Courtyard by Marriott Milwaukee Brookfield at Poplar Creek

The staff were friendly and the place was clean and modern, but the cooling system roared like a freight train. There was also a strangely bright alarm light flashing above the bed, making it hard to sleep. I’d read the negative reviews before booking and wondered how bad a one-year-old Marriott could be. It turns out, pretty bad. I wouldn’t stay here again.

I was here for about a week on a business trip, and the service was the worst I’ve had at any hotel. The housekeeping and the front desk response were especially disappointing. They cleaned only on the first day, and I’m not even sure they changed the sheets then. I could have lived with that, but there was no cleaning from day two until checkout. I went to reception to complain and got a half-hearted apology and a promise it would be handled the next day. It never happened. When I called for towels since the room hadn’t been cleaned, nobody brought any, so I had to go to reception and get them myself. The air conditioner was also so loud it made sleeping difficult. I never want to stay here again.

The bartenders were new, but nice. The front desk staff were fine too. I wouldn’t stay this far from town unless I had to. The room itself was okay, although the heating and cooling unit made a horrible humming noise, and the detector’s weird green light startled me. Also, why is there no shower door? The pictures make the rooftop look like a deck, but not everyone gets access. That’s lame. The hotel felt oddly posh, maybe even fake, especially seeing business guests dressed like they were trying really hard in a new suburb. And paying $4 for coffee from a broken machine was absurd. There was no beer for sale after something like 10:00pm, either. What gives?

We canceled our second night because the problems outweighed the fact that it was a nice-looking hotel. The place was pretty and clean, but I can’t recommend it. We’d reserved a king bed and were told none were left, so they gave us a queen. The Wi-Fi didn’t work in the room or lobby. Highway traffic was very loud, and the doors let in hallway noise. A bright light flashed from the smoke detector above the bed. With all that noise and the flashing, I barely slept.