We are loyal Marriott members, always choosing Marriott first when we travel, and have consistently enjoyed our stays until the weekend of July 12th, 2024, at Courtyard Philadelphia Devon/Villanova. This stay was a nightmare, marked by appalling treatment from the staff towards our group, which mostly consisted of moms and their daughters attending a local horse show. This was, by far, the worst treatment we have ever experienced at a hotel — it felt more like a prison than a hotel.

Our group has stayed at this particular hotel for over six years during this same time of year. (This was personally our third year. This year my family had two rooms for 5 people, paying approx $1,200 for our stay.) We were rudely confronted by staff members, denied the use of common areas, and even had the police called on us for simply eating pizza in the lobby—something we’ve done each year without issue and without being told we could not.

The experience caused significant distress, disrupted our long-awaited plans that we look forward to each year, and led to a sleepless night filled with anxiety. The hotel's response claims we should have known food was not allowable, but this is not posted anywhere at the location or on the website. Looking at Marriott.com for this hotel, the only “dining” option shown is a photo of four seats at a bar counter. Other spaces shown on the site are listed as “Features” with seating and tables. (Photo of the site attached here.) Nowhere is it stated that eating “outside food” and gathering with other hotel guests is not allowed—not on the website and not at the hotel itself. No reasonable person would think that a hotel would provide tables and seating in the lobby that were not usable by the hotel’s paying guests! This is especially true for a returning group that has done this same Friday night pizza dinner year after year.

The hotel staff and management still fail to realize the gravity of what they did to us and refuse to provide any compensation for the disgusting treatment we endured from the overly aggressive bartender ('Genti'), who verbally assaulted our children (ages 8 to 16 - with parents present) for sitting at a table in the lobby to play a card game (and then he called the cops). We asked if the kids could play a card game at one of the tables, and a tall woman with glasses at the front counter said, "Yes, of course they can." Genti screamed back across the lobby, "Oh yeah, under whose authority?!" This awkward back and forth between staff continued, but I had walked away.

Shortly thereafter, a housekeeper ('Bora') told us we must all be lying, with our group saying we've done the same dinner every year for the past 5+ years, and Bora saying no, you have not! She refused to look at photos of the previous years at the hotel. This back and forth went on for a bit with us trying to understand what had changed and trying to explain we based on plans on the website and our previous experience and what were we supposed to do now? Hoping for some rational discussion and help, we continually requested the actual hotel manager get involved but were told she was not available.

Eventually, the manager ('Kara'), who was not present at the initial interactions with staff, showed and decided to double down on the staff’s gross treatment of our group. She refused to hear about our past loyalty, the fact we've been doing the same thing for years (she too told us it was not possible at her hotel and then conceded they may have allowed it during Covid. We tried to show her pictures from the previous year (2023) but she didn't care to look at them or believe us. Her and the staff seemed more interested in trying to accommodate a one-off wedding than working with a group that has loyally returned year after year, (even during the COVID period).

I am attaching a couple of photos of last year's dinner gathering that we tried to show the staff... as well as the only sign found in the lobby area indicating you can't bring in outside alcohol due to PA regulations.

In summary, the staff's reaction to a returning group who had planned to do the same thing we've done every single year was over-the-top and unacceptable. This is simply no way to treat people, especially your most loyal customers who have returned year in and year out and who have done nothing but try to play some cards and eat some pizza.

From our personal experience, we highly recommend avoiding this location.

(* Also, the TripAdvisor page shows this hotel having a pool. This hotel does NOT have a pool. They filled it in and put a sparsely filled gym in its place.)

Worst stay ever.

We have been coming to this hotel for 7 years for the Brass Ring horse show. For each year, the kids gathered in the lobby to eat dinner. Apparently, this is now illegal as the staff called the police! The interaction started when the kids got out a card game and the bartender threatened to call the police on the kids playing the card game. The manager was Kara Mikita, who then called a member of our group a liar when we tried to explain that the kids were playing a card game and waiting for pizza as they have done every year for at least 7 years. We tried to show her photo of the group last year gathering the lobby. She did not try to listen, or even try to come to a solution. So, the police came to watch our kids eat their pizza ( but not play cards, as the bartender continued to argue that this was not allowed). However, we did notice another wedding group gathering in the same area later that night with beverages- and they were not disturbed. Her customer service skills should embarrass the Marriott chain.

We will not return.

So, beware if your family or group wants to gather in the common area, even for something as benign as a card game. Apparently, you are not welcome to do so at this Marriott.