2 night stay. I'm pleasantly surprised by this, as my general perception of the Marriott brand is, well, uber blandness.

The location is very central, and late at night a couple of the streets are pretty lively though all seems perfectly safe. The hotel has had a recent, deep, refurb and looks really smart with some nice finishes, plenty of colour and a number of period features well looked after. This Plat was upgraded to an exec room, which is pretty big, freshly refurbished and a comfy bed. Shame they have kept the shower over bath, it's much nicer when hotels remove pointless baths and provide a walk in shower but I can't have everything.

Exec lounge is in an unusual location in the foyer, but well segregated. Breakfast is available in here, and had a decent selection of hot stuff, breads, pastries and the usual limited fruit selection. There is booze for 4 hours in the evening and snacks for 2 hours as well. Not made it to those on this visit.

Notably friendly and helpful staff too. Having previously stayed at the Doubletree, the Marriott will be my new go to. It feels more a like a big city hotel than a bland cookie cutter box or the usual, faintly depressing, UK provincial hotel.