Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong Sha Tin

Planning my birthday holiday & I realized I never reviewed this hotel. Stayed here last year around this time of year for my birthday. Our travel agent booked this for us & there are pros & cons.
Pros– Chinese New Year they had some awesome performers in front of the hotel. The room was elegant & spacious. I loved the view by the water & seeing the interesting buildings as it was my first time in Hong Kong. Very clean & modern. People working here were nice enough. There’s a little convenience store underneath the hotel which was awesome. I was able to stock up on HK treats for friends & also get some snacks for our room. There’s also a Mcdonalds next to the convenience store for fast foodies.
Cons– We asked our travel agent to book us a convenient hotel in the city & this is far away from where all of the action is happening. Taxi drivers in HK are disgustingly immoral so I ended up paying about $ 500 worth of taxi month for my entire trip in HK because the location was so horrible + the over charging from being a foreigner who doesn’t speak the language. If you’re visiting HK & have no experience do your research because there’s not much of a moral code in this country. Although the location issue is my travel agent’s fault, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel if you want to go see the fireworks for New Years or anything because all of that is far from here. We ended up staying in our hotel & watching it on the TV. Really not what we had planned obviously. This place is kind of in the middle of nowhere & most taxi drivers would not take us back to the hotel unless we paid a lot extra. It took us about 5 – 10 different taxis before we could find one who would make the trip to this hotel & that’s considering they’d still charge double for toll fees.
As for the room it would have been perfect had there not been a weird water dripping/​beeping noise all day & night for our entire two night stay. We were exhausted after each day of touring & being scammed by so many people that we were too tired to ask to be moved to another room & just lived with it. The noise should not been there in the first place.
If you’re in the area for business & not trying to see all of the sights then by all means though, this is not a bad hotel, it was just wrong for our situation.

**Update**
Brought the cockroach issue and the issue related to the broken AC to the attention of staff at the hotel. While they’ve acknowledged that this has happened before and steps are being taken to ensure this never happens again, I am hopeful that good customer service will prevail in the process, assisted by good folks at Marriott corporate. I’ll post an update shortly.
**Update**
Found a cockroach in my room today; cannot believe that I am seeing this in a Marriott property, after all the issues we’ve had, I can’t say I’m surprised. As a loyal Platinum member I will have to consider taking my business elsewhere.

The hotel is conveniently accessible to the whole of Hong Kong via Mass Transit Railway (MTR), especially to Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau at Shenzhen, making it ideal for business or leisure guests travelling to Mainland China. The hotel is only 10 minutes from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and 30 minutes from The HK International Airport.
They have a MoMo Café located on the 2^nd floor and is a modern all-​day dining restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet, with a la carte options. With stylish décor, Lobby Lounge (at the lobby of course) makes a refreshing and energizing rendezvous, offering signature cocktails, fine wines and exquisite snacks for guests’ pleasure on their a la carte menu.

Sha Tin is a bit far away from where the action is in Hong Kong, but their prices are very reasonable so you get what you pay for!
The hotel itself is actually quite nice, and the rooms are fairly large. I was surprised by the interior design because Courtyard by Marriot hotels in North America are usually very small and plain. Honestly, if this hotel were situated in a more centralized area, I would have mistaken it for a semi-​luxury hotel!
The staff here are very courteous and the majority of them are multi-​lingual. My Cantonese is not very good, so they directed me to somebody who could speak English. The hotel also provides a free shuttle service to the MTR station and several other downtown areas (Kowloon, Central, TST, etc) and the bus driver announces the stops in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Getting here from the airport is fairly simple, but the bus ride takes around 45 minutes or so.

Awesome hotel! Very glad we stayed here!
Located in Sha Tin. If you’re looking for a hotel within close proximity of the major tourist sites (in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island) this hotel is NOT for you. This Courtyard Marriott is located in the suburbs of Sha Tin. If you want to go to Kowloon, etc. you will need to take the MTR or a cab.
Fortunately for us, this location suited our needs perfectly.
+ Newish hotel. Modern and clean.
+ Free wifi (in the rooms as well as the lobby, restaurant, etc.)
+ Rooms were spacious and clean.
+ Staff was friendly and helpful.
+ Staff spoke English.
+ Cab station outside the lobby. Staff will translate to the driver (in Cantonese) your destination. Make sure to bring a hotel card (with the name and address in Cantonese) to show to your cab driver on the way back.
+ Convenience store (Circle K), drug/​grocery store (Manning’s) and McDonalds next door.
+ Shopping mall/​center (Fortune City One) a short walk away.
+ MTR station nearby.
+ Gym/​Fitness room with showers.
+ Complimentary bottles of water.
+ Breakfast buffet. Our stay included breakfast. The offerings were extensive. Both Western and Eastern food items. Fruits, cereals, breads, pastries, yogurt, dim sum, fried rice, hot noodles (to order), omelets (to order), coffee, tea, juices, etc.
+ Check-​in and check-​out process was fast and efficient.
— No shuttle to/​from the airport. However, you can take the MTR or a cab (fare is about 260 HKD).

