Spent a couple of nights here for business. A bit apprehensive after reading many of the reviews here but since I've never had any bad experience with Marriott hotels before (including the Courtyards), I wanted to try it myself. My room was clean and did not smell bad. I think it's a smell of a carpet with a fan (not A/C) blowing. After I turned on the A/C, it disappeared. The vanity area is very small. The beds were firm. Internet is a bit on the slow side but they provided you with a connection cable and it's free. Buffet breakfast was included in my rate and it's pretty good. Complimentary Wall Street journals. The only complaint I have is there's no refrigerator in the room. Applebee's restaurant is next door. Plenty of parking. Location is a bit far from shopping/restaurant areas. I don't mind staying here again in the future.

The room smelled bad. The Courtyard offered us to another room but my wife had already changed clothes. The room had not been upgraded and needed updating. The property does not offer dinner / only breakfast. We would never stay again at this property.

Overall, a good experience with a few critical problems listed below; a few key improvements however could make this a flagship Marriott property .

Positives
I stayed 5 nights and the front desk staff during check in could not have been more friendly and helpful with suggestions for dining and local attractions. Hats off to Nicole especially who really was helpful in extending my stay and was also very friendly and courteous
Housekeeping
Responsive, kind, hardworking staff that went the extra mile to clean my room and provide extra towels and pillows (Marriott’s feather pillows are WONDERFUL!!) Flor, Beto, Dahlia and Oliva really made my room stay even more comfortable. Thank you!
Room 334 is a great King size room with an excellent view of the pool and surrounding mountains. Large balcony for relaxing with a cup of tea or wine ! Unfortunately, there are many people who use the balconies for smoking; Marriott prohibits smoking on the property except in a single designated area near the pool; however people still do and it blows into your balcony area while trying to relax outside.
Negatives
Unfortunately, the night shift (auditors) were not very attentive to customer service/answering the phone (I finally gave up Wed night after no one answered after waiting and calling back several times to make a wakeup call. When I called my last day at 6 a.m. and asked for a 1:30 p.m. Late checkout as a Marriott Rewards member benefit. Allisha (sp?) tersely stated “1 o’clock is the latest” and I said fine and hung up. A few minutes later she called back and said the log books would allow it this one time (?) and hung up. (The hotel is not at capacity this time of year due to the hot summer season) I relegated her rudeness to poor customer service skills/training and have written a follow-up as well to Marriott customer relations. Also while checking out, I observed a front desk clerk berating and harassing a guest for making a suggestion about better customer relations. The clerk (Michael) yelled at the guest and told him not to question him and lighten up. When the guest asked for the mgr, the clerk yelled. “He’s not here”!! I advised the gentleman to contact guest relations immediately and report the incident.
Internet bandwidth is completely unacceptable (10 Mb LAN and no wireless access in the rooms!!) in this day and age of media rich websites and VPN access.. Authenticating to my VPN was an complete exercise in futility. As a hotel that caters to business professionals, additional bandwidth in the rooms should be an immediate priority.
Air Conditioning
Palm Desert is very warm this time of year (110 degree temps are normal) and an air conditioned room is not optional. The units in the rooms unfortunately are prone to “icing up” in the air intake vents which shuts down the unit even with the thermostat set at 72. Although maintenance was responsive to “deicing”, it occurred multiple times during my stay and I had to remove the cover of the unit to allow it to “thaw”. Very frustrating as well as difficult to keep the temp at a comfortable level. Hopefully, mgmt will recognize these issues and turn this into a great place to stay again.

I spent three night at the Courtyard Marriott Palm Desert and was very please with quality of the hotel and service provide. My room was of a very nice quality, air conditioning was very good, furniture was of a very nice quality (the bed was great) and I had a huge TV to boot (I'm guessing it's about a 46" model). The employees were very nice and professional and they help me out a couple times on little problems I had.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone stay in the immediate area of Palm Desert.