Courtyard by Marriott Winston - Salem Downtown

The rooms feel newly renovated, and the staff at the front desk were very helpful at night and in the morning. When I arrived, Derrick and Tamara were at the desk, and James the manager quickly helped move me to an available room. I checked out the rooftop bar. It was busy, and people seemed to be enjoying it, but I was with my daughters and didn't stay. The location is great, and this will be my go-to hotel when visiting my daughter at school nearby. I absolutely recommend it. Not sure why the rating isn't higher.

The pool is cold, and the Valentine's Day package was a mess. We didn't get the champagne and chocolate we'd ordered, but they brought prosecco and fruit instead. We were okay with that at first, but the staff seemed to take it as permission to keep getting things wrong. They blamed the computer systems, though a person could have prevented a lot of it. We had a late checkout, yet housekeeping interrupted us twice in the middle of Valentine's Day. I felt like we'd paid to have the occasion ruined, and left early because we couldn't trust housekeeping not to keep coming in. Absolutely my worst experience. I've had better stays at cheap motels, and I guess that's what I'll choose next time. Paying for this place felt like paying for a chance to be disappointed.

The room itself was in excellent shape, and the AC, heat, TV, remote, and fridge all worked as expected. I stayed for a week, and the staff were fantastic, upbeat, welcoming, and focused on customers. Great job, team. The lobby and bar are set up for a lively feel, with food, cocktails, background music, and an outdoor fire pit. Something about the atmosphere still felt a little off, though I can't say what. I might have hung around for food or drinks. I believe there's also a bar on the 6th floor, but I didn't go. Parking was no problem. The garage next door is the hotel parking, and it's accessible after hours. You can park in front of the hotel and get oriented with the hotel staff at check-in. They did a good job explaining things. The hotel is in a great location, but the room had too many odd faults to relax in. Water pressure was minimal, sometimes barely more than a stream. The bathroom faucet was completely loose and moved from side to side, and its shaft was so short it barely reached over the sink, leaving almost no room to get your hand underneath. The tub faucet was loose too and barely functional. The bathroom counter caulking looked like the most amateur work I've seen at a hotel under the Marriott name. Lighting was oddly set up: I couldn't get it to work as intended, so I made do with dim light instead of overwhelming light. My guess is that the maintenance person or third-party team needs to be reevaluated, or that the renovation was done by amateurs or the lowest bidder. The plumbing and the support of the building seem odd. If I had no choice, I would stay again knowing what I know now, and having to make do. I'm a Marriott Rewards member of more than 20 years, and this was the oddest hotel I've stayed at in all my travels with the Marriott name.

I couldn't hear the receptionist properly because the hotel reception was so noisy and irritating right when I arrived. The overall experience wasn't good. Also, even with the relatively high daily room rate, no one can bring water bottles to your room.