An anonymous reader shares an experience at what is likely Marriott’s worst hotel in the Americas, a deflagged Hilton with 17 year old mattresses, a restaurant that’s still closed, and no daily housekeeping.
I don’t often feature guest posts. I’ve done it just a handful of times in the past 20 years. But I found this report on the Woodlands Plaza Toledo Hotel was interesting as a window into what Marriott has become willing to sell to its customers.
Review: The 1.7-star Hotel That May Be Marriott’s Worst Hotel
It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself after booking a Marriott International hotel with a 1.7-star rating that has to be one of the worst properties anywhere in the company’s portfolio.
Admittedly, star ratings are horribly inaccurate outside France and a handful of other places with strict government-regulated classification systems. Domestically, a diamond-rating from AAA means way more than any hotel’s self-description. That aside, the rating generated by Marriott is based solely on the responses to surveys that some guests receive after stays.
Formerly a Hilton until it was deflagged and then more recently a Radisson, the 212-room Woodlands Plaza Toledo Hotel with its rating of 1.7 stars is so bad that it is operating as an unbranded hotel, pending renovations. Whenever renovations are complete — supposedly in 2023 — it will officially hoist the Delta Hotels by Marriott flag.
For those unfamiliar with the brand hierarchy of Marriott’s portfolio, Delta, formerly a brand of Canadian business hotels, was acquired by Marriott not long before it also purchased Starwood. Today, Delta occupies the so-called “premium” lane, which is shared with Sheraton and Marriott’s flagship Marriott brand.
While legacy properties in Canada may be on par with a Marriott or Sheraton, every Delta I have ever stayed at in the United States has been more comparable to a Holiday Inn or Four Points by Sheraton. Regardless, an email from Marriott confirming my reservation claimed that Delta focuses “on the details that truly matter” to “make them perfect.” Among those details was the specific promise of “ultra comfortable beds.”
Arrival
The Woodlands Plaza is located on the edge of the University of Toledo’s Medical Center campus, which should make it a gold mine. Downtown Toledo is six miles away. Detroit, the closest major airport, is 50 miles away.
There were just five or six cars in a massive parking lot that had clearly seen better days. Like the lot, the exterior of the hotel looked tired and in dire need of improvement.
The lobby itself wasn’t bad, but there were no signs of life anywhere. Not even staff. I stood at the front desk, saying “hello” and even calling the hotel phone to no avail for what must have been 10 minutes before a staff member emerged from a back office to handle check-in formalities.
While Marriott and Delta signs were visible, the front desk clerk never mentioned Marriott or Delta, never recognized my Bonvoy ambassador elite status, and never explained anything about the hotel or whatever services and amenities it offers, except to tell me where the elevator was located after I asked. “Around the corner and to the left,” she said.
Despite a self-described “larger” room being available — and Marriott’s booking channel offering a confirmable upgrade with a suite night award certificate — I was never given the upgrade required under the Bonvoy benefits. Instead, the front desk gave me a room with a king-sized bed on the third floor facing the parking lot.
With taxes, the rate I paid for a standard king room was $137.77. Had I used Bonvoy points, it would have been 23,000 points.
Room
It became apparent when walking through the lobby to the elevator and then down the third-floor corridor that this was a really old hotel. Everything looked and felt a solid 15 years overdue for an exhaustive renovation.
Upon entering my room, I was a little surprised. Yes, it was way outdated, but everything appeared at first glance to be clean and in working condition. Then I started noticing stuff — and not in a good way. Sure, the TV and coffeemaker looked new or, at least, newer, but the closet door was broken, there were hairs on the toilet seat, the telephone still had Radisson branding visible (paging Radisson’s trademark lawyers) and the bed felt lumpy.
Suspicious of the bed, I started to remove the linen, which to housekeeping’s credit was clean. That’s when I saw the mattress cover. For all I knew it had previously been a sail on one of Lord Nelson’s ships at the battle of Trafalgar. There were that many holes in the cover. The holes exposed a highly discolored mattress that still had its tag indicating it was manufactured for Hilton way back in 2005 — yes, 2005, as in 17 years ago.
