Courtyard Waco

I’m really surprised at the low ratings for this Courtyard, but it’s clearly been recently remodeled so that may account for it.
Location wise, it’s directly across from the convention center and a block or so from the river. There are restaurants an easy 3 – 4 block walk away which is nice. Despite being centrally located, the immediate area is nice and quiet, especially in the evenings.
Rooms are your standard Courtyard — nothing super fancy, but designed for the business traveler. It was quiet at night when I stayed, though the AC seems to run non-​stop (probably because it’s hot as balls in Waco).There’s free wifi, an outdoor pool, a small workout room and a business center. Breakfast isn’t free but check rates when booking — my rate was the same as the «standard» but included breakfast.
Staff was great — friendly, helpful and happy to make restaurant recommendations. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay again.

Weekend stay. Friendly staff. Nice clean hotel. Nothing fancy but typical Courtyard. Room was nice and clean. Breakfast in the bistro was good. We would stay again.

I stayed here this past weekend for a 5K that was held at the convention center. It was SO NICE to just walk across the street and be there, so if you need to be at the convention center for whatever reason it doesn’t get closer than this. However, I was slightly disappointed because I’ve stayed in Courtyard’s before and this one felt like a motel. The finishes in the bedroom were nice, the sink area wasn’t bad, but the bathroom looked kinda dark and old. I didn’t take a shower while I was there so can’t comment on that. At least the water in the sink warmed up quickly. The bed was comfortable but the lighting wasn’t good and we got a room where the sun doesn’t come in very well. The room was warm when we came but cooled down quickly. The people at the front were friendly but the people at the Bistro charged me incorrectly, didn’t know how to fix it, and proceeded to make comments such as, «It’s too bad that the price is different in the system than on the menu». Well, that isn’t my problem. Also, I was told the breakfast buffet wouldn’t be open Sunday and then about an hour later it was. All in all it was fine for what we needed but having the Courtyard name left me a little disappointed.

I stayed here last week for two days for a work obligation. Both ice machines were broken, and the water fountain in the gym was consistently empty. I had to resort to asking the bartender for ice, which made me uncomfortable. The next day I asked again about the ice and was told to ask the busy kitchen servers for ice, who then asked to find a bag, which then required me to get a bag from a cleaning staff member. What a pain. The front desk clerk did comp me a water for my trouble when I went back to her about the run around I was getting.
You’re better off staying at the Hilton across the street. The Martin Luther King Jr. park across the street was a real saving grace for the location, but if I could do it again, I’d stay elsewhere.

Pros:
* Across street from convention center
* Free parking (all hotels in Waco have free parking)
* Friendly front desk staff, but understaffed (only 1 on-​duty)
* Bed comfortable
* Microwave & small fridge in room
Cons:
* Bathrooms are highly outdated, dark, and small
* Air – conditioner (or heater) loudly cuts on/​off throughout night (fan will not stay running to curb on/​off of compressor or heating element)
* Stayed in 1^st floor north facing room w/​window glass heavily stained
* Un-​restful sleep due to on/​off of air-​conditioning (big problem)
* Breakfast is over-​priced for $ 12 + tip (should be $ 5 or free)
I would not recommend this hotel to a friend.

The area is really shady… at night I saw about three prostitues around the corner of the place. The hotel itself is nice and well cleaned.
However, they are penny suckers. In the middle of the night, I woke up and tried to get myself 3 bottles of water. I went to the little merchandise place by the front desk (where no one was) and I looked at each and saw the price was 1.50. A little much for aquafina but it was a hotel so it was okay. I looked all over for someone at the front but I couldn’t find anybody! So I took a piece of paper, left a note with my name and room number and left 4.50 to cover the waters. 4 days later, I see a charge of 34 cents to my credit card. Confused, I called the hotel back to speak with Ashley. I wasn’t upset over 34 cents but I wanted to know what was going on. She sounded frightened that I would question that and said it was sales tax from the water. I told her I can’t believe they went through that hassle just to charge me 34 cents after I just as easily could of walked off with them or not have left a note. She told me she was going to get a manager and immiedately put me on hold before I had the chance to say it wasn’t that big of a deal.
The call waited and waited and the phone hung up. I called back for Ashley to pick up, and I said we got disconnected and she (Ashley) said «oh yes we’re gonna refund that back to your card», I’m like this sounds shady so I asked to speak to a manager. She comes on the phone with the sassiest attitude you could imagine, and basically back talked me and such when I tried to explain the situation and my sincere confusion to see if anything else was going to get charged. All in all, terrible resolution service, not worth staying at.

Bad beds, smells musty and old. Stay at the Hilton next door.

Clean room, nice staff. Would come back if in area. Beautiful garden area. Walking distance to restaurants and tourist sites.
Part two of my review. At first glance the rooms looks very clean. Later after unpacking and getting settled in. Went to go take a shower and noticed there was dirt all over the shower wall. It was black in color and it was smudged almost like there was a mechanic working in the shower.
Then as we were packing and getting ready to leave. I was looking under the bed. There to my surprise I found all kinds of snacks goodies and trash. But my daughter did get a good laugh by flicking the dry peas.
The night staff was absolutely amazing. Very polite helpful and informative .Oh and the morning staff are not morning people. Especially the house keepers.
I was very disappointed that I had to change my first review.

5 stars… because they actually have shaving razors that have 4 blades.
I’m a business traveler and I sometimes forget the little things like razor and tooth brush. Usually at other Courtyards and Starwoods they give you razors with two blades and have an ambulance on standby in the likely event that you sever a major artery while using it in the morning.
Kudos to the Waco CY Marriott… you rock.

