Fairfield Inn & Suites Valparaiso

Rough hotel. This place is about 10 years too late for a refresh and needs a complete overhaul, from the staff to the decor. Pool was green. Ice machine broken. Sleeper sofa was missing its mattress. Stink bugs in the room. Room smelled musty (previous guest was definitely a smoker). Soap dispenser was empty in the shower. And then the staff… As we were leaving, they were threatening to call the cops to remove an older gentleman and his paraplegic wife. He had requested (and had been granted) a late checkout when he checked in online, but they were not honoring it. They said he needed to leave immediately or they would cal the cops. This happened to us as well (not the cops…but early checkout). We were traveling for kids activities and would have loved a late checkout (and should be “guaranteed 4pm late checkout” based on Marriott status). We requested it online, but were told they could not extend past 1pm. After arguing that Marriott says we should be able to stay until 4pm, they shouted across the lobby to my wife that we now had to be out at noon (which she reiterated to me when I needed our keys reactivated at 11:30). The same issue also happened to 2 other families on the team. One of the families called Marriott (they are titanium level), and the customer service representative said there was no rational reason to deny the late checkout based on the occupancy level of the hotel. I feel bad for Marriott. I am a lifetime platinum member, and you don’t get to that without having stayed at a few hotels in your life. This was far and away the worst experience I’ve had at a Marriott ever. From top to bottom.

Kathy, a white haired worker at the front desk and her coworker were the WORST hotel staff I have ever encountered. They refused to give multiple guests late checkout, even after they proved they were at least Titanium Elite members of Marriott (who are guaranteed 4:00 PM checkout). The guests also requested late checkout before they checked into the hotel on the Marriott app. The hotel staff also threatened to call the police to follow through with the expulsion of an older disabled woman and her husband before their checkout time. On top of that, the sofa bed had no mattress and when we sat down on it we fell through the frame (I am 160 lbs). There was also a bug in our room and we found an Edible under our door. The pool is also GREEN and we were concerned for our hygienic safety. As a final thought, a family friend, along with my own, were locked out of their rooms prior to our agreed upon checkout time.

Clean, quiet, good breakfast and great staff, just what we needed for our 2 night stay to attend a wedding in the area. We had to check out early on our last day and they even went out of their way to get us some breakfast food even though it wasn't officially open yet.

Beyond the quality of the hotel, which would be motel quality, the rooms on the first floor all smell so badly of mildew and algae from the pool it made everyone in our party get sick the next morning after inhaling all night. All of us were in 4 different rooms of varying distance from the taped off/GREEN pool. The pool seemed to be either bubbling or it was from liquid dripping from the ceiling, however the smell was too foul to investigate as a patron. Initially we wrote it off as simply a cheap and outdated hotel, but since we all got sick i wanted to warn others. In a word; disgusting.

Front desk was helpful and cheerful. We arrived early during rain and the welcome was cheerful. The room was available and we checked in before time. Room was clean and compact a bit. Breakfast was the usual. Once we will be again in the area, we will stay again.

The Valpo FFI, is pretty much your average hotel for the chain. The rooms are clean, but they come with the regular louder-than-a--jet-engine heating and cooling system. We were lucky enough to arrive when the weather was comfortably temperate, and cracked the window open a little rather than run the noisy thing. Also, the hotel sits near a busy thoroughfare, so if make sure you request a room *away* from the roadway, not facing it. Breakfast was your typical "scrambled eggs and something" options. Again, not bad, just not surprising. Front desk service was amiable.