The Sarasota Modern, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

I only visited the pool as a guest and didn’t stay at the hotel. Jersey took such good care of me and my guests that it felt like being in a friend’s backyard. She made everyone feel welcome and was an exceptional bartender. Even with a knee brace, she kept going. We’ll definitely return and tell our friends.

The pool area is gross and smells like urine, and construction noise is ear-piercing. It’s not a relaxing place. The pool water had sediment and bugs floating in it, and the filter wasn’t working. There was a baby wearing diapers in the pool with no filtration. Of the three water features, you never seem to find all of them working at once. This time it was the pool that wasn’t working properly. The Modern has gone downhill over the years. The front desk staff were the least friendly I’ve encountered and seemed not to care. I’ve traveled all over and stayed at hundreds of Marriotts, and this property doesn’t match their standards. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The rooms and location were decent, but staff behavior and the lack of basic conveniences ruined the experience for my team’s corporate event. We had 11 employees staying here, rented 11 rooms and a board room for two days, and won’t return. Other hotels nearby meet this basic standard, and I’d recommend one of those instead. They’d apparently removed the coffee pots from the rooms. That could be fine if they kept enough coffee downstairs, but there was only one pot, and by 7am it was usually cold or empty. The bar was another problem. Two nights in a row, the GenZ at the “check in” rudely refused to let me in, claiming it was full. The first night, my staff came out and told her there were only 10 people inside. She admitted it and let me in after a lot of back and forth. Kathy from catering, the only pleasant employee I dealt with, later said staff were supposed to let people in if they agreed to “standing room.” The second night, half my team was already inside, and they came out again to say the bar wasn’t even half full. I was still turned away from a half-empty, mediocre bar in the hotel where our group was staying. The staff member was dismissive and insulting. I said we’d cancel our 8pm reservation after being treated that way both nights. She smiled and said, “great! What’s your name!” We canceled the reservation. With service like this and such poor access to basic hotel conveniences, I wouldn’t recommend staying here.

The room itself was fine, and the location is decent. They allow pets, too. But the front desk interaction left a bad impression. After we waited about five minutes by the street because there’s no self parking and nobody was outside, I politely asked whether valet was available. The woman at the desk said she’d seen him just a minute earlier and told me to go back out and wait. He showed up about five minutes after I returned to the car. I also asked for a quiet room because my wife is a light sleeper. We were given one right beside the elevator, maybe four feet away. When I asked to switch, she insisted it was quiet and well insulated, even though the hotel didn’t seem busy and had other rooms. After I said no a couple more times, she changed it, but with an attitude. The shower and shampoo dispensers didn’t work properly, so I had to get out and ask for another bottle. If another nearby hotel has similar prices, including the $35 valet and mandatory $29 “resort” fee, I’d look there instead. I wouldn’t return.