the computer, she said that all of the suites were filled. We had a great view from our room, so even though the agent did not say anything about receiving any perks, it is likely we had been assigned a room on that side of the building because we had Gold status. Rooms on the front side of the building overlook the expressway.

view from room 

According to the room diagram on the guestroom door, most of the guestrooms are much larger than the one we received. I assume that they are rooms with two queen beds, because I could not find larger king rooms listed on the hotel website. There are rooms at this hotel described as: Extended, Larger Guest room, 2 Queen beds.

Guestroom

The guestroom was similar to other Courtyard hotels I have stayed in with the new style/decor. It contained a small fridge in the coffee/beverage area, king bed, wardrobe closet, nice desk and chair, couch and coffee table. I really like the two-tier desks at the Marriott hotels with the bottom piece that slides in or out for more table room. I thought the couch was comfortable, and I liked the built in end table on one end. The bed was comfortable, although the bed sheets were not deep enough because they kept coming off the corners of the mattress.

Since this room had been recently remodeled, I was surprised by some of things I saw that needed to be cleaned, like toothpaste spatters on the bathroom wall. 

The view from the room was nice, and the large window opened. The gap around the guestroom door from the hall was easily visible, and we heard quite a bit of noise from the hall. Other guests were not noisy; we merely heard doors opening and closing, and guests speaking in a normal tone of voice.

guest bathroom

Food & Beverage

We had a Turkey Rueben in the Bistro in the evening that was acceptable. I have definitely had better sandwiches, although I did not have any serious complaints about this one.

We had purchased a 2-night package for this stay, which included breakfast. The first morning, there were three or four tables with guests in the dining area when we arrived, and there were about four or five employees working in the dining area and tending to the lobby coffee. I ordered a BLT egg sandwich with turkey bacon and milk (our breakfast coupon was not good for any of the specialty coffee beverages). My husband ordered the Daybreak eggs with canadian bacon and regular coffee. He was disappointed with the coffee, and said it did not taste like Starbucks. The food was very good; however, we waited over 15 minutes for or food, which we thought was a long time. 

The second morning, we had to leave at 4:30 AM for an early flight. At check-in, I had asked the agent if there was anything she could offer in the restaurant in place of the breakfast coupons, since we would not be there for breakfast. She said no. The second afternoon, I noticed that there were breakfast items in the gift shop (granola bars and protein pacs with a hard boiled egg). Since there was a refrigerator in the guestroom, I decided to ask if any of those items were something we could use our coupons for. The same employee again said no. Getting breakfast wasn't a huge deal--I was still happy with the promotional rate we had booked--however, I was annoyed by the employee's inflexible robotic attitude. Both times, the way she immediately and flat-out said no without even thinking, made me feel like she was not even listening to my request. And, it wasn't like I was asking for some leniency or special privileges for a perk she had given me; I was asking for a substitution for something we had paid for with our room! 

Later that evening, I realized I had not been thinking clearly about the situation either. Since many of the breakfast items were sandwiches, I thought they might be pre-made. I showed our coupons to the employees at the Bistro, and said that we needed to leave before they would be open in the morning. I asked if there were any items available that we could take back to our room that evening. The two employees working in the Bistro, provided the best customer service I received at this hotel! The first employee said she would check, and she asked what I wanted. I told her our first two preferences, and then said that we would take anything that was available. After checking, she said she could give me two Sunrise Starter sandwiches, which I gladly accepted. The other employee asked which two beverages I wanted, and encouraged me by offering different juices and water when I was not sure I would take two. They also provided me with a fresh fruit cup (since the sandwiches are served with a fresh fruit cup at breakfast), even though I said they did not need to worry about getting that for me. They packaged everything, and put it in a paper to-go bag for me with a smile and thank you--wonderful! In the morning, we were able to warm our sandwiches in the microwave located in the lobby.

Public areas

There is a large public area in the lobby on the back side of the building, across from the Bistro. This area contained coffee in the morning, and had the following for use at all times: microwave, the business center, a large flat screen TV, couch, tables with chairs, and a library of books. We used the couch and a table to play cards during our stay and found the area very comfortable.

Misc.

There is not anything within walking distance of this hotel, although there is a large shopping area right on the other side of the interstate with many restaurants.