The Bistro - Eat. Drink. Connect.®

136 Marsh Hill Rd, Orange
(203) 799-2200

Recent Reviews

MrJmbjmb

"Old style" Courtyard located next to I-95, nothing really special about the hotel itself or the location. Looks like it was recently renovated, but it's the usual Courtyard type of renovation where they keep the old furniture in the room and just change the carpets and paint the walls grey. The main positive aspect of this hotel is that it's much cheaper than the other Marriott options in downtown New Haven or near Yale. I stayed there as I was attending an event at Westville Music Bowl, it's a short 10-minute drive from the venue, location was perfect for that. I requested an early check-in through the Marriott app as I was planning on arriving in town early, the request was granted and I received a mobile key to my room around 8:30AM. I arrived at the hotel around 11:00 and got my first experience with the level of customer service at the hotel. The front desk agent was looking at her phone and had AirPods on, I told her I just wanted to get a key card for my room. Asked me for my room number, looked through a pile of key cards on the desk and handed me my keys. No ID check, no asking for my name, no confirming the details of my stay. Really didn't want me feel too safe about leaving my stuff in my room all day. The interaction with the front desk person ended with them making a snark remark at me about how the 'usual' check-in time was at 3:00PM, if they don't want guests to show up early, then they shouldn't accept early check-in requests and send keys at 8:30AM. The next day, upon returning from picking up my lunch order from a nearby restaurant I tried to get back in my room but noticed that my key had been deactivated. It often happens when hotels don't properly activate them for late check-out, not usually a big deal, just need to swing by the front desk. That's what I did and I had the opportunity to meet the front desk manager. I was asked for my room number, she typed a couple things into the computer and handed me a new key. Again, no ID check, no asking me for my name or anything. When I pointed it out she didn't seem to think anything was wrong with it, I guess it's now clear why her team doesn't care about checking ID too. I guess that if I ever have to stay there again I won't bother making a reservation and will just ask for keys to a random room since they don't care about who they give them out to. If you are staying there, maybe make sure to lock your door and keep your valuables out of the room when you are not there?

Srhurz

Chelsea at the front desk went to extraordinary lengths to help us with a room assignment. Though the hotel is pet- friendly, she worked patiently and thoughtfully to locate a room that would be healthy for us. We both have allergies and asthma. We quickly exited when checking into another hotel for which we had a reservation, because we learned they allowed any all all types of pets. Guinea pigs, rabbits, whatev. Chelsea found us a room at the Courtyard that suited our needs, even at the last minute. Thank you, Chelsea! You took your commitment to customer satisfaction very seriously and did so kindly. Incidentally, though reviews are not stellar for this Courtyard, we found our room to be clean and our needs were met. We would stay there again.

Green1Ma

This place is functional but nothing more. The rooms are small and ours had a curved love seat that took up so much floor space us was hard to get around. No maid service if you only stay 2 night which was fine except the towels didn’t dry and we were out of the “free” coffee. The front desk provided more coffee but were out of cups that fit the mini coffee machine. The bed was barely tolerable and I despise the sink being out of the bathroom. Basically the lobby is a multipurpose restaurant. Overall it was clean, but not comfortable

spencerp668

I've stayed here before as I work with UI next door. I was pleased to see that the exterior renovations were complete as this was a much needed upgrade. This pleasure ended quickly when I met your front desk agent. In all my years of traveling, this was perhaps the most rude and least hospitable interaction I've ever had. Your employee was sitting in the lobby on her phone when I walked in and begrudgingly walked to the desk when I arrived. It is a major pet peeve of mine to arrive to an unmanned front desk - as if a guest arrival is a distraction or interruption of some other activity. It's literally the most important interaction with a guest and sets the tone for the whole stay. When the front desk person made her way over, I was simply greeted with "last name" and then "points or market item". There was no "hello" or attempt at friendliness. This was a super surly and downright hostile interaction. No smile, no eye contact, no offer of directions to the room, no nothing except the absolute bare minimum amount of effort to get me a key and get her back to her chair in the corner and to her Instagram or TikTok. I witnessed an identical interaction with another guest an hour or so later when I made my way back from Outback. Charging some water to the room resulted in a similar "name on the room" interaction when I spoke to her. The renovation is OK inside, but the rooms aren't any better. Were they even done? Stained chairs and old carpet, etc. I don't say this often, but the lady at the front desk needs to find a new job or be disciplined. I can't put into words how nasty she was and at a minimum she should have another role at the hotel. It was that bad and ridiculous and there's absolutely no excuse for her behavior. In my future travels to UI (3-4 times a year), I'll stay elsewhere probably - simply based on this interaction. How much business is this toxic person losing you?

