Residence Inn by Marriott Sunnyvale Silicon Valley II

The room felt poorly maintained and needs a serious upgrade. Both the entrance and balcony doors stayed jammed, and maintenance couldn’t fix them. There was no shower curtain, and the carpet had sticky stains. At night, the light kept switching on and off regardless of our settings. The air conditioning sensor made a loud zipping sound that woke us up. I imagine this was once a nice hotel, but it isn’t being kept up.

I couldn’t get past the mice, and I won’t stay here again. I’ve used this property a few times over the years because I travel to the area for work and the location was convenient. Some maintenance problems I could have lived with, but not this. During the first two nights of my ten-day solo work trip, I woke at 3 am from a deep sleep to a sound like someone trying to break in. I was on the ground floor, so it was frightening. The same noise came back the next evening. I tried to tell myself it was the HVAC, and I added a video of the sound. The next morning I woke to it again, then found mouse droppings and saw a mouse had chewed through the side of a bag. The bag held food waste in a sealed plastic container that the mice had opened. By then, I realized I’d been living with mice for four days. Gross. I called the desk, and their reaction made it feel like they already knew about the issue. They moved me to an upstairs room in another building, which I appreciated. But I found rat poison under the sink there, so it still seemed like a known problem, and I couldn’t shake the feeling. They offered 5,000 points, which felt like a slap in the face when that’s only one-tenth of what a single night at the property costs in points. If you do stay, I’d suggest an upstairs room. You can hear every footstep from anyone staying above you. In the first room, the shower also whistled at a high pitch the whole time I used it, and maintenance didn’t try to fix it. The property is getting pretty run down. Next time I’ll find somewhere else.

I liked the space and kitchen, but I couldn’t sleep on that mattress. It was so soft and uncomfortable that I cut my stay short to find a hotel with a better one. The front desk said the mattresses are the same in every room, so they really need an upgrade. The kitchen and bedding were clean, but the floor’s corners and edges weren’t, and there were cobwebs along the ceiling edge. The room itself was really nice, just not clean enough in those spots.

We like the loft layout, and at around $150 during Thanksgiving it was a good deal. It let the whole family stay together even when the kids got noisy. TVs in the living room, loft, and downstairs room were handy, but if two or three were on, the noise got annoying. Sound carries a lot. From downstairs you can hear footsteps, toilets flushing, and showers upstairs, even when people in the loft are being careful. The guests next door showered around 7 or 8 in the morning, and I woke up then too. The soundproofing just isn’t great. Breakfast is basic, but you can eat there every day and save money while filling up. We still like the loft design, though the furniture, mattresses, towels, and walls feel dated.