My wife and I do a good deal of traveling and stay at hotels quite often. During a stay, you can get a pretty good feel for how well a hotel is managed.

It only took one day (out of a 4 day stay to visit our kids) to figure out that the people that manage and staff this hotel do not have a clue what they are doing.

Whoever picked the spot to put this hotel did a good job because it is centrally located and there is easy access on and off I-77.

That is where the "good" ended.

Here is a recap of our stay:

1. Internet in the room is a joke. No WIFI and modem connection speed so slow that it is totally worthless.

2. You cannot hook up in the business center because it is dirty and loud. The front desk staff provide the majority of the noise. They have extremely poor customer service skills and apparently do not care about their jobs.

3. The housekeeping staff appeared to follow the lead of the losers at the front desk. Apparently, getting your room cleaned by 3:30 in the afternoon was acceptable (its inexcusable when the hotel is not full). When we complained the front desk staff repeatedly hung up the phone on us. When we called the switchboard, no one answered half the time.

4. "Free" coffee in the lobby area was never fresh and was always luke warm. The coffee area was never picked up and was disgusting by the end of the day.

If you think that you are getting a good deal by staying here, make sure you bring your patience and a good vacuum cleaner.

We were in Charlotte for a wedding and chose this hotel because of its central location to relatives homes and wedding reception. We could not have been more pleased. Everyone who works there was so friendly and accomodating. We stayed in a queen suite because we have 4 small children and it was very spacious and clean. The breakfast was delicious with enough options to please all. We used the laundry facilities and both washer and dryer worked great. There is a very clean and comfortable exercise room with several tv's and cold water. We enjoyed the pool each day which was clean and a good size. There is a gazebo just off of the pool with additional outside chairs where we had dinner and a small birthday party for our 6 year old. The hotel is well kept, quiet, and in a good location. I would reccomend it to anyone who would like a worry free stay away from home.

A major selling point of the Marriott Courtyard brand is free internet access in rooms. I dare you to successfully use this feature at this property. The transmission speed is so slow in the room that the service is useless. The result is competition for the sole terminal in the "business center" off the lobby and for the limited space at the outlets in that area. Users were bringing laptops into that area to directly connect via cable. WiFi connection in the lobby area was very slow. Being hard wired was the way to go. It has been years since we have experienced such miserable internet access in a hotel room. Given that the hotel underwent a major renovation recently, there is no excuse for this problem. The hotel "engineer" spent a fruitless hour in our room and divulged that it is a major problem throughout the hotel. In fairness, I must report that the "engineer" did his best and did provide access to the "Elite" members work area. Sadly, internet service was poor in that facility. The contracted tech support informed us that ithe problem lies with the modems in the room.

Working in the "business center" can be problematic due to noise. The center overlooks the large TV area. The TV is always on and the volume is high. Check -in and the breakfast area are also immediately adjacent to the "business center". The staff provided the majority of the noise. They are rowdy. I've never been in a hotel where the front desk staff behaved in such an unprofessional manner. Individuals, possibly personal friends, kept coming and going to much shouting and laughter. One staff member had child care issues and was accompanied by a young , vocal child. Currently, I am overhearing a very loud conversation between two staff members discussing painting issues. Clearly, staff training has been lacking.

The closest sit down restaurant appears to be a Ruby Tuesday on the other side of I77. When I requested information on suitable restaurants, I was directed to the Carolina Mall, which is about a 5 minute drive in distance, but took closer to 30 minutes due to traffic. Going downtown would be a better choice or head in the direction of the South Town mall.

I had to take a quick trip to Charlotte last week on business, and the corporation I work for doesn't give you much flexibility regarding which hotel chain you stay at. In Charlotte, the Courtyard Arrowood was the hotel of no-choice.
I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel. Everything was clean, the staff was friendly, and there was even a complimentary copy of USA Today waiting outside my door the next morning.
Overall, not much of a "wow" factor but maybe when you are traveling on business, your expectations are set much lower since it's someone else's nickel.
There was no free wi-fi, which I found a little odd given the hotel obviously caters to the business traveler. Also, there was no continental breakfast but the hotel was right next door to a Starbuck's. The room did have all the standard amenities: cable TV, ironing board/iron, hair dryer, fluffy towels, and clean sheets.
Overall, very clean but not memorable.
Oh, did I mention that a police officer hangs around the lobby at night? Not sure why, but I think I heard there had been some robberies in the hotel parking lot, thieves looking for GPS systems in the rental cars.