March/April update on the Marriott Centerpoint in Auburn Hills/Pontiac/Bloomfield Hills.

All 11 floors are now 100% renovated, including suites. M Club lounge offerings have declined since the the lounge opened a year ago, despite this property monetizing access to non-elite guests. While the property has a handy card at check-in with hours, they don't disclose on Marriott's website that only breakfast is served Friday-Sunday. I consider that deceptive, especially guests are paying for continuous food and beverage service.

Lounge was closed both during the week leading up to Good Friday and the Easter weekend. No choice of breakfast or points, just breakfast in the restaurant. I mentioned this to the front desk. Apparently, the restaurant manager made the decision to close the lounge without telling the front desk. The front desk didn't know.

I actually think the restaurant buffet is worse than the lounge buffet, at least the cold items and juices. For example, the lounge buffet has smoothies and fresh yogurt parfaits, but the restaurant buffet doesn't. Also, the lounge buffet has Okios greek yogurt but the restaurant buffet just has regular yogurt. Lounge remained open for beverages, but nothing was replenished. Only cans of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mug and Diet Mug remained. The water bottles and cans of Diet Pepsi were long gone.

The property has suites, but as I mentioned in another thread it doesn't list its suites through Marriott's booking channels. I was told only 15 other guests were in the hotel when I stayed but supposedly none of the suites were available for an upgrade. I find that hard to believe, but whatever. I was, however, told the paid rate for a suite was $175.

Two stacks of Wall Street Journal, including weekend edition, in lobby.

This property really struggles with Marriott's mobile application. Getting a response as well as getting the request fulfilled took between 3 and 5 hours on three separate occasions. The property has bathrobes, but no slippers. They also don't have the Marriott dental kits or mouthwash.

The hotel has a shuttle van, but I always forget to ask how far it goes without charging. It's about 5-7 minutes by car to the nearest Target, for example. The immediate area around the hotel is mostly a ghost town with empty or half-empty strip malls and vacant office parks. I-75 is 1-minute away. It takes about 20 minutes to get to downtown Detroit without traffic.

One thing that surprised me is the wear-and-tear in the rooms. The top floors weren't finished with renovation until December. Some of the carpet was already fraying, wallpaper had stains on it, and the shower had grime built up. The polished aluminum bathroom fixtures show any water stains. Housekeeping seems to be slacking as it looked like the room hadn't had a deep clean -- let alone a dusting -- since the room was finished a couple months ago. Also, housekeeping didn't replace the bottle of water, coffee, or the floor mat in the bathroom. The sheets used by the hotel don't cover the mattress (see below).




Actually, I noticed this throughout the hotel. I don't know if management has changed or everyone was given a couple days off but nothing was clean. The trash in the gym wasn't emptied for two days. The towel bin was overflowing. The lounge beverages weren't replenished (not even the milk in the self-serve coffee machine) and trash bins were full. Wet floor signs stayed up for two whole days.

The food at the restaurant was good as usual. The menu is more limited than a full-service restaurant, but the Caesar salad and salmon entree are really good. Prices for food are average, but the drink prices are absurd even by hotel standards. $12 for a cocktail. I ended up buying a bottle of wine at Target and drinking it in the lounge.

This is still the only Marriott property in Michigan with a M Club lounge. I may switch back to the Marriott Livonia when it is renovated later this year. I really hope the Marriott in Troy is renovated soon. I noticed it dropped a category for award redemptions.