Alexander Governale

Staying at the hotel for 3 weeks and already after week one staff recognizes me and knows what I want. Great customer service.

gt6243c

I chose this hotel because I have status with Marriott. When booking, I also upgraded my room because I had upgrade rewards that are about to expire. While my room was quite large, it needed some maintenance. The door separating the bedroom from living room was damaged and the shower tile was cracked. My least favorite thing about the hotel was how difficult it was to turn into and out of the parking lot access. The hotel is on a busy road. I did enjoy the hotel’s close proximity to the Pez Visitor Center. I also ordered lunch from the Outback that was located just in front of the hotel.

Charles W

Filthy halls and carpets. The hallway carpets had patchwork tape and plastic running the length of the hallway. The bathroom sink was adorned by someone else’s hair. In short, it made my skin crawl but it was too late to find another accommodation. My advice is to keep driving!

R678XVmelissas

We stayed this past weekend for one night (thankfully) and while entering the hotel front doors we were suddenly greeted by a huge construction site upon arrival. Now I understand properties update but this was over the top and the property should shut down to fully complete the renovations rather than continue to book without disclosing the information during the reservation process. This is not a good business practice and fair to consumers. First, the major renovations should be noted prior to booking as it is throughout the whole hotel and is causing major hazards and multiple inconveniences throughout the stay including plastic sheets hanging throughout the halls causing confusion as to where to go and trouble navigating with children and luggage, wet paint in many areas, carpeting taped down or ripped up and rolled in the middle of the hallway, high scaffolds blocking entrances, loud construction tools being used, dust flying throughout the hotel, no front check in area, no convenience shop to purchase drinks etc. Since we had already paid and it was after 4:00 we had no other option but to stay. We hoped our rooms would be a different story than what we encountered in the lobby and halls. When we entered the two rooms we booked we noticed they were outdated, however knowing now they were being renovated we gave them the benefit of the doubt. However while we were in the rooms we noticed many things completely unacceptable, such as lights not working (including the lights right next to the door when you entered), black mold in the high corners of the bathroom, food left from previous guests under the ottoman (which means they did not move them while cleaning), no soap left in the bathroom soap dispenser, broken shower doors and shower head, hair in corners of the bathroom and shower area, paint peeling and chipped off of the wall and the AC unit not cooling with a mildew smell. We also heard people yelling out by the pool area overnight and noticed one person sleeping out in the chairs. Needless to say we barley slept and left as early as possible the next day. While we were leaving the front desk staff or person sitting down looking at a phone near what would be the area of a front desk barley even looked up to acknowledge us all packed up early and checking out. Never once did they apologize for any issues that were clearly going on at their hotel. Be aware of the positive reviews on their main site and other sites and if you do need to book a room, clearly ask about their renovation status.

Randy W

We stayed here 3+ years ago and it was adequate and had a nice little bar with food. The place is a mess right now. The lobby reception was being renovated and it’s sloppy, loud, and gross. Not friendly at check in. We proceeded to our second floor room. Hallway under construction and dangerous to tripping carpet not taped down. Lawsuit waiting to happen. We had an entire kids baseball team running up and down that hallway. Room - dirty, the thermostat didn’t work, weird cords coming out of wall to tv. We asked for a pack and play and it was dirty with a big hair ball on it. We left a day early. Stay at the homewood suites.

