lovely little getaway

I have the wonderful privilege of sharing my birthday week with my boyfriend, and I love it. It is so nice to turn the entire week, weekend, etc into our own special days and celebration. We even turn the same age! This year my gift to him was a trip to Detroit for the Detroit Jazz Festival. 

Since we have been together (going on 4 years) he has talked about going to this festival every year but it's never quite worked out before. This year it just worked perfectly with our birthdays over Labor Day weekend and our work schedules both allowing us to take the time away. 

Having never been to Detroit before I was clueless on where to stay but I knew I wanted to be within walking distance of the festival. We had the amazing opportunity to stay at the Downtown Courtyard by Marriott and I couldn't have dreamed up a better fit for us. 

Immediately upon walking in it felt clean and friendly. Of course the boyfriend was instantly drawn to the baby grand in the lobby (i.e. match made in hotel heaven). The service was spot on and we even got upgraded to an Executive King Room with a killer view.

We were all the way up on the 18th floor, which I loved. As soon as we walked in our room my inner control freak let out a huge sigh of relief. Staying in a hotel is never the most pleasant experience but this room was clean, neat, spacious, and comfortable. There was even a welcome letter and snacks (of course those m&m's were opened immediately). We had a little sitting area, a desk, kitchen sink, mini fridge, microwave, and safe. The bed was clean and comfy with a big TV, and each side of the bed had little outlets to charge your phone (loved that feature). Our bathroom was super spacious and nice too!

The Downtown Courtyard by Marriott is directly across from the GM Center (filled with little shops, movie theatre, and other fun things) and is even connected by a walkway. The Courtyard is also one of the stops in the "People Mover", a little train system that runs through the city. The picture above is the view from our room (yep that's Windsor, Ontario on the other side of that river).

The festival was so much fun, and SO MANY people were there. I was so happy with our location, we just woke up every morning and walked less than five minutes the the festival. Having been my first trip to the city (and Steven's first since he was in grade school) we would have loved to explore more outside of the festival, had we had any extra time. I would love to go back and check out the aquarium, the Motown museum, and so much more! 

The festival's schedule kept us incredibly busy, hardly even allowing us time to eat. On the first night we were there, when the festival ended around 11.30 at night we were starving. One quick call to the front desk, and they supplied us with 5+ menus of places that were still open and would deliver to us. They even recommended a great local pizza joint that we loved! There is really nothing that makes me happier than awesome customer service and this hotel exceeded at it every time.

We have already talked about going back soon to spend time in the city doing some more activities. If and when we do I would not even think about staying anywhere other than the Courtyard. We loved the hotel, the location and everything that came with it. And if we don't make it back until next year you can find us at the Courtyard again of course!

Have you ever been to Detroit?
What should we put on our "must-do" list for next time?