Marriott Hartford Downtown

“Not that Impressive, for a Big-City Marquee Marriott”

Stayed at this location for a single night twice in the space of a week. Both times were Concierge Level, 21st and then 20th floor; the view to the east over the river is a very good one, if you want to spring for the extra $. Despite being up high we still got a surprising amount of noise from t… more

Stayed at this location for a single night twice in the space of a week. Both times were Concierge Level, 21st and then 20th floor; the view to the east over the river is a very good one, if you want to spring for the extra $. Despite being up high we still got a surprising amount of noise from the highways right there, especially the truck air brakes. Nice lobby, easy check-in, everyone helpful, hardly any wait at all. For a large hotel in a capital city, why is there no bell staff? For luggage it’s all DIY. Plenty of carts, and wrestled it all up and down myself. Valet parking is attentive and speedy, despite the young lady absolutely out cold behind the valent desk at 5pm on a Wed night. You're paying $35/night for the valet+parking. The elevators are quick and responsive. The rooms were clean and all in good order, the second room an accessible one. The first room had a TV remote that was very sluggish and required a lot of pushing to get it to work correctly—not so with the second room. Overall channel choices were rather scant. Small fridge in the TV console, both of which worked nominally. Bed, ooh, the beds: the first bed, a king, was so hard that it was actually painful to sleep on. This was a ridiculously hard and unforgiving bed that had both me and the wife awake and in pain by about 0300. Absolutely unacceptable. The second room had two doubles in it, and those mattresses were better, but still hard and unpleasant to sleep on. Pillows in both rooms were smashed-flat, soggy, played-out feather pillows, mushy and with no form at all. So, not restful sleep, in either room. Breakfast is not included and there is no real breakfast available in the Concierge Lounge, only “snacks,” which are some granola bars, pop-tarts, fruit, some chilled water and sodas, etc. The coffee is not very good, coming out of an automatic Nescafe machine. I’m not a coffee drinker, but the wife proclaimed the coffee as “terrible.” Breakfast is available in the restaurant off the lobby. There is a modest buffet for $21; it was okay but not spectacular, particularly bland. The one saving grace was the fine selection of hot sauces available to bring the food up to speed. Staff were helpful and responsive. Bottom line: I’ve been a dedicated Marriott guy for a very long time, decades, captured as a young man and kept by high standards and consistency across properties all over the world. But, these two recent stays and the serious problems with the beds and pillows have probably got me looking elsewhere for something different for my next few hotel stays.

less

“Excellent Desk Staff, Nice Hotel”

The desk staff at the Hartford Marriott Downtown were exceptionally helpful. I would rate the desk staff here one step above. I called ahead of time to add a friend's name to my room reservation, and they could not have been more helpful. After checking out, my friend arrived home and found that so… more

The desk staff at the Hartford Marriott Downtown were exceptionally helpful. I would rate the desk staff here one step above. I called ahead of time to add a friend's name to my room reservation, and they could not have been more helpful. After checking out, my friend arrived home and found that some items had been left behind. The hotel took care of everything, and were very concerned about getting the items back to my friend. The room was fine, although the decor needed a bit of refreshing. I had to report a crack in the bathroom sink and also the surface in the bathtub/shower was peeling off in places. My main concern was that housekeeping did not clean the room every day (4-night stay). There was no signage up at all related to housekeeping schedules. I would have requested that they clean every day if I had known this was their policy. The room was cleaned once, but that was only because I saw a woman cleaning the room next door and asked her to clean our room. Restaurants in the hotel are excellent. They have one restaurant that offers a breakfast buffet every day (not free), and a bar that serves excellent food later in the day. There is also a Starbucks inside the hotel.

less

“Nice place to stay - walkable safe neighborhood”

Great location. You can walk to the amazing beautiful The Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, historic sites, shopping, and the convention center. IT IS SAFE to walk in the neighborhood. First of all the staff is super friendly and helpful. The room was basic but comfortable. I asked for a quiet room mo… more

Great location. You can walk to the amazing beautiful The Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, historic sites, shopping, and the convention center. IT IS SAFE to walk in the neighborhood. First of all the staff is super friendly and helpful. The room was basic but comfortable. I asked for a quiet room months before our trip and that is what we got. We'd gone for an event. The meeting rooms were extremely nice. The food at the banquet was extremely good. The bar and Starbucks were both nice with good service and food. BUT the restaurant was never open in the evening, and only for a short early early early morning time. Times were not posted. There aren't many restaurants one can walk to (but we found a few good ones by the university).

less

“Comfortable Place for Business or Leisure”

We stayed at this hotel while my husband was attending a conference, so this is more of a business/couples stay. It was a perfectly nice hotel. I don't think there was anything particularly special about it. We had a nice view of the river. The room was clean. It has a few minor imperfections in th… more

We stayed at this hotel while my husband was attending a conference, so this is more of a business/couples stay. It was a perfectly nice hotel. I don't think there was anything particularly special about it. We had a nice view of the river. The room was clean. It has a few minor imperfections in the upkeep like chipped paint of wallpaper that wasn't flush, but nothing serious or really off putting. The lobby is nice. There is a Starbucks in the lobby with a lot of seating. The hotel connects directly to the conference center so you never have to go outside to get there, which my husband always prefers. I ordered room service a couple times and it was prompt and the food was good. I ordered delivery a few times and it was always conveniently left at a couple spots in the lobby. Easy to retrieve. We ate at the restaurant one time and it was good. The gentleman making the omelets had some impressive skills and did a good job. The house keeping staff was friendly and prompt. I've stayed in a lot of hotels in the past couple years and it often seems to be a problem with housekeeping being slow, or coming very late, or not at all - but that was not the case here. They were very predictable in their schedule. They were always done by the time I came back in the afternoon and wanted to relax. I used the gym several times and it seemed clean and well maintained. I did not use the pool, but from what I saw of it it also seems very clean and well maintained. The pillows were better than most hotels, but the mattress was too hard. Both my husband and I had backpain and I heard other people mentioning the same problem. There is some noise from other rooms. I mostly heard this during the day. At night we always use a portable white noise machine and I can't say I was bothered by anything inside or out. The A/C seems to be motion activated which caused the room to sometimes be too warm and made controlling the temperature difficult. There is a small shop in the lobby selling essentials you may have forgotten and snacks, etc. Which is good because it is a bit of a walk to find somewhere to go and there don't appear to be any real pharmacies or groceries nearby. The location is pretty good. Near the river. Attached to the convention center. Walking distance to some restaurants (but they're fairly mediocre places honestly). I walked around a lot and found the area safe during the day to walk around alone. There is a free shuttle bus that stops under the hotel/convention center you could ride instead if desired. I didn't try it, but I did see it frequently. I was able to walk easily to the Wadsworth Museum, the Ancient Burial Ground, Bushnell Park, etc. I believe you can also get down to the riverwalk, etc. but I never got around to it. My husband and his colleagues went out to eat after work most days and would walk places. They felt safe walking in groups after dark, but not alone. I only went for one of these evening dinners, and while it did seem to be largely safe, it does get more interesting after dark. Overall, it's a comfortable place to stay if you're in town for business or pleasure.

less