flyerfmaz

It's because they do things on the cheap. One of my favorites was a room I had at a TownePlace Suites in Phoenix a couple of months ago where the toilet was loose on the floor and rocked from side to side. And another room there where the toilet was filled by HOT water because the plumber was too stupid to realize the difference between hot and cold plumbing. And the caulking was a nasty, gloppy mess. Yet another room there had bathroom drawers you couldn't open very well because they were blocked by the bathroom door frame. Seriously -- they bring in work crews at the lowest bid and then rent the rooms out at $100+ a night and call themselves a Marriott.

On the other hand, the problem can sometimes be the customers. A lot of people get hotel rooms and treat them like crap. I hear them all the time -- tossing things around, bouncing on the flloor, acting like they don't care. I'm sure that creates a maintenance problem for the hotel as well.

UncleDude

What I cannot understand is why do they not have an electric plug at the same level as The Coffee Maker. The last thing a 75 year old needs to do early in the morning is to go crawling on their hands and knees to plug in a Coffee Maker.

My other gripe is the Toilet Seat that does not stay up because the water tank is too close to the Plastic seating angle.

Finally there was a wonderful design snafu at The Westin Market Street in San Francisco. When you pushed opened the Bathroom door, the interior Lock Button hit the Shower Door Handle. Result when you closed the door it locked itself meaning you could not get back into the Bathroom again. For the first few months after opening they had some poor guy on duty 24 hours just unlocking the door from the outside until the contractor managed to fix over 300 rooms with a floor door stop.

diamantaire

Completely agree with you.
Stayed at the Renaissance in Hong Kong while they were renovating the property. I actually went down to the front desk & told me please down grade me I prefer the old rooms better & happily moved to the old rooms .

FlyerTalker7654

The answer is very simple. They want you to go to the lobby and work there, why? Because you will spend money on food and drink!!!

goodeats21

Agreed. My solution is to position the ironing board in front of the AC unit with a towel hanging off of it to block the air flow.

tucsnaz

I'm with you on this one. Will do anything I can to avoid having the AC or heat blowing right on me. It's just not comfortable.

I've re-positioned furniture, covered the vent and in the best cases the louvers can be moved to direct the air away.

It's one of the first things I check when I get into the room.

djk7

Any glass bathroom door seems like a horrible idea. Sometimes my wife accompanies me on business trips and sleeps in when I have to go in early. The bathroom door should block as much noise and light as possible.

flyerfmaz

Excellent point, hadn't thought of that. My wife also occasionally accompanies me on business travel and she sleeps in a lot longer than I do. Come to think of it, a glass bathroom door would be super-annoying.

It would appear that Marriott has some designers far more interested in flair than function. They should probably save the more far-out designs for their resort hotels, where people are more likely to think that weird is cool. As a business traveler I'm mostly interested in cleanliness, function, and space. A clean room with as much space as possible so I can set up my portable office and feel a little bit more at home.

celsius1939

Marriott is not the only hotel where you wonder if anyone who designed the room or suite ever stayed in one. We stay at Hiltons of various types.

They do have desks, but have the following problems:

Small closets
No luggage stands
Practically no drawers to place clothes
Few or no hooks or towel racks in the bathrooms
Vents are directed to hit sleepers

My wife and I have marveled at this lack of understanding of how it is to rent a room or suite. We have complained about this, but apparently, it is not cost-effective to provide simple amenities.

DenverBrian

All societies think the "sweet spot" for profit is to market to the 18-49 age group. When you age out of that group, that's when you realize that companies just don't much care about your wants or needs anymore - they've moved on. Dumb, but true.

AATrout

It would have been cool if you posted a few pics of the absent desk and other issues. Do you mean there was no desk at all, or just a small one clogged with the phone, coffee/ice bucket? I had a small desk in my room a few weeks ago with the coffee/tea/ice bucket on one side, but it also had a pullout desk on casters underneath. That worked for me. If I ever want to spread out a bunch of hard-copy files and need 5 or more feet to do it (rare) the new chairs are full height adjustable so I just spread the stuff out on the bed.

I've logged a lot of nights there and the tiny rooms -especially the bath - were very claustrophobic, so putting in a sliding door and shower in place of the solid door and tub is a huge improvement. They dumped those armoires in place of a low dresser to hold the TV and that makes it seem roomier.

Agree a luggage stand is a must - I never totally unpack a roll aboard so instead of putting it on one side of the bed, it would be better to have a stand. Closets always seemed like a void that wasted space in these small rooms. I rarely hang more than 3 or 4 garments, so a large closet seems like a waste.

I think they have done a decent job with these tiny rooms. Well, mostly.

AKDan

I also dislike the Marriott's that don't have a desk OR have a desk but don't have an office chair. Seriously, I can't work very ergonomically from a kitchen chair that isn't height adjustable! In the OP's defense I am much younger and agree with that point.


Seriously - best quote of the day. I am going to steal it from now on (being a Gen Y myself

gardener

One of the things I like best about Marriott family hotels is the luggage rack. A lot of the RI's do not have them which irks me. I will be unhappy if they disappear from the other properties.

SkiAdcock

Sorry. Disagree. If I'm paying for a FS hotel I expect things like a desk and closet etc. On biz trips I spend a LOT of time working at the desk. I don't want to look @ my clothes hanging out in the open ala motel six. The bathroom door is an issue for those not traveling by themselves. Heck we had a thread the other day where mom/son traveling together, but don't want to see THAT much of each other.

I don't think the OP pointing out issues is having a tantrum,but do agree he needs to let management know of the issues.

What I personally find amusing about Marriott following millennials around with its tongue hanging out (gen y is old hat) is that even millinnials will grow older. But every hotel chain chases after things. For a while marriott targeted the biz traveler.

Cheers

dayone

Use it as you wish but recognize that it is steeped in irony.