CMK10

Birmingham Marriott - Stay Report 12/16 - 12/17

Location: The hotel is not located in Downtown Birmingham but instead a few miles east of the city by the intersection of US 280 and I-459. Nearby are a number of other hotels and chain restaurants, bars and stores including a Trader Joes. Downtown Birmingham is an easy 15 minute drive and BHM is about the same.



Hotel: The hotel has undergone a recent renovation. While the outside still looks a bit 1980s style Marriott the inside is very nice. The parking lot is large, there's a bar/restaurant in the lobby, 24 hour fitness center, indoor pool and best of all, a M Life Lounge that's open on the weekends! While it's a little small, I was surprised but happy to find that.









Check In: A little mixed. Not much in the way of Gold recognition and I had to ask about whether the lounge was open and the agent didn't know but on the other hand he was friendly.

Room: A good example of the new style Marriott rooms. Comfortable bed, work area, chaise lounge, huge smart TV, good sized bathroom with excellent shower. Wifi worked well too.







Lounge: It has a wine machine which has some free pours and when I popped in at 7:30 PM there were cookies and brownies out as well as gummi bears and popcorn. For breakfast they had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, breads, cereal and fruit. However, the food was not refilled much which was a negative.







This hotel works well for Birmingham and can be had for $87 on weekends. I'd be back.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update w/ pics. Much appreciated.

Cheers

Xeno

I just called this hotel about a possible stay in the next week. The lounge is closed, but the restaurant is open. Elite get points and no voucher for breakfast.
I am trying to decide between this Marriott and the Westin in Birmingham. Nothing is open in the Westin so I wonder what it is like walking to the three restaurants near the hotel?
The Marriott has a better rate, but stipulates the reservation cannot be cancelled 7 days out. The Westin has a simple 24 hour policy.

Mr. BoH

The Westin is a nice property, and there are 3-4 restaurants right across the street (easy walk).

If you want to stay closer to downtown, The Elyton (Autograph Collection) is a great choice - best Bonvoy property in Birmingham IMO, unless you want to stay out at the Grand Bohemian.

Note I have not stayed at either post-covid, so I don't know what is open.

Xeno

Up until I sent a screenshot to my wife yesterday, I had a reservation to stay at the Birmingham Marriott on this Saturday.
When I checked at 5:30 am this morning, the reservation showed as “in progress”. The agent who answered my call at 6 am said maybe the problem was that I did the normal two—day prior to arrival ‘check-in’. What???
She said accounting would call me. I drove a few hundred miles today then called again. Well, accounting was called and may have been too busy to help as they leave early for the holiday weekend.
I insist on talking to a manger and after however many minutes, I am talking to the HR department. I forget how much phone time was involved but finally it seems like I was not actually charged last night and the note about me owing $48x was removed, and my original reservation has been restored.

Any theories on whether this was an IT glitch or an in-house agent who changed my original dates?

Xeno

I finally made it to the Birmingham Marriott. I like the hotel even though one has to ask for soap, etc., + cups (no glasses) and the like. I was given a wonderful room and very much enjoy the lunch earlier today. The lounge is closed, but the bar is doubling as a limited menu restaurant.

Xeno

Does anyone know if the lounge at the Birmingham Sheraton is up and running? I have a reservation and the app does not answer this question.

I also saw a post on TripAdvisor that the hotel was charging $35 for overnight parking. I know a nearby RI charges $10, but $35?

factory81

I was surprised to see the Westin reviewed so poorly. We booked a room on points for 31k, but noticed the Sheraton is now available for less.

I look up the Sheraton - and its just as bad. What’s the deal? Where should we stay in downtown Birmingham? Why do Marriott franchises in Birmingham look to be poorly managed and maintained? Does the same management company own both of these hotels?

Based on the reviews, the hotels look to be massively understaffed in both housekeeping and staff to check people in. I can’t remember the last time I’ve looked at a set of hotels that reviewed so poorly, so consistently. It almost seems like every room has issues. The issues are pretty significant - stuck in elevator, 30 minute+ check-in, mold in the showers, blood on the sheets, dirty pillow cases, hair in between the sheets, no daily housekeeping, rooms without toilet paper, rooms not ready at 4:00 PM, and on and on this can go. The cleaning issues seem to require blatant disregard or the staff literally not even vacuuming or changing the sheets.

If at least 50% of the recent reviews were positive, I’d probably have less reservations about either of the hotels. For both of these hotels, maybe 20-30% of recent reviews are positive (at best), and that negative trend continues as you go further back.

Hopefully some of ya have answers.

KRSW

That's par for the course for Marriott these days, not just in Birmingham, but many cities. Even "new" Marriott properties have similar reviews. Sadly, all very fixable for minimal expense, but the hotel owners got greedy, and corporate doesn't care. They learned they could say "Because of COVID" for any cost-cutting (greed) and service deficiencies. When the lockdowns stopped, they continued with their greedy ways.

ElevatorEnthusiast

Random ranting about the general state of Marriott with no specific examples aside - to the OP, I've found that mid-sized US cities often struggled with staff quality as well as cleanliness standards. You're absolutely right that properties where less than 50 percent of reviews are positive fall outside of the norm, and hotel ownership should take a hard look at what it takes to maintain their investment and up-skill / motivate / adequately compensate their staff.

arlflyer

These properties are in the sweet spot of being ones that have to do exactly nothing to drive and retain customers. Who is going to be in Birmingham and looking to stay at a Westin or Sheraton? Someone who has to be in Birmingham and doesn't have a choice, that's who. Whatever consultants, attorneys, auditors, etc. need to be in-town, downtown, and in company travel policy, and who are inseparably wedded to MR no matter what the program does to try to lose their loyalty, will be drawn to these places like moths to a light. The properties just sit back and collect the revenue. And so it goes throughout mid-size cities all over the country.

DELee

TBH, exactly like the Hilton properties in and around Baltimore.

David

arlflyer

This dynamic exists in basically any city where 1) there is business travel, 2) there is a major chain presence, and 3) the highest level of brand representation is mid-tier full-service (Westin, Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott).

DELee

Don't disagree but at least in Baltimore the Marriott hotels are not phoning it in as badly as the Hilton ones are 'tho I can personally cite a few that are similarly crummy.

David

The Road Goes On Forever

Fwiw, I believe both properties are owned and managed by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Authority.

I hear you and you're right, but the things you mentioned above are fantasy and irrelevant to most owners and/or management companies. They all cost money and the hospitality industry as a whole has a very, very long track record of treating their staffs as disposable. The motto is basically strip mine it to the bottom line. It's not going to change on that front because basically everyone does it whether you are working for a corporately managed property to a large franchisee owner with hundreds of properties across twenty brands or it's the Smith family that owns a singular FFI. Sad but true.