Spark by Hilton Traverse City

As we approached the front desk there was a couple of friendly faces smiling at us while greeting us. This is always a plus and a pleasant experience to travelers. The entrance was clean and nicely decorated. The breakfast was also a welcoming site. There were many hot and cold options. It was large enough to accommodate many guests without feeling crowded. Check in was easy as was checkout. They are flexible as well on early check in or an extended stay, checkout. We recommend this hotel.

We stayed here for a week of vacation and it was a pleasant stay. The staff is friendly, the breakfast is the typical free buffet and the attendant was helpful. They did have a gluten free muffin if you asked. The room, while not modern, was in good condition, plenty of hot water and water pressure in the shower. We like having the extra space that a Fairfield Inn provides in the room. Our room was in the back of the hotel and was quiet, backing up to some woods.

Hotel is OK, nothing more. First, the hotel has one of the tiniest gyms I have ever seen. It literally looks like a broom closet someone converted to have a treadmill and a bike. There are dumbells, but no bench and no room for one if you had it. The rooms are spacious, clean but the walls are pretty thin. The folks next door to me could be heard most of the night, so had to turn up my white noise very loud to drown it all out. Finally, the hotel is about as far from downtown and the waterfront you can get before you are afield. It is OK for a few nights, but not anything special.

The staff here is friendly and helpful, but the facility needs to be updated. Our room was small and the mattress was uncomfortable. Our air conditioning unit fan ran continuously even when we tried to set it to cycle off and on. When we complained, the staff on-site staff responded and tried to help but they and we were told that the units weren’t designed to cycle. The second night we just turned the AC off but it had been covering up the noise from the in room refrigerator. The vibration noise was so loud we finally had to unplug the refrigerator. We tried to use the laundry facility at the hotel but no water available there so we had to go to a local laundromat. Our room was not serviced during our two night stay. We asked for a partial refund because of our dissatisfaction but were told that was not possible even though Fairfield has a “simple promise guarantee“ to make things right. They did give some extra points on my Marriott account but the points are somewhat meaningless when the hotel is this unacceptable. Again, the staff was friendly and responsive but this hotel is far below the standard we expect from Fairfield. My recommendation is to avoid,.

Fairfield Inn is technically in Traverse City but it’s truly on the outskirts. Makes it easy to drive where you want to be and not feel like you’re stuck in the crowd of downtown. Good breakfast, clean rooms and a quiet setting check all the boxes that you would want for a place to stay.