Review: Courtyard by Marriott Batumi [Georgia]
| Positives | Negatives |
|---|---|
| Great points redemption value | Frustrating experience with food & beverage credit |
| Impressive hard product for a Courtyard | |
| Good location |
I’ve been meaning to come to Georgia after I was intrigued by the Caucasus region after my trip to Azerbaijan in 2021.
I started my visit to Georgia in Batumi, a coastal city by the Black Sea experiencing rapid developments, including seaside hotels with western chain brands.
I decided to check out the Courtyard due to it being the newest Marriott property during my visit. There’s a Le Meridien and Sheraton too, and an unfinished Marriott, in Batumi.
Courtyard Batumi- Booking
I booked a 3-night stay at a special rate that include free breakfast daily for $115 a night. Courtyard hotels don’t provide free breakfast as an elite benefit, so having a rate that includes breakfast allow space on using $10 food and beverage credit for room service or pool bar.
For points redemption, it’s set as a Category 2 hotel, so the requirements may fall between 10,000-23,000 points per night. It can be a really good award redemption as it’s easy to get over 1 cent per point valuation which is really good for Marriott Bonvoy. Peak season cash rates may go over $300 a night!
Courtyard Batumi- Location
Courtyard Batumi is situated close to the beach by the Black Sea. It’s easy to see the touristy side of Batumi on foot as there’s a long pedestrian path by the beach. The hotel is inside a building shared with Alliance Palace that sticks out like a sore thumb, if you know what I mean (see the header image).
A Bolt ride from/to airport just costs around $7, and is the recommended ride-sharing app in Georgia.
Courtyard Batumi- Check-in
I arrived to Batumi at around 10pm after flying from Sarajevo via Istanbul. The entrance to the Courtyard is on the west side of the building. You should see the Courtyard logo sticking out at the glass entrance to know.
Check-in process was smooth, and I was upgraded to a King Suite, which I was happy about.
But there’s a quirk you need to know about hotels in the Caucasus region: you need to put a deposit for incidentals.
Typically, the front desks would do so automatically as they swipe your credit card, but it’s not the case in the Caucasus. However, some hotels will proactively put incidentals when they swipe your card.
So, make sure to request you put a certain amount of deposits for incidentals if you’re interested in room charges if you catch the front desk not asking you, or not asking you for your credit card.
Courtyard Batumi- King Suite
Despite the tall building the hotel’s inside in, the Courtyard only occupies the first 5 floors. The rooms hallway has a sea-inspired designed that makes sense in Batumi.
The suite is situated in the corner of the floor.
After opening the door, I saw the dining table with a welcome gift of a small bottle of wine and a bowl of nuts, dried fruit, and churchkella (candy from Georgia).
To the left of the entrance is a kitchenette that includes a microwave, tea and coffee maker, trash can, empty mini fridge, and a sink.
To the right of the entrance is the half-bathroom.
Continuing to the right of the dining table is a spacious combined living room and working space.
Going back to the left of the dining table is where you’ll head to the bedroom area.
Before the bedroom is the open walk-in closet area with lots of storage space and bathrobes and slippers inside.
Just behind the closet area is the main bathroom with European-style bidet and walk-in shower and tub.
Continuing into the bedroom area is a lounging space with a generously-sized luggage storage.
The king bed was comfortable, and by the nightstands, there are Type C sockets.
The suite also comes with two balconies on the bedroom and living room side. The living room side is more lively, showing the newer side of Batumi while the bedroom side shows the older side.
Smoking is allowed on the balcony as ash trays are set up there. However, you’re not allowed to smoke inside the room.
Overall, I was very impressed with the room, and it’s definitely pretty nice compared to what I expect in a Courtyard hotel.
Room Service
I ordered a room service in attempt to use the daily $10 food and beverage credit. However, the credit was frustrating to use at this particular hotel.
Despite already having an incidental hold, I was told that the incidentals only work for laundry by the person who brought the food. This was the first time I’ve heard such thing and it’s so baffling.
I brought it up to the front desk and even they were confused. So I assume the staff was new or poorly trained. But, because the room service transaction was separate and wasn’t on my folio, I didn’t earn Marriott points on the purchase.
The service of the in-room dining was also weak, and it took them over an hour just to bring some chicken wings over. Though as an apology, they comped me an extra orange juice. The wings were also warm that I suspect it has been sitting for long in the kitchen.
The frustration with the in-room dining credit made me switch the welcome gift from the F&B credit to 500 points.
Courtyard Batumi- Breakfast
Breakfast is located on the restaurant at the floor above lobby that runs from 6:30am to 10:30am.
There’s indoor and outdoor seating, with the outdoor seating that allows for smoking.
The breakfast is a buffet consisting of cold cuts, hot dishes, pastries, fruits, and cereals.
The breakfast as a whole was decent.
Courtyard Batumi- Pool & Spa
The pool is located on the second floor that opens from 7am to 11pm. The pool is massive and looks quite nice with the sunroof.
Outside, there’s a balcony with loungers for sunbathing. There’s also ashtrays for smoking as well.
There’s also a bar where you can order food and drinks.
There’s also a spa facility for massages, and the prices can be seen in your room’s booklet. I was told from the front desk that I could negotiate a discount. I talked to the spa receptionist that I can get a 10% discount, but I didn’t take the offer.
Courtyard Batumi- Fitness Center
The gym is located on the room before you enter the pool and is open 24/7. It’s quite impressive for a Courtyard gym, just like the pool.
Conclusion
The Courtyard Batumi has impressive hard product for the brand it’s attached to. It’s in a good location, and the points redemption value is also amazing. But, the food and beverage credit situation was frustrating, so elite members should be cautioned if they should choose the F&B credit welcome gift.