Marriott Courtyard is Coming to Downtown Decatur, GA!

Downtown Decatur, GA has come a long way in the past ten years. What used to be a town with an odd, funky collection of mismatched shops and restaurants has matured into an adorable, walkable, fun and still funky village of boutique stores, fabulous restaurants and outstanding brewpubs. Earlier this year, Decatur was  named Georgia’s Most Walkable City, by Walkscore.com, and the award brought even more well-deserved attention to our fine little town.

All this attention means that more companies will want to entertain their clients in Decatur, and until now, there really hasn’t been any stellar hotel options near downtown Decatur. Which is a shame, because the MARTA (Atlanta’s public transportation system – our subway) has a stop smack in the middle of downtown Decatur, meaning that business clients can easily access Decatur for the day from the Airport — but where would they stay overnight? There’s a Super 8 about a 5-10 minute walk from central downtown Decatur, but it’s a very basic hotel with few amenities. The only other option used to be a Holiday Inn, but that was converted into the Decatur Inn and Conference Center, and while an OK hotel, it’s really nothing to write home about. It’s clean and comfortable, but nothing snazzy.

I actually visited the Decatur Inn and Conference Center to check it out in anticipation of my family’s visit this September, and I learned that the hotel is getting a facelift and will become a Marriott Courtyard between October and March. Hurray! This is a development the City of Decatur needs to heavily market in order to entice more visitors to stay there. Most visitors to Atlanta stay in downtown or Midtown Atlanta hotels, as that’s where most of them are. But, there’s enough to see and do in downtown Decatur  to warrant the addition of a good, high-quality hotel chain.

One of the places I think will benefit most from this addition will be Avondale Estates’ Community Center. It’s situated directly on a lake and is surrounded by beautiful grounds. So, it’s a very popular choice for weddings. Their business should pick up even more once the Marriott Courtyard has been opened – it will be a lovely place for wedding guests to spend the night, and the hotel will only be a 5-10 minute drive from the Community Center.

Photo: MarriottSanDestin

Marriott and Granite Broadway Development have announced a plan to build a super-tall 68 story hotel complex in Manhattan that will house two distinct hotels.

Courtyard & Residence Inn, Manhattan/Central Park

The Courtyard and Residence Inn Manhattan/Central Park complex at 1717 Broadway (54th Street) will include a 378-room Courtyard by Marriott and another 261-room Residence Inn.

The project is slated to open in 2013 and will be managed by Interstate Hotels and Resorts. The building will rise up 752 feet and nine inches high, which makes it the tallest stand-alone hotel in New York, not counting those with residencies and commercial space.

As per the building plan, both hotels will share the same entrance and lobby on 54th Street. The Courtyard’s guest rooms are located on floors 6 through 32, while Residence Inn guests will get rooms on floors 36 through 64.

Each hotel will have its own elevator banks to take guests to their guestrooms and to the public areas for each hotel – the Courtyard’s public area is on the 4th floor, while the Residence Inn has its own public area on the 3rd floor.

The hotels will be sharing some common facilities, including a a 5th floor lounge and terrace with outdoor seating overlooking Broadway, a restaurant on the 2nd floor and a fitness center on the 34th floor.

The innovative twin-hotel building concept has been designed by architect Nobutaka Ashihara.

Ronnie Gross, vice president of Granite Broadway Development, said that “The building will be absolutely stunning, and the hotels are the right lodging brands for this wonderful location.”

The Courtyard will offer its signature new lobby with a 55-inch LCD interactive touch screen offering maps, weather, news, business and sports headlines.

The Residence Inn will feature suites with kitchens, daily complimentary breakfasts, free high speed internet, grocery delivery, laundry facilities and weekly manager social hours.

Photo – Marriott International

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The Marriott Surf Club in Aruba

Aruba’s Marriott Surf Club has a lazy river. Need I say more? To be honest, I can’t actually say too much more, since the hubby and I sort of, well, snuck in to the lazy river on our recent trip to Aruba. Totally worth the risk of getting caught! The pool that’s connected to the lazy river is awesome as well. It has a gorgeous waterfall and a slide, but we didn’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves. As difficult as it is to “tuck away” a property as large as this Marriott, the amazing thing about it is that, when you’re walking around the hotel, it’s easy to forget that busy Palm Beach is just steps away. The grounds felt secluded, protected and private when I walked around, despite all of the hotel guests. It was lovely.

Marriott Surf Club's Lazy River (Aruba)

That being said, you are in Aruba, and you’ll want to get off the property at some point. This Marriott is located on Palm Beach, and there’s a lot going on right around there. The hotel’s very close to the dock that the Jolly Pirates snorkel tour starts at, and you’ll have a wide selection of water sports to choose from, too. You can play sand tennis on the property, which looked like lots of fun! There’s always a party of some sort on Palm Beach, and the people watching is the best on the island. Restrooms and food are always within easy reach, too, which is a nice alternative to the island’s other beaches that lack basic amenities.

Not to harp about the lazy river pool…but it’s pretty neat. Keep your eyes peeled for Ralph the Really Big Iguana (that’s what we named him). He sits on the rocks above the lazy river, just watching everyone float by. And if you make your way up to the hot tub, he’ll watch you soak from the tree tops. Bet you haven’t seen that at any other Marriott you’ve stayed in!

Like I said, we didn’t have a chance to check out the rooms, but the lobby area and the grounds were immaculate. The Marriott Surf Club is likely not the place you want to stay at if you’re on a tight budget — but if you aren’t, I’d say it’s a really solid choice. Very family friendly and not at all stuffy — all the staff we interacted with were friendly and helpful. I almost felt bad that we snuck in! Almost.

Ralph the Iguana at Aruba's Marriot Surf Club Pool

Photos: Jenny Bengen-Albert

IF YOU GO: Probably best not to sneak in like we did. Next time, we’re going to try to stay at The Marriott. It’s not cheap, but the amenities are amazing. Take full advantage of them!

Play 'My Marriott Hotel' on Facebook

Ever want to run your own hotel and boss people around, but sounded like too much work?

Well, now you can – on Facebook. To be precise, you can get a taste of it with “My Marriott Hotel (TM)” – a facebook game just launched by Marriott International.

As of now, the game is focused on running the hotel’s kitchen. Gamers can create their own restaurant, hire staff, buy stuff for the kitchen and direct incoming orders from the restaurant to the chefs.

You get points for happy customers, and lose points for poor service. You can even choose a General Manager to work under.

The game is meant to attract prospective recruits to apply for jobs with Marriott. It can be played on the company’s  jobs & careers page on Facebook.

The game can be played in five languages, and Marriott says they’re planning to use social media gaming to fill as many as 50,000 jobs by the end of this year.

Marriott is also planning to add other hotel departments to later versions of My Marriott Hotel, and a mobile phone version is also scheduled for next year.

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