I stayed at a North Eastern US "Residence Inn by Mariott" for 5 nights during April 2010. Unfortunately, I was less than happy with my overall experience. Here are some excerpts of a letter I wrote to Mariott about my stay.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

Mariott doesn't get the environment

Mariott does not seem to pay even lip service to the idea of environmental responsibility or energy saving:

Plastic is a waste of oil - The breakfast and evening meal buffets were consistently stocked with styrofoam plates and cups alongside plastic cutlery. Some days, there were no porcelain, glass or metal eating utensils to be had. My strong personal preference is to sit down to eat and to eat from "proper" porcelain and use metal implements. I do understand that in this day and age, many people do not have or take the time to sit down and eat. There are numerous examples of companies who satisfy both the needs of their customers for fast take-out food and ecological responsibility: Wholefoods and Chipotle Grill come to mind. Styrofoam is wasted oil and completely non-biodegradable. The plates and bowls I was forced to use on the days when no porcelain was present will still be pristine in landfills generations from now. This is a scandalous waste of resources. I ask you to consider stocking your hotels wherever possible with washable, reusable materials whenever possible (porcelain, glass, metal) and to switch to recycled paper products instead of styrofoam in all other cases.

Turn off the lights! The Residence Inn is bathed from top to bottom in very, very bright light throughout the night. Given a lack of adequate window coverings, this caused me considerable trouble getting to sleep. Much worse, however is the incredible amount of energy (and money) wasted lighting up the building 8-12 hours a day. It would be better for your bottom line, your carbon footprint and your guests' sleep if you would instead decently light up your signage, the parking lot and entry area only.

Mariott doesn't get the internet

"It felt like a 56K modem divided between all the guests" - Business travelers in this day and age rely on internet connections to do their business. The so-called "high-speed" internet connection in your hotel was miserably slow rather than "high speed" by any definition of the last 5+ years. Whether using the cable connection in my room or the WiFi in the lobby, there were some services essential to my work that I was unable to use. I was forced to stay long hours in the office knowing that I would not be able to get anything done after dinner back at the hotel. Given your location and the nature of the corporate offices around you, you must upgrade the internet connectivity in this location to a usable speed.

Mariott doesn't seem to care about offending me

Yes, Fox News offends me - I personally do not need or like television in the breakfast room, but I understand many people appreciate it. Four of the five mornings of my stay, the TV was tuned to an innocuous, local news station. On the last morning the set was turned up very, very loud - "I couldn't hear myself think" as my grandmother would put it. I asked the manager to lower the volume, but he was either unwilling or unable to do so. Much worse, however, the TV was tuned to Fox News. A vast number of people find that station, its politics and its announcers deeply offensive. I do not let my children watch Fox News and had they been with me, this would have caused difficulties that morning during breakfast. Do you have a corporate policy regarding televisions in public areas in your hotels? If so, what is your stand on controversial, potentially offensive broadcasting such as that practiced by Fox News?