City Express by Marriott Rosarito

The bathroom smelled strongly of sewage, and when we raised it, the staff member seemed irritated and said we should have mentioned it before they did the paperwork. We had already switched rooms on the first day. I’d thought the location near the plaza would be convenient, but next time we’ll stay at Hotel Rosarito. The bigger issue was how unsafe we felt. While I was changing in just my underwear, someone opened our door. I heard a man and two women laughing, then said someone was in the room. My boyfriend and I complained at reception, but got no response. That was very unprofessional.

We paid $169, which seemed like a lot of it must have gone to taxes. Nearby restaurants were easy to walk to, and there was a mall where we could catch a movie when we wanted to get out. Still, I wish we’d stayed by the beach. The room had an odd smell and traffic noise even on a high floor. It was too hot, and the air conditioner was too loud to use. The pool was very cold, with a bare-bones surrounding area, and the toilet seat wouldn’t stay up.

The room itself was decent, clean, and nice, but the smell when I returned last night really worried me. It was like petrol, gas, or freon. I called reception, and then security came by and said the room or AC just needed deodorizer. I had my own Febreze, so I could have handled that. I was concerned I might not wake up the next morning since no professional checked what was causing the odor. They also said they had no other rooms because they were full. Then the fire alarm went off while I was blow-drying my hair and woke everyone in the room. Once again, they sent security instead of a professional.

Shopping nearby was convenient, but for the price I expected more. The beds were extremely firm, and we couldn’t open the windows, so the room felt stuffy. We had eight rooms for our group, and most people reported AC trouble. The hotel wouldn’t fix the problem in our room. It’s fine for an average two-star stay.