Residence Inn By Marriott Philadelphia Bala Cynwyd

Decent

6.0

Accessible to everything

− The price was a little inflated for the area

Unexpected vacation in an extraordinary setting.

10.0

Beautiful setting beside a canal. Creative reuse of former iron works. Open spaces for walking, biking, running. Open interior with views of surrounding woods. Welcoming staff. Friendly guests. Adjacent dining options. Free breakfast.

Beautiful hotel, built in 2021 so practically new, which we loved

10.0

My husband and I stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn Bala Cynwyd for one week at the end of May. I was having surgery at UPenn and needed to be seen one week later. So instead of driving back to NC, our daughter who is a Marriott elite member booked us a room. She spoke to a very nice gentleman who reserved a really nice corner room for us on the 7th floor. Even though I was in a lot of pain/discomfort, we made the best of our stay by walking on the beautiful bridge over the Schuykill River, admiring the wildlife...i.e. birds, turtles, etc. The lobby in this hotel is so beautiful and we spent alot of time just enjoying the views from the gorgeous floor to ceiling windows. Sometimes the fireplace was on top which made it feel like we were in a gorgeous mountain/lake home. The thought put into the landscape is amazing. There is a lot to do as well if you are traveling with young people/children. There is an outdoor area that has cornhole and other games to play. Of course there is a great restaurant on the premises (The Lark, with an award winning chef)...our daughter has been and said it is delicious but we did not eat there as I was not feeling well enough. Unlike so many hotels in the area where I have read reviews complaining of their pools being unusable due to cloudy/unclean conditions, the residence inn pool is huge and was very clean. My husband did laps every day and I watched in the lounger chair. I enjoyed watching the children play as well. All in all this is a wonderful hotel to stay in. The breakfast is plentiful and like most of not all Marriotts, there is always coffee/tea available and this hotel even puts out cookies too! We are staying again in July for a return trip to UPenn and after staying here for a week, it sort of feels like "home"...

We'd go back!

8.0

Our suite had a kitchen with a full size refrigerator & freezer, 2 burner stovetop, microwave, sink, & plenty of counter space. We liked that the nightstands by our bed had drawers for various sundries. Many hotels just provide a shelf on either side of the bed, resulting in no privacy for storing personal items. There was a sofa opposite a large work space area with a counter & chair. There also was an area between the bedroom & bathroom with a mirror, 2 large deep drawers under a countertop, & 3 open shelves on one side. A closet was on the opposite side. I appreciated that the bathroom shower had 2 ledges & a shelf to place toiletries. Many hotels don't provide an area inside the shower to place personal toiletries that you've brought with you. I took off 1 star though, because there was no covered overhang by the hotel entrance (which incidentally wasn't marked well either). As it was raining when we arrived, it was awkward (& wet) taking our luggage out of the car. Obviously, this would be an issue if it was snowing as well. I would recommend that this hotel provide a porte cochère (or minimally a canopy) by the entrance!!! Lastly, my husband noticed that the fan in the bathroom wasn't working. Bottom line though is that we had a comfortable stay &, if we were in the area, would go back to this hotel!

Dirty Room, Poor Housekeeping practices

2.0

I appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback. The room was not just disappointing exclusively because of proportions on the floor, food debris on the floor and opting not to vacuum and mop. Discovery on top of discovery to hear housekeeping was not on duty was less than disappointing driving in 7 hours from Durham, NC. I’ve enclosed pictures of everything: Inside shower door rusted or brown film, no shower was taken upon arrival hair in the tub, hair in one of the bed linens -sheets and pillowcases, dried up food on the floors, human hair in the bedding sheets and pillows, milk or beverage stains on desk chair, sofa and dinette table chairs, underneath toilet seat wasn’t cleaned inside the toilet. Overall. I loved the floor plan and view but with so many different guests, I would expect housekeeping to do their job with excellence in mind for every room. I should not spend an hour making this room comfortable for one night's stay. I was raised to always take care of other people’s stuff as well as mine or better. My daughter is moving to Bala Cynwyd now and due to her work. we came to be supportive as a random moving company is transporting her items from Whippany, NJ. I’ve never been to this city and chose this property over a downtown Philadelphia location for the ease of 0.9-mile Monday commute location. I saw mixed reviews and wanted to address mine without having to co-sign on the negative ones with pictures and a narrative. Your front desk gentleman was amazing and the other gentlemen who helped us get our bags to our room. I emailed back the GM of the location with pictures and did not receive a response from Michelle Turchi (General Manager). The housekeeping manager (Lashaya White, Housekeeping Manager) returned 10,000 points, which was not satisfactory for every detailed picture and discomfort received for the overpriced charge of returning 10,000 points based on carpet alone as it was way more than the floor being neglected. My question is what all the items listed constitute for additional refunded points because sending me a email, no phone call to my cell phone or room with me having a late check out now reveals, no one in leadership wanted to hear my concerns thus emailing them with pictures was a waste of my time. Clearly, this was a housekeeping mindset of change linen and towels, stage it and leave it effort! Not the Marriott way of doing things. I do not appreciate giving me the chance to accept 10,000 points for the inconvenience. I was told by corporate because you gave me points compensation without asking me if it was acceptable was a deceptive business practice of accountability and trust that this was an isolated issue and not the norm. As this was my first encounter as a Silver Elite member and Marriott credit card holder, I will provide this review on all social media platforms. If guests do not care if their room is spot cleaned, feel free to stay here. The aesthetics are more than staging a look! Cleaning is expected not optional for any property or leadership team to justify with $70.00 credit. It took me an hour to clean up the room as the front desk clerk did not offer a room change based on my immediate phone call for directions. He stated I would hear from the property manager, yet instead the housekeeping supervisor with the autonomy to offer 10,000 points was the only one who sent an immediate email without being transparent on how many points would be returned to my Bonvoy account. Little did I know there were plenty of hotels on City Avenue. Be respectful of guest’s time/money and clean up your “Fools Gold Bala Cynwyd” property. You make out of towners think you are the only location for this city when googling and you are not. It is apparent you employ "get over lazy housekeeping staff" who are not audited by supervisors to ensure rooms are ready for guests to easily enter for relaxation and rest. No one should have to experience stress because housekeeping feels underpaid and overworked and does not care about the turnover germs from one guest to another. Give housekeeping a raise so they can stop skirting around their jobs. Clearly, they know most people don’t look or care but for the ones who do, 10,000 points or $70.00 off 42,000 points stay is a slap in the face and super dismissive. Never again here and have learned to make the staff tell me the points versus trusting they will be decent and honorable.

This hotel overbooks and may send you someplace else!

4.0

This could be a great hotel, but I wouldn’t know. They called me to cancel my reservation at 2:30 pm on the day of my arrival and rebooked me (admittedly for free) at the Courtyard Marriott half a mile away. Giving the free night of accommodations was nice, but at a hotel that is significantly cheaper and not as nice - and when we checked in there it took them over 30 minutes to find our reservation and check us in. So just be aware that this hotel sometimes overbooks, and you may end up staying someplace else. If that’s a gamble you enjoy, then this may be the perfect place for you.