It was our first stay at this hotel and we were a bit dissapointed when we saw the small cramped lobby area but when we entered our room there was a sigh of relief. The room's decor was impressive and service was prompt. Although it was a bit far from Prophet's Masjid but round the clock coach was available. There are no cafes for a bite between meals but the overall ambience was average.

We stayed at Marriott Madinah Hotel for one night. The hotel is very old, and worn, location is far from Haram, breakfast buffet was in very small place,rooms service food wasn't good, and no parking available. What we liked about the hotel was the effeceincy of transportation to and from Haram.

There are few things that you might notice about this hotel as stated by the hotel ... "it is 8 mins walk to the Prophet's Mosque"; "shuttle service to the Mosque", "Internet", but what they fail to mention that it is NOT all straight truth.

I have stayed in plenty of Marriotts ... including Renaissance, Marriott (full-service), Courtyard and Springhill in San Francisco, LA, NYC, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Paris, Rome, Cairo, Sydney, Bangkok and Medina of course. So I am very much aware of the Marriott standards both here in the US and abroad.

Once you are in Medina and in close proximity to the Mosque you will see that you are surrounded by nice buildings. And this Marriott hotel is just one of them. There is no glamour to this hotel if you are used to seeing a full service Marriotts. And it is not a 8 mins walk by any means ... unless ofcourse there is a secret short-cut. Oh and dont forget the 110 degree heat. Now the shuttle-service ... they have one ... but there is no time table. They operate before the prayer times ... so dont expect for the shuttle to be running around every 15/30 mins.

The location of the hotel ... well unless you have business with the Governor's Office I dont understand why anyone would want to stay here because it is far away from any restaurant. So you are expected to eat at their (Marriott's) restaurant ... (food starts from SAR 29). But guess what ... they open the restaurant whenever they want and close it whenever they want, and no one at check-in will ever tell you that. They will only inform you of anything if you ask the RIGHT QUESTION. The lunch starts from 1 pm till 4:30pm. But try to go there by 2:30 pm at the latest or the restaurant will be closed. They are open for room service but the problem is ... even for a cup of tea + cookies and nothing else you will have to wait 30-45 mins (Promise to Allah I am not lying). Now if you want to eat something else you will have go to Sultana (and apparently theres where all the good restaurants are, even McDonalds is there).

Internet is CRAZY expensive. The most expensive SAR 2.50/min, SAR 100/ 24 hours ($1=SAR 3.72)

Now Management, it is very poorly managed hotel. If you wanna ask them a question, well you better learn how to be patient because it is not as simple. They will take care of whoever they wanna take care of firstly, and then if you do get a chance to ask them a question they will walk away and answer your question.

Essentially want I am trying to say is ... Location wise this is not the greatest place unless you are trying to visit the Governer's Office, the Mosque is pretty far (15 mins walk unless you are walking with an older member), there are no restaurants around their place (not atleast within 10 mins walk), their own restaurant is a mystery all together you never know when it is open or closed, management is very poor just very very poor. Try other hotels, Hilton is 30 secs walk which I would recommend if you wanna stay in the proximity. If you are on a budget then ask around the hotels near the Mosque ... there are loads and loads of hotels around the Mosque. Just AVOID this one. You will regret it brothers and sisters.

The hotel itself is fine but the location is tough. You have to take a shuttle to Masjid which is always available but with two children and a stroller, it's hard for us. The shuttle meets at Gate 7. If you are needing to find a restaurant or a taxi, you will have to take the shuttle to the Haram and then walk a distance from there. since we came for Eid, it's real crowded and walking with kids is also tough.

Also, internet is expensive here. You can pay 100SR for 24 hours for ONE computer, if you connect another computer, you pay another 100SR. Room service is also expensive, just as any other hotel. But with the location being so off from any restaurants, we didn't have much of a choice sometimes.