Courtyard is an interesting brand. As flyerCO mentioned, outside of the U.S. it is common to see restaurants and in some cases a Courtyard can be a high-end hotel. For example, Courtyard Taipei is a very nice 5-star hotel with multiple restaurants and a club lounge, it would be right at home alongside any of the Premium Marriott brand hotels. Courtyard is the most inconsistent Marriott brand I've stayed at. Granted, I've only stayed at 1% of Courtyard hotels so my sample may not be representative. I assume there's a reason it's the brand chosen for these hotels, perhaps due to proximity to hotels from other Marriott brands that have exclusivity? I'm doubtful of that, though, because I've stayed at multiple Courtyards in the same city where the quality difference was notable.