We stayed one night at the Courtyard Marriot Marina del Rey on Maxella Ave. to attend a family graduation.
We were meeting family friends who were also staying here. They had picked out this hotel on the internet, sight unseen, so we all decided to stay there together.
Upon arrival, we couldn't believe the hotel was so close to the freeway and right off busy Lincoln Ave.
"Freeway close" is one thing, but this was ridiculous.
The hotel is situated in the parking lot of a mostly defunct shopping center with a closed down Marie Callendar's and all but boarded up, faded and paint-peeling Carl's Jr.
I have read others reviews about the safety of Marina del Rey, and being from the southern California area myself and having had visited Marina del Rey several times, I would have thought that the area would be safe too, but this particular area made me glad I was accompanied by my husband.
The parking lot was rundown and not well-maintained with trash littered around.
I have to say though, that once we got inside, the hotel itself was ok.
I had no problem with the staff, who were very friendly, efficient and accomodating.
We had requested 2 rooms adjacent to each other to accomodate my 97 year old mother-in-law as we wanted to be close by her.
We got that set-up as requested, so that was nice, however, we were placed very far back in the hotel and had to walk quite aways back and forth to our rooms.
The hotel was clean, halls clear and clean, and our rooms were fine. Not anything extraordinary, just OK. Beds were adequate comfort-wise but would have preferred queens instead of the doubles.
We were placed in a room where the traffic noise was noticeable at night and in the morning. Had we stayed longer than just one night, I would have requested a different room.
The pool area and garden was nice and well-maintained.
We did have the buffet breakfast the next day, and it was just ok. The omelette bar was fine too, but again....nothing to write home about.
While we were waiting for our table, they had a seminar going on with pounding music, apparently to motivate the audience.
The seminar was held around the corner from the restaurant and the loud music and the person speaking to the crowd was very distracting. I went to go see where the seminar was being held and all the doors of the conference room were open, without any attempt to close them so as not to disturb the other hotel patrons.
Unfortunately overall, I would not recommend this particular hotel in the Marriot chain just because of the location.
I do not see myself as a picky person, but was so disappointed that it was situated in a seedy parking lot. I was expecting so much more from the Marina del Rey address.
Next time I would definitely look elsewhere.