My jaw dropped as I started to think about all the guests who have slept on that bed or done the things adults are known to do in hotel rooms. While it is theoretically possible that the mattress sat in a warehouse somewhere for some of the 17 years, it is also likely — judging from the overall state of the Hilton-turned-Radisson-turned-Woodlands Plaza — that it had been in that room each and every night for the last 17 years.
Amenities
Delta is one of the Marriott brands that offers breakfast for the three highest elite statuses in Bonvoy. Properties are required to operate either a traditional club lounge or pantry, the latter of which is generally useless except for free nonalcoholic beverages. Properties without a lounge or pantry are required under Bonvoy to offer eligible guests a choice of 750 points per day or breakfast in the restaurant.
Despite advertising itself as a “full-service” hotel with a restaurant, the restaurant is in fact closed. A sign taped to the doors said it “closed today” for “cleaning.” There was no evidence it has ever been operational.
The advertised gym is nominally open. I say nominally because most of the treadmills were broken. All of the equipment looked older and in poor condition. The pool also looked open, but I didn’t trust that the water was clean.
As one of Marriott’s “premium” brands, daily housekeeping is supposed to have returned. But the Woodlands Plaza has a sign at the front desk saying stayover service is not provided.
Final Verdict
The Woodlands Plaza was so awful that I left for refuge at a more reputable hotel. I was unable to officially check-out or get a refund as the front desk clerk disappeared. Attempts to get her attention, including through repeated phone calls, were unsuccessful. Emails to the general manager went unreturned.
If Marriott still has standards and quality control, then it needs to shut the hotel down immediately. Bragging about the quality of Delta’s beds but then letting a hotel with 17-year-old mattresses open within your portfolio is beyond unacceptable.
Get yourself a map. TOLEDO is not anywhere NEAR the vicinity of CLEVELAND, though both our in the state of OHIO.
A little misleading – either the lead in or the review (or both). Is this a Marriott hotel or currently independent with plans to become a Marriott Delta hotel after remodeling and renovation? If the latter then this shouldn’t be a knock on Marriott until they complete the renovation and rebranding. Not saying the hotel isn’t horrible but not right to bash Marriott if they aren’t fully responsible yet
I’m confused. Why would this hotel be under the Marriott booking program or recognize you as part of Bonvoy if it is operating as an unbranded hotel at the moment?
It’s a 1.7 star rating out of 8 reviews. Most hotels have hundreds or thousands.
The room seemed perfectly livable. All hotels will have stray hairs if you look closely enough.
I’ve slept on my fair share of lumpy mattresses at ihg and Hilton hotels.
If anything, this review affirms my faith in Marriott in having basic quality controls. Try staying at a Wyndham hotel. Those beds will have lumps not because the mattress is old, but because the last guest took a dump under the sheets and housekeeping didn’t notice because the baseline fragrance of the room is ass.
The prior two comments are wrong. This hotel pulls up with one click on Marriott’s hotel website. That makes it a Marriott, now, today.
Why on earth, really, do you think Gary would run this article without at least checking that far?
I have longtime friends 30 minutes outside of Toledo in a perfectly nice area.Though Toledo area itself is nothing to write home about.Sadly American has cut service to the Toledo airport and now folks must travel to Detroit about an hour away to fly.
This is the kind of hotel that if you ever attempt to stay there it will have you running out the front door in less than 30 minutes seeking new accommodations elsewhere
Scary looking property.Definitely a sense of history all around that property and if you sleep on those beds hopefully something doesn’t bite you as you sleep!
Sadly, most Marriotts are getting run down, and 2 stars is generous for about 90% of these dumps.
You threw me with the Woodlands. The Marriot in the Woodlands, Texas is a very nice hotel.
I have stayed in two Delta properties, both before COVID. The Calgary Airport property was okay. It felt a little old and tired, but it was clean and things were in good order. The service was friendly and efficient and amenities were good enough. The Anaheim property was one of my worst experiences in any Marriott-affiliated brand. I wrote a lengthy complaint. Property management did not even acknowledge my complaint. After I escalated my complaint to Marriott customer service, they acknowledged it, apologized, and threw me some bonus points.
