My husband and I were traveling with a 7-year old with plans to attend a Gopher hockey game.
We arrived late on a Friday night to check-in. Check-in went smoothly. Valet parking wasn't available so my husband parked our vehicle in the underground parking garage ($15/night). Underground parking is fabulous in the winter in Minnesota. We had a nice corner room on the 5th floor with two queen beds. The rooms aren't large, but they are comfortable and clean. The beds are comfy and the room included a small fridge, not much of a view. They also supply Aveda products (I always appreciate nice soap/shampoo/conditioner).

A few things worth noting if you're traveling with kids: The Depot ice skating rink is attached to the building. It's great. It costs extra (discounted to around $6/adult if you mention that you're staying at the hotel) but is totally worth it if you enjoying skating. It's a great way to burn off energy when it's too cold to be outside.
The water park is nice/clean with life guards and kept our child entertained for at least an hour. I did hear some parents say that once your kids have been to Wisconsin Dells and experienced the waterparks there, this one didn't seem like anything special. I'd say it's great for kids up to age 9 or 10, but kids older than that probably won't enjoy it as much.
There's also an arcade near the water park which was hit with my child.
Good coffee/lattes are available right next door at Dunn Brothers Coffee. It's within walking distance to Nicolet Mall. Short cab ride to Mariucci Arena. Good running down by the river just a few blocks away if it's not too cold outside.
After reading some of the reviews, our expectations weren't high. The staff and the hotel's accomodations exceeded our expectations in every way.

We spent 1 night for a little staycation with the kids before the holiday. We were not disappointed when we arrived to our rooms, they were nice, spacious, clean, well-decorated. The kids enjoyed the waterpark and games adjacent to the hotel - that was a big bonus! We enjoyed dinner a few blocks away at the Spaghetti Factory so great to be able to walk to a restaurant. What dissapointed us the most was breakfast - granted the hotel was not very busy but the staff was light and the service was nil. We arrived at the hotel restaurant, proceeded to wait and finally seated ourselved next to a table where staff were meeting. We continued to wait another 5-10 minutes while the staff did not help us at all. We then went to the buffet where we had to wait while the staff was first. My husband expressed his disappointment to the manager, and she was very apologetic even gave us free tickets to ice skating next door to "make it right" This was much appreciated, but good advice to the staff would be to take your name tags off first before you enjoy the hotel restaurant - service and the customer should come first.

We spent 3 nights last month on a weekend at a family wedding and were most impressed with this hotel, it's Marriott staff, and it's really well thought out amenities. We stayed in a room that resembled a small suite with a couch and upholstered easy chair, great TV, good desk and chair with all up-to-date gadget necessities. Our room, and the whole hotel, is very well thought out and well designed and put together. Everything was fresh and new feeling and everything worked well such as the air conditioner, the nifty multiple curtains with blackout capabilities, the desk with fixtures and fittings for laptops, phones, other gadgets. We were impressed with the comfort and great design. The hotel was filled with families getting married apparently so there were lots of kids and families whooping it up but our room was totally silent. I totally agree with the other 4 and 5 star reviews on the charm and history of the place. It's unusually warm and inviting. Our only gripe is with all hotels that now use only duvets for the bed which are too warm for us in almost all weather conditions.

This was a pleasant surprise. The staff gets "it". They were very friendly and attentive. Check in was very professional and efficient. The rooms were very clean, large and comfortable. The windows were a bit drafty but other than than that this was an excellent stay and I would recommend the hotel when in the downtown area.