Courtyard Oakland Downtown

The staff inside are so nice so it was hard to give this review but the valet lost my car key. Apparently he took it home with him but the hotel accused ME of losing it even though that is impossible since I didn’t park it. They did not admit fault until they found the key. The next day, the valet left my car open and it was robbed, in the courtyard, mind you. When I complained, the manager said «things happen» and offered nothing in compensation, not even free parking. Don’t trust these people to park your car.

Wouldn’t usually right a review for a hotel restaurant, but the barbecue chicken flatbread is incredibly good.

This is a very solid choice for expensive downtown Oakland and you can get a good competitive rate compared to many nearby properties. It meet my expectations for a limited service hotel. I found the property and rooms to be clean and tidy. The rooms could use a bit of updating but no real compliant. The front desk staff checked us in early and that was greatly appreciated and they seemed knowledgeable about the area and ready to answer questions. I was attending an event at the Fox Theatre and is was an easy 10 minute walk. If I was in the area I would definitely stay again

We got here at 3 am and even speaking with the front deck «Ofu» before arrival he was very accommodating and compassionate about our late night adventure. We were just looking for a place to rest at such a late notice. He honored our military discount and gave us a late check out of 2pm. That was so helpful for the circumstances. Trying to book for the next couple days when we woke up, the management did not honor the discount and the rate became very expensive. Sucks they didn’t get our business the next couple of days but our emergency hero «Ofu» was helpful. So I thank him over all.
The place is comfy and not to bad for the location being there were a couple shady night crawlers around the block.

I chose this hotel for the convenience of how close it was to the Oakland Chinatown Streetfest. I knew we were attending the event this past weekend. Last year I swore that I was not ever coming again. Why? Because they had only one porta-​potty by the live bands and it was so gross. And that’s an understatement by far!!!
Well, anyway that comment fell by the wayside once I saw their live band schedule! I tell you I drive my hubby nuts but he still loves me! LOL. He never knows whether we are coming or going! You know variety is the spice of life! Bhahaha!
Probably on a truer scale I would give it 3.5 stars. Normally I request a quiet room so they give us a room way far away from the elevator on the highest floor. I must have forgotten but it wasn’t a big deal. At least we weren’t right up next to the elevators but close though! Our walls were so very thin that you literally can hear everyone’s convo everytime they passed by our room as if they were in our room!!!
Besides that we had a King suite where we were in two separate rooms. I like my space and so does my hubby. We actually had a mini refrigerator and microwave with a separate small sink. There was a coffee maker too as my hubby loves drinking it anytime of the day. The
bathroom was spacious and not cramped whatsoever. The water coming out of the bathtub faucet was full force and hot!!! So one has to be really careful if they have children.
The rooms were very cold until we figured out the thermostats. They had a separate one for each room. People in the bay love it cold while we Sactownians like it hot! Well not that hot!
Anyway we had to turn off the automatic air conditioning. All in all it was so convenient bc there were no porta-​potties in sight at all except when we were looking for parking Saturday morning and following that truck who was delivering them but where was that??? Nowhere to be found that’s for sure. I hear bathrooms are hard to find in Oakland Chinatown. Even in this hotel you need a room key to get into it.
All in all will we be back? I guess it depends on the band schedule! So it’s a possibility. We really had a good time this past weekend that it was well worth checking into the hotel!!!

If you’ve been to other Courtyards, you’ll know what to expect here. Clean, comfortable, good service, good lobby food/​bar, reasonable price for room and for valet parking. Best feature is the location. Good place to walk or BART.

What a joke. Me and my buddy stayed here for a couple days to attend a concert in Oakland. The rooms are decent, but the hallways always reeked of pot. Perhaps that is not a problem for some people. However, Im sure most people would have a problem with the $ 40 a day valet. The window from our 3^rd room floor faced the valet parking area. I happened to be looking out of that window when I witnessed one of the valet drivers carelessly position a car behind another. He collided the front bumper with the rear bumper of another car… no big deal right? Ok… so he gets out to park another car. This time it was an SUV (with a tow hitch). Jokingly, i said to my buddy, «watch, he’ll probably back that tow hitch right into another car.» Sure enough! He did! And he sure didn’t care because he was in a position to see what he was doing. You know who else didn’t care? The hotel manager! We addressed our concern to the front desk. The so called manager didn’t express much concern, especially for the potential damage done to the guests vehicles. She did make a comment about a «possible lack of training.» Please… anybody who is not blind with common sense can park a car, but this was deliberate negligence. We waited all day and the next for a phone call from the valet manager… but nothing.

