Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott San Antonio Market Square

The employees I encountered were so friendly and helpful. Brandon greeted us with a smile and a welcome when we entered the property. After explaining the breakfast etc. he asked if there was anything else he could do for us. This morning when I wanted to tell the manager how we appreciated his customer service etc I was stuck by how she met me with a smile. She had no idea if I was going to complain or give a compliment. The fact she came out with a smile impressed me. I have dealt with managers who showed no warmth at all when encountering them. I think Monica, the manager, has set the tone for her employees or so it seems. Brandon appears to be in training but he is going to be an asset to this property. The only negative encounter was the person who was with Brandon. He didn't smile nor acknowledge us in anyway. I realize people can have a bad shift, be tired or not feel well. Hope that was his problem.

We had a two-night stay with two young kids on a family vacation road trip in October. Overall, this is a fairly old property with standard hotel rooms and is closer to downtown. ***Location, Transportation and Parking*** The hotel is close to downtown and I-10, which makes it a great location if your trip is to visit downtown either for business or pleasure. There are many hotels in the same area within several blocks, and there is a Residence Inn across sharing the same parking lot. Being in downtown the surrounding area is very old, and there were road constructions everywhere, so you wouldn’t feel good/safe especially at night. The hotel has a free shuttle service takes you to the downtown Riverwalk, which is really nice. They do not have a scheduled departure time, whenever the shuttle is there they can take you. They do have scheduled pickup times from the Riverwalk, it was like every the other hour from 11am to 10pm, make sure to check the pickup schedule. The shuttle drivers were very nice and polite. The parking lot in front of the building has plenty of spaces, you do need to get a parking permit decal when you check in to place on your dashboard. Across the parking lot is the Residence Inn, not sure how many additional parking spaces the Residence Inn has but it shares the parking lot with this hotel. ***Facility and Room*** This is a very old facility built in 1995, and the most recent renovation was in 2013. Not sure if Marriott originally built it, but it doesn’t seem to fit Marriott product lines. On the second day we were there, the building partially lost power for about 8 hours from 9am in the morning to around 4pm in the afternoon. Air conditioning was not working (on a 98 degree day), lights in the bathroom and door area were not working, emergency lights in the halls were all activated on the first and second floor (we were on the second floor), no WiFi…… This tells you how old the property is! The front desk said they could move guests to the Residence Inn across the parking lot if they didn’t have the power back by the evening. The room is a standard hotel room (comparing with suite that we normally stay) and most of the times you have to sit on your beds since there is no other places. Everything in the room is old but seems to be functioning. The small fridge makes strange low volume noise that is annoying. The room has popcorn ceiling, which you don’t see since maybe 20 years ago. One note that if you wanted to use the Digital Key in your Marriott app, you have to request that at the time of booking (which was unheard of before). I was told since I didn’t request that when I booked (I booked through Marriott official web site and don’t remember I was given option to choose Digital Key) so they could not give me Digital Key, not a big deal, but…… We saw pictures and reviews of the property before booking, so nothing was really unexpected except losing power for the second day. Just keep in mind before booking. ***Hot Breakfast*** Hot breakfast is definitely a plus when you have young kids, so you don’t need to look for breakfast every morning. This hotel has the very simple “hot breakfast” that seemed to be simpler than Mariott normally offers at this hotel’s tier level. It might not be sufficient depending on what you expected. The breakfast area was very small and very crowded for the two weekday (Monday and Tuesday) mornings we were there, we couldn’t find a table that can sit four of us. We didn’t really expect anything with high quality here for the “hot breakfast” so no surprise. ***Staff*** Hotel staffs are good in general. Front desk staffs would greet you when you pass by, and most times there would be at least one staff there. All front desk staffs were nice and with smiles on their faces all the time even during the partial power outage, and they assured you they were working on the problem and trying to get it resolved asap. They said they would move guests across the parking lot to their sister property of the Residence Inn if didn’t have power by the evening. The shuttle drivers were all very polite and professional. The housekeeping staffs would not (not single one) greet or acknowledge guests when encountered in the hallways. ***Overall*** We don’t usually choose Fairfield and this might be the first time, not sure if Fairfield products equal to old and lower tier level properties in Marriott. The front desk staffs were nice and trying their best! We would not have chosen here if it was not for its close proximity to downtown. However we would probably choose somewhere else newer and better next time in the area.

spent 3 Nights at this Fairfield Inn. Enough space for parking, Hotel offers free Shuttle to and from Downtown, avoiding the parking problems and fees in SA. Room was fairly large and included a separate seating area. Breakfast selection was OK, so was WiFi.

From the moment we stepped onto the property, we were greeted warmly by staff especially from Shyla. She checked us in and provided helpful advice related to our trip. She was very friendly throughout our stay. Another day if she saw us passing through lobby she would greet us and inquire about our day. The extra attention to detail was superb. Additionally, the cleaning staff were friendly while cleaning the high traffic areas. They seemed content doing their job which speaks towards management respect I hope. A negative comment is free breakfast options. It was an elevated continental breakfast with hot food of eggs, sausage, and waffles. Oatmeal with 10 fixings! Neatly arranged, but excessive. Pastries, cereals and fruits. It would have been good to have an additional hot food option versus all fixings. Overall property and room accommodations were adequate for our stay. It was relatively convenient for us to walk and use mass transit to get to areas in town.