Oh the Courtyard...what didn't go wrong?
First complaint: Regional sales office. Awful. Terrible. Horrible. Worthless. We booked our block of rooms, and we had NOTHING but trouble from the day our first guests tried to book a room. They told practically EVERYONE that the block was booked whenever they called. They said the block was booked when NO ONE had even reserved a room yet!!! They gave my guests the choice of reserving a room at the full rate, or not reserving a room. I had to call on a daily basis with my guest tally, and get them to add them to the block. They kept saying that the "problem" was fixed and my block had plenty of room, but they the next day I'd have guests calling saying the block was booked. I hope this doesn't happen to you...but be ready to have to call Marriott every fvcking day to get rooms for your guests.
Second complaint: The shuttle. The shuttle service is contracted out to another company. The DAY BEFORE my wedding, the shuttle company called me to tell me that there would not be a shuttle available for my wedding because one shuttle broke down and the other way already being used for another wedding in Birmingham. I about lost my mind. I told the woman I couldn't talk to her, and referred her to MH. He ended up dealing with it, and we ended up having a shuttle but not without a lot of words, and fight, and some calls to the hotel manager. They also gave me a really hard time about the shuttle times --- I ended up having to call the hotel manager and he took care of it.
Third complaint: Not everyone got my welcome bag. Apparently the staff at the front desk kept forgetting to give it out.
Fourth: They gave a number of my guests keys to rooms that were ALREADY OCCUPIED. There was an unfortunate incident with one of my GM's walking in on an elderly couple.
Fifth: They refused to reserve a room for ME!!! Marriott sales office actually told me that the block was booked and I, THE BRIDE, could not have a room (which, incidentally they made me pay for). I had to call the hotel manager AGAIN to get a room for myself. WTF?
Sixth: My MIL is in a wheelchair. When we signed the contract for the block of room and shuttle it was explicit that our shuttle had to be handicap accessible. When it came time to figure out the logistics of the shuttle, suddenly they could not get me a handicapped shuttle and they told me I was SOL. I had to call the hotel manager and have him battle that one out.
Seventh: I am a Marriott Rewards member, and the sales office "conveniently" forgot to give me my points for the 80+ rooms we rented. I ended up having to call customer service and corporate to get my points added and it was a GIGANTIC hassle.
There are a lot of other little things but you get the picture. All in all, my ONLY saving grace with Marriott was the manager at my hotel. He was very helpful and resolved a number of problems. But, none of them should have been problems to begin with. I used to be a very loyal Marriott customer, and I'm not now. The service I received was TERRIBLE. After the wedding, I wrote a letter to Marriott Corporate about the situation.
All I can say is that I hope you don't have the experience I did, but unfortunately after seeing the reviews on here from a lot of other girls who got married around the time I did...I think you're probably in for some headaches.