marckH2096YV

We stayed on Saturday, June 18, 2022 and wrote the following email to the manager, Brian Stokes on June 20, 2022 and left him a voice mail telling him that the email had been sent. "When my wife and I checked in we tried to set the temperature on the heating/cooling system the room for 68 degrees as the room felt much warmer. On the unit we saw clear instructions to only do that via the thermostat on the wall. When I tried that, the thermostat was completely dead. I tried calling the front desk to report it but no one answered after 25 rings and my wife and I had to leave the hotel as we had plans in New Haven. I tried turning on the unit directly and set the temperature down to 68 degrees, just before we left, hoping that would work. When we returned from dinner later that evening, the unit was no longer running and the room was very warm. This was now about 8:00pm so we called the front desk. They sent up a nice fellow who was your houseman but had no knowledge of how to trouble shoot the system. He opened the thermostat, saw one battery in it, thought it needed a fresh battery so went to retrieve one. He found one, replaced the existing battery and attempted to power it on but no luck. He spent a bit more time poking around before telling us he was going to discuss it with the front desk and to await a call from them. He indicated that if he could not fix it we could likely be transferred to a different room. We then began packing up our things in anticipation of a possible room change. We waited for close to an hour and by then we were getting tired I proactively went down to the front desk to ask to be given another room. I was told that our hotel and the other hotel owned by SBM hospitality were completely sold out and they were going to reach the maintenance person who could advise the houseman on how to resolve the issue. More time went by so I went down to the front desk again and was told that the maintenance person was going to come in from home but that would take close to an hour. It was now around 10:30pm and we were quite tired. Xavier, (who was wonderful, btw, ) arrived around 11:15pm, opened the thermostat and determined that it needed two batteries. He left and came back with the additional battery but the thermostat still did not work. He then left to determine if the unit was even compatible with the thermostat in the room. He apparently determined that they were not compatible and set out to try to set the air temperature directly from the unit. He was finally able to do that, left and returned with the evening houseman to show him what he did. It was now past midnight and we were exhausted and fairly stressed out. I don't know why we were even allowed to check into a room that had a malfunctioning temperature regulating system. Anyone that would have inspected the room before our check in should have noticed that which leads me to believe that the room was not properly inspected before we checked in. I booked the room on the Bonvoy app with points. Can you credit those points and maybe more back to my Bonvoy account given the issues we had to deal with ? " After not hearing anything back, I emailed him again on July 2nd, 2022 and to date, he has not responded. No response, to two emails and a phone call and its' been over 3 weeks since our stay.

Carla D

We stay here on our Beach getaways. After the beach, we retire to the pool, order cocktails & beer from their bar close by. They make sandwiches & fries. That's all you need. We edit our photos from the day. Swim. Rest. We love this quiet getaway. It's a small pool. Small gym. But that's what a hideaway is all about. It's set back from the road, behind a restaurant. It's not flashy but clean, neat, nice folks, and priced right for us.

RewardsGuy

As a longtime Marriott Rewards member, I've never come close to being so disappointed. They gave away my 88-year-old mother's guaranteed accessible room and provided shabby furniture. And despite repeated calls and emails to customer service, nothing has ever been done about it. STAY AWAY!

Sue Linnemeyer

We have been waiting over 90 minutes for an appetizer order of spinach artichokes flatbread. We are here on a bus tour and all of our group experienced delays in getting there food. Ours was the absolute longest. Most of the orders took at least an hour when you would expect it to be about 10 minutes max. The staff just kind of says "oh well". Very poor customer service.

lisalX6527RT

I had erroneously charges on my credit card. The agent who checked me in authorized my credit card when I paid for the room on expedia. Lack of training.then a restaurant charged showed up on my credit card when I didn't order food to my room. The mgr on duty I don't know his name. But he said it was an authorization no it was a post. I called the following week he promised to reversed . Waited another week called again. He also had me over the phone it seem liked he presented to reverse the credit card waited another week. Till I spoke with Anthony and explained to him that I'm a night auditor I know how credit card work and authorizations. I told him I want a folio of the reversal. Reversal came through on August 24. So if u need an adjustment on your cc . Call on a Tuesday that mgr understand the Reservation system.

spikestir

So many problems I just need to list them: - don't get a room anywhere near a door. We're second floor, four rooms over from a ground floor side entrance door (#207). The entrance door slams so loudly that the room actually shakes!!! Slams all night long - Every room door on the hall slams (hard to avoid being near a room door!) What hotel lets their room doors slam? - shower handle broke off completely. Shower door broken on track/barely opens - unusually small room - damage in ceiling - exposed electrical socket in lobby TV area - under staffed. At night the front desk clerk also had to work the cafe area - saw staff today make bagel with no gloves - construction closes the front entrance and they don't clearly identify how to enter building - really cheap toilet paper - microwave not very adjustable (this is silly stuff, but also, all they need is digital controls. Even my mother has turned in her dial microwave for a digital. LOL) - on top of everything else, it costs a lot and there's no free breakfast ... adds insult to injury I had titled this Hated It! Then I thought I'm booked here for two more nights, so this review is in process. I'm hating this hotel so much I couldn't wait until I leave to start writing the review. positive note: staff has been friendly, overworked, but friendly update: we moved rooms. Staff are encumbered in their ability to solve problems. Ex, they were not able to upgrade the room. Stupid policy on their part - penny wise, pound foolish

Load More

The Bistro - Eat. Drink. Connect.®

136 Marsh Hill Rd, Orange, CT 06477
(203) 799-2200