All in all, mergers and acquistions have no interest in the customer only the shareholders.
The “Delta” branding for a hotel is so bad, its just confusing when Delta is the name of a major airline. It makes it seem like the hotel is affiliated with the airline in some way. I guess maybe there is some brand recognition as a hotel chain in Canada? But absolutely zero in the US.
I thought it was the west Palm Marriott…lol
By the way my worst hotel ever was the PBI airport Hilton Westpalm each
Looked worse than the Toledo hotel. At 200$ a night
Yeah, well I just checked in at a new dual brand AC Hotel/Le Meridian in Denver. 1/2 a block over is an Aloft that says it available for booking on multiple sites. It’s ACTUALLY a “Covid HoBo Den” as the ENTIRE property is filled with homeless people. They at least put a banner over the ALOFT branding that says “BE KIND”. ALL NIGHT LONG there was screaming & open drug deals and use, a non-guest hanging out in the lobby and using the computer, and a group of those “residents” harassing us paying guests and the AC employees in front of the hotel. Marriott needs to push local governments more to not have this immediately next to their Convention Center and multiple $400 a night properties. It’s ridiculous, unsettling, and unsafe for all parties.
NOT THIS SHAREHOLDER. I voted against the merger to begin with, and have not seen any benefit to it. Even worse they pissed a number of people off by forcing new numbers on longtime SPG members and never sent a new card out. I
Honestly doesn’t look much worse than some Westins I’ve stayed at.
As noted above, only 8 reviews – pretty meaningless sample size. The first one was a month ago and the most recent, 3 days ago, states that “extensive renovations” are in progress.
Agree, though, that it doesn’t make sense why MR would allow the property onto its booking platform until those renovations were done and it was flagged as Delta.
We recently stayed a a rebranded hotel now owned by Marriott Outside of Nashville. It was quite rundown, and definitely not up to Marriot standards!
If Marriot is going to take over older hotels it would behoove them to do all remodeling and whatever else must be done before putting their name on these dumps! When people book at their hotels they have certain expectations and it is very deceiving to guests to knowingly put their logo on a place not up to par!
The Toledo Delta hotel should be booked using the Marriott website so you can earn Ambassador Elite status when you stay 100 nights/year plus spend USD $20,000. In addition, you will officially qualify to be Bonvoyed every night when you visit here. For example, Marriott advertises a hotel restaurant, but the restaurant is closed this morning until next month. The good news is you will not get a foodborne illness by not dining at a Marriott Hotel closed restaurant.
Unfortunately Marriott doesn’t care or is uninformed how bad most of their properties have become. Covid protocols, I get it, but it time to pickup the pieces and begin delivering the type service Marriott WAS known for. I’m a Titanium Plus member and typically stay at a Marriott property at least one night a week. Quality/service is not there.
@Actual Statistician:
Clearly you have become the comic relief of this website.
While your gag has only one note (“whatever is written, I’m against it!”), it’s always great to have someone who is so openly willing to be a bafoon and laughing stock and allow… nay, even welcome other to know that no matter how bad things may be, they will never be as abjectly moronic as @Actual Statistician.
It raises all men and womeh higher and brings to us a brighter better day knowing that you throw yourself intentionally so low as for the rest of us to have no choice but to laugh and tread upon you.
Good job sir! Good job!
I never said I was a “sir” you transphobic cunt.
This has been going on for a while. My boss made reservations for us at a “great new hotel” in Columbia, SC. It was a former Holliday Inn being converted to a Delta. Definitely NOT upper tier in my book. We would have been better off at the Sleep Inn down the road. The rooms we had were newly renovated along with the lobby. However,it was obvious the rooms hadn’t been checked for construction errors. I turned on the shower and the water was running from the faucet surround, cold water was off at the sink, turned the cut-off valve on and water sprayed from the tap fitting. They did get me another room that was in slightly better shape. Them replacement room had electrical issues, however the A/C worked along with the plumbing.