Decent Accommodation in an Easily Accessible Part of Oakland
SITREP
We had a CCLD Managers Academy at our Regional Office located at 1515 Clay Street, and the Courtyard Oakland Downtown was a very close by hotel accommodation.
THE SETUP
The first criteria I have to have met before I even consider staying when traveling on State business is does the hotel fall within the State Rate? (In this instance, for Alameda County, $ 125 effective 01/​01/​2015). And Courtyard DID.
The next criteria for me was how close is it to where I need to be working/​training/​recording? In this instance, Courtyard was a mere 0.4 miles aways — only about 7 – 8 blocks, but with the training and recording equipment with me, I had to drive but at least it was very close, ensuring minimal travel in commuting.
THE ROOM
The hotel room was very nice. I usually request a room with 2 queen beds [because I never know when a friend may drop by for the night or when a colleague has to come down at the last minute and may need a place to crash because it was too late for them to go through CONCUR and our State Travel Unit to get the reservations and/​or travel advance.]
In any event, when do they ever give you enough pillows on your bed? So even if by myself, I like to cluster both beds pillows around me on the bed I sleep on. And that’s that.
BELLHOP CART
They had a LOT of these puppies and it made it very easy for me to lug my luggage up myself with the bellhop cart to use.
STARBUCKS
Don’t laugh, but for me this is a serious consideration when working & traveling on the road. I don’t have time to check out every local independent coffee shop, nor do I want to take the chance on a bad, bitter brew on a morning when I want to my psyched up to each and «in my zone.»
So if there is a nearby Starbucks (preferably a standalone store, and not a counter-​Starbucks in a store or hotel) that has my Venti Blonde and low-​fat Turkey Sandwich, then I am MORE stoked about the area).
VALET PARKING
I prefer self-​parking, less expensive, and not a big to-​do. I’m not a big fan on forced valet parking at hotels. But Valet parking is all they had here.
On a related note, nor am I a fan of having to pay for separate parking at hotels AT ALL. I think if you are staying at a hotel, you should have parking complimentary with that stay. This was $ 24 a day.
So as a standard reviewing practice on my part, ANY HOTEL that charges extra for their patron’s parking gets an automatic 1-​Star deduction. That’s a usurious, greedy practice that needs to stop, like yesterday.
THE LOWDOWN
All things being equal, the Courtyard made for pleasant overnight stays.

I have been a Marriott member for nearly 10 years. This Courtyard has nice, new looking clean rooms. The staff during my stay was very courteous. The breakfast options were a little higher priced than I expected.
Now for the issues…
I stayed here for work with two other team mates. I stayed one week, my team mates stayed here three weeks. During their three weeks, they had to constantly change rooms because the air conditioning units would randomly stop working. During my week, this happened on my last night and I was not able to change rooms due to the hotel being sold out.
The internet is free however, it’s not much faster than dialup. The connection frequently drops, so any kind of video conferencing or voip meetings are pretty much impossible to have.
Will I stay here again? That’s a difficult question… The room rate is much more affordable than SF and it’s only at 15min BART ride to the city. However, the air conditioning issues make this hotel questionable for summer visits. The internet issues make it a bad choice for consultants (or any business person) needing to finish up work at the hotel. So maybe yes, I’d be back for a vacation or weekend getaway outside of summer season, but definitely would not stay here again when working.

I would totally stay here again…
I had work at the CalTrans building on Grand Ave and really wanted to stay closer to its location. I totally lucked out that this Courtyard on 9^th and Broadway was available for my one-​night stay at the difficult-​to-​get-​in-​the-​Bay-​Area State rate of $ 125.
They offer valet parking, which was convenient as there is very little parking available around this area. The valet guys, both times I encountered them, were very nice… my car was out in less than five minutes when I checked out.
The location is nice; coming up Broadway, Oakland’s Chinatown is on the right. On the left is Old Oakland. It was a nice, not scary, location. I felt safe walking down to the Starbucks, and down a few blocks to eat dinner in Old Oakland. Also walked over to Webster and indulged on some very good Chinese bakery fare.
My third-​floor room was nice and clean and had a mini-​fridge in, which I always appreciate. And, the ice machine was working and on the same floor… always important to me! Oh, and I love the Paul Mitchell toiletries!
The ONLY thing that I found odd was their lack of a lost & found; let me explain. Like a doofus, I forgot my cell phone charger at home. Usually no big deal when I stay at a hotel, because they always have a lost & found full of cell phone chargers that other guests left behind, and I can always borrow one. But, this is the only hotel in my entire history of travel that didn’t have such a magical charger box… bummer!
Beyond that, I’ll remember my cell phone charger next time… I would gladly stay at this Marriott property again, as long as they still let me use the State rate. :)

Extremely disappointed. I have been a Marriott member for several years and have never had an issue with paying in cash before. Apparently there is a new policy at this location (though it is not posted anywhere on the website or in the lobby where a guest could actually see it) where you can pay cash when you check-​out, but they won’t accept it when you check-​in.
As I only had a Debit Visa with me at the time of my checking in, they charged the full amount of my stay plus incidentals (roughly $ 180) even though I literally had the same amount of cash in my hand. I was told that when I check out, I can use it then, but that there may be a 7 – 10 day delay before the charge that they put on my Debit Visa is actually refunded back to my account.
When I asked to get that statement in writing from the desk manager, so I had something to show my bank in the event of excess charges, I was ignored and she turned and walked away. The clerk tried to suggest I call (and I will) but without anything in writing I may be completely out of luck.

