September 18-20, 2006 – This was my first stay at the Courtyard in Flint Michigan. I chose this hotel primarily because it is a Marriott property, but also because it is very close to the Flint Airport. My room rate at Flint Courtyard was $139 per night.

The hotel is located near the intersection of I75 and highway 23 just north of Hill Road. It is about three miles, or five minutes, from the airport. It only took me 20 minutes to drive from the Courtyard to the airport, return my rental car, and pass through security for a 7:00 A.M. flight, pretty convenient.

My room was number 218, a non-smoking king on the 2nd floor. It was one of the rooms next to and partially behind the elevator. In the quiet of the night I could hear the elevator operating but it did not bother me. The room had a small balcony and overlooked the covered entry to the hotel.

The bed was comfortable, but I don’t think the mattress had been replaced when the new style Marriott bedding was introduced. There were five pillows including feather (my preference) and both soft and harder foam. There was a queen-size sofa bed and coffee table in the sitting area.

The room had a large work desk and office-style chair. Wireless high-speed internet service was complimentary and worked perfectly, including connecting through our company’s VPN. Lighting in the room was good.

The bathroom was “standard Courtyard” with the vanity/sink outside the bathroom proper. The shower was a combination bathtub and shower. There were four sets of towels and the quality is what you would expect of a Marriott property.

The television was on the dresser and swiveled so it could be viewed from anywhere in the room. It had cable channels as well as pay-per view movies. It did not offer check-out via the TV remote.

The Courtyard has an indoor swimming pool and whirlpool spa. Each chair and lounge in the pool area had a clean, folded pool towel on it. The hotel has a small exercise room with two treadmills, a stationary bike, a stair-climber, and a universal-type weight machine. A guest laundry is located on the ground floor with a washer and dryer.

I have likely been spoiled by other Courtyard hotels that have been recently renovated where the beds are new, lighting is brilliant and electrical outlets are easily accessible. My guess is that the Flint Courtyard was built recently enough that it did not need a complete renovation and that lowers my overall rating for the hotel.