I had the opportunity to spend one night at the Courtyard hotel in New Haven Connecticut. On a scale of 1 to 10, my overall rating would be a six.

Check-in was “Marriott quick” taking less than a minute. My room was #516, a double facing the street. I used the AAA rate of $149 per night.

Parking is behind the hotel in a two-level lot. At check-in guests parking a car for $12.00 per night are given a parking pass which needs to be placed on the dashboard. I pulled into the lot and then checked in. It would have been easier to pull up by the door, check in, and then park

The decor of the lobby and halls seemed dated. My first impression was that this was an old hotel. Getting off the elevator on the 5th floor, the hall carpet looked worn. I was worried that I had made a mistake in choosing this hotel.

However, I was pleased on entering my room to see that it had been updated and had a much more contemporary look. I had chosen a double room with two queen-size beds because it was less expensive than a king-bedded room. The beds were very comfortable and had both foam and feather pillows. Lighting in the room was good. A nice touch was finding two bottles of water, chips, and a package of cookies on the desk.

The desk was large and the office-style chair comfortable. However the high-speed internet service at the hotel was s l o w. First, the wired connection in my room did not work at all. OK, the hotel offers wireless so not having wired was not a problem. I connected to the wireless network easily, but could not connect to my office via a VPN. I have not had this problem for three or four years. I tried to check my email using Outlook Web Access and it was slow. I ran the Speakeasy speed test and the download speed was less than 300 KBS, the slowest I have seen in a hotel for a long, long time. I gave up on the hotel service and connected wirelessly via Verizon which was faster and worked with my VPN.

Not having stayed at this hotel before I did not know that half the rooms faced Whalley, a fairly busy street. My recommendation for those sensitive to noise is get an odd numbered room facing the back. I did not get as good of a night’s sleep as I expect at a Marriott property. One other minor issue is that there was no easily reachable electrical outlet near the bed to plug my cell phone into. Pulling out the night stand, I found an outlet, but it was being used for the lamp and clock radio.

The room was large enough so that even with two queen-size beds it did not feel cramped. That was not the case with the bathroom. While being decorated nicely, it was very small. Traveling alone it was not a problem. I don’t think my wife and I could have shared the bathroom because of the size. The quality of the bath amenities and towels was very good. Hot water flowed immediately and water pressure was good.

We arrived late and left early so I did not have the opportunity to use any of the hotel’s other facilities. The only hotel associate that I came in contact with was at the front desk at check-on. She was courteous and friendly.

I chose the Courtyard at Yale in New Haven because of the Marriott name and my many good experiences staying at Courtyard hotels. It pains me to not be able to give this property a higher recommendation.

Do not use the telephone in your room!!!
Being elderly and techniclogically inept, I do not have my own portable telephone. I used the used the telephone provided by Marriot for two approximately five to ten minute telephone calls from New Haven to New York City and was charged $58.19! When I complained,the desk cut the amount billed in half, but still I was badly gouged. It must be Marriott's corporate policy to discriminate against the aged by cheating them when they can get away with it like on telephone use. I have travelled all over the world for many, many years on business and pleasure and have flown between 750,000 and a 1,000,000 air mles. Never before have I been so taken by a hotel! I will never stay at a Marriot again.

Very nice hotel. Lobby was very nice and room was great for the price. The location was nice and I was happy with my stay. Staff was nice, would stay there again.

Of course, the room is up to standards, but this hotel does not offer room service, and when I called the front desk to ask about this, they stated that room service was not available and then hung up on me. I believe I paid too much money to be hung up on by the front desk.