We are Marriot Gold members and recently found ourselves with a free night to use.  After some debate, we settled on the Marriott at Eagle Crest Ypsilanti as our base for a food-filled weekend in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area.  Eagle Crest is a golf course, and the Marriott sits right in the center of it’s facilities.  As you can see, the golf course was still covered with snow when we visited – not that we would have golfed regardless.

This Marriott’s lobby has been recently “reimagined,” and it shows.  The space is bright and contemporary, with a lot of cozy little nooks, a bar with piano, and a bright, cheerful breakfast area (far right).  I was a little disappointed that we weren’t given a free continental breakfast, as we typically have been since hitting Silver and Gold status with Marriott.

Our room was also nice, and spotlessly clean.  The bed was comfy and had tons of pillows.  Unfortunately, we didn’t sleep very well.  I think this was because we never got the temperature quite right but I attribute that to operator error. 

The Ypsilanti Marriott has an excellent fitness facility, with multiple treadmills, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, free weights, and a great golf course view.  We had the place to ourselves for much of our 9:00 a.m. workout and loved it. 

This hotel is a bit out of the way for any one thing, but well-located for those who wish to be within ten or fifteen minutes of many things or for whom the golf course is the destination.  Service is good, the facilities are new and modern, and our overall experience is quite pleasant.  Overall, this hotel earns a 4.5 out of 5 from me and I would definitely return or recommend it.

As a loyal Marriott rewards club member with a particular penchant for Renaissance properties, I have been looking for an excuse to stay at the Renaissance Indianapolis North since it opened about a year or so.  I got my chance last week when visiting the city for a meeting. 

Overall, we had just an okay stay.  The facility was nice but the service was really crappy from check-in to check-out.  Our room was large and clean but oddly arranged so we actually had very little floor space.  We also had an exceptionally terrible breakfast buffet experience that set us back over $30.00. 

Here’s the exterior view.  Fairly ho-hum, but I still had high hopes for what was inside.

The lobby is decorated in the bright, modern style typically used in Renaissance hotels, but the atrium ceiling is lower than usual so the hotel lacks that “grand” feel.

The Renaissance is full of little nooks and crannies like this where people can sit and play cards or have a drink.  Unfortunately, the lobby was occupied by a large group reception for the whole evening on the night of our stay.

The pool isn’t the most exciting in the world, but at least it was clean during our visit. 

Here’s the gym, which is small but pretty fabulous.  The wall not pictured was lined with brand spanking new treadmills.  Marriot hotels almost always have this very nice brand of exercise equipment, but I can’t remember what it’s called.

This is the entrance to the hotel restaurant, Grille 39.  I had high hopes for this restaurant because we’ve had some really fabulous meals at other Renaissance resorts.  In fact, breakfast here is when our stay really began to go downhill. 

The buffet line was pretty barren by the time we visited at 9:30 a.m., but I managed to fill my plate as shown above.  While the food looks pretty good, most of it was not.  The bacon was oddly seasoned and cold.  The pastries were dry and flavorless.  My strawberries had mold, which you can actually see if you look close enough.  The only really yummy dish in the bunch was the cheesy potato casserole pictured at 3 o’ clock on my plate.

Here’s a photo of the hubby’s plate, with more dry pastries and some bland pancakes. 

The grossest part of the meal, by far, was the “made-to-order” eggs.  I asked for scrambled eggs with cheese.  Twenty minutes later, I finally received this half-cooked mess that looked like the beginnings of an omelet.  I couldn’t eat more than a bite or two.  YUCK!  At the end of the terrible meal, we couldn’t even manage to flag down our server so a manager finally ended up bringing us the check. 

Overall, breakfast was a very disappointing end to a somewhat disappointing stay.  The Renaissance Indianapolis North simply failed to “wow” us, so I will likely be heading back downtown on my next trip to Indy.