LIH Prem

Has anybody tried the Marriott, Walnut Creek, CA?

Thanks,
David

youngflya

I've been there. Pretty convenient location (walking distance to the SF subway system). Get on the conceirge floor (6th) which can only be accessed through a elevator code. And ask nicely for a breakfast buffet coupon (lobby restaurant). The buffet is actually quite good with lots of hot breakfast foods. Parking costs not to bad, I think 6 dollars to self-park. But you can also park in the adjacent parking lots (I think there is an IKON Office supplies building) as long as you are discrete. Rooms are typical marriott.

Paul19

I've been there, too, and in fact used to live in W.C., but that's another story.

The hotel is nice, not incredibly updated, but I remember the service being wonderful. You're also about a 5-min walk from downtown W.C., and there are scores of restaurants to choose from. I highly recommend La Ultima, a simple but charming New Mexican place in downtown...it's probably my wife's favorite restaurant anywhere!

Also, the self-park was free, I seem to remember, but that was back in May 99, so things may have changed.

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sfpaul900

I live in San Francisco. Just a word of warning..the subways to Walnut Creek (BART) stops running shortly past midnight so if you're heading into the city for a night of clubbing, act like Cinderella and get to the station by midnight or it will be an expensive cab ride back.
Paul

LIH Prem

Thanks all .. I booked it.

randomman

Any recent experiences? I'm checking in Monday night, 9/12/05.

Thanks!

Randomman

tanda_raho

i am pretty sure they opened a new renaissance out by walnut creek within the last month, but I cant pull it up on the marriott website. Does anyone know about this? you can see it from the bart as you go to walnut creek

tom911

There's a Renaissance Club Sport across from the Pleasant Hill BART station (though probably technically in Walnut Creek). I have friends that have a membership in the Club Sport part there.
http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/OAKBR

SkiAdcock

Saw this in an article:

'The Walnut Creek Marriott, located in Northern California’s East Bay, has completed a multi-year, $14 million renovation.

As guests enter the property, they walk through the Marriott Great Room to the front desk for check-in, or to the lounge and lobby bar. The property also has the Concierge Lounge, which has flatscreen TVs and business terminals.

The hotel’s 342 guestrooms were completely redone in a loft-style update that included the installation of designer plank flooring, lighting, furniture and soft goods. Each room has a 49-inch LG flatscreen TV with Enseo technology to access apps like Netflix and YouTube.For dining, the hotel’s A’Trio restaurant was turned into a Baja California fusion concept, overseen by executive chef Francisco Serrano."

darthbimmer

I took a look through the pictures on the website. The renovated rooms look nice. As for the all-important question "Do they still have desks?" it looks like they do but they're narrow consoles that integrate the dresser drawers and TV stands.

ryw

Just stayed there this weekend in a renovated room - the plank floors are nice! (And there's live music in the hotel restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights).

Update on the desk: There was a desk but that was built into the dresser/wall unit that spans the whole wall. The left third of the unit is a bench at a height that can be used as a luggage rack (as there was no folding luggage rack in the room), the middle third is dresser drawers with a countertop (and the TV mounted to the wall), and the right third is a desk. I'd say it was about 20 inches deep, so big enough for me to work on my laptop and have some papers out. I'll say I was impressed with the number of outlets - multiple electrical and USB outlets at the desk and on each night stand.

My drawback is with the design is that the room lamps used a very white LED bulbs, and that's just my personal preference for softer lightbulbs.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

cawhite

I've had 4-5 stays here over the past 5 months and really appreciate this property. My favorite part about this property? Hands down, it's the employees. They have been fantastic, especially the front desk agents and food/beverage employees, and they're a key reason I keep booking this property over one that's only 5 minutes from our East Bay office (this property is a 20 minute drive).

The quoted poster hits the room description pretty much on the nail head. I would add there is a mini-fridge located between the 3 dresser drawers and the luggage rack/bench. Additionally, in the standard rooms, there is a built-in sofa that spans the width of the room under the windows. It should also be noted the door to the bathroom is a frosted glass door that slides back & forth over the closet area (which does include an iron & ironing board) or the bathroom entry. I'm also not a fan of the very bright LED lightbulbs used in these rooms.

PLT upgrades are typically to the Concierge Lounge (either 6th floor room or a room on other floors with access to the lounge). During one of my weekend stays late last year, the Concierge Lounge was not open for breakfast and PLTs received the full breakfast buffet in the restaurant; since that stay the CL has been open on the weekends during my visits so that trip may have been a one-off instance. This past weekend one of the front desk agents offered breakfast in the restaurant over the lounge. Lounge breakfast offerings include an egg dish (generally scrambled, sometimes also a breakfast burrito or something similar), bacon and/or sausage, breakfast potatoes, hot oatmeal, fresh fruit (cut pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe, strawberries), cereal and bread/pastries. (It's been a few months since I've been there in the evenings during open hours so I can't comment on the evening lounge spread.)

As mentioned in a previous post, it's certainly walkable to the WC BART station. Additionally the property has a shuttle that will run you within a 3 mile radius. Valet parking is $25/night and no self-parking option except on neighboring streets.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

bocastephen

Just had another stay at this property last week. As alluded to above, the staff here is really outstanding, super helpful and very friendly.

No upgrade, but I didn't ask for anything except being switched from two doubles to a king bed room, taken care of via mobile chat.

Lounge was closed, but elite members have free buffet breakfast in the restaurant, and $10 per stay per person to use for F+B outside of breakfast (can be used in the tuck shop to buy snacks and sundries)

Parking was definitely an issue, but the FD agent told us about the "secret" (it was somewhat hidden by a bus) EV charging stations, which worked out perfectly to keep our Model Y charged for the next morning.

Rooms are somewhat updated with vinyl plank flooring which is easy to sanitize and keep clean, but are somewhat dark due to the coloring.

One downside was the breakfast buffet. While not overly limited, there were some quality issues, along with a lack of supervision of customers taking back dirty plates to re-serve themselves. The eggs were, shall we say, reminiscent of a certain Dr. Seuss story about green eggs and ham - literally - and the meat chafing dish was not kept at the correct temperature for safety.