Memphis Marriotts
 

We are thinking about going to Memphis and would appreciate any information about the 2 Full Service Marriotts.

i was there for the NCAA regional bball finals last year
stayed at marriott by the airport,as the downtown was booked

room was fine
but the desk clerks were inept
and it took them a week to find put what an EEO cert is

I've stayed at the Memphis East (near airport & Germantown) quite a few times including a stay coming up in November. Very popular with the business travel (5 floors of conceirge). Don't recommend it unless you are in that part of town. This Marriott has the tallest fence I've seen around the whole property including locked gates after about 10:00 pm. The rooms have not seen a renovation to the newer style (other than beds).

The downtown location is more central to the tourist places also.

Feel free to ping back with any questions.

I've stayed at the Marriott near the airport several times this year and actually like it quite a bit. The staff is always very friendly and welcoming, and I've always been given coupons to take my breakfast in the restaurant rather than in the lounge.

As the above poster indicated, the area around the hotel is a little bit sketchy and there isn't much going on. I've never felt unsafe on the hotel grounds, but there is little to do in the area.

I've never stayed at the downtown location as it's not convenient to my workplace, but I do like everything about the Marriott Memphis East except for the surrounding area.

I stayed at the downtown Memphis Marriott last week funny enough. The services were great! I had one of their best cookies from their conceige lounge, but who knew such a little cookie could attract ants crawling to the 18th floor at this nice 4 star hotel. I asked to switch to a different room and took awhile to settle into the new room. The next morning there was a bill for 2x drinks from the conceige lounge. Of course it's a mix up, but instead of saying :"hey we are sorry about the ants infestation in your room and have a drink on us" they just assumed the other hotel guest's bill belonged to me. The next morning when I checked out there was no apology or any follow up to make up for the visit from the ants.

Coincidentally, I stayed at the Marriott Memphis (by thousands Oaks st, close to Germantown I guess) a week prior to my trip. That hotel was a bit further out from town but their services were good. They had charged me two internet bills but when they adjusted my bill they even waived the charge. I'd like to go back to that one instead of the downtown one.

I stayed at the downtown Memphis location once. I thought the property was very nice, and I liked the location. Sadly, the concierge could not recommend any Memphis BBQ places, they kept referring me to chains.

I also got treated really badly by a desk staff member when my key stopped working. She read me the riot saying I should not put it near my cell phone and complained about how much work it was to reprogram. I think this is isolated, and would not worry too much about it, I just found it very odd. She couldn't have been more than 18. Other than that, everything was great, its a perfect example of an FS Marriott.

My wife worked in Memphis for a year, so I spent a lot of time there, if you want to know the best BBQ place in town, PM me and ill let you know. And I know this is the Marriott Forum, but I have to mention I loved staying at the Peabody. Amazing hotel. Treated me like a Marriott Platinum every time I stayed, and I don't even think they have a rewards program, but they do have ducks. They treat everyone like that. And their prices were not very different than the Marriott.

I personally don't like the Germantown location, to far from the city, but if you will be working near German Town, its much closer, probably a better bet. Its a long drive during rush hour.

Thank you for your replys. We are going just to be going-not on business. We are going with another couple and want to do the "tourist" and barbecue route. We thought of the Marriott on Thousand Oaks since they have free parking and lower rates (although we'll be using an EEO),but I was a little nervous since I had read some posts on another site that the property was dirty and unfriendly. We really just plan to use it to sleep since we'll be site seeing during the day.

Stay Downtown
 

I have stayed at the downtown property many times without problems and I really like it. Standard FS property, typical lounge. Good city views. Just outside you can catch the very old wooden trolleys that have been modified to run in a modern city. They cost like $1 per person per trip and will take you a mile or so to the sites. You will be right by Rendezvous Ribs which is awesome. They are located in an alley, so they are hard to miss. They are right by the old Peabody hotel, which is cool to see the ducks they parade through the lobby twice a day. Great triple A baseball park, but that wont be playing this time of year. Gibson guitar factory is there for a tour and the Memphis Fire Museum is one of the premiere in the country. Then you have Biel street and all the blues music you can handle. I would recommend staying there for a leisure trip. MC

If you plan to spend most of your time downtown, then I'd stay downtown (although Beale Street is a trolley ride). I'm not knocking the other one, it just means you need to drive, find parking, etc.
I'd also consider the Residence Inn downtown, it's fairly new and much closer to Beale.

Given the choice between the two
 

Stay at the downtown location. Airport hotel area is just not a real good area and there is more to do downtown anyway like beal street, stadium, etc, etc...

Stay downtown and go to Rendezvous Ribs -- just ask any local and they will point you in the right direction. No need to rent a car/park if you stay downtown -- you can take taxis.

Update on our Memphis Marriott East stay
 

We decided to stay at the Memphis Marriott East. We had a car and decided that the Free Parking and lower rate was a plus.

