Top 10 Mar Belo Hotels

Several other reviews have remarked about how tired and worn out this hotel is. Believe them. We recently stayed here for one night when in the area. The associates with whom we interacted at the front desk were all warm, friendly and professional. No issues with them at all. Breakfast was without issue, other than the space allotted for serving got a bit tight at times with too many people in too small of a space. The food was of decent quality and there was the usual assortment of Marriott breakfast items. The salsas were a nice addition. We were ”upgraded” to a two-bedroom ”suite” (due to status? other rooms in worse shape?) and while making our way there we noted the carpets in the hallways needed to be replaced. Once in our room, the carpet situation was even worse - stains and ripples led the way. There were a lot of cosmetic issues we noted straight off - dents in the stainless-steel refrigerator door, poorly done repairs that were still visible in the walls and ceilings, etc. No visible issues with cleanliness. The most obvious sign of deferred maintenance was that each of the three rooms had a window air conditioner unit. C'mon, you can't have your climate systems repaired? Later, from the outside, we noted that there were rooms here and there with window units. Really, it's just tacky. There were also little things that further pointed to the hotel cutting corners at the expense of guests - no sponge in the room, half-empty dish soap, no body lotion, no bag of microwave popcorn (though we haven't seen this since the pandemic at any Residence Inn...for no other reason than stinginess). Others have received responses from hotel management that renovations were planned but delayed due to the pandemic. More likely, I believe, is that the owner(s) is/are to blame. This hotel should lose its branding.

The outside of the hotel and room were clean. Great location close to supermarket and and beach.

The room was nice. I arrived in the morning, so I had my luggage checked in, but when I checked in, it was very quick and I already had my luggage in my room. This is a hotel that I would definitely recommend.

We have been coming to this hotel for different events over the past few years and have not had any issues until our stay in December. We arrived at approximately 8pm on Friday night to check in, as we were running in the Santa Run on Saturday morning. Upon arrival, we were sent to our room - Room 808. When we got up to the room we checked out our “partial ocean view” which was clearly stated during the reservation process and my confirmation email… ✓ BOOKING DETAILS Hotel confirmation: xxxxxxxxxx Arrival Date: Friday, December 2, 2022 Departure Date: Saturday, December 3, 2022 Room Type: Berkeley Partial Ocean View Standard Room - Two Queen Be We were a little confused as we were clearly not at all on the east side of the hotel, so we went down and spoke to the front desk clerk. We asked why we didn’t get a partial ocean view room, when our reservation was for a partial ocean view room. His answer was that “it is either partial ocean, partial city or partial lake” – to which we were like “WHAT???” and showed him our email confirmation which clearly states “partial ocean view.” He literally just kept repeating himself and told us there were no more partial ocean view rooms and “that’s how the hotel works.” We chose that view because last year we had a perfect view of when people began lining up and the happenings going on down the block for the race. Anyway, we got nowhere fast with him and went back to our partial Pacific Ocean view room. It appears that the partial ocean view rooms are typically about $30 more per night than the standard “city” view room. So at the minimum, it would have been nice for him to offer us a partial refund on our reservation. He appeared uninterested and earlier was on the phone making faces to the person standing at the desk about the person he was on the phone with. Very unprofessional. We decided to give up that battle and address it later on. I emailed the management of the hotel on December 5th and December 12th Furthermore, we had a number of other issues with our room. The bathroom sink was clogged and would not drain from simple handwashing. The tub would also not drain until after the person taking a shower was out of the tub. Each of us was standing in three inches of water during our respective showers. Kinda gross. Also, on the subject of gross, the toilet seat was stained and discolored yellow. Other reviews here seem to mirror my experience...and it appears that my sentiments are very similar to many, many others. “The Front Desk Manager (Vincent) gave the same line about how views work to other customers who posted their reviews online.” It is a shame because its location is great - if not for all of the other issues, I would have stayed here again, but no thanks - that was the last time for sure.

The Oyster Point is my home hotel. I grew up right across the river from it (literally, you can see my mum's house from the North Suite), and have many good memories of holiday brunches, and staying here when I was younger. When I moved away from home and wanted to visit, but not stay with family this was my ”go-to”. It's really the only decent hotel in the Middletown area. ...and that may be why they have let the hotel go a bit. I got engaged over Christmas, and while we didn't want to have a full on engagement party, we did want to celebrate with a few very close friends, and COVID being COVID we didn't want to do it in public, but also didn't want to do it at our house. So, we rented the North Suite for Valentine's Day weekend to stay and invited two other couples for a dinner in the room on Saturday evening. THE GOOD: The room is very large and has amazing views from just about everywhere of Red Bank and the Navesink River. In the warmer weather this room would be paradise with the very large terrace overlooking the river. It has 1 full bathroom in the bedroom and a half bathroom in the living area which makes it ideal to have guests over. There is also a table that seats 6 comfortably (tho oddly only has chairs for 5). The staff was wonderful. They always have been. Every time I have ever been to this hotel the staff is so friendly and helpful. (More on the downside to this shortly). We ordered room service for our dinner Friday night and it was quick and tasty and again the service from ordering to delivering was great! THE BAD This room looks great from a distance, but up close it needs A LOT of updating. The chairs around the dining table were full of chips. The table was in bad shape. The sofa in the living area was DISGUSTING with a stain that took up half of it. We covered it with a runner from the bed because it is really disgusting looking. The room is full of wall to wall windows with a great view of everywhere, but it's curious because the one wall that goes along the far end of the room by the bar the shade couldn't be put up or down. There was no string/rope/whatever to do anything with it. (the shades in the bedroom go up and down with the flip of a switch and are blackout curtains. They are perfect for the bedroom) The other shades in the living area do go up and down, but they hardly keep any light out... ...which is I guess a good thing since the lighting situation in the room is abysmal. Once the sun sets even with every single light on in the room you can hardly read a book with the awful lighting in the main room (lighting in the bedroom and bathrooms is fine). The sink in the main bathroom in the bedroom is no joke about 3 inches deep. You can't even wash your hands in it. I have no idea who thought this was a good sink, but most puddles after a sun shower are more functional. The half bathroom in the living area has a more functional sink but the black wallpaper does not fit the hotel or vibe of the room at all. It's mau

As with many Marriott properties, this example has been updated and refreshed. Everything I need for a business trip is here including The Bistro where I can choose healthy meals ( or not :) . Also as is true with every Marriott property I have visited around the country, the staff is professional and very pleasant. The consistency of customer service is remarkable.