You may be wondering why the title of this post simulates that I am getting married at the Marriott Key Center when I already said my vows. In actuality, if there is one thing I have learned all of these weeks staying at downtown Cleveland hotels, it is that people love to get married on Friday nights. Heck, my wife and I did it years ago.
Seeing everyone dressed up fancy to attend a wedding, specifically at a hotel says a lot to me. It means someone carefully researched all the available venues, and for some reason this hotel struck the couples fancy enough to celebrate with all their guests. To me it means the food must be pretty decent, the prices may have been reasonable, or heck the couple just pulled out the credit card and bet it all on black over at the new Horseshoe Casino.
Key Center is Left; Marriott is Right
Regardless of what ever reason anyone chooses to stay at the Marriott Key Center, located in downtown Cleveland right off of Public Square, we were there to relax ahead of our big, up-and-coming vacation. The weather was beautiful outside, and like every Friday night we recently visited, the City seemed empty, like we had it all to ourselves.
After entering the Marriott, we were greeted by a terrific front desk agent that graciously checked us in and we were on our way up to the room.
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Like every hotel we now stay at, I have to rush into the room ahead of the tornadoes and try and take some half way decent photos of the interior of the room. Once that door opens back up, there will be jumping boys on the beds, bags sprawled out, and sippy cups and snacks tossed all around. Trust me, you want to see the pictures beforehand.
After spending the last three (3) Friday nights in downtown area hotels (Ritz Carlton, Renaissance, and now the Marriott Key Center), I have come to appreciate what defines a good room for our family. We really do not ask for much, and the Marriott Key Center met those expectations.
All we ask for in a room are two adequately sized beds, a crib or pack-n-play, a fridge to keep any of the boys drinks or leftovers from meals cool, and enough room to walk around the beds, pack-n-play, and all of our belongings without having to pull in your gut. We really do not NEED flat screen televisions or granite countertops, although they are nice added amenities.
If a hotel room has a spot to place the pack-n-play without having to climb over furniture to get around, the living space is adequate enough for me. When visiting the Renaissance, it was an impossible task for the staff to even get the pack-n-play into the room, let alone move around it when set up. Both the Ritz Carlton and Marriott Key Center rooms were appropriately sized for free flow of traffic.
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The bathroom was nicely appointed with enough room to move around with a separate sink area that could be closed off from the loo and shower.
While we were not in the rooms long enough to warrant pulling out a laptop to get on the internet, it was nice to see the hotel was making improvements to the system, and during our visit internet access was free.
Speaking of, I still can not figure out how hotels can justify charging people for the internet. I realize a hotel is in the business of making money, but it just seems silly to charge extra to the customer for internet access when they are already paying to stay the night, the hotel needs internet access for operations, and practically everyone is connected with Smartphones to their network.
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 Photo Taken Specifically for More Kids Than Suitcases Family |
I consider ourselves very fortunate with the three nights that we stayed in downtown Cleveland because all of our rooms had decent views, with the Marriott Key Center’s being my favorite. Outside our window, looking east, we could see the plaza and off to the left Lake Erie and the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
The building under construction in the later photo below is the new convention center being built downtown. The higher ups think it is what will draw outsiders to the area. We shall see.
Let me preface this by saying I am not your average go to the gym kind of guy. Why pay for what you can get free outside. Regardless, I had good intentions on each stay of using the fitness equipment to help sculpt myself for that loving bride of mine. I failed again despite the nice facilities at the Marriott Key Center.
Even though our development pool is open for the season, the temperatures have not quite been warm enough to warrant heading in. So that is why the main purpose, besides staying for free courtesy of the Horseshoe Casino, was to relax with the boys in the swimming pools.
While nothing can compare to the Ritz Carlton, the pool area at the Marriott Key Center was still perfect for our little ones. Only three (3) feet in depth, it was just perfect for Bug to be able to touch standing on his toes. My only complaint is I wish the pool was slightly deeper, at least at one end.
Surrounding the pool area was padded sides, which was perfect for little jumping in-and-out boys.
We also met a terrific family that had been doing the same free night circuit, that we also saw the week prior at the Renaissance. It was nice talking with them, in that they also did not like staying at the Renaissance too.
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The beds were comfortable, the rooms were relaxing, the pool was fun, and best of all, the Marriott Key Center is Blue Doggie and Polka Dot approved.
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