Courtyard Freiburg Review
Overall Impression: 
Details:
Duration of stay: 2 nights / City Trip
Check-in / Check-out:
Check-in Process:
Check-out Process:
Concierge Service: N/A
Staff @ Front Desk:
Bonvoy recognition:
At Check-in:
In General:
Room / Bathroom:
Bed, quality of sleep:
Bathroom, Shower:
Room Atmosphere:
Housekeeping general:
Cleanliness:
Food & Beverage:
Breakfast:
Staff Breakfast:
Bar / Restaurant :
Staff Bar / Restaurant :
Lounge: No Lounge
Paul‘s Mix:
Pool, Spa: N/A
Hotel Location:
Mojito Rating 
:
:
General Customer Care:
Staff attitude, interaction and responsiveness:
Social media interaction:
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= bad, a lot of work needs to be done
=not good, you will be busy with corrections
= good & normal, nothing special
= high level, but the icing on the cake is missing
= topnotch, leave me here!
= Half a Point/sheep
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This stay was a two-night city trip to Freiburg im Breisgau / Germany, where we wanted to explore a new city and the brand new (3 month old) Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Unfortunately this
hotel has a looooong way to go.
Spoiler alert: with the opening team also the customer service left. But here is our review:
The Courtyard by Marriott Freiburg Hotel is located next to the Freiburg main train station and only a 4-5 minutes walk to the beautiful old town.
In old town there are lots and lots of restaurants, bars and it is a shopping paradise. Old town has lots of history and is full of old historical buildings. Most of the places of interest
can be reached easily by foot and are only a few steps away.
So we found the location super convenient.
The Hotel opened its doors 3 month ago and is brand new. It offers only two types of rooms. Quality rooms with different bed types (king, queen and twin) and only very few superior king
rooms. The hotel has only one single meeting room.
In total they have 156 rooms spread over 7 floors.
The hotel is beautiful in terms of interior and design. It is very modern, clear Lines, clean and lean architecture, lots of lights and nice colors.
Check-in:
Check-in was actually really good when one of the agents took over the lead. So first we went to the desk and both counters were staffed. At the counter we went to was a trainee agent. She
was friendly and helpful and did a good job. When she came to the point and recognized our status (I quote "thank you for being a Platinum oh I see you are even an Ambassador Member) the
other agent jumped immediately in.
This agent was simply stunning and helped the other agent with the process. We arrived after 15:00 and the room wasn't ready.
We said that it was absolutely no problem as we were driving for 2 hours and thirsty. We told them we would go to the bar for a drink.
As the restaurant and bar wasn't staffed on a Friday at 15:00!!! the friendly agent came over and offered us a drink until the room was ready.
Once it was ready they brought the keys to the bar terrace. Both agents offered a perfect service and unfortunately that was the last time we saw ANY customer service in this property.
Frontdesk:
The rest of the staff at the frontdesk was simply present. No greeting when you passed for breakfast or going to the bar, no interaction, simply nothing.
They were not able to answer simple questions. After the first night in the morning, I went to the frontdesk and asked if they would have different pillows but the agent didn't know. As I
haven't heard back I went back to the front desk at around 17:00 where an agent and the manager on duty were present.
I asked again if they have different pillows and the agent told me that we would have already two different types in our room.
I declined and said that all pillows are the same. The agent then called housekeeping to find out that they really only have one type.
As the manager on duty was there I told here about the customer service issues we encountered such as bar not staffed, all staff unmotivated and all she answered: quote “that is the way we work here“.
Also her arrogant attitude showed that she couldn't care less and in my eyes such a person can't be a leader. Her statement made it clear, take it or leave it.
This duty manager for sure needs some additional training in customer handling or maybe better she should change her job.
Well if that is the answer of a duty manager what can you expect from regular staff. The fish always starts to stink from its head.
Such a person is definitely at the wrong place.
Check-out:
Check-out was good and friendly. The agent interacted with the guests and made sure everything was okay during our stay.
Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite recognition:
Normal and good recognition at check in, thanking for the loyalty, offering additional points or F&B voucher. We didn't ask for late checkout.
No upgrade, as the property has only two room types and the superior rooms were fully booked. This was perfectly fine for us, as we knew from the Bonvoy App that there were no more superior
rooms available.
Otherwise no recognition at all. No card in the room and no amenities.
Room:
We booked a Quality King room for our stay and we were given this room type on the top floor (7th floor).
The room and interior is brand new and really nice. The colours the furniture and the details make the room cozy and pleasant. The room has big panorama windows which allow lots of natural
light to come in.
Size wise the rooms are rather on the small side but ok.
The atmosphere in the room was good and the aircon was working fine.
Also the bathroom, like everything else is brand new, very small in size but great finishing and tiles.
There is a design.problem with the shower. As everywhere, the shower partion glass comes only half way of the length of the shower as the rest is to enter it. Unfortunately the shower head
installed is to long, and comes also half way into the shower. This means you simply can't shower without flooding half of the bathroom.
