Courtyard Waco

Most of the time we barely heard traffic from our room, though a very loud truck or motorcycle on the road along the river was noticeable. My wife was attending an event across the street at the Waco Convention Center, and we stayed in January while the hotel was being renovated. The south elevator was out of service, but we were on the north side, first floor, so it didn't affect us. The windows are screwed shut. The hotel deserves credit for trying to offer EV charging. There are two Tesla EVSE units with NACS connectors on a light pole in the south parking lot. One was damaged, and the maintenance person wouldn't switch on its breaker. I needed the building maintenance guy's help a few times to get the other unit working, and its cord was extremely short. Although rated for 48A, it tripped the breaker if the car drew that much. I experimented and found it ran reliably at 32A. It also supplies 208V rather than 240V, which probably means it's connected to two legs of a three-phase supply. I tracked my charging and moved my car when done, but some people leave theirs connected after charging. Because charging ports lock, you can't unplug a finished car, even if there's enough cord to move it to another spot. Maybe the breaker is old and trips early, or the installation isn't sized for what the EVSE could draw. I have an MS in CS/EE and worked as an Electronics Tech (Radar) in the Navy, so I know a bit about electricity. :) Since Tesla EVSEs cost enough that they may not want one on every light pole, they could consider lockable, weather-resistant boxes with NEMA 14-50 outlets on each pole. Guests could bring their own EVSE and plug in.

Before 8 a.m. the next morning, loud banging from the work woke us abruptly and made the rest of the stay hard to enjoy. The employee at check-in had offered earplugs, which should have tipped me off that some kind of construction or other work was going on. I booked the Courtyard Marriott with points, and breakfast wasn't included. After that noisy wake-up, I hoped they'd offer it free as a goodwill gesture, but they didn't. If I'd paid normally instead of using points, I would have been more irritated. Check with the hotel that the work is finished before booking, and make sure you know whether points include breakfast.

After a long drive across the state, it was really nice to meet the night manager, Tracy, and her colleague who was leaving. I didn't catch the colleague's name, but both were lovely.

The rooms were clean and comfortable, service was great, and breakfast was genuinely delicious with plenty of choices. I was here for a conference at the convention center across the street. I'll try another Courtyard Marriott and see if they keep this level of service as their standard.