Fairfield Inn Albany University Area

We were looking for a place for one night. The location near the campus is not close to the train station or downtown, but ideal for events at the University. The room was basic. The breakfast was a good way to start the morning and get on with our day. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Paid $ 89 a night, you usually get what you pay for. This was clearly the case at the Fairfield. Room was smelly, had scrapes on the furniture and a gross bathroom floor. Switched rooms and the second room wasn’t any better. Indoor pool was freezing cold. Probably about 70 degrees.
The room is so so out of date, the actually have a dial on the window HVAC system that chooses warm or cold!
Staff was very nice but there is clearly a housekeeping issue. There are better choices right next door.

I have stayed here a few times previously as a business traveler, but when my family decided to cut our drive in half coming back from Boston we chose Albany as the rest stop. The Fairfield had a great rate and was able to accommodate all 10 of us comfortably. The place is very clean and the staff quite friendly. It’s conveniently located near the thruway and to some of the amenities in the area. Would definitely stay here again.

Great service. My door’s battery was low so it wouldn’t accept a new keycard and I was unable to get into my room. The person at the front desk took care of me and gave me an additional 4,000 points for my Marriott rewards.
Location was very convenient and staff was very friendly.

This place is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Marriott hotels. It’s clean, affordable, and we’ll run. The staff is awesome. Thanks!!!

As far as Marriott hotels are concerned, I am usually pleased enough that I am a Gold Elite Rewards member and always stick to Marriott. However, this location does not deserve the praise I would typically give. I was placed in a handicapped room, which isn’t a big deal, as they said it was all that was available despite making my reservation weeks prior. No big deal though. When I got to the room, it was as though they never even bothered to clean it other than to change the sheets (or so I hope). There were more pubes on the bathroom floor than I’ve probably seen in my entire lifetime… I’ll just leave it at that. The lobby smells of smoke and it could use an update. I travel extremely consistently, including to this area, for work, but I can honestly say I will never stay here again and will opt for different Marriotts outside of the Fairfield Inn. With the amount of pubes I’ve witnessed today I may get a checkup for crabs if I have a single itch after tonight!!! I gave it 2 stars because there are worse out there, I know, but for a Marriott, I expected more!

Staff very pleasant and friendly from front desk to breakfast staff. Great assortment for breakfast (get rid of the fake eggs!) Housekeeping staff did very well but it is just outdated and carpet smells. AC/​Heat unit a problem — just never seems to work correctly. But I will continue to return and I understand they are slated for remodeling soon.

eeeeeeeeeuuuuuggggggggg
2 stars is a reach, i am ashamed that i am staying here because i am a marriott point whore, but when you spend your weeks in hotels, you would likely be one too.
maybe i lucked out into a shitty bug infested room, maybe they are all like this (aa, close, last year my 1^st floor room wasnt that much better, but this joint is roached.
breakfest is your standard eggs from a bag scary stuff, but they do have coffee and some sealed products for you, but overall, i can stay away, tough to find an alternative for me in the area, but ill try…

There was nothing glaringly wrong with this property, the staff was friendly. However the property is VERY outdated and having stayed at the Towne Place Marriott next door (which I am pretty sure is owned by the same franchisee) it needs to have money put into it. Location is very good for on/​off and University events.

I usually stay with the Hilton chain, I.e. Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites. However, I decided to stay at a Marriott property. The hotel clerk and staff was friendly. However the rooms are outdated. The carpet was dirty. The bathroom tub drained very slowly and when I showered, the tub was full of water. There were several bugs we killed in the room. Fortunately, we were just there for a night and I was extremely tired and just wanted to sleep. I called down to speak with the hotel manager but was put on hold for so long, I gave up. One of main breakfast dishes (eggs) had a sign stating their supplier of eggs was not available to them.
I am a gold member of the Marriott Rewards system. I was very disappointed to say the least. I will stick with the Starwood and Hilton chains in the future.

Between a huge AAU basketball tournament going on across the street at University of Albany, graduation weekend for many local colleges and Memorial Day weekend, the hotel was slammed.
Being there alone (my son was graduating college at RPI, 12 miles away) I was unlucky enough to get perhaps the worst room in hotel. Not only was it near heavily used stairway, but it was right next to a makeshift fitness room. I was awaken two mornings in a row at 6:00 AM (fitness room open 24 hours) with the whoosh… whoosh… whoosh of the treadmill along with people talking loud on their Blue Tooth headsets while exercising, etc. Paper thin walls, it sounded llike they were exercising in my room.
When I complained after the first night I was told my room was rarely used, only when hotel is booked solid. This should be explained when booking the room. One front desk employee told me guests have complained at 3:00 AM about that particular room, so it definetely has a history.
All the front desk staff I vented to were very nice and Mary, the hotel manager, was particularly helpful and made things right. Since all the rooms were booked, she credited my Marriott Rewards account 6,000 points (3,000 per night) and for my third night (when hotel thinned out) upgraded me to a suite (a Fairfield suite, but a suite none-​the-​less).
What could have very well been a disaterous hotel stay was made tolerable by the compassion of manager and staff. That’s what customer service is all about!

