Staying at a Courtyard in San Antonio, I have to say I am disappointed in the bistro. I primarily stay at Courtyard week in and week out, I always thought the bistro bar was vacant more then 90% of the time. Now I know why after ordering a double crown on the rocks for $22.

I have ate dinner at a couple bistros and cannot say much more then the food was mediocre at best.

Am I the only one?

I stay at CY quite a bit but I have to say I've never tried anything (other than Starbucks) at the Bistro

I was very disappointed the one time I used the bistro. Very little choice food wise, and the booze was very expensive - even for NCY.

I much preferred the old buffet system.

I agree.

When you see the server open up a cooler drawer that contains about 50 different plastic wrapped, per-prepared sandwiches, you can only wonder, 1) how long have they been sitting there, and 2) why am I eating this.

Food is a 4 out of 10 at most.

Agree. I don't like the Bistro at all. A negative compared to the old buffet. I now actively avoid the Bistro - even breakfast at Denny's is better.

I agree, and in fact can't get my head around the CY concept at all.

I would much rather have a yogurt / fruit / etc from the breakfast spread included in the rate than pay $10 for a craptastic heat and serve processed sandwich at a CY.

I have much better stays at "lesser" properties (Fairfield, Springhills) and also find their room design much better.

For me, CY is now a booking of last resort.

The CYs before the Bistro renovation seemed to have absolutely nothing as far as food/drinks for dinner, which always motivated me to stay elsewhere. Now at CY, if I've worked a long day and don't want to go out for dinner, at least I have the option of grabbing a hot sandwich and going straight to the hotel room. And in typical Marriott fashion they even have the exact same menu at all the CYs I've stayed at from LA to NJ.

True...and in that regard the evening bar and restaurant is a definite improvement over the previous F&B options (i.e. none) at most Courtyards.

Like the others, I think the breakfast service is a step back from the old buffet.

I spent the last 17 nights at the Dunn Loring, VA Courtyard. Only reason I stayed there is proximity to the Metro. My wife spent a week there with me and I had to explain her that I get breakfast at any Marriott I stay at except Courtyard. We got breakfast sandwiches one morning and they were lousy AND overpriced. I'd rather eat my client's cafeteria...

The bar area is not particularly inviting IMO. I would never sit down and have a drink -- it just seems very odd. Kind of like it's a cross between a real bar and a retail counter which makes me feel very uncomfortable and not someplace I want to sit down and have a few drinks.

Unless they're traveling on a direct-reimburse expense account, I don't really understand why anyone stays at a Courtyard at all....

I'm not happy with the bistro concept, either. CY's have been the most convenient hotels to the last two places our daughter's (and ony grandson's) family have lived. Last place had a full service restaurant (and a bar) and was walking distance to a bunch of places to eat. The current place has a bistro and has only a couple of fast food places at a long walk. We exploit the fridge and microwave a lot. We really miss the old place.

From what I have heard, the Courtyard marketing team is very proud of the new Courtyard bistro concept. I wonder if they ever travel To me, this is another example of how out of touch Marriott corporate has become,

What's more likely to happen - a good chunk of the people staying at the hotel eating breakfast before they head out for the day, or ones who are too tired to eat elsewhere and decide to have dinner there?

I think it's a universal sentiment that the breakfast at the Bistro is massively overpriced for the bad food you get. Especially compared to the buffets, which were reasonably priced - almost cheap - and generally pretty good. Some even had omelet stations.

I accept the fact that some people don't feel like going out at night, but again, you'll get massively overpriced bad food if you eat at a CY. Order in a pizza or Chinese food or something. I like to eat breakfast at hotel since I can go down before showering and everything, load up, then head back up to the room to shower and get ready. As for dinner, that does not apply. I may be tired, but I'm not tired enough to either stop off on my way back to the hotel or to venture out for an hour to get something. Or order delivery from somewhere.

I agree with the poster above, I've switched a lot of my "budget" stays to Springhill Suites. The breakfast is usually decent - waffles, eggs, some pork product, cereal, breads, etc. Not as good as the CY buffets, but better than the Bistro and included in the rate.

I know that Bill Marriott used to always complain that people treated the restaurants at his hotels like coffee shops. Breakfast and that was about it, unless you were attending an event in the hotel. Well, I would rather have a nice coffee shop with a good breakfast than the Bistro concept, which is in some no-man's land between an overpriced coffee shop and a bad, overpriced limited-menu restaurant.

If you end up back at the Dunn Loring CY, there are two good restaurants that are within a long walk, very short car ride: Four Sisters and SeaPearl. It's not much further to another good place at Rt. 50 and Gallows Rd.

I saw those but didn't try them. I ate at Greveys quite a bit -- that's the kind of place I like when I'm on the road. But I'll give those two a try in the coming weeks.