Courtyard by Marriott – Sarasota – University Park

Jane is the best bartender this side of Florida. She is gregarious and kicks out the best flat bread in town. Come check it out!

I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott for 3 nights on a business trip. The location is perfect — close to I-​75, the new University Town Center mall, LA Fitness, and additional shopping and food options within easy walking distance. Out back is a lovely courtyard area with patio furniture and a fire pit.
The facility is up to date, clean, and well maintained. As shown in Unilocal pics, the hotel includes nice charging ports on the nightstand. Linens and pillows are good quality and I had no issues at all with the climate control. Parking is plentiful and easily accessible.
So why 3 stars?
1. Doors to individual rooms tended to slam LOUDLY… but do not readily latch. So if I was leaving my own room, I had to give it an extra tug to be sure it was secure. If it was the neighbors (at 4:30 am), it was just a lot of slamming doors.
2. Walls are paper thin. I literally listened to a neighbor sing in the shower… or somewhere… This is a first and I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels. (I resisted the urge to sing along. I think the song was «This Magic Moment.»)
3. The Bistro has oddly short hours — at a morning break, I was shocked to find the barista cleaning up and closing at 9:30 am. No sodas or sandwiches were available later without leaving the hotel even though a «later» menu was posted. Since the hotel touts «We proudly serve Starbucks coffee» — it was odd that they only served it for a couple of hours a day. At one point, a co worker drove 3 miles to find a Dunkin Donuts coffee.
4. Free wi-​fi network was only moderate quality and I had to keep logging in. I’ve been in other Marriot properties (long term stay) that made the wi-​fi much more user friendly. And what’s with trying to sell $ 4.95/day service? Either you offer wifi — or don’t. Don’t admit that you provide an inferior level of service and bait and switch your guests.
So overall — a nice hotel room, consistent with the Courtyard level experience. But a few tweaks would definitely take the wrinkles out!

Beautiful hotel with amazing ultra modern room and gas firepit terrace perfect for our romantic kid free weekend.
We had a great experience. Breakfast was delicious had egg whites and spinach leaves with salsa. Staff was very attentive at front desk and breakfast area.
Our only regret is we have to drive back home to go to work Monday. We will definitely be back again.

DID NOT FEEL SAFE. Will never stay here again. Someone tried to break into our room, and when we called downstairs, we were informed that there was no security service, and they seemed completely unconcerned. We called the police, who said it was probably a drunk, which was confirmed by the smell of vomit in the hallway. Lovely. Annndd now we are hearing all kinds of random noises.
This hotel is new??? Wow, if it is, it must be horribly maintained. One of the dryers in the laundry room was out of order, and the fire door at the bottom of the stairs would not open (yeah, that is reassuring in case of fire).
Our suite –there are only a couple of suites — was BEHIND the elevator, so we heard that thing groaning at all hours of the day and night. The furniture does not fit the room, leaving spaces that are impossible for housekeeping to vacuum — so there is an accumulated pile of junk between, for example, the armoire and the wall. The shower head was clogged, so it sprayed everywhere no matter how we tried to adjust it.
This isn’t the most user-​friendly hotel. You have to buy breakfast, coffee was a couple dollars. It’s been so long since I’ve bought coffee at a hotel, I forgot how ridiculous it was to have to pay for some charred tasting swill. There is a coffeemaker in the room, but we thought it, and breakfast, would be complimentary, when we went down to breakfast.
I needed to use the business center, and, due to the front desk being hidden off to the side, was asked by no less than four parties to check them in. Weird layout! Management seemed nonexistent, so if you want a self service hotel full of drunks, this is your place.

Located in a sweet spot near the airport, shopping and feeder road to everywhere.
This is a large, spacious converted suites hotel, so room as extra large and spacious. There is a large lobby with business area, a library seating area with TV. Outside areas include a large comfy «courtyard» as well as an outdoor BBQ are with large-​screen TV. There is a decent size pool and workout room.
The lobby has a full service Starbucks open for breakfast and lunch. Restaurants and the mall are across the road.
Clean, neat, helpful staff — what more do you need?

This hotel is new, so it’s very nice to stay in. I recommend it, even though the price is quite high. The outdoor mall next door called The Shoppes at University Center is nice at night for dinner. We were glad to find such a nice hotel!

3 stars based on a solid 3 star hotel. Very typical and you will get what you expect from this category. Importantly — no big disappointment waiting for you here. Walking distance to some restaurants and some retail and a short drive to the new UTC shopping center.

Recently, we hosted a business event with this hotel. The experience we had was superb from start to finish. Jodi helped us with reserving the room and designing the menu, and was a pleasure to work with… and the rest of the team delivered on her promises and then some!
The property itself is gorgeous and well-​maintained. Foodservice is prompt and helpful. We’ve even been back for informal meetings in the lobby, where we’ve been well-​taken-​care of by the foodservice staff.
The property is conveniently located near Lakewood Ranch, across University Parkway from University Town Center. We’ll be back!

Fairly new location in a very nice area. There are close to a billion restaurants within a mile of this place. Very clean, modern, friendly. They have a super helpful giant touchscreen called a «Go Board» — (think computer concierge /​news source /​know it all). Very neat. Good design. 24hr fitness room. Very well executed!