I've stayed at the Las Vegas Marriott for 4 years in a row for a week for a convenion. This thread was started in 2010, but it's updated as of my current stay in April '13; updates in post #1.
Photos of the property here:
http://public.fotki.com/SkiAdcock/ho...egas-marriott/
It looks weird to start w/ the market in the photo album, but before I had started w/ the lobby/restaurant/bar which has just been renovated, so I deleted the old lobby pics & added the new (the new lobby pics start at #21).
Check-in was quite easy. Plat status acknowledged; check-in staff very friendly. Can I stop here & say every time I stay here, the staff is great. I swear they must take happy pills! I've never seen an entire hotel full of such friendly happy staff. The room operations manager of the property is great, so very customer-oriented, and obviously it carries down to the staff as well.
Offered choice of Plat gift. Picked wine/cheese over points since I'm here for a week. I usually do points on 1-night stays. Cheese was 1/2 round of brie with some strawberries, Carr's crackers, 1/2 bottle of Meridian wine and a balloon wine glass.
The check-in area is not large, but there is a lobby to the right of it w/ couches, chairs & telly if you're meeting someone. It's not a huge area, but there is space for folk to meet, more so after the renovation. And this is pretty cool - they have a 8-chair communal table w/ 8 electrical outlets on the surface, so you could work on your laptop & not have to look around for an outlet.
There is also a small gift shop directly to the right of the check-in counter. It's the size of a large closet (literally), but has the stuff you can buy if you forget something as well as other things.
Internet is free for Golds/Plats. Otherwise the fee is $12.95 for a 24-hour period (not the noon-noon thing). The room has wifi internet access. They said to accept it when it asks for room/charge, but that it's handled internally & will be free. The free in-room wifi covers 3 devices. There is free wifi in the ground floor common areas for all guests.
The hotel is an all-suite hotel. Literally the only difference in the suites is if you choose a suite w/ french doors. I chose the french doors suite, figuring the doors were one more barrier noisewise if any of the trade show folk got noisy in the hallway. I also closed the bathroom door at night to the living room for the same reason, although kept the bathroom door between the bedroom/bathroom open. Also, if someone was staying w/ another person, one could be in the living room w/o disturbing the person in the bedroom if the french doors were closed.
There are 2 HDTVs in the room - one in the living room & one in the bedroom. There are 69 channels. HD channels include NBC, Fox, CW, CBS, PBS, MYTV, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, DIS, NBC UNIV, HDNET, HDNET Movies, HBO.
There is also a small 'bar area' (for lack of a better term), which has a sink, an open area underneath it (maybe where a mini-bar used to be??), a small dorm-size mini-fridge underneathand a single-cup coffee/tea maker, w/ the coffee/tea bags provided & the mixings. Also, w/ the coffee/tea maker you use the cardboard cup provided, and put the coffee/tea bags into the cup & not the machine, so you don't get the 'coffee taste' that you sometimes do when making tea, when a coffeemaker has the thingy that you put the coffee bag in that the water then strains through (I don't drink coffee, so hope someone who does know's what I mean when I say thingy). There is in-room bottled water available for $3.50/bottle.
Plenty of hangers in the closet (Marriott seems to do this right, unlike Hilton). Hairdryer is on a shelf underneath the sink or in the closet. Shampoo, conditioner, body lotion provided. No shower cap, though, which I needed a few times & then kept forgetting to ask about at the front desk. Bedroom has a large chest of drawers w/ 4 full-size drawers, plus there are night stands w/ additional storage, and you could probably use the shelf underneath the sink too. There are extra pillows/blankets in the closet.
They deliver newspapers to the room for elites; a vanishing service! USA Today during the week & the local paper on the weekend.
There is room service, which I've ordered from a few times over the years. The prices seemed to match the prices in the restaurant with the exception of a few items. There's an automatic 20% service charge, which evidently includes a tip and any delivery fee. So all you have to do is sign the bill.
cafe 325 is open 6:30am - 10:00pm. Breakfast on weekends is from 6:30am-12pm, and on weekdays from 6:30am-11:00am. Lunch is 11:00am-5:00pm. Dinner is 5:00pm-10:00pm.
