Sarah U.
Google
I recently checked out of this hotel after a three-night stay and felt compelled to share a disappointing experience I had with a staff member in the first-floor restaurant/common area.
On the day of my departure, I was seated in a common area on the first floor while waiting for my flight later that day. A staff member approached and asked if I needed anything; I politely replied no. Shortly after, a woman who appeared to be a manager walked by and asked the same question, to which I again politely replied no.
Instead of moving on, she continued to look at me in a way that felt uncomfortable and then said, “Do you know you need to be dressed in smart casual to be here?” I replied that I did not. She followed up by asking, “No one told you that?” and then proceeded to ask whether I had stayed at the hotel.
I found this line of questioning particularly rude and inappropriate. As a paying guest, it was unsettling to be implicitly treated as though I did not belong or was not entitled to be in a common area of the hotel. As a Marriott Bonvoy member who has stayed at numerous Marriott properties around the world, this was one of the most unpleasant guest interactions I’ve experienced.
What made the situation even more troubling was that there were several white guests in the same area who were not dressed in what could reasonably be described as “smart casual,” yet they were not questioned or approached. As a Black woman, the interaction felt discriminatory and left me feeling singled out and undervalued as a guest even though the interaction was with another black woman.
If a dress code is an important policy for this space, it should be clearly disclosed at check-in and stated on the hotel’s website. This was never communicated. Had I been informed in advance, I would have chosen to take my business elsewhere, or would not have booked this hotel at all.
This experience overshadowed what could have otherwise been an enjoyable stay and left me deeply disappointed in the way I was treated.