@Wahoo, the Carolinas are the wazoo of America. All bigots and junk food. Move to an educated state. For your sake. And quit working for such a stupid boss who would put you in a situation where the sleep inn is higher quality.
Someone needs to review the Marriott at the Philadelphia Airport. It is tired and run down. Staff were so unmotivated to help. I waited in the lobby with ?6 chairs for over 4 hours to get into a room. I saw so many housekeeping staff walking around and socializing during that time. Two staff kept walking from the gift shop to the small ballroom constantly durng myl lobby time.. At times they carried a mug from the gift shop to the room!! The next day at 8 am went to have breakfast in the empty restaurant and was told it will take too long!! SO we ordered takeout which took almost an hour,,, This hotel needs a lot of work!! Never found a survey from them!!
Incidentally, I put the mattress on my bed at home in 2005, moved across the country twice with it and have slept in it most nights and it’s still fine.
A palace compared to this p.o.s. I stayed at 6 years ago:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294444-d7706074-Reviews-Jangsusan_Hotel-Pyongyang.html#/media/7706074/255502283:p/?albumid=101&type=2&category=101
Sometimes JW just doesn’t know what he is putting his name on… as a lifetime Platinum member I think he needs to pay better attention!
The room quality, cleanliness, and service standards don’t seem that different from Fairfield/Spring Hill/Courtyard/Residence Inn properties I’ve seen in rural and suburban Texas over the past several months. Lack of housekeeping, and general staffing, is really starting to show.
Thanks to the guest poster for sharing this. I sincerely hope he or she earned Ambassador by spending big at flagship properties on the Coasts and overseas, and not by spending 200 nights at $100 hotels in places like Toledo. This post reminded me why my first 60 nights every year go to Hyatt.
Not even close. Worst is Carambola in St Croix. De-flagged Renaissance that was absolutely disgusting + terrible service when visited a year ago. Sad too bc it used to be a gem pre-hurricane with that beach.
Looks like a typical Delta target hotel. Most are odd older hotels that they fix up a bit and reflag them. I haven’t really been impressed with any older refurb Delta properties I’ve stayed at in the USA.
Think Doubletree->Radisson or Hilton-Crowne Plaza like experience.
Even the legacy Delta properties in Canada are getting pretty tired. The newer builds are decent (Toronto Downtown, Trois Rivieres, Thunder Bay) are pretty decent, but cookie cutter at times.
The older ones have been refurbed but it’s still lipstick on a pig. The quality varies, Sault Ste. Marie has a really tired looking Delta, with an awful washroom and windows that feel like they’re from the original property. I was going to say 90s, but a house from that era has better quality windows.
Back when they were independent, it was a decent Canadian stay, now it’s like all Bonvoy properties, a roll of the dice at best.
Marriot hotels are run down and staff has no idea what customer service is. Platinum Elite member speaking.
Wm. Buckley, I think Actual Stat is the same person as Jackson Waterson and ayenus and maybe another name as well.
