Not sure if this is the correct forum since I couldn't find any other that fit....anyway, I just checked into a Courtyard tonight for business; all I have to ask is what is so spectacular about Marriott?

For my business travel, we have to stay somewhat budget minded so the luxury hotels that I prefer to stay in on leisure travel are out; so I tend to frequent Hilton properties, mostly Hampton Inns on business.

The rooms here are very bare bones, offering rock hard mattresses, noisy old a/c units, and a rediculous 19" tv....c'mon, even the worst hotels at least have a 25" (now that is cheap). The only thing I can say good about it is the free internet. I have stayed in a Courtyard 1 or 2 other times, and they are all the same.

Hamptons offer free continental breakfast (expanded), a much more comfortable new bed with pillowtop mattress, free internet, and 25" TVs which is pretty standard. I just can't justify the $149 rate for this well below average room I got. Not to mention, HHonors seems just as good of a rewards program if not better than Marriott Rewards.

Just curious as to why you guys pick these over Hampton Inns.....you seem to get a LOT less for your $. I'll avoid Courtyard from now on.

Welcome to the evil step-child of the Marriott hotel brands.

There are quite a few threads (rants really) lamenting the short comings of the CY brand. So you are not alone. For the most part, Marriott does a good job of providing a brand for the different market segments. I am lucky that I can usually stay at a FS property and Marriott tends to do those very well. (Staying a Reniassance right now that is pretty darn good. ^ )

I would tend to agree with you that if I were forced to stay more at middle-tier brands, I would probably not have stayed with Marriotts as much as I have been.

Boy, I can't agree with you more. I hate CY's with a passion, all of them accross the USA. I think they have us brain washed with the by/for business traveler tag and the "snob" appeal of being a "business" hotel without having to pay up the 10 extra dollars for the FS Marriott.

The rooms are noisy, odd shaped, have loud hallways and doors that slam hard, often smell bad, breakfast is overpriced, nothing free, almost as much as a FS Marriott in most cases. And I never get an internal "courtyard" side view dispite being PLT status (I have some hope they might be quieter). And they seem lightly staffed by disinterested clerks at night who just want you out of their way ASAP. And the very, very long walk from the lobby to your room in the opposite corner of the courtyard.

I'd rather stay at a Residence Inn, SHS, Homewood Suites or Hampton Inn when I'm forced to go that route.

I also think that there are many of them strategically located near office parks and other white collar employment centers who get "special" rates for their visitors - and the local arrangers don't travel and stay locally.

Love to hear from others what the attraction might be.

Without getting into a debate between Marriott Rewards and HHonors, those of us here who pick Courtyard over its mid-price competition, generally do so because Marriott Rewards is our first choice among the rewards programs (for various reasons), and because for many of us it's not easy to get the 50 or 75 nights required for true elite status. On the other hand, many folks agree with you as to Courtyard being the poorest value in the Marriott pecking order. In general, I find it no better, and sometimes not as good, as Garden Inn or Hampton, depending on the location. You are also correct, and it is a frequently mentioned sore point here that Courtyard, unlike its competition, doesn't provide comped breakfast; not even to elites.
I would note that, apparently unlike the CY you stayed at, many have been renovated, and most have new good bedding.

I stay at both Courtyards and Hampton Inns a lot. Hampton quality varies quite a bit. Stay at an older one and you might as well be at a family budget motel at half the price; stay at a newer one and you'll feel like you're getting a bargain. On the other hand, Courtyard is always a consistent product. Between that and what many feel is a slightly more generous rewards program, a lot of business travelers prefer Courtyards.

I find Courtyards often overpriced, though. Heavy business travelers book them up first, so when I'm making my plans only a few days out I frequently see rates $30-50/night over the competition. It's a good brand, and I'd book it more if it were more price competitive, but....

It seems as if there is an obvious defference between CY in Europe and the U.S. I have been to a couple of CYs in Europe (mostly ZRH and DUS) and they all were very modern, rooms were as comfortable as in "normal" properties (big flat screen t.v.), breakfast was better than in many more expensive hotels and prices are nearly as high as for a classic Hilton, Marriott or Sheraton.

But I have made the same experience with Four Points: In Europe they are mostly very modern, exclusive and expensive whereas in the U.S. I would never stay at a Four Points again.

I think the branding in Europe is completely different: Four Points and Courtyards are often not in downtown, have no first class restaurant but rooms and amentities are nearly the same as in a classic Marriott or Sheraton.

Just my two cents

You are probably right in that domestic US CYs and non-US CYs may be different. The CY in Chennai, India is pretty much a FS Marriott. It even has a CL. About the only difference is it doesn't have a pool.

