FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Residence Inn Norfolk Downtown, VA [Master Thread]
Old Sep 10, 2020, 11:41 am
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Marriott Bonvoy Lurker
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Originally Posted by River in Sight
Just completed a four night stay here as a base for visiting Virginia Beach - as the oceanfront itself is fairly crowded and many of the hotels have been getting hammered in reviews, we decided to avoid the Oceanfront.

We booked and received a one-bedroom queen/queen room.
  • The room was very clean and everything in good condition, along with the assortment of plates and cups typical for an RI
  • No housekeeping, but fresh towels/etc. were promptly brought up
  • Breakfast consists of granola bars, instant oatmeal packets, orange juice, yogurt, and whole fruit. I didn't eat it at all, instead we made breakfast sandwiches in the room.
  • We easily found street parking and didn't bother paying for the garage
A couple of minor points:
  1. The room didn't seem particularly well noise-insulated. The light rail dinging woke my wife up once it started service, and there also seemed to be a variety of other noises coming from the street & parking garage across the way. We did run a white noise app the 2nd night, but it was still fairly easy to hear noise outside.
  2. The staff didn't seem especially interested in following or enforcing any social distancing regulations. For example:
  • The elevators had signs limiting occupancy to one family, or two individuals; when my family of three was on the elevator, a housekeeper barged on with no mask in sight.
  • In general, the staff were very mixed in whether they were wearing masks properly or at all
  • I'd say the customers were about 50/50 in wearing masks and the hotel didn't do anything to enforce it
So as a result, I personally would not go back to the hotel until the current situation has passed. We did enjoy walking around the Ghent neighborhood just north of the hotel, and for beer lovers there are several options within 1.5 miles or so: Veil Brewing has an outpost nearby, we went to Maker's Craft Brewing twice - which has a HUGE outdoor area with plenty of seats for your takeout or food truck food, and of course O'Connor's which also has a nice outdoor area setup.

Hello River,

I'm concerned to hear that the staff at this hotel wasn't following the corporate mandated COVID-19 guidelines. I'm going to follow up with the hotel's executive management, but if you'd like them to contact you regarding this lapse as well, please feel free to send a Private Message with your full name, reservation confirmation number, and contact information.


Thanks,

Robert V.
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