You have no idea what it is like to be a hotel owner today and all of the challenges that hotels have faced in the 24 months during and after the pandemic. Shame on you for putting this hotel down you have no idea what it takes to get up every morning and go to a hotel where you have to work with what you have because of the lack of staff money and basic services such as supply and inventory you need to run your hotel.. Instead of posting a comment trashing the hotel why not speak to Management directly why not give them some ideas to improve their service when it comes to housekeeping. You do understand that Toledo is a fairly small city that has probably been affected by Covid more than larger cities within the state of Ohio. Shame on you for bringing such a shame to the hotel not realizing that there are people that work here somebody owns this and he’s probably working day in and day out to make sure the lights are on. Shame on you
Shame on you posting and Sharing such an inaccurate and demeaning post about a hotel that survived a pandemic that rocked the hospitality and service industry to its absolute core. Instead of spreading misinformation that the hotel is a Marriott, you seem to be fairly well-versed with the different brands that different franchises offer, did it not occur to you that maybe instead of publicly posting this hotel in a small city such as Toledo you could have rather made it a point to help the hotel where it seemed to have lacked? You do understand and realize that somebody owns that hotel, somebody woke up every morning and worked there during Covid with literally no staff while you were warm in bed stuffing your face with Tim bits and a double double from your local Tim Hortons. Does it not occur to you that even today a hotel out in the middle of Toledo Ohio may be still suffering and facing the same challenges it did during the peak of the pandemic? What does that Marriott sign tell you about the hotel? Tells me that they are working hard to achieve and attain that flag. It’s people like you that should stay in Airbnb’s where you have to park three blocks away not be served a single thing for breakfast and have no interaction with staff. To go to the extent to say that there were maybe four or five cars in the parking lot? What were you trying to achieve here that may not be obvious already? That it may not be a very popular hotel at this point in time? I hope you understand that a few of those cars may belong to those dedicated staff members that wake up every morning and realize that they do have challenges ahead but they still make it to work just to work through them.Stick to your air miles, review Southwest next maybe they’ll bump you up to class A boarding. It’s people like you that publicly dampen and suppress feelings of hope that hotel owners have in smaller cities that are trying to make it big time come back. Thanks for making this review so public. I hope you feel as ashamed as the owner and the staff of this hotel may feel reading this negative publicity you preyed on.
Some of the comments here show you how they get away with this. This is a Marriott listed hotel. Some people are really stupid
Is there an update to this? We’re you able to speak with someone?
I thought the SPG merger would be a positive thing, but I was very wrong. After being loyal to Marriott for over 30 years they have finally chased me away. I am using my points and no longer feel like they value my business. Wonder what Bill would think?
Profit over people. Shameless greed. Negligible standards. Marriott won’t get the point until people stop handing over their money to stay in such vile joints
Not understanding why you’d expect Marriott standards at an unbranded hotel?
Looks like almost every hotel in flyover country to me. It’s an industry that is diverging into the 400 per nite (and up and up and up) so-called luxury stuff for the more money than brains crowd, and everything else for the rest of us. It would seem there’s little meaningful difference between an 80 dollar Quality Inn and a standard Marriott or Hilton at two or three times the price – especially their “off” brands.
Thats pretty bad.
I stayed at a Marriott that was almost as bad
Macon GA
Check out 1 star review.
Dr Rock disapproves…..
My heart bleeds for the Singhs of this world and hotel owners across the world
What an embarrassment for whoever wrote this review and whoever shared this. Last time on this site. Good god this is trash. The site not the hotel.
I think every hotel chain has their lousy properties but this is what happens when you have a conglomerate with so many properties/brands under their umbrella and no longer prioritizes customer service. Marriott service and hotel quality is all over the map these days and I’d imagine with so many properties being operated independently, Marriott just doesn’t make it a priority to police the standards, especially at outlying properties like this one.
Manav, you might want to check your website. Staybridge Suites is hardly a “boutique hotel.”
Safe to say this dump may be one of yours?
I worked at this place. It’s all true. That’s why there is no staff. What a nightmare!
@Stark Singh: To help readers understand how tiny the little town of Toledo, Ohio is, the population in 2020 was 275,116.
Appreciate the review. Marriott isn’t what it used to be 20 years ago. They focus their efforts on certain center city properties that attract attention, and even there they’ve eliminated many services and upgrades
This hotel sounds like a real dump must be affiliated with Sintel Properties (aka slumlords of the Ohio hotel industry).
I am very disappointed with the Marriot Bonvoy Hotel Chain. I have been a Rewards member for years but after my two stays during 2021, I am searching for a new rewards relationship. In a nutshell, Marriott owns fewer properties than we think. Corporate profit is the main concern :look at the 2015 acquisition of Starwood that made them the biggest hotel chain. Now mainly franchises the brand in the USA. In NYC, the company “owns” many off brands like the Maxwell, Sheraton 4 Corners. I have noticed that there is a huge trade in Airline employees. Great for shareholders but not guests. What ultimately chases me away is my experience in Rehoboth Beach at a Fairfield Inn where I was bitten by bedbugs and found their feces on the box spring covers and dust ruffle. Yes I have photos! There is low quality control from corporate. The luxury brands are the main focus now.