Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Rocky Mount

The front desk and breakfast staff in the morning were very pleasant and helpful. The shared areas looked nice, and the room was clean enough, but I couldn’t get past the state of my bathroom. The shower floor caulking had black scum on it, and the drain looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. Those things could have been fixed easily, but I skipped showering until I got home later that day. I’m so disappointed. I can’t find the pictures I took, so you’ll have to trust me! 😬 Breakfast was my other complaint. The hot items didn’t impress me, and I wish they’d improve the morning options, even if that meant a higher cost.

Our three volleyball teams had a disappointing stay, and I wouldn’t come back or recommend the hotel. The staff were unfriendly and unaccommodating throughout. Parents who were watching players in the lobby were discouraged from letting them gather, and although breakfast was included and set out at 6:30 a.m., we couldn’t get access early despite our departure schedule. The room problems were just as frustrating. Some beds hadn’t been changed, and we were handed sheets to put on ourselves. Five rooms had broken heating and cooling units, with no attempt to fix them or move guests. The showers were dirty; staff apologized, but didn’t offer to clean them.

Our room was clean, check-in was easy, and the location by the Rocky Mount Event Center was convenient. The Saturday afternoon staff and Sunday breakfast staff were also nice. Those were the bright spots in a stay that left me seriously questioning my loyalty to Marriott. We were in Rocky Mount for my daughter’s volleyball tournament, and after 11.5 hours on the road, an employee unlocked our occupied room with a physical key within ten minutes of our Saturday afternoon check-in. She said nobody had told her it was taken. We had to hurry to the tournament, so I couldn’t go down to speak with staff then. That night, we came back to find our door ajar even though we’d left it fully closed. My husband checked that it was safe to enter while I went to the desk. The man working there said the hotel was full and we couldn’t move rooms. He came upstairs to “fix” the lock, moved the handle and lock around, and shut the door. We thought he was looking into a solution or getting maintenance. When we opened the door a little later, he was gone, with no update, and the lock still wasn’t working right. I messaged through the Marriott app and got told the deadbolt should be working and to let them know if there were more problems. I said it still wouldn’t lock. Being repeatedly told it worked was upsetting. My husband is a union carpenter with a background in windows and doors, and he knows how a properly working lock should look and function. I called Marriott customer care after we got nowhere. Ardhur called the hotel and said the problem was fixed, but it wasn’t. He felt dismissive. After I asked for a manager or supervisor and waited on hold for almost an hour, I spoke with Toya. I explained what was happening and again felt dismissed, as if our safety didn’t matter. She said there was nothing she could do because we’d booked with points, even though we’d earned them through paid stays. I’m a Silver Elite member and we stay with Marriott often. Toya said maintenance had been called, but before that call we’d been told there was no maintenance staff, and no one from maintenance ever came. Our choices, she said, were to stay because they had no other property to book for us, or check out “with no penalty to us.” Why would we be penalized for a problem we didn’t cause? It was nearly 11 p.m. Our older daughter was exhausted from travel and volleyball, and our infant had finally fallen asleep. We stayed in the room feeling unsafe and unable to rest properly, worried someone could enter during the night. We were also concerned that someone might have tampered with the baby formula and infant water left on the table while we were at the event center for most of the day. Even after I raised that, none of the employees we spoke with that evening seemed to care. The guest Wi-Fi wouldn’t accept my room number and last name either; they told us to use the guest Wi-Fi as the solution. I’ve tried emailing the GM about what happened, but none of the messages have gone through. One address came from a business card, the other was given to me over the phone. I can say confidently I’ll never return to this location. The experience was concerning enough to make me reconsider staying loyal to Marriott at all.

The rooms were spacious and clean, and Shanika and Dominique were the real standouts. They went out of their way to help us. Shanika kept breakfast coming, and Dominique at the front desk was so accommodating, which meant a lot after a long day of volleyball. Great place to stay.