Many hotels fall into the mediocre category.  They have nice rooms, a decent staff, and aren’t too expensive.  The bell curve is pretty large and most hotels fall somewhere in the middle of that curve.  The Marriot in Albuquerque’s Uptown area is not one of those hotels, and for reasons that are not entirely associated with the hotel itself.

The rooms and staff were nice.  I never had a problem with housekeeping or room service during the course of my stay. The hotel bar was well stocked and after one visit the bar tender remembered my name and drink preference.  This wasn’t as easy feat, since there were over 500 guests staying there that weekend and the bar was almost always packed with people looking to watch a football game and have a couple of beers.  The prices weren’t outrageous either, like I have found at some hotel bars in the past.  The banquet rooms and ballroom were adequate, if not on the good side of average.  Each buffet style meal was well-thought out, well-organized, and well-orchestrated.  No problems there.  The pool was heated very comfortably and the hotel offered a very well-equipped exercise room for those people looking to do some running on treadmills or weight-lifting during their stay.  What made the hotel stay so comfortable was the location of the hotel itself. 

The local shuttle or bus line to and from downtown has a stop literally in front of the hotel.  It was super easy to jump on for an afternoon, for one dollar per ride no less, and step off in downtown Albuquerque.  The town is fairly old by western US standards, but the layout is conducive to mass transit, and the Uptown Marriot was well positioned.  The bus that comes to the front of the hotel also offered access to many of the area’s attractions including Sandia Peak and Santa Fe.

Besides the close proximity to bus lines, the hotel was also very close to an outdoor mall-style collection of shops, plazas, and restaurants, tucked neatly to the northwest of the premises.  The upscale nature of the shopping and dining area seemed a little out of place given the general vicinity of the mall, but it was a very nice compliment to my stay at the hotel.  There was even a grocery store- Trader Joe’s to be exact, within half a mile of the hotel.

One thing I would change about the hotel is the fact that they had no direct shuttle service to and from the airport.  They relied on an outside shuttle service that charged an arm and a leg for a 4 mile drive to the airport.  Even the local taxis were way overpriced.  If the Uptown Marriot wanted to retool their hotel package to get the most bang for their buck, they should include a free or very low cost shuttle with airport access.  I wouldn’t have minded if they required me to notify them 4 hours in advance of my intentions to go to the airport, but there was no such shuttle service.  I was disappointed.