As a kid when I traveled, Marriott's Courtyard was a go-to for my family, especially when we were doing short trips or not staying in resort-type areas (like Walt Disney World). I have to admit that the frequency of those stays and the good memories from those trips gave me a fondness for Courtyards. That, along with the easy location of the Dayton South, made this hotel an easy choice.
Before I go any further on my thoughts on this hotel, I have to fully disclose that during our visit, this Courtyard was undergoing a refurbishment that I know they've since completed. I also want to apologize for the lack of pictures here. I lost them on the drive before I had a chance to post them.
Now back to our experience.
As I said, this location was partly perfect because of where we went. Our trip started with a stop at a Dayton used bookstore (more on that in another post and trust me, if you love books, you want to be on the lookout for that), and then headed down to Cincinnati for a stop at the Cincinnati Zoo, and then we headed back up to Dayton for the night to rest for another day of sightseeing (and we'll get to all that in a later post, too). It was also near restaurants, shopping, and gas stations, which was another win.
We arrived at the hotel just before dinner and were able to check in right away. The desk clerk did let us know at check-in that the hotel was under renovation, so I requested to see a room before we checked in. She made a key, directed me where to go, and gave me a chance to look at it. Once I found the room and quickly toured it, I returned to the desk and checked in.
My family's room was on the third floor with two double beds, a TV, and a desk - all the typical amenities for a standard double room. We had a view of the courtyard and could see the pool from our room, and we had a balcony to sit outside the sliding glass door. The room was clean with obviously new furniture and linens. The bathroom had also obviously been renovated with fresh flooring and fixtures. Again, nothing fancy, but it met our expectations.
After getting everything in the room, the kiddos decided they were hungry so we headed out to Steak and Shake for dinner ten minutes down the road (milkshakes were at the top of their list of must-haves). When we returned to the hotel, the evening took an unfortunate turn.
We had just settled in, everyone was getting comfortable for the night, and we were talking over our destinations for the following day when my youngest decided she wanted a snack. She headed over to the desk where we had a small bag of cookies and another of chips (for those of you with kids, you know you NEVER go anywhere unprepared).
Next thing I hear is, "Uh, Mom, there's a lot of ants over here."
I hurried over to her, but I've got to say, I was expecting a couple of ants, maybe, at most. Oh no. That's not what I found. It looked like a whole colony - climbing up the way, covering the desk ... it was A LOT.
We weren't sure what we were going to do, but it was obvious we weren't going to stay in that room.
My husband headed down to the front desk while I started gathering our things back together. Fifteen minutes later, he returned and said they had put us in another room on the other side of the building. They had explained the side of the building we had first checked into had been sprayed for bugs that day and they thought the spray brought the ants out. My husband had checked out the new room, and it appeared to be okay. Honestly, I wanted to check out and go somewhere else, but we weren't sure where (the other nearby hotels were either quite a bit more money or were sold out), and the kiddos were getting tired.
We opted to try the new room.
And I'm happy to say we didn't have any other problems that night. The hotel was quiet, the new room also freshly renovated and clean, and though I felt a bit creepy-crawly for a bit before I fell asleep, there were no other ants, or any other kind of bug, that had decided to join us for the evening.
Could it have been the snacks? Maybe, although we always have snacks in the room and never have seen anything like that. Could it have been because of spraying for bugs? Maybe. When we spray our house for the summer months, it often brings out spiders for a day or two. Could it have been the renovations? Honestly, my bet kinda lands on that option.
Whatever it was, I do have to hand it to the hotel in that they tried to make it right. The following morning, we found they had given us a credit of $25 for the trouble.
One more note
With kiddos, we often book hotels that include a continental or some kind of self-serve breakfast. The Courtyard did not have a free breakfast but did offer the Courtyard Bistro as an option. Again, because of renovations, options were extremely limited to Otis Spunmeyer muffins or breakfast sandwiches (pretty sure these were the Jimmy Dean version). Neither was very good, and both were extremely expensive for what they were. Again, from the website, I do believe this has changed, but you might want to keep it in mind. As I said, there are a lot of restaurants nearby that could offer a better alternative.
Bottom line
The stay wasn't the best stay we've ever had, and it wasn't the worst. Would I go back? I wouldn't mind giving them another chance now that renovations have been completed.
Just for one more chance. If I do, I'll update this post and share my thoughts.
Happy traveling!
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