The purpose of our NorCal trip was to attend a wedding in Merced. So, while in Merced, we ended up staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Merced. Why? Because, Marriott, and because it’s one of the nicer options in the area.
After geeking out at Apple Park and Apple Campus, we made the arduous journey into Central California. What was supposed to be a 2-hour drive ended up taking around 4 hours! I don’t know what the heck happened, but traffic all along the route was atrocious, even by California standards. In fact, we ended up being routed off onto surface streets through small towns rather than remaining on the Interstate and State Highways the entire way. Needless to say, having gotten off an economy class red-eye flight that morning, I was dead tired by the time we got to the hotel.
Location
The Courtyard Merced is in the Southeast corner of town, right off of and between the 99 and 140. That means it’s in a really convenient location to jump on and off the highway, but also means there isn’t much around in the immediate area.
Service
Once we unloaded the car, we headed into the lobby and approached the front desk. No one was there, so we rang the bell and an employee promptly came out from the back office. She was friendly, though the check-in process wasn’t quick at all. And while we were able to obtain a room assignment a couple of hours before check-in, we weren’t offered an upgrade and got assigned a room on the bottom floor.
Our Room
From reception, we immediately headed to our room. Like I said earlier, our room was on the bottom floor on the east end of the property. It was oddly smaller than our friend’s room on the opposite end of the hotel a level up from us.
The layout is the same basic Courtyard layout you see nowadays, as was the case at the Kahului Courtyard too. Upon entering the room, the bathroom was to the right, as was the closet.
The Courtyard Merced has decent sized bathrooms with a single vanity, a shower/tub combo, and a toilet. Toiletries, as you’ll note, were of the single-use Paul Mitchelle variety during our stay.
The tiny closet next to the bathroom contained the iron and ironing board, but no safe.
Then, immediately after the closet, you find the bed. And across from that to the left is a little alcove containing a coffee maker and a mini fridge.
Next to the amenity alcove, you’ll find the TV, work desk, dresser combo.
And, lastly, across from the desk and near the foot of the bed was the love seat.
View
As you may have guessed from the location of the hotel, there aren’t any views from the Courtyard by Marriott Merced. But, for what it’s worth, this is what we could see from our room. And, yes, that is my Silvercar. No, I don’t usually park that badly. I was tired. Leave me alone ?.
Sleep + Bath Quality
Our room was right next to the stairway and building’s east entrance. As a result, there was A LOT of noise in our room, especially as the side entrance door slams shut. Water pressure? Hah! This is California, after all. Water temperature wasn’t good, either. And, the HVAC seemed to have a hard time regulating the temperature of our room.
Courtyard by Marriott Merced, Final Thoughts
The Courtyard by Marriott Merced is a mediocre hotel that didn’t provide a decent quality of sleep for us, no was it a compelling property in any way. Then again, I shouldn’t expect much anyway, right? After all, the place seems to cater to people passing through. I mean, there really isn’t much to see or do in Merced. Instead, most continue on to Yosemite National Park instead, which is about two hours away. Thankfully, I redeemed a certificate for one of the three nights we stayed there and got a decent rate for the remaining ones.
At the end of the day, the Courtyard by Marriott Merced fulfilled a need for a place to sleep. Could things have been better? You bet. Especially if I had been assigned a room on an upper level away from the stairwell. But, it is what it is, I suppose.