I'd booked the room at the beginning of January and opted to pay in person once we arrived. I do this when I travel only because an array of things can happen between the time you plan a trip and the time it's actually executed. The Fairfield is surrounded by 2 other Marriott hotels; Residence Inn Marriott and Springhill Suites by Marriott.
The immediate reaction was that it was the average hotel. The lobby was clean and decorated with 4 modern sway back sitting chairs, all of which appeared to be clean.
The front desk was staffed by a lady with a long curly ponytail, I couldn't see her smile or lack thereof because of the mandatory mask; but she seemed genuinely pleased to greet my son and me. After advising her of our prebooked rooms she told me that my name was not showing up - I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and determined that everything was going to be fine. I pulled out my planner that I purchased from, Happy Planner, located my confirmation paperwork and politely gave it to her. She read it and still couldn't find my reservation.
"Okay ma'am, no problem. Do you all have any rooms available?" I inquired. "Yes, but not at the rate you were quoted" she apologizingly responded.
Well, this is a problem. I have a certain amount budgeted for everything on this trip, I tell her.
The rooms were running about $50-$60 above what I'd budgeted, so worst case scenario would have been me getting the rooms at a rate that I hadn't budgeted for. Not something that was going to ruin the trip, but I would've been disappointed. Nevertheless, she called her supervisor and told her about the discrepancy, to which her supervisor, Octavia Carter, appeared in about 3 minutes. No exaggeration, she was there as soon as the lady at the front desk hung up. Ms. Carter looked at the paperwork, my I.D and was able to figure out that booking.com had booked the room under my middle and last name. Okay. No worries. Problem averted. They both apologized for the mistake, although not their fault. All smiles. I thanked them both for helping me. They could have had the 'I don't care' attitude and not went the extra mile to help me. I was grateful.
We were given 2 keys and directions to our room which was on the 2nd floor, only a few feet from the elevator.
The
elevators were clean with no offensive smells. The hotel hallways were the
same, carpet appeared clean & free of any trash. This is always a good
sign. The hotel keys worked...sometimes they don’t, and you have to go back
downstairs. Our room was as the website described. We had two queen sized beds,
microwave, fridge etc. I didn't see any bugs, hair or trash. Of course, I still
wiped everything down with my Lemon wipes; and I do mean everything. Changed
the pillowcases, checked the bathroom. It was clean.
The
channel selection consisted of the local channels plus the normal extra ones
and Netflix, YouTube, Showtime etc. You had to have your own login credentials
for Netflix; which I had and was able to watch Unthinkable with Samuel L Jackson, Micheal Sheen and Carrie-Anne Moss. It was a good movie, not for the little one
though - he was asleep when I watched it. I started to watch Inventing Anna but decided to wait until I got back home.
The hotel serves
breakfast every morning from 6-9. While we were there, it consisted of the same
thing and is as follows:
Scrambled and boiled
eggs, sausage & turkey patties, oatmeal with all the fixings, cereal/milk,
yogurt, fruit, tortillas, pancake batter for the waffle maker. Orange/Apple
juice. Coffee/Water and muffins.
On the last night there, Jaxon
wanted to swim so we checked it out. The pool area was located inside the hotel,
so the water temperature was lovely. The area was clean and smell of chlorine.
A few towels were available but that was okay cause we brought our own. The
depth of the pool was 4'6 at the deepest end.
They also had an area at the front desk where you could buy snacks and have them put it on your room bill; everything cost $2.00.
