Fairfield Inn by Marriott Mission Viejo / Orange County

After spending a total of 45 minutes on hold today, Marriott has chosen to circle the wagons. The general manager at this location gets the final say, apparently. Marriott won’t be on my list of places to stay when I travel anymore, and I’m going to post on every site I can. A day after we left, I called to request a refund for a stay that never happened, but because I prepaid, I was told I was out of luck. I went through the same back-and-forth with hotels.com: they said the hotel had to issue it, while the hotel told them otherwise. Sounds like a nice racket, running a crappy hotel, keeping the money, and ignoring the problems. Shameful way to do business. I’m still trying to get some satisfaction as a loyal Marriott customer, and I’ve already been on hold for 15 minutes as I type this. We checked in late and left again within about 15-20 minutes, then drove the 95 miles home instead of staying. I should have noticed it was in a parking lot next to a noisy freeway on-ramp. The hotel’s problems included poor signs directing people away from the usual front entrance, which was under construction. A vehicle blocked the temporary walkway between the customer entrance and the limited parking, and nobody did anything or apologized. I tripped trying to get around it while carrying my bags, thankfully without hurting myself. The freeway was loud in the hallway and extremely loud in the room, which seemed poorly insulated. The room smelled musty and of cigarettes, and the facility looked grimy, very unlike other Marriott hotels we’ve stayed in.

The team keeps guests informed about alternate entrances and noise while construction is going on. The hotel is right off I-5, with usually friendly front desk staff and breakfast that’s always hot and fresh. I love the omelets. Rooms are basic but clean and spacious, and they cool down quickly.

The breakfast wasn’t too bad, but there were a few little problems in the room: the bathroom handle was installed with the lock facing inward, the extra towels we requested weren’t there when we arrived, and the keycards only worked about a third of the time. The location was unusual and hard to find at first, tucked behind two gas stations. We wish we’d known before the trip that construction and its noise would be happening during our stay. With the work going on, the front door was inaccessible and we had to use the back entrance. Not a terrible stay, but some things could be improved.

The air conditioner made loud noises all night, and we barely slept. We asked to change rooms and were refused. They said maintenance would come check and fix it, but that didn’t happen before our second night. We asked for a refund, but the hotel said it couldn’t refund us because we booked through a third party. Hotels.com then said the hotel had to issue it. While hotels.com was chatting with the hotel, the hotel claimed it had offered us another room and that nothing was wrong with the air conditioner. We have videos of the unit and showed them to the manager. I’d never stay here again. The staff were very unhelpful and clearly manipulative.