Courtyard by Marriott Gaithersburg Washingtonian Center

I was in town for business and liked the area, with its boardwalk and several restaurants within walking distance. Having Starbucks right on the property was nice, and the front desk staff were friendly and helpful. I used to get complimentary water as a rewards member, but that small change isn’t a big deal. I’ll stay again.

We held our baby shower in one of the Salons, and it went great. Shelby and Thi from the hotel staff went above and beyond to help make it a success. I was impressed that we could control the room temperature, and our guests easily found parking in the garage across the street. The nearby balcony had a great lake view, and it was handy that guests could step out of the Salon if a child needed a break or an adult had to take a call. We didn’t use A/V and brought outside catering, so I can’t comment on either.

The hotel is in a very good location and has good resources, but it seems poorly run by management. My mother and I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in the Rio Lakefront in Gaithersburg, MD, for 7 days, and the experience was unfortunately not good at all. Staff were often rude and combative when we raised problems. In general, there was poor communication and bad attitudes, though not from everyone. Our room went without cleaning and fresh towels for two days in a row. Staff said we had left the “Do not disturb” sign out, but I made sure to remove it whenever we left. After we complained a second time, they sent someone to clean, even though we’d already explained we only wanted new towels. At breakfast, when we asked for fruit, we were told they had oranges or one rotten banana. We heard that two days in a row. Why offer a guest a rotten banana? On Thursday, two Asian men at the breakfast counter didn’t speak English very well and were trying to decide what to order. The staff grew increasingly annoyed and treated them badly. There are also strict limits on what you can order if breakfast was prepaid. As observers, we found the whole exchange very unprofessional. The girl on duty told me the laundry machines were coin operated. When I asked to put the cost on our bill, she said no. I then asked if I could buy coins with my card, but was told I could only get coins by paying cash. I had no cash, so I couldn’t do a load of laundry. In my opinion, she had an attitude and wasn’t willing to help. The refrigerator was also freezing everything we put inside, with no way to adjust it. Our water bottles turned into solid ice. For all these reasons, I wouldn’t recommend this Courtyard by Marriott.

The room was hot, and there were stains on all the furniture and sheets. Yuck. The AC display was stuck at 65 even though the room was over 73 degrees. The thermostat only let me set the fan to auto or on, and choose low, medium, or high speed. Don’t stay here if you need a cool room or a clean one.