We were a little hesitant to stay here because of some reviews we had read elsewhere, however our whole visit was great. When we arrived we were greeted and made to feel welcome. We were upgraded (Platinum benefit) to the Concierge level and given breakfast coupons for each morning. Our friends who are Silver also received the breakfast coupons and were upgraded to Concierge Level. Surprisingly, the coupons were were given included coupons for Friday morning even though the Concierge Lounge was open that morning. The General Manager came over to us as we were checking in to welcome us. The rooms were clean, quiet and well appointed (new bedding but old style tv's) and the amenities included mouthwash and a sewing kit). This property doesn't seem to have cut back.

The evening offerings in the Lounge included a hot offering plus cheese, fruit and crackers. There were regular size bottles of water both in the Lounge and in our rooms. Soft drinks were canned (I know that some Lounges have gone to drink machines) At 7:30 dessert was put out (Tiramisu and cookies the night we were there) and the food both times was replenished so that if you went to the Lounge an hour after it was put out there was still food there. Even though we had breakfast coupons I peeked in the Lounge to see Breakfast offerings and there was Oatmeal, a coldcut/cheese tray as well as the typical pastry, toast and cold cereal offerings.

The first evening when we told the bellman that we were going to Corky's for barbecue he offered to drive us in the Marriott van. We thanked him but drove ourselves (the parking lot at the restaurant was so crowded that we should have let him drive us).

One evening we came back from dinner and wanted to get dessert in the restaurant. The restaurant had already closed, but the restaurant manager told us "no problem"' and let us order dessert and coffee.

There is a large parking lot and the Free parking was a plus. We would definitely stay here again. The entire staff was very helpful with restaurant and area information.

I know this thread is a little old, but it seems an appropriate place to post my recent experience. We spent a long weekend in Memphis last month and stayed at the new(ish) downtown Courtyard. I can safely say that I got the best service there of any hotel I have ever stayed at - and I have stayed at regular Marriotts, Four Seasons, Fairmonts, etc. It is simply wonderful.

The rooms are very nice, much like a regular Marriott in my opinion. The location is great, just a few blocks from Beale Street and right by a trolley stop.

We spent a good amount of time in the "Bistro" because it was a comfy place to lounge around and they had free wifi available (We often like to just sit in a cozy place and surf around online and relax). By the second day there, they knew who we were, what drinks we were going to order, and what we might want for breakfast. They brought coffee refills and came by to see if we wanted another beer later in the day.

The front desk offered to call us a car to get to the airport, and when the car came early (like 10-15 minutes), called our room to let us know. They asked several times if there was more they could do for us.

I was going to write a letter to the manager of the property, but in the meantime, Marriott sent me an email survey, which I filled out in considerable detail, with names of the people who were so helpful. (Maybe I should write a letter as well; I don't know).

We can't wait to return to Memphis and stay there again. Highly recommended.

Word to the wise re: Airport-area Marriott in MEM
 

Just FYI to those who might consider the MEM airport location:
I had a very nice room on the Concierge level back a couple of years ago when I was stranded for a night in MEM unexpectedly. I chose that property over others available nearer the airport and charging less $$ strictly because I needed a good night's sleep and "knew" I would get that at the full-service hotel with the great Marriott bed.
All was fine until bedtime when I crawled into the beautiful bed and discovered it had a crater in the middle where the mattress had evidently broken down. It was like sleeping in a trench, or else like sleeping on the side of a hill , depending on the position. Very uncomfortable and very frustrating, given the circumstances. Certainly not what I would expect at a full-service Marriott on the Concierge level.
Hopefully this had been corrected by now, but it might not hurt to check out your mattress before unpacking and settling in at that location.

My two cents....

I get into Memphis a couple of times each year, most recently just this past weekend.

I stayed at the downtown Marriott a few years back just after it converted from having been a Sheraton. A number of issues during my stay, but I chalked it up to the fact that they were essentially in transition. I've not stayed at the Airport Marriott, although a gal I went to high school with has worked there for years and keeps asking me to give it a try.

Most recently, I've been staying at the CY in Southaven (just across the state line in Mississippi). Good property, but this past weekend I was staying on points and it wasn't available, so I went with the Fairfield up the street. Big mistake/multiple problems. I won't elaborate other than to say it wound up being one of my worst-ever experiences with a Marriott-branded hotel. That said, it could've been they were just having a bad night. Anyway, I like the area because it's just off the freeway with loads of restaurants, etc. nearby. There's also an RI next door.

I've also stayed recently in the Galleria area off I-40 east of town. Also loads of restaurants. A little more upscale selection than the ones in Southaven, plus a major shopping mall. There's a good SHS and Fairfield right next door to each other (within walking distance of a couple of restaurants).

I've also stayed at a couple of older properties closer in on the East side of town. A couple of Courtyards, a Fairfield, and an RI. No problems with any of them, but I wasn't particularly impressed, either.