Good choice in Waco for the business traveler. Central location withing walking distance to the convention center and the suspension bridge/​river. The staff is super friendly and helpful. The rooms are well appointed and clean. Each room comes with a fridge and there are dry cleaning/​laundry services if you choose to use them. Also, they have breakfast every morning, for $ 9.95, which is a decent deal.

Our group stayed here 1 night, but were asked o move out for a night due o overbooking/​no rooms available. The manager assured us this would not happen again if we would return the next night. 5 nights later, we were again forced to move out, due to sold out previous room reservations.
Incredibly poor management. $ 9.95 daily breakfast, but cheap weak free coffee or tea are available. Never saw a vacuum during my stay. Bed was not very comfortable, but room appeared clean. Single, small elevator makes waiting times a bit long during mornings.
Mgr was not very helpful in arranging for other hotel stay locations.
I would never stay at this Marriott location again, and have been a platinum card holder for years.

2014 update: They removed every single one of my supporting photos. hmmmm
Marriott? I think not.
Note: I stayed in this hotel for 10 nights for a local conference. This review is on my room and the rooms of two of my associates during this time.
Lobby: This hotel has a lovely lobby with complimentary coffee and tea out front. The weak, nasty coffee was my first hint that I was in for a disastrous stay, but more on that later.
Check in: I came in fairly late, around 8 pm. Check in went fine except I was offered NO HELP with my bags. I had four for this long stay and after a long flight, got to juggle this alone. There was one person behind the desk and I didn’t ask for help, knowing my bags would take forever to get to my room if I did.
Room: I don’t know where to start. I guess with a description. It had new carpet. Yay. That was the only good thing! The room was a king, and basically a box: around 20×20 feet square with the bed, dresser, TV and desk jammed against a wall and very close to the edge of the bed. There was a flat panel LG TV and a weird single serve coffee maker with no sugar or fake cream. There was a small fridge in the cabinet below the TV and the door to the cabinet opened left and the fridge opened right. The fridge was always too cold or not cold enough. There was a small love seat, a tippy coffee table and a computer desk. The sink was separate from the toilet/​shower by a door.
The Ugly:
* Bed: Gets its own section
o My first night, I pulled back the covers on the bed to find a long black hair on it.
o There were old greenish stains on the sheets.
o The bed had a huge dip in the middle. I have slept in many hotels. This hotel it was IMPOSSIBLE to sleep through the night. This was not just me: Others in my group said the same thing. The bed simply did not let you sleep: everyone was waking several times a night. After 10 days of this we were all pretty short fused and cranky.
o The pillows were TERRIBLE.
o The sheets didn’t fit and kept coming untucked
o There was no comforter, it was a coverlet covered by a flat sheet.
* The room darkening curtains were a good thing and worked well to keep daylight out, despite rips and holes in them covered in duct tape.
* The bathroom sink area was so small there was nowhere to put anything and the corner of it had a weird hole in it.
* The bath area: mold around the shower handicapped handle.
* Toilet: rust and other stains around it.
* Tub was strangely shallow (no room for a bath here).
Maid Service:
* I used a glass the first night and left it on the coffee table. It stayed there the entire 10 days.
* I never got any fresh glasses and used the same two glasses for my whole stay.
* The housekeeping carts HAVE NO VACUUMS on them! I saw this for myself, and my room, which accumulated crumbs from bringing in takeout, was never vacuumed the whole 10 days.
* An associates bed wasn’t make for three days because she left a shirt on it and the front desk said the maid was not allowed to touch personal items.
Other
* The electrical outlet near my sink did not work and I had to have the hotel engineer come replace it on the second day.
* They changed cable providers while I stayed there. So every room’s TV and remote had to be reprogrammed. After I called them about the snowy TV, it t took them an hour to get to me, when I got to my room to relax for a few hours.
* The rooms and hallways on some floors smelled moldy and damp.
* One friend’s room also had mold and a HOLE IN THE WALL.
* I was on the second floor and someone above me thought doing laps in their room all night was a great idea. Thump Thump Thump most nights til 2 AM.
Breakfast: This is the only meal served here. They charge $ 9.95 for the buffet in addition to the room, and it’s not worth half that. The only saving grace about it was the lovely chef making custom omelets. She was a fantastic lady, laughing and joking and great customer service. The dining area is pretty shabby looking with scratched chairs and ripped areas.
Bar: Maybe six people can sit here.
Pool: Outside, filthy and needs to be resurfaced. Hot tub/​spa: There used to be one. It is now FILLED WITH CEMENT!
Departure; I was never asked how my stay was, if they could do something more, etc. Not once. I did get apology after apology about the room, the service etc., when I mentioned anything. But apologies, by the end of the week, were pretty hollow.
I heard rumors that this Marriott is about to undergo a significant facelift. I sure hope so. Please please change ALL the beds! I felt tortured by the end of the week. Even with this upgrade, I can’t say I would investigate staying here again.

I had no major issues at this hotel, and it was clean and comfortable. They incorrectly keyed my room at check in, but that was about it — I lugged my suitcase up, tried the card, and it didn’t work. After I got everything back downstairs, the situation was quickly fixed.
The bed was comfy and clean, and they’ve got free coffee and breakfast options every morning.
As noted, the room was comfortable and the location is decent, considering it’s Waco. There’s not a lot to do… we headed up for a walk along the river and visited a bar/​restaurant on the other side. Tip: Don’t try to take shortcuts… just follow that river path!