Definitely enjoyed my stay here while I interviewed at UAB hospital. Everything was clean and well kept. It's connected by a walkway to the hospital. Internet was free.

Checked in on Wednesday December 7, 2011 for 1 night. The hotel is located/attached to the UAB hospital and has a parking garage and lot also attached. I went in and the desk staff was helpful explaining where to park. I then promptly ignored their directions to park in the outside parking lot and instead parked on the 2nd floor of the parking garage (also ignoring their directions to park on the 5th floor of the garage if the lot was full). Other than that it was convenient and my car was safer in the garage in my opinion rather than the parking lot. My advice is to park in the parking garage wherever is convenient and display your tag on the dashboard provided by the hotel.

There is a small restaurant/deli attached to the lobby that has comfortable seating with personal tv's in the booths. The only problem was that the remote control did not allow me to change the channels and I was stuck watching Seinfeld on TBS...I suppose it could have been worse! I ate dinner in the restaurant that evening and had the rueben. It was forgettable but not awful. The next morning I had their western omlet for breakfast and it was much better. The deli is generally geared for breakfast in my opinion.

As for the hotel room I can say it was clean and decent, however the TV didn't pull out far enough to see without craning your neck due to the perpendicular placement of the bed vs. the tv cabinet..

I can say the security was also ok as you needed your room key to go up in the elevator which is good.

Other than that I decided against venturing outside since it was freezing that evening and decided to head off to my meetings the next morning.

I travel a lot and love staying at Marriott. This is a very nice hotel for the money. Its downtown so not a lot to do, but im here on business and its close to where i need to be. There is a great sea food place just a couple blocks away. I will be back.

My husband and I stayed 2 nights in order to be near a family member who had eye surgery at the Callahan Eye Foundation, part of the UAB hospital complex. We were in an unfamiliar city and would be taking shifts in the hospital room, so didn't want to be driving back and forth and wanted a safe location for me to be alone in while he was on duty at night. We chose the Courtyard for the location and its reputation for comfort, as we have stayed at others. This Courtyard delivered what we needed. Although the Callahan does not connect to the Courtyard like the hospital does, it was only an easy 2 block walk after going through the hospital. We parked in the hospital parking garage for $6 a night, took the elevator down to the hotel, and didn't move the car again.

We had a king bed room on the 5th floor and found it quiet (except for the occasional siren, but it is located by a hospital, so what do you expect? I am a sound sleeper so was not bothered, light sleepers might need a white noise machine or fan). I did not hear any noise from other rooms. Everything was clean and spotless. The bed was very comfortable, lots of pillows, and a lightweight duvet cover . The room was small, which might have been an issue if we had been there at the same time, or if we had another person in the room to use the hide-a-bed....it would have been very cramped if that were the case. In addition to the bed and sofa, there was a small table in front of the sofa and a large desk and wardrobe on the opposite wall. All were very close to each other. I was pleased at the number of lamps in the room, a pet peeve is a room which few lighting options. The free Wi-fi worked well.

We were pleased to find a small coffeemaker that actually made 4 cups of coffee, not those awful "pod' types that do one bad cup at a time. This was on a small counter that also held the ice bucket and had a small refrigerator below it. We did not have a microwave, as some reviewers have mentioned, so if this is important, you might ask specifically if your room is so equipped.

One thing I always appreciate in a hotel room is to have the vanity separate from the tub/toilet, so that more than one person can get ready at a time. This hotel does not have that feature, it is all in one. This was not a problem this time, as we were never there at the same time. The bath itself was fine, with room around the vanity for toiletries. The tub was a little strange, it had a built in seat of granite with a glass in front of the seat, and then a shower curtain with a curved rod for the rest of the tub. Unfortunately the curtain and the glass did not make a secure fit.

Breakfast was not included, but there is a Bistro downstairs, and the food court at the hospital is very convenient and offers a Starbucks and a Charleston Market, which we utilized. There are also several restaurants right around the corner from the hotel.

If you have to be at the UAB hospital, this is the most convenient place to stay, and provides comfortable rest. I do agree that the standard discount rate of $139 is too high for what you get, but we were able to get a significantly lower rate on the weekend and with our AAA discount, by searching the internet first instead of just calling and asking for the hospital discount.