Housekeeping:
Housekeeping gives it a try, but that is about all to say.
After the first night, all that was done, is exchanging the towels in the bathroom which we didn't wanted to have exchanged. We placed them nicely on the towel rail.
The bed was done in a way, a kid would do it at home. Simply pulled the duvet nicely but the sheets were untouched. Well it made the cosmetic and decorative difference for your eyes but that
was it.
A free water bottle is placed visible on the desk in the room for the first day. We didn't use the bottle the first night and suddenly after the second night when I wanted to have a sip of water the full untouched bottle was gone. Housekeeping must have taken it.
One of the elevators was dirty for two days from a spillage but no one seems to care and was never cleaned.
The bed was a so so thing. Absolutely top mattress and super comfortable. Great and soft duvet but all pillows hard as bricks and super high that we got a stiff neck. After the first night I went to the reception in the morning to ask, if they would have different pillows but the agent didn't know an answer. Later, in the late afternoon, after the second attempt we found out there are none.
F&B outlet / Lounge:
The "Kitchen & Bar" Restaurant & Bar was a massive massive disappointment and there are actually no words to describe the disaster the hotel is doing to itself.
On Friday afternoon, when we arrived and wanted to have a drink until the room was ready the Restaurant and Bar was unstaffed. The super friendly receptionist came over to the bar and made
our drinks.
Before heading to town on Friday evening at 18:00 the bar and restaurant was still not staffed. We waited around 25 minutes on the terrace but no one showed up. Other guests (a group of 6
people) left without ordering. So I went back to the reception to ask if we could order some drinks. The receptionist excused the situation and said she would call someone. After 5 minutes
finally someone showed up. And that is all we can say about this person.
He had the full "you can kiss my ass" mood and was totally but totally unmotivated.
On Saturday afternoon, there was a staff member present and he was friendly and attentive.
We had a total of 3 Mojitos from 3 different people and guess what, the one made by the receptionist was the best one.
Due to these experiences we decided against eating at the property. The restaurant and bar was always empty, well where should you order if there is no staff!
Breakfast:
Breakfast ok, where to start here...
Breakfast is also served at the "kitchen & bar" in a buffet style. But the restaurant is way undersized for the 156 rooms the property has (not mentioning the COVID problem with table
separation). This leads to the problem that you have to book a slot at check in for all days of your stay to be able to go for breakfast. They offer 4 slots: 6:30-8:45 / 9:00-9:45 / 10-10:45
and 11:00-11:45.
Usually we are awake really early so we choose the first slot.
This system has a big downturn. If you could sleep-in, you have to set an alarm to get breakfast and if you awake early you have to wait until you can go to breakfast. This ruines the hotel
feeling as breakfast is one of the most important three things within a hotel (bed and shower are the other 2).
The selection of food which was offered, is good and sufficient and the quality of food was good. The bread they are offering is a disgrace for a bread country like Germany. The bread rolls
are not bigger than 4cm and are absolutely mickey mouse style.
The staff at breakfast was not so good. There was a single person around until 8:00 and she couldn't open her mouth to say "good morning“ to the guests. All she could say “your room number“ and even this without a please. We felt so unwelcome and as if we would disturb in this property.
Club Lounge:
No lounge available as in most Courtyard by Marriott.
Fitness / Spa:
The fitness center is in the basement next to the car parking. Not a pleasant place to workout either.
Social Media:
Social media seems to be inexistent at this property. They do have a Facebook page but aren't active and not a single entry on their Instagram account.
Last but not least they are following all COVID protocols and we havent met a single associate not wearing a mask.
All in all a terrible stay at this property.
It isn't just a bumpy start of a new property, it is simply ignorance, selfish attitude, no passion for the job and no identification with the hotel and the Marriott product.
With the opening team also the customer service has gone.
You feel super unwelcome and the hotel isn't more than a place to sleep. Staff beside the one lady at check in is a disaster. The have no clue how to offer a good guest service. All of them
seem bored, uninterested and unmotivated and the leaders like the duty manager we dealt with was arrogant and snobby.
For me as an Ambassador Elite and an absolut Marriott Bonvoy lover, seing such a service hurts. This property is trampling the Marriott and Courtyard values by their feet.
Conclusion:
Under these circumstances we can not recommend this property unless you are a Marriott Bonvoy loyalist and you urgently need to collect some nights and points as there is no other Marriott
choice.Until the hotel has picked up and implemented trained staff and procedures there is better and cheaper choices for a greater service than this property is offering.
For example the motel one costs almost half the price than this Courtyard by Marriott and has the same room types and most probably offers a better customer service.
If this property continues like this they will not be able to succeed.
Notes:
- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.
- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.
-If you are interested in more details, please send us a private message and I will be happy to share more information and pictures.