Oakland Marriott City Center

I stayed there with my son recently. The rooms are nicely updated and we liked the views. The location was very convenient, with lots of great places to walk to. We had an unfortunate situation with some very loud, drunk people in the room next door. We complained and the staff was very responsive, but after several attempts to get the people out, they kept coming back and making lots of noise until 2 or 3 am. In the morning, the staff was so kind, gave us free breakfast, credited us back a large amount, comped our parking, and gave us thousands of Bonvoy points. They also apologized, and truly made us feel they cared, and wanted our business, even following up with emails later, to ensure our satisfaction. I appreciated that. Read less

Most staff are friendly. Specifically Cesar. Some staff are poker-faced. Got a room facing street on the 15th floor but the sound proof is good. Hardly hear any street noise. However, sound proof of rooms is not good. Hear noise from next door and above me. You might want to bring a white noise generator if you are a light sleeper like me. Cleaning staff did a good job everyday. Read less

Needed to make a quick short-notice weekend trip to Oakland, CA and was very happy with my stay. They treat elite Marriott members very well and the executive lounge is what I find in European Marriotts where service still counts. Bed was well made and comfortable. Room and bathroom were nice and EXTREMELY clean albeit, there were a couple of small ants in the bathroom which I reported. Staff wanted to spray immediately but I requested they wait for my check-out. I think I killed the only two around my room as no more were seen. Wi-fi as well as cell reception with T-Mobile is very poor and unreliable in the city; just for info. Lindsay, who was at the desk at both my check-in and check-out, is a very fine ambassador for Marriott and was extremely welcoming and very nice. Only one shortfall was that I asked for extra towels but, never received any. Read less

The hotel itself just went through a recent renovation, the guest rooms are decent now. You can see some of the "old hotel" that remains though, and it definitely shows as the AC vent pumps air that isn't the freshest. The M Lounge is new, and very nice. The food though, is average. I've seen many other M Lounge spreads that are much better...the exception is coffee, wine and alcohol. They have a great setup there - more coffee choices than I've ever seen and they are damn good (and I don't like coffee) The restaurant food is brutally bad. I don't think a single dish that I ordered (or my colleagues) was worth eating. "Sourdough" bread was 3 day old french bread... The WiFi was exceptional. As a business hotel, this was much appreciated. Connection dropped on iPhone all the time (once you lock phone), but it was seamless on other devices. The views of SF Bay were fantastic. Proximity to public transit was also as good as it gets. Now, the bad stuff....the elevators. I spend 75+ nights per year in Marriott's, and request to be near elevators. Once a year you'll get a semi-loud elevator that makes for a subpar night of sleep....but manageable. Think a small hum. Upon check-in, I was warned that I was put near the elevator and "it could be loud". I inquired about how loud and they mentioned it wasn't too bad, but they let guests know because it can be rough certain nights. Upon getting into my room, I lasted 5 minutes. I felt like I was sleeping on the BART tracks themselves, and listening to the train run over me. I called the front desk and they were nice enough to try and switch me, but due to the Salesforce conference ($550+/night room rates) they were unable to do so. They were exceptionally nice, and admitted the noise was sometimes an issue...they said they would provide bonus points to my account. Those still have not been credited, but I just checked out 2 days ago. I was surprised that as a top tier Marriott elite they would put me so close to an elevator that was such an issue. Upon checkout, I inquired if many people complained...the woman was fantastically honest, "Yup, pretty much every guest near one". I'm not sure what needs to happen for them to change it, but I CANNOT recommend this hotel based on the elevators alone. If you get unlucky and you're anywhere close to them...you will regret it. While I appreciate the points (assuming they actually post), it felt like a bad outcome. Read less