Be forewarned: This hotel is near several theaters where they hold concerts. We had an OK first night. They second was hell. People next door doing drugs, drinking, loud, rioting. The Oakland PD had to throw them out. At least we got a free night at any other hotel.

Location is great.
Only gave three stars because there is no parking for guest unless you want to fork out another $ 24 pesos on top of the the room fees.
This can be rectified by complimenting at least one night of parking.

0 stars for the RUDE night lobby attendant. He yelled at us for accidentally going into a hotel entrance door that was open! Instead of asking us nicely to use the side entrance. he yelled at us saying, and i quote: «are you guys too high and too drunk to read the sign on the door!!!» WELL LOCK THE DARN DOOR! Like a night of drinking will allow us to concentrate more on the door handle. Give us a little credit for getting a place to stay instead of driving drunk home! AND!!! He totally let some Caucasian couple go through the door 30 seconds before us. TALK ABOUT RACIAL PROFILING!
0 Stars for the obvious valet on the side of the road WITH NO ONE STANDING THERE! I am not alone in this because 3 other cars had followed me into the valet parking lot where we raised the gate by ourselves due to the utter confusion. I question the safety of my car behind that «gate».
1 Star for giving me a roof to place over my head for the night. And because I can’t give 0 star reviews.
Lesson learned — I will never come back here again. NEVER!

Five stars for a hotel of this price range! We needed a place to stay that was convenient to the Scottish Rites Center, but clean and safe. We also hoped to keep the price on the lower side. This hotel met all of our needs and exceeded my expectations. The room was nice and very clean. Every staff member was helpful and friendly. Our room had a fridge so we could stock some food for snacking and breakfast.
The beds were extremely comfortable too!
There is a pretty lobby with plenty of seating and a small bistro. Valet parking is $ 24 and no fee for «in and out» on the same day. I would definitely stay here again!

Really enjoyed my stay here. The beds were very comfortable, the rooms nicely decorated, and overall quite clean. The front desk and concierge staff were very helpful. Their little lobby is nice, a cute quiet spot. Their little after hours «mini-​mart» is great for snacks, especially if you arrive late. Conveniently located, so ordering take-​out from the area is also really easy. Only drawback might be the street noise in the rooms facing the street, but it wasn’t so awful that it affected ability to sleep.
If you’re looking for a low-​key, clean and comfortable hotel, I would definitely recommend this place.

Clean, comfortable, similar to other Courtyards. I don’t have much else to say. Beds are not as wonderful as the Marriott across the street, but it’s a different tier of value. Staff was really nice. Located near BART and Chinatown.
Oh, gym isn’t great. 1 elliptical, and a few other machines, but that’s pretty standard for Courtyard.

No free breakfast!
Good sized and clean rooms. Not memorable in a good or bad way.

Don’t be fooled by the neighborhood; this is a great hotel. I was initially a little worried after booking, canceling and rebooking after some confusion regarding their rollaway beds (apparently they don’t know which rooms can have rollaways), but it all worked out in the end.
4 of us stayed in a suite, which any the size of the DoubleTree Guest Suites room. The room had been renovated, and everything from the bed to the shower were in excellent condition. The windows were practically soundproof, which was perfect for blocking out the sounds of Chinatown below.
The only complaint is that the breakfast hours were awful. 10:00am on a Sunday? By the time I went down at 10:15, all they were serving was Starbucks coffee, and it took 10 minutes in line to find out they didn’t have what I wanted, and another 10 until a drink was in my hand. I’ll chalk it up to a bad day. This place is a solid 4.5, but I’ll be nice and round up to 5.

This hotel’s policy is to lie to you. We were in town for a funeral and while checking in on Thursday I was told the hotel was «completely booked on Saturday», and that they did not keep a waiting list in case of a cancelation, so we couldn’t stay a third night. About 30 min later I went down to speak with the mgr (Bruce), but never actually met him. After the desk clerk (Stephanie) went to the back she came back saying that we could stay on Saturday. REALLY ??? I gave my Ccard & DL and thought it was done. Then we had people knocking on our door on Saturday saying we had to leave. REALLY???
NEVER STAYING HERE AGAIN.
No bell hop either. Website said Valet $ 20, but it’s 24.
On the bright side, the people in the café are great and understand customer service.