Marriott’s MountainSide

I KNOW THIS REVIEW IS LONG, BUT IT IS A WORTHWHILE AND TRUTHFUL READ IF YOU PLAN TO STAY HERE!!!

My boyfriend and I stayed at Marriott’s Mountainside Villas in February 2008. We stayed in a Guest Villa and paid the standard rate of $379 plus tax ($418.42/per night) for a week, totalling $2,928.94. We did EXTENSIVE research surrounding all possible options in Park City and decided to go with this property for the following reasons: 1) Location, 2) That it is a Marriott property and we would be sure that it would be well-maintained and decorated nicely (WRONG!!!) 3) The fact that I am a Marriott Gold member with almost 1 million points with Marriott, and we MAY be able to get a room with a decent view. (WRONG!!!).

 

Regarding location, it is very nice to be at the base of the mountain, however, do not be fooled – there are MANY other properties just as close or a very, very short walk. In fact, we commented every day about the fact that the walk down the LONG hallways of the Marriott to our room was much further than if we had walked across the Park City parking lot! Also, there are not any restaurants or bars inside the Marriott, which is unusual for any Marriott hotel or even timeshare.

 

To make matters worse, the restaurants and bars in Park City Resort close VERY early – I mean 9 pm or earlier, which made it impossible to go out and enjoy dinner and/or drinks… Keep that in mind when you decide whether to stay in town or at the mountain. Regarding the room, the Guest Villa is VERY VERY small, we tried to stay organized and unpack everything, but there were only 3 or 4 drawers for clothes so we had suitcases and snowboard gear all over the place. We were tripping over everything for a week,

 

If you are considering staying at this property in a guest villa – you should change your plans for this reason alone – it is one of the smallest “hotel” rooms I have ever stayed in, and I travel every week to various hotels for work.

 

The ABSOLUTE worst part of the room, was the fact that the faucet on the kitchen sink is made for a full-size sink, however, the sink is a bar-sized sink. As a result, the faucet stuck out right to the edge of the counter – you absolutely could not wash dishes or your hands in this sink without water running all down the front of the cabinets and all over the counter. When we complained to the General Manager about this, we were told that it was that way in EVERY room in the hotel and it was a “defect” when the property was built and has never been changed. We had to try to wash dishes in the bathroom sink, which was ridiculous because there is only one very small bathroom and the sink, toilet, and shower are all in there.

 

We ended up having to buy paper plates and cups and plastic silverware and not wash anything – for a week. Additionally, the bed was HORRIBLY uncomfortable — Marriotts are known for their comfortable beds, and this was one of MANY MANY differences between this property and a “real” Marriott. Moving on, the decor in the room was as bad as a cheap motel – the couch and chairs were cheap and dirty, the carpet had stains.

 

The bathroom shower had mildew and mould in the tile grout and the whole place was cheaply made and decorated. To make matters worse, our room had a view of the parking lot and a construction zone, which was dulled by the fact that there was only one very small window and no balconies (NONE OF THE ROOMS AT THE MOUNTAINSIDE HAVE ANY BALCONIES). Another issue with the room was that the heating/AC system in the room was atrocious – it was either freezing cold or so hot that you couldn’t breathe, which made it impossible to sleep because one of us had to keep getting up to turn the heat on and off. The final straw that broke my back was that we spent four days calling the front desk and maintenance to try to find out what this obnoxious, loud, clunking noise was…

 

Finally, on the 5th day, we were told that our room was over the trash compactor and they run the compactor all day, beginning early in the morning. According to them, there are “numerous” rooms affected by this horrible, continuous noise. Lastly, I had to spend HOURS of time speaking with the General Manager, Front Desk Managers, and Marriott Vacation Club corporate, complaining about everything that transpired.

 

I asked to move rooms on multiple occasions and was denied until the 5th day after the trash compactor issue was uncovered. At that point, it wasn’t worth packing everything up with two nights left. Regarding my Marriott status – that may not be of interest to you until you understand the fact that if I was treated like this as a GOLD Marriott member with almost 1 million points, imagine how they treat a “regular” guest… I even called ahead and spoke to the GM to try to get a “good” room and was told that only 10% of the rooms at the property have a view of the mountain and they are ALL reserved for timeshare owners…

 

 

Basically, people paying FULL COST (remember how much we were paying) are given LAST priority on room location. Given this information, I would not recommend EVER staying at this hotel as a non-timeshare owner. The only good thing I can say about the Marriott is that the hot tub area is very cool (this was another reason we picked this property)…

 

However, the hot tubs were VERY busy and crowded (particularly with children, which was not very relaxing), and you were always sharing a hot tub with a bunch of people that you didn’t know, so definitely take that into consideration when weighing the hot tubs as a benefit. In retrospect, we regret staying at this property and wish that we had stayed in a 1 bedroom townhouse that had a balcony and a fireplace, and would have cost the same and been located in the same vicinity. (We had a few options like this, but erroneously went with Marriott for the original reasons given.) Please feel free to contact me with any other questions, and I implore you to STAY ELSEWHERE!!!! Have a great trip :)