SkiAdcock

Saw that Marriott is opening a CY here in 2016. Is this the first Marriott property in the country?

http://news.marriott.com/2014/11/gua...ott-hotel.html

"Marriott International announced today plans to open the first Courtyard by Marriott brand hotel in the bustling Guatemala City.

The 147-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel, scheduled to open in 2016, will be located in the middle of Guatemala City’s Zona 10, also known as Zona Viva, an area known for leisure and business travel.

The new hotel in Guatemala will be a significant milestone in our rapid expansion across Central America," said Craig S. Smith, President of the Caribbean & Latin America at Marriott International. "The property will feature a modern, functional design while embracing Guatemala's vibrant culture and the amenities travelers trust from our globally renowned Marriott International brands."

Laurent De Kousemaeker, Chief Development Officer, Caribbean & Latin America, Marriott International. “Guatemala City is known for its large presence of multinational corporations, making the hotel’s central location an excellent option for the modern business traveler.”

SkyTeam777

I stayed there before I was a Platinum Premier and am curious to know if anyone has stayed here recently. Any out-of-the-ordinary perks like welcome gifts? I remember this Courtyard was more like a full-service Marriott with its setup and amenities. Looks like they have a free airport shuttle with advance notice. Does anyone have an email for the hotel?

SanDiego1K

I have the same questions as above.

krazykanuck

So in answer to some of these questions, I am wrapping up 2 one night stays here. First to the shuttle. Per the front desk it is NOT free and is $10/pp. It runs every hour from the hotel on the :15 starting from 4:15 am. I didn't ask what time it left the airport, though I think :30 is probably reasonable given how close the airport is. That being said I don't know why you'd bother taking the shuttle. As of current fares, an Uber from GUA to the hotel costs about $2.50, I'd know since that's how I got here. As for welcome gifts, I stayed as a Gold BONVoYer and got a pre-packaged cookie in my room.

My room the first stay had a larger bathroom and a walk in shower vs. the second one which is your standard bath shower, though I think they just gave me what was available on the second stay since I asked to check in at 9 am. They graciously agreed! One oddity, at least to me, is they bothered to build balconies but didn't put any furniture out there. So there is a nice 3 ft by 8 ft balcony that I can go stand on! All the staff have been great and the rates here were very good. Normally I'd have stayed at the HGI that is close, but I had a double elite night credit promo on my account and I'm trying to claw back to Plat, so there's that incentive. Overall it's a really nice property for being a Courtyard.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the review. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

kabroui

Not much activity post-covid on this thread so I thought I would add my recent experience here. I travel to Guatemala 6 or 7 times a year and had started to stay at the Courtyard as my regular hotel since it opened, but my last visit will indeed be my last visit and I have moved my business to the Hyatt Centric.

My stay last fall at the CY was meh... I pretty much expected the scaled back level of service at the bar/restaurant and at the hotel in general so I gave it a pass. Fast forward several months later as things are opening up, my next stay was just a thumbs down in pretty much every aspect.

It started before I even got to the hotel. I had called to arrange transport from La Aurora to the hotel (not complimentary) and when I arrived there was no sign of my ride, no answer when I called the hotel, so after waiting around for an hour, I grabbed a taxi... I know it's not that far but really, the hotel totally dropped the ball. Not only that, they didn't remove the charge from my bill and I had to argue about that when I checked out.

Next up, my friend stopped by to have a drink with me one late afternoon, and tried to park his vehicle in the parking garage and the attendant was just downright abusive to him. Badgered him about parking there, accused him of not really knowing anyone there at the hotel, escorted him to the front desk, forced him to provide ID to the FDC, and was just generally belligerent and annoying. I finally got downstairs to intervene and he was equally as nasty to me. The FDC just shrugged his shoulders and no apologies from anyone.

Also, and perhaps this is different depending on which direction your room faces, things can get quite loud. HC has Thursday night live entertainment at their roof level outdoor lounge (which ironically you can't really hear when you are staying at the HC) which is a bit loud and there are several local DJ bars close by on the weekends that are VERY loud. There doesn't seem to be much soundproofing at the CY to stop this and you will get to listen to it until past midnight.

The restaurant/bar situation at CY was mediocre at best. The breakfast buffet was sparse and the bar was pretty much shut down before 8pm every night. The FD provided certificates for daily food/bev credit of which two weren't applied to final bill and needed resolution at check-out. In general it was pretty obvious the hotel was really trying to cut back on staffing with a corresponding reduction in service levels.

The hotel offers to arrange a COVID test which I request but they were over an hour late. Probably not the hotels problem, but just added to my overall frustration.

In any event, the rooms are fresh and they honored my Suite upgrade request so at least there was that. But compared to my recent stay at the Hyatt Centric, with a full spread breakfast buffet, solid restaurant option, free airport transit (for Globalist), equally nice rooms, and an extremely friendly and helpful staff, I don't have much reason to go back to the Courtyard.