The weekend was spent driving across the country. Mr. Snarky had an American Football game in Essex and the closest hotel that he could use his hotel points on for a free night was the Marriott in Waltham Abbey. When we arrived there was wedding reception going on and then... just a very busy lobby. Really I thought this is where the whole of Waltham Abbey spends their Saturday night with the way it was buzzing.
Check-in went pretty smooth and we were off to our room. The room was on the second floor, I think there are only two floors, but note that there is no lift... for those of you who don't pack light. Our room was decorated quite nicely and I was pretty impressed. Mr. Snarky was saying that the hotel was a Category 4, meaning not a five-star Marriott property, but the place wasn't too shabby! The room is quite large, the bathroom is even really large. The bed was very soft and plush, great for side sleepers like me, not great for stomach or back sleepers like Mr. Snarky. The pillows were not the usual rectangle shape which actually made them quite awful to sleep on. They were square. I didn't think this would be a problem until I put it flat on the bed and laid on it. When you lay your head down... the bit of stuffing inside makes its way to the back of the pillow, meaning you are now laying on the pillow case and the bed.
However, where the hotel fell short: 1) The air conditioning, 2) lack of electric sockets, and 3) no free Wifi. So first to the air conditioning... of course it was another one of the uncomfortably warm and sticky days. We tinkered with the thermostat to see if we could get it to work, but the result was lukewarm air. It made for a restless night of sleeping. Second, we had some mobile phones that needed charging and finding an electric socket to plug in the phones was a bit difficult. Fortunately Mr. Snarky came prepared with a device where you could plug in four phones by USB with only plugging into one electrical socket. Lastly, there was no free wifi... but additionally, there was no option to plug your laptop in using an ethernet cord. Based on my experience in the states, typically if there is no free wifi, there is always an option to plug in for free using an ethernet cord.
Of course there were coffee and tea making facilities. There was a mini-fridge. It does not come fully stocked, but if you would like it stocked you can call Reception to have it stocked. Apparently they do not charge a tray fee for that. There is an ice bucket and bag in the room, however, the sign says that if customers would like ice, they need to call Reception and ice can be brought up. Not sure if that has a charge associated with that, so we didn't bother calling for ice... even thought it would have been welcome given the very warm state of our room.
We also noticed that the guest guide in the room kept advertising "local" options for tourists, but they were not really local being over an hour away. There isn't much around the hotel and I cannot say that the area is really great for walking to a convenience store or the town center. Overall, it is a beautifully modern and decorated hotel, but lacking some basic conveniences that could really make the hotel much higher rated in my book. read more