Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Minneapolis Shakopee

At 3:30 in the morning, our fire alarm started beeping because of a low battery. I called the front desk and was told there was no maintenance person on duty. He came up with a ladder, stood between our beds, said he couldn’t hear it, and left. About half an hour later it was still beeping, so we called again. He said he was busy at the desk and couldn’t help. My son had a basketball game, but we were exhausted from being kept awake, so we decided to leave early. At the desk, I explained that this was a safety issue. He said he couldn’t do anything unless I was a points member, in which case he could have given me Marriott points. I’m normally extremely professional, but after so little sleep I was frustrated. I left the key on the table, told him it was a safety protocol and we’d been up since 3:00, then walked out politely.

The hotel was very clean, and the fitness center was clean too. It had limited equipment, but was nice overall. Breakfast was typical hotel food. I didn’t interact with staff, so I can’t rate the service. I would’ve rated it five stars if not for the mattress in room 208 by the window. It felt so well used and uncomfortable that I kept waking up and didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

The pool was visibly dirty, breakfast was terrible, and the front desk took forever to help because staff were busy on FaceTime with friends. Those friends sat in the lobby and parked right in front of the entrance instead of in a space, blocking the sidewalk. The hotel used to be nice, but lately it’s been terrible. They wouldn’t honor my Marriott elite status and said there was a new program. I called Marriott Corporate, who told me there was no such program and that they were looking into the hotel. I don’t know what happened here, but management isn’t doing its job.

The rooms were spacious, the beds nice and not too firm, and the bathroom was gorgeous. Neither of our trash bins had a bag, though. The indoor pool is very small, only 4 feet at the deepest, and it echoes a lot. They do have a disability lift for people who have trouble standing but still want to get in, which is good. We booked because this was listed as a hotel with shuttle service to the Ren Fair over the weekend. After arriving, we found out there was no shuttle to this hotel after all. I’d recommend calling ahead to check whether they have Ren Fair transportation before booking.