mdontouragain
Google
Upon check-in, I encountered the first issue. After giving my name, the receptionist insisted that I had only booked for one night, while I had actually reserved two. She insisted it was just one night. So, I took out my phone, opened the Marriott app to show her that it was indeed two nights. As I was doing this, she suddenly said, "Oh, perhaps I should pull up your reservation as well, then I'll see it. Okay. Indeed, it’s two nights." ||This left me quite puzzled, but I kept my questions to myself. ||I went to my assigned room. The hallway on the entire floor had a strong odor, possibly urine, which was very unpleasant. When I opened the door to my room, I was met with a wall of warm, humid air. I turned on the air conditioning, and the display showed that it was 26 degrees Celsius in the room, with what must have been over 90% humidity. I spent a few hours in the city, and when I returned in the evening, the room had cooled down to 25 degrees Celsius (and yes, I had left a card in the slot to keep the AC running while I was out). On the second day, it managed to cool to 23 degrees Celsius. Coupled with the uncomfortable mattress and overly soft pillows, my nights were far from pleasant. ||The next morning, I went to breakfast. I waited patiently at the host stand for someone to attend to me. After a few minutes, an employee finally approached. There was no “Good morning,” no apology for the wait—just a request for my name and room number. My responses were met with a simple “Okay.” ||I chose a table, got some juice and tea, and noticed that the same employee who had checked me in for breakfast was watching me the entire time. I didn’t think much of it, went to the buffet, and then she suddenly approached me again. ||"Room number?" ||I felt a bit insulted but gave her my room number again. ||"Last name?" ||At this point, I felt like I was in a bad movie and simply replied that neither my last name nor the room number had changed since our last interaction. I explicitly pointed out that we had just had this exact conversation. She mumbled something and walked away. ||Only two minutes had passed between the interaction at the host stand and the buffet. There’s no way she could have forgotten that she had just ticked my off the breakfast list, especially since the breakfast room was relatively empty. ||The woman dressed in black on the second day was just as unfriendly, but at least she didn’t subject me to any déjà vu conversations. ||To top it all off: during check-out, it was interesting to observe how an employee could look anywhere but at the guest, even while waving both hands wildly to bid me farewell from the building, still without making eye contact. ||I must be honest; I found my interactions with the staff to be consistently perplexing. Whatever was going on, I have to assume it was intentional, and I found it far from amusing. ||There was only one exception: the blonde bartender whose name I think was Sandra. On the second evening, not only did she remember my drinks, but she also recalled the order in which I had ordered them the night before. She was truly exceptional, and with her, I felt welcome. With everyone else, I did not.