Fairfield Inn: Marriott's way of cutting corners
Written: Dec 11 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: reasonably priced, friendly and efficient staff
Cons: Thruway noise audible in most rooms; small rooms and very small bathrooms
The Bottom Line: If price is your primary concern, there are even cheaper options next door. If quality is, you probably won't be happy.
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| gw0143's Full Review: Fairfield Inn by Marriott Buffalo Williamsville |
Location
The Fairfield Inn Buffalo/Williamsville is located right by the New York Thruway, next to the Route 78 (Transit Road) exit. It sits right next to and across from several other hotels. Transit Road has lots of shops of all kinds (over a stretch of several miles, mostly north of the hotel), and there is also a Regal cinema very close to the hotel (basically next to it).
While the hotel is built at a right angle to the Thruway, noise from cars and especially trucks going by on the Thruway can be heard through the not well enough noise-insulated windows. At first we got a room that was somewhat close to the Thruway and that we considered too loud. So we requested a room further away from the Thruway and were given one of the few rooms at the far end of the hotel, facing away from the Thruway, where there was very little noise left to be heard.
The hotel, like apparently many/most/all (?) Fairfield Inns, has three floors two of which have outside corridors, while the top floor has an interior corridor which makes it feel a bit nicer.
Rooms
The room somehow seemed rather small, with very little space on one side and at the foot end of the bed. The bathroom, especially, was really too small for two people to be in it at the same time. The sink was in a corner, with the towels on the left and the toilet paper holder in the front of the sink. Some architect literally tried to cut corners here. There was practically no counter space, except a narrow space behind the toilet. The shower/bath tub at least was fine, but the shower curtain was one of those extremely stiff ones.
The carpet felt like there was no padding underneath. The comforter on the bed was brightly colored, but had a rather cheap, stiff polyester feel. While the mattress seemed comfortable enough, the sheets were bizarrely arranged in an uncomfortable way. There were also several noisy (rustling) tags attached to every single piece, and there were way too many shifting pieces involved. The pillows were rather uncomfortable, too - three small, hard pillows (on a king-sized bed). I felt that I could only sleep lying right in the middle of one of the small pillows.
Service and Facilities
There was a breakfast area next to the front desk. We ate breakfast at our relatives' house and didn't try the hotel breakfast. On the morning I checked out I saw the breakfast area bursting with people. There was a line, and there clearly weren't enough seats for everybody. It also didn't really look as if the food was worth it - there were some cereal boxes, some fruits and not much else.
The staff at the front desk were very friendly and efficient, though - both at check-in and check-out, which each took only a minute or two. Our request to switch rooms was also handled very nicely and efficiently.
Price
The hotel had a single rate of $59 on any web site that we checked, including Marriott's own. While that's a relatively low price, some of the hotels next door have even lower prices - the Microtel or the Red Roof Inn, for example. I once stayed at the Red Roof Inn (on the other side of the Thruway from the Fairfield Inn) and actually liked it marginally better there. Somewhat surprisingly there was a lot less Thruway noise on the Red Roof Inn side.
Conclusion
I read a few reviews of (other) Fairfield Inns before booking this one and I had been a little concerned by some of the negative reviews. I can see their point now, although I can also see the point of the positive reviews. If you aren't that picky about bed sheets, pillows and comforters as well as bathroom design, you might actually like this place. It is clean, relatively cheap and efficiently run, and you really get what you pay for, but certainly not more and possibly a bit less. I will try to find a better hotel next time.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
gw0143
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Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 1 member
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