City Express by Marriott Monterrey Santa Catarina

We were moving from Dallas, Texas, to Queretaro, Mexico, and stopped for the night at this Marriott property because I thought it would be safe. I’m a lifetime Elite member of Marriott. We arrived around 8:30 pm, and security had to open the controlled access gate. The vehicle was parked across from the lobby, security office, and access barrier. I went out to get something from it at about 9:50 pm, then returned around 10:05 pm and found that someone had broken into the luggage carrier on the back. Almost everything in it was stolen, worth more than US $1,500. The staff and management weren’t very cooperative. They kept saying the police were on their way to take a report, but no one came. I don’t understand why the hotel couldn’t file a police report when the theft happened on its property. The next morning, the manager said she’d handle it personally, that the police would come by later, and that she’d stay in touch by email. We left for Querétaro around 10:40 am. She replied the following day with a link Norton VPN blocked as malicious and unsafe. I told her, and the day after that she sent another link that didn’t work either. She said that was all she could do and she couldn’t help further. I’ve filed a complaint with Marriott, and they’re investigating too. This isn’t a safe property.

After a tiring arrival, you hope to be treated well, but my service experience was bad. I called the front desk for an extra pillow and blanket and waited over 45 minutes without an answer. When I called again, the young guy on the night shift hung up on me. They need to remember we’re the clients.

The room itself was very clean, though sparse, and nobody greeted us with a Hola or Buena when we came or went. Check-in was a mess of errors: they couldn’t find the reservation for the extra first night, then apparently hadn’t processed the group reservation. While they sorted it out, they required us to pay for the room individually. Nobody at the desk or in management spoke a word of English.

I stayed here for the embassy process and found it a really great hotel. One thing to watch for: local cabs may charge the American fare, three times the Mexican taxi fare, without telling you. Ask about the price before getting in.