I stayed at the Courtyard in Camarillo for one night on a business trip on 03/22/06. I had never been to a Courtyard before and did not know what to expect.

I checked in late, 8:30p.m., and encountered a desk clerk right in the middle of a "dating story" with a fellow co-worker. She checked me in as fast as poissible, so she could continue with her personal conversation. She gave me a map to find my room then continued with her story. No one asked if I needed help with my luggage (do they have help at a Courtyard?)

I located my room, which was on the second floor, as far away as possible from the elevator and drug my stuff up to the room.

The room was clean, although I though the bathroom was laid out kinda odd, not like a typical Marriott. The desk clerk called me about a half hour later asking for some sort of code (I used points) I didn't know what she was talking about and she seemed frustrated. She indicated she needed to call Marriott Rewards.

The next morning I was billed for the room and had to call the desk to straighten it out, the morning clerk was pretty nice. I checked out early for my appointment.

I was a bit disappointed because this room was charged at $149 per night, which is a bit high for a Courtyard, I have stayed at "regular" Marriot properties for close to the same price. This was listed as a cat. 3 and cost me 16,000 points. I also feel like if you have status, the front desk should at least verbally welcome you.

I think I am going to steer clear of Courtyards if at all possible in the future.

Starprincess-If you have buisness(and why are you using points on a buisness stay?)in the area again there is a very nice Renaissance in Aguora hills whis is less than 1/2 an hour away.
I stayed at the CY in El Segundo recently and was very pleased with my room.But I still prefer full service properties.

I was actually interviewing for a job, since my interview was extremely early (I live in the Los Angeles area) I opted to stay close to the company and alleviate the extra hour or so drive and not have to stress about traffic accidents, etc. Thanks for the heads up on the Renassiance!

Starprincess....

First of all, hope your interview went well. Good luck with what comes next.

Secondly, Don't give up on CY's just yet, most of them are pretty good.

A few thoughts. Based on my experience, I don't think what you encountered was typical. Given that it was well into evening hours, the "varsity team", including management, had probably gone for the day. At less than full service hotels, this may mean you're stuck with junior staff people who may or may not take their jobs seriously. If you're a MR member and you had an unpleasant experience, I'm sure Guest Services would like to hear about it.

Coincidentally, I had what I thought was a relatively minor issue at a CY twenty minutes away in Ventura last year. They wouldn't cash my $20 personal check....a Terms of Service violation. I called Guest Services and not only got an apology, but they dumped 5,000 points into my account (without my asking).

As for the $149 price... Obviously they can get away with it. Its a bit high, but not really out of line for a brand name hotel in the area. Lodging bargains in So-Cal are getting increasingly tough to find.