I’ve stayed at this hotel several times, for 1 – 2 weeks per stay. This hotel is one of my favorites in the Marriott chain. I’m a member of Marriott rewards at the platinum level, and this buys me lots of free upgrades and royal treatment, so my experience may be different than yours.
— Most helpful staff. They are good examples of the word alacrity. I’ve never experienced such enthusiasm in a hotel.
— Executive lounge with a great view (though currently closed for remodeling). They provide free breakfast and then free drinks & hot hors d’oeuvres at dinner time (including multiple desserts :), so I only need to buy lunch out on the town.
— Modern facility. Room keys are prox cards, so no need to fumble for that key card, works right through my wallet. Climate control is modern and works flawlessly (unlike some hotels where the system shuts off at night when no motion is detected, suffocating the unfortunate guest in his sleep for lack of air flow).
— Lowest price Marriott hotel in the HK/​SZ region, currently averaging HK$ 1000 on the AAA rate. I’ve paid far more for austere hotels back home. These people here haven’t yet discovered that a hotel can cut quality and still get top drawer prices, but sshh, don’t tell them!
— Close to running/​bike trails. I love to run along the Shing Mun river, breathe the relatively fresh air and watch the crew boats row by.
— Adjacent to a major bus stop and 10 min walk from the Shek Mun station.
— 15 min walk to City One, which has numerous restaurants and services, namely the Sunshine Laundry where I drop off my laundry 1 – 2 times a week @ HK$ 40 – 60 a pop.
Hint: for a fabulous view request a room facing the river on a high floor; for a quiet room (away from bus noise) get one facing the mountains.

This hotel is not shy about trying to rob you at every moment.
They had an astronomical per-​item charge for regular laundry, and I don’t mean dry cleaning! A normal load of laundry would have cost $ 60 – 70 USD. Thankfully a little laundromat a few blocks away did the same load for closer to $ 5 USD.
And the food. Jesus christ. The first morning I walked into the hotel restaurant to see what was for breakfast, sat down with my sister, and we both ordered coffees. We were brought coffees, along with a bill for over $ 60 USD. The coffees were $ 5 USD each, and they had assumed, without us ordering, that we’d each be having the absurd $ 25 USD breakfast buffet as well. We were fairly in awe and decided to just pay for our $ 5 coffees (normal, black coffee — $ 5 USD for a cup) and find another place to eat.
They have croissants and bottled water for sale in the lobby, by the concierge counter. The croissants were stale and awful, and both were overpriced.
Other complaints:
— Our swipe cards didn’t work for the «executive lounge».
— The «king size bed» room had a queen size bed.
— There was no remote for the television.
— Wifi cut out fairly constantly.
The only thing the hotel has going for it is that it is near the MTR station, and that it has a relatively comfortable interior. I much preferred the hostels I stayed in for a fraction of the price.

The hotel itself is pretty nice. It’s in a suburb I guess you’d call it of Hong Kong. There’s not much around it so hopefully you’re there for a purpose, and not trying to kill time.
The executive lounge was under construction during our trip, so can’t speak to it.
The staff was nice, and very friendly. We cut our trip short, not because of the hotel but it’s location. We decided it’d be better to back in Central and take the MTR vs. being in Sha Tin in our off time.
The room was nice, we had a two bed room, and it wasn’t too small.

This hotel is under going some remodelling (a few floors and the executive lounge). Hopefully it will be done soon. The staff here is very helpful and attentive. Also very perceptive.
So while the executive lounge is under construction, they have other areas to provide the services.
The rooms are decently sized. Clean. And you might get a view, although there isn’t much to see. Complimentary bottles of water, and a mini bar that they charge for…
Now, this place has a very nice shuttle from the hotel to City One to Sha Tin MTR. also a special one to go to san sui po. Check the schedule. They’re pretty much on time so make sure you’re a little early. Its first come first serve.
Also if coming from the airport, there is an MTR station not too far from the hotel. Or take the A41 bus.
Also the sign at night isn’t too well lit up so look for the McDonald’s sign… and its right there on the hill…