Near the end of our 3500-mile driving trip through the western U.S. and Canada we stayed in Room 1516 at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel in Vancouver, BC.
The Pinnacle is located a short stroll from the waterfront and Stanley Park is within walking distance. The main business district is 3 or 4 blocks away.
Upon our arrival the front desk receptionist, “Kat”, tried to get us to “upgrade" into a $50/night more expensive "room with a better view", but did not initially say that it would be at our expense. When we found out that we would be paying for it, we declined.
“Kat”, at the front desk was aware, from our Marriott Rewards member profile that we wanted a quiet room away from ice machines and elevators. “Kat” confirmed this with us at the reception desk. Nonetheless we were taken to a room on the 8th floor directly opposite the ice machine. The bellman who accompanied us, Taylor, phoned “Curtis” to get our room changed. "Curtis" also hit Taylor with the $50 upgrade suggestion which once again we declined. Curtis then "found" Room 1515, a double-double that had "just become available".
While waiting for an appropriate room at our reservation price of $239/night before taxes, we had time to read the fine print on the keycard envelope saying that it was the responsiblity of the guest to decline delivery of USA Today or the Wall St. Journal or else Marriott automatically charges $0.75/day for it. We called to decline as soon as we were settled.
The Pinnacle charges $15.95/day for wired internet – highest rate on this trip to date – but it does include local and long-distance phone. The internet works fine, as it should at these prices.
The bathroom was the best of trip with a huge countertop and a separate stall shower.
The air conditioning works well and the bedroom is nicely furnished with comfortable beds and a corner window -- mostly overlooking other nearby buildings.
Upon our arrival we found a partially used $4.50 bottle of water in the bathroom and it took 2 calls to the “At-Your-Service” line to get it removed from the room and off the bill.
We also had to call “At-Your-Service” once, and got quick response, to get a water glass for the bathroom after housekeeping removed the one we'd been using. Apparently at Marriott hotels there is some sort of contest between housekeeping and room service regarding which is responsible for providing clean glasses for guests. We're not sure if it's housekeeping taketh away and room service returneth, but Marriott management sure needs to figure it out.
Except for outrageous laundry prices, we enjoyed the rest of our stay at the Pinnacle.
The doormen, bellmen and valet parking staff are great. Whenever we returned with our car they would welcome us "home" and ask when we would next be needing the car. Whenever we called "At-Your-Service" to ask for the car it was there when we got to the lobby.
The bottom line is that The Pinnacle is a very good hotel. The front desk and housekeeping staffs need to clean up their acts, but they were redeemed by the friendliness and efficiency of the staff at the front door and by the comfort and convenience of the guest rooms.



