We had a great experience here this weekend. The room was clean… spacious… air conditioner worked great… had TWO pools available… and had a great continental breakfast with some of the best waffles I ever ate. Seriously this was perfect for the quick overnighter we needed after dropping my brother off at college. Not to mention we got some pool time out of it which was such a nice bonus. Pools were very clean and heated!
This was conveniently located directly across from the UAlbany campus!

Hotel has the basic services. Will need some upgrades, but is convenient and not too expensive (when I stayed).

Love the location right across from the SUNY campus and easy access to Washington Ave. The Hotel has good standards of service and I’d give high marks for clean rooms and a tidy property. Comfortable, clean bedding. Bathroom was stocked with plenty of towels. The fridge in the room was oddly placed on the floor next to the desk. Must have been an afterthought. It was louder than the air conditioner. Easy to unplug.

I would have normally rated this a 2 star, but the staff was very friendly and helpful. They also sent a nice follow up note to my email after I’d checked out thanking me for staying with them. This hotel looks like it may have been the first Fairfield Inn ever. Or maybe it was a Red Roof Inn converted over. Everything was very cookie cutter to other Fairfields including breakfast buffet and room design.

Oh dear. First thing I noticed… no automatic doors. What the heck? Then there were memos everywhere to apologize for problems… Elevator door closes slow, TV 10 seconds delay… no microwaves or fridges… carpet stains… the bananas at breakfast were super mush. Frozen egg sandwiches, French toast, pancakes and ‘egg omelettes’ were the hot food. My coworker found an ant on her desk… the intranet has caused me to lose so many draft emails… ugh.
Well they did provide a nice assortment of toiletries. Better than a lot of places. There were makeup remover towelettes and cutips, and when I asked for toothpaste they gave little travel sized tubes!

Fairfield Inns are not our favorite chain in the Marriott family but this was the best rate and most convenient for us that we got for Albany.
I will begin with the positives. The desk clerk was friendly. I glanced at the pool area and it was sparkling clean. There are 2 nice little desks set up for business centers. When we arrived in the room the bathroom was gleaming, which is important to me. I get so grossed out when they miss those stray hairs in the bathtub.
Now I will back up to the big negative that ensures we will never stay at this location again. We got on the elevator along with a young couple. They pressed 2 and asked us which button. We said 3 and they said oh gosh we heard it smells bad up there. I thought alrighty. A little musty maybe but it will be ok. When the doors opened we understood. It downright stinks up there. Our room didn’t smell much better. The hotel was built in 1999 and I guess that was the last time the carpets were cleaned. There had also been smokers in the room and all Marriott properties are supposed to be smoke free. This location is at the University and maybe there have been way too many parties? I did not let my mind linger on what I was smelling. When we told them at checkout they seemed shocked. Really? Do you never walk through your property?
I did not even look at the breakfast as by morning I was just ready to get out of there. This is the only Albany lodging I have stayed in but if I ever am there again I will stick with a Courtyard or Springhill. They are the most consistently satisfying for us.

Ok so I got this hotel as the only one of 3 in the greater Albany area at the time because of a Hurricane which came through (Hurricane Irene). The building itself needs some upgrading/​paint/​etc. little things.
Customer Service wise the staff was great.
The breakfast in the morning could use a little variety but not bad.
During my time the cost was $ 139 which I thought was high for the overall experience, but given the lack of choices not much I could do.

It was okay for the price. All we needed was a comfortable, clean place to stay that served some kind of breakfast in the morning, so this worked out just fine for us.
Pluses were ample free parking, competent front desk people and a complimentary breakfast (go waffle maker!).
But everything was just a little off. The rooms felt a little musty; Even though it was a dry day outside, our room was so humid! The water in the teeny tiny exercise room (2 treadmills) ran out and no one came to replace it. At breakfast, some utensils, hot beverages and waffle batter ran out and no one was there to restock it. The «do not disturb signs» display the words «I’m all set» on the same side as «Do not disturb.» The directions for using the AC unit was printed on paper in COMIC SANS FONT and taped on.
You know, just random stuff that you kinda wish were taken care of a little better.
Overall, though, our stay was just fine. This place is alright.

All the hotels in the Albany, Hilton Garden, Best Western, Holiday Inn, were around the same price so we flipped a coin and the Fairfield by Marriott won.
It was easily accessible from the I-​90 and there was ample parking. The front desk lady was dismissive, granted the hotel was booked full with an 8^th grade girls baseball team who were shrieking and running all over the hotel, so it was probably her own personal hell, but how hard is it to smile and look at your customers? There was no fridge in the room, the amenities were average, the room was clean and simple, more of a two star hotel room than a three star. There was no room service or in room movies, and even thought it advertised HBO we did not have it. The Wi Fi was fast and free and worked well.
Overall everything was satisfactory, but I’d say this is a two star and half star hotel not a three star and for $ 100+ it lacks that extra something that I consider 3 star treatment.