Ron R.
Yelp
The overall Yelp rating of 3.5 stars is about right for this Marriott run property. We found some of the numerous things other Yelpers said about this place to be true and some inaccurate, at least for our visit on this trip: (1) room walls dirty (some, but not awful in the bathroom), (2) mattress cover/bed sheets dirty (NO), (3) room and hotel itself very dark even with all lights on in room (YES), (4) train runs right next to hotel rooms on one side of the hotel (YES), but the train did not run during sleeping hours at night and has the equivalent sound of a loud passing car, not a large train, (5) hotel has a small, but adequate, although dimly lit gym (YES), (6) the walls, doors, floors, and ceilings are paper thin so that you can hear all sorts of noise outside your room (YES), but people were not excessively loud on our visit, (7) they have a breakfast buffet with hot and cold food for about $20 (YES), and (8) housekeeping staff/front desk was unresponsive to cleaning and towel refreshing requests (UNSURE, did not try). For the cleanliness issues, it seems those Yelpers may have had an unfortunate and unusual experience that hopefully others, like us, did not have.
As other reviewers mentioned, the hotel is a modern one and not a historic one as some are in the area. Additionally, there is a train stop very near the property for easy access to downtown or other areas. There is also a CVS and several restaurants within walking distance.
The front desk staff were very nice as was the man who ran the breakfast buffet. The buffet itself is just a step up from the complimentary breakfasts that are included at other properties. It is not really worth the $20 as there are better and cheaper places to eat within walking distance. We did not have a need to eat here on this trip, but we would only do so and recommend doing so if you are in a hurry and need to eat fast. Some of the housekeeping staff that we interacted with was not very friendly until tipped and then they acted civilly instead of coldly, not hospitably. As at most Marriott properties, the most important thing was that the mattress was not worn out, was of good quality, and gave us a good night night's sleep.
Tips: (1) our camera may have compensated for the low lighting in our pictures and made things look brighter than they were, (2) complimentary water is available in the gym, (3) when facing the street from the parking lot in the back, the train is on the right side of the hotel, so try to ask for a room to the left side away from the train tracks, this will be behind you when facing the front desk when you check in, the train is in front of you when facing the front desk when you check in
Overall, this place was adequate and we stayed here due to pricing and proximity to the things we needed to do on our trip. If in the area again, we would probably try to find other accommodations, but if they had the best price, it would not be awful to stay here again. The hotel can improve by cleaning the walls in the bathrooms, changing the lighting in the rooms and common areas to be brighter, and better training the housekeeping staff to be friendlier.