The bar/restaurant is larger/more tables post-renovation. It's quite nice & full service. You can order appetizers or even a full meal in the bar.
And this is pretty cool - they have a 8-chair communal table w/ 8 electrical outlets on the surface, so you could work on your laptop & not have to look around for an outlet. I can see some of the geeks in for the convention taking advantage of that this week; laptops open next to the scrambled eggs!
The bkfst offerings here are full brekkie or buffet. Quite extensive. Waitress asks for room number or if you're 'on the list'. If you answer the latter, when the bill arrives it's marked 'elite - breakfast included' & you just sign. This is for Golds & Platinums. So my bill was only the tip each day. Some don't, but I chose to tip. That's a to each their own. Waitress brings you juice, coffee, etc, which is why I tip.
The breakfast offerings were Good Start Brekkie or All American Brekkie, GS Buffet, AA Buffet - and they'll do omelettes and eggs to order if you don't want the scrambled eggs from the buffets. On the menu they had 3-egg omelettes. They also had some signature dishes, and then specialties, such as stuffed french toast, eggs benedict, steak & eggs, etc. The FIT part had 3 offerings: carb conscious, low cholesterol, and low fat items. Buffet had corn beef hash, sausage/biscuit/gravy, bacon, sausage, potatoes, bagels, toast, pastries, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, whole fresh fruit, cut fresh fruit, yogurts, lox w/ all the trimmings, cereal, juices, dif types of milk, and a few other things I forgot. I went for the buffet each day just due to speed/having to be at the convention center, but I saw some of the cooked to order omelettes & they looked fabulous. If I had time I'd do those instead of the buffet scrambled eggs.
The business center has 3 terminals & printers for use. It's actually an alcove off the side of the lobby seating area (around the corner from it - before the bathrooms & health club). Computers have USB slots, which came in handy when I needed to print out a word document. The computer screens are mounted on the wall & are touch-screen; USB port is on the side of the monitor.
In the lobby area near the hostess stand, here's a huge container of water w/ lemon slices in it and plastic glasses if you want water.
I didn't use the pool, but looks like a nice pool area. I did briefly look at the health club & it looked like everything was there that one would need for a good work-out. My original intent was to use it, but after walking a few miles/day on the convention floor that didn't happen. I think the health club is also 24/7 with a key.
If you stay at this property, ask for a room on the Wynn side of the building. You'll get a view of the Wynn golf course - not quite as great as one from the Ren & definitely better on the higher floors, but still a decent view. If you're on the other side (which I was the first year), you get a view of a LVCC parking lot & a lot of tall buildings just past it - not quite the same.
I didn't have a car, but there is parking onsite. Parking is free.
The convention center complex is quite large (I think it's 2million sq ft) and the Renaissance is literally next to the South Hall. The Marriott is 1/2 block from the North Hall. I've not taken the monorail in years. But for those who do, the pick-up spot is a bit closer to the Ren than the Marriott but not a huge overall difference, as it's in the middle of the conv ctr parking lot between the two properties. Probably the biggest difference is time, because to go from the Marriott you have to cross the street & they've got long lights, whereas the Ren you don't.
If you don't do the monorail to the strip & don't have a car, you have the option of cab or walking a long block up to the strip & then catching the "Deuce" bus that runs the length of the strip.
On the top floor there are meeting rooms & a reception area if someone needs to hold meetings at the hotel.
The hotel does not have a casino, which I like. For one thing, it means it takes about 90 seconds to get from the front door to your room. The other is you don't have to listen to the ding-dings of the slot machines in the morning.
There is an Italian restaurant literally next door to the hotel: Piero's. Quite good Italian, seafood, wine, and piano bar, but pricy. I didn't eat there this time, but have in the past.
I definitely recommend this property. BTW - it's actually a Marriott-owned property; not a franchise.
Cheers.