Finally Receiving a Much-Needed Face Lift
Written: Feb 25 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Yahoo! adjacency, newly renovated
Cons: Parking, restaurant
The Bottom Line: The Marriott Santa Clara is the worst of the big three chains (Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott) in Santa Clara. Make it your last choice.
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| jmr50's Full Review: Marriott Santa Clara |
Marriott Hotels run the gamut: there are outstanding hotels, and mediocre ones. This hotel had a bit of each, with tower rooms meeting the Marriott brand promise and other rooms... not so much. Starting last year, the Santa Clara location started a face lift which has begun to make this into a much better location for the brand rather than just a required outpost in the middle of Santa Clara.
Decor
Old look: tired Spanish/California with stucco, tile roof, and badly damaged carpeting. New look: semi-modern Spanish/California with stucco, tile roofs, and well-cleaned carpeting. Rooms have new bedding, refurbished bathrooms, new furniture, and new carpeting.
Amenities
New Marriott standard: $10 high-speed internet access, flat panel TVs (no HD yet), comfortable workstations, and good lighting. The bathrooms are somewhat refurbished, but nothing to get too excited about: they're still pretty small. Tower rooms are marginally larger, and pool rooms have the same poorly-insulated sliding glass doors. Parking is the same expensive hassle, even though this is a suburban location. The Hyatt, Hilton, and Embassy Suites don't hassle their guests - how about it, Marriott?
Dining
Pretty dismal. Parcel 104 has a great premise: local, organic, farm-fresh food prepared in innovative American dishes. Here's the problem: service and consistency. I'm fine with the food being sort of pricy for outstanding food, but when it makes it to my table cold and wrong, it's hard to be distracted by the admittedly fantastic wine list. Then, there's consistency: I expect a local restaurant serving farm-fresh food to have different food from season to season, as things come into and out of stock, but I find the same core dishes month in and month out. Disappointing, and it undercuts the core promise of the restaurant.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
jmr50
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Location: Northern Virginia
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 8 members
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