I have over the past couple of months stayed at CY properties in AMS, BRU, CDG, FCO and VCE airports and all of them were as good as FS properties, as were their prices, for that matter. These hotels might just as well have been marketed as Renaissance.

I avoid CYs whenever possible. I just don't understand this brand at all.

I laugh out loud every time I hear the ads that say "Designed by business travelers by business travelers." I wonder what kind of business travelers would design a hotel without a bar and where you have to pay $12 for a crappy breakfast.

I'd rather move either up or down in the Marriott line. For a few dollars more, I can move the FS Marriott or Ren and get access to the Concierge lounge and a free breakfast.

Or, for a few dollars LESS, I can move the Fairfield or SHS, get essentially the same room as a CY and enjoy the free breakfast buffet.

I stay around 140 nights per year in hotels, and over 100 of those are in CYs, for some of the following reasons:

- points (duh)
- cheaper than FS Marriotts
- Free internet (I generally refuse to stay in any hotel that charges for internet access)
- Generally a consistent product from hotel to hotel (I have had a few surprises, both good and bad)

I am a very boring person and usually eat the same thing for breakfast every day. My recent experience has been:

Hyatt : oatmeal/coffe/jucie: $27 (including tip)
Mariott FS: $25 including tip
CY: anywhere between $5 and $9 including tip (kinda funny to observe the same hotel, in the same week, with the same server, eating the same thing, results in a wide variation of what I am charged.


I do agree with other posters here about "designed for travelers by travelers" being a joke. What traveler would NOT have a speaker phone as a requirement?

One big beef I have about CY, is that in EVERY ONE I stay in, the AC blows directly on the desk, which can make working for very long there quite uncomfortable!

I've been sampling a lot of hotels in this price range lately. Without looking at points, by far the best has been the newly redone Hyatt Place / Amerisuites. 42" Plasma HDTVs, down comforters, largish jr. suite rooms, free continental breakfast, free WiFi, more modern design. Often the same cost or cheaper than nearby CYs, Hamptons, and RI. Not very many locations though, ~200.

I find the rooms at CY to be rather boring, cookie cutter.

I feel that rennovated Haptons have better beds, but lack the plasma HD TVs, and modern style at Hyatt Place.

There are some nice Courtyards in the US (the Denver downtown one on 16th street is nice), but generally I would agree they aren't very nice.

I'm all for the SpringHill Suites, which Bill Marriott calls in his blog, "Springhill Suites guests are high achievers on business travel too, but they also enjoy trips and they like to work in their leisure time too to see new places, to eat where the local people eat. They tend to be younger, so they're a growing market."

Just like any hotel chain, the quality varies. I've stayed in some CYs domestically that were every bit as good as some of the FS hotels, and I've stayed in a few clunkers. I've stayed in some really good Hamptons, and I've stayed in a few that might as well have been a Motel 6.

As for breakfast, my recent experience is that in a give area the CY tends to be slightly less money than the Hampton - enough to pay for breakfast. And I've found a handful of CYs will either discount or comp breakfast for certain elite members...

I have never stayed at a Hyatt, so I cannot comment on the cost of breakfast there. However, I wonder about your cost at a FS Marriott for breakfast. Are you just eating oatmeal with juice and coffee? If that is the case, why don't you get it from the concierge lounge? If you are eating that on weekends when the lounge is closed, you can sometimes get the hotel to comp the breakfast. Otherwise a cold continental breakfast buffet usually is much cheaper, about $15 including tax and tip. Of course, this does not apply if you are at a resort property where a lounge is unavailable and prices tend to be higher. I usually see CY breakfast for $11-$13, with tax and tip included.

My travel pattern is similar to UScolorado1k;

out of 550 nights in my lifetime, 500+ are from Courtyards. I stay there for mostly the same reasons as UScolorado1k but I have a few others to add.

CY gets you 10pts vs 5 for RI, it's also more common than SHS so finding a CY in the vicinity of where you're going isn't difficult. Hotel breakfast is consistently the same, so unless you like eating the same exact stuff every day I find myself venturing outside to grab myself food. I like having the option of going to find something different.
Client/company negotiated rates also have significant input on where I will be staying. Out of the 3 long projects I have been on, 2 had negotiated rates at the Courtyards (one included breakfast into the rate) , the 3rd had a number of Marriotts near it, but the CY had the cheapest rate.

Also, if you frequent the same hotel consistently, you can usually talk to the front desk manager or GM to include other amenities such as free breakfast (I was offered this on one of my project, but refused because I did not eat breakfast at that point)