Marriott Concierge

Greetings - I hope to clear up some confusion with the recent launch of AC Hotels by Marriott.

The Guaranteed Lounge Access/Free Continental Breakfast benefit for Gold and Platinum Elite members is not available at AC Hotels by Marriott. This benefit remains only available in the Concierge/Executive/Club Lounge at participating JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance Hotels and Marriott Hotels & Resorts locations worldwide. However, in celebration of the new brand launch of AC Hotels by Marriott back in May, the hotels have been offering a complimentary breakfast buffet on two-day stays through January 8, 2012, using promotion code: PKG.

Safe travels, Andy

vrbaba

The AC at Avenida de America was pretty good overall.

Pros
- very clean and modern
- stocked mini bar with beer, water and various sodas
- Very good amenities - robe, slippers, dental kit, etc.
- Good service at front desk giving out free cards for wifi, and adapter for US outlets

Cons
- some clunking noise in the daytime outside on the 2nd floor.
- Very poor buffet breakfast - some pastries and bread and couple of juices. Poor service, no coffee offered until asked, and when it came, it was luke warm. It was included in my corporate rate, but I would not pay anything for that breakfast.


It was a 5-8 min walk to the (bigger) Avenida de America metro station. 2-3 min walk to the Cartegena (sp?) station, but only 1 line goes through there. 1 subway transfer to/from the Airport. Also 1 transfer to/from the Sol station. Surrounding area seems decent, although I did not explore there much.

vrbaba

Here are couple of pics for reference for AC Avenida de America

tmeyer

Regarding breakfast it sometimes just helps to ask. At the AC Avenida America in Madrid they offered the breakfast as an alternative to the 250 points welcome gift. Great deal for two breakfast buffets including fresh OJ, great ham & cheese selection.
These are not luxury hotels, but I wsa feeling at 51,-EUR p. N. including minibar, breakfast, internet and upgrade to a very nice superior room I cannot complain ;-)

JeffS

Will be staying here in a few weeks. Is it correct that they now honor Platinum benefits? Amenity, room upgrade?

SkiAdcock

Read the post right above yours?

Cheers. Sharon

JeffS

I just concluded an 18 night stay at this property. I won't post any pictures because my room was similar to the one's posted by vrbaba with some minor exceptions.

On check in I was offered an amenity or the points and I chose the points. I had booked the "Smaller Guest Room" and was upgraded to a "Standard Guest Room". Looking at the floor map it appeared my room was a little larger that some of the other standard rooms as I had three full windows and the room was a little wider starting at where the desk began (last several feet of the room). I did not feel it was too small.

The mini bar was free up until the last two nights. Not sure why since my rate changed several times (up and down) over the stay and the first night it changed was at a higher rate. No matter, I managed to make good use of it for most of the trip. They stocked it with water, juices and beer.

I only ate breakfast one morning at the hotel, and at 16.50 Euros it was over-priced. Nothing special about it. There is a great little cafe named Tiempos Magico Cafe y Te around the corner with better coffee where my typical breakfast of a Spanish tortilla, toast with butter and jam, and Cafe con leche ran 4.50 Euros.

My co-worker and I ate dinner in the lounge several times and the food was pretty good. Maybe a tad bit high on the price with the average dinner running me about 18-20 Euros which included a glass or two of the house wine. Sometimes we were just too tired after a long day at work to go out for another two hours.

The workout room was disapointing and very small. It requires a separate card key to access it and you have to get that every day at the front desk. They a regular bike, recumbent bike, treadmill and some dumbells. They enforce the hours of 7:30 AM to maybe 10:00 PM claiming that there may be guests in the rooms next to the workout room. Except as far as I could tell there are no guest rooms that share a wall with the workout room. There are some guest rooms on the other side of the hall.

There are several good restaurants within walking distance: Spanish, Italian, etc... Just remember that in Spain most don't open or seat for dinner until around 8:00 PM.

Two metro close by metro stops: Cartegna for Line 7 and Avenida de America for Lines 4, 6, 7 and 9. While Cartenga is closer, Avenida de America seems more convenient for going to the sites in the center of Madrid (Prado Museum, Plaza Mayor, etc...)

Throughly enjoyed my first time in Madrid and I would stay at this property again.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the trip report!

Cheers.

SkyTeam777

Was the minibar free based only on your rate? or because of your status? Is free minibar offered at all AC properties?

SkiAdcock

AFAIK it's offered at all AC properties. However, free mini-bar doesn't necessarily mean full liquor/wine bar. In some cases I think it's free oj, sodas, etc. When in doubt, read the specific property website to see if they outline what it covers.

Cheers.

GenevaFlyer

Based on my limited experience, this is valid in Spain, and not in Italy (at least not at the AC Brescia).

Both AC's I tried in Spain did have 1 or 2 bottles of beer in the fridge, but for the rest, it's very basic (couple of soft drinks, 1 sparkling water, 1 still water)

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

SkiAdcock

Ah good to know.

Cheers.

SkyTeam777

Funny thing is that AC advertises free minibar for all rooms in their promotional materials in the room, however the minibar has a full list of prices on a card on the door. I asked at the front desk, and they said, of course, it is free?! So, not sure if it is free for Plats, certain room categories, or everyone since there seems to be mixed signals from a variety of places. But, it seems most people are getting it for free.

Another good tip is to ask for a key to the fitness center because it has a fridge stocked with free bottled water you can take! Negates the minibar concern

Also, I was given free wifi in the room as a Plat here.

BKKLEE

it's free for all guests at least in the Spanish/Portugese props I stayed at (no experience at Italian props).............

JeffS

The front desk told me it was free due to the rate. Not sure how accurate that was since my rate changed up and down several times over the 18 nights. It was free for 16 of the 18 nights.

The wifi was free due to status.