Tucson Marriott University Park Concierge Lounge

A recent short business trip took me to Arizona for the first time ever, to Tucson.  I was there to help with recruiting at the University of Arizona, and wanted to stay somewhere within an easy walk to campus, and thus, the Marriott University Park was my home for 4 nights.

I had a generally enjoyable stay, and was impressed with the friendliness of the staff, and the low key vibe overall.  I had access to the Concierge Lounge, located on the same floor as my room (both the lounge, and that floor, required key access).  It was open 24/7, with bottled water, soda, and a coffee machine always available, along with TVs, a computer with printer, and even a microwave for guest use.  I appreciated being able to drop in anytime, no set hours just for basic access.  

Breakfast

Breakfast was served daily from 6:30am (I think?) until 10am.  It had 4 hot dishes (always scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, and breakfast meats, along with a hot carb of the day), and some basic continental offerings.  Quality was not very high.

Starbucks Coffee.

The hotel featured Starbucks coffee both in the lobby (a paid coffee shop) and in the lounge.  The machine had two different regular roasts (one blonde, one dark), as well as decaf.  It was available all day long, self-serve.  

The coffee was actually really quite good.  I enjoyed both the regular and the decaf.  My room had a Keurig with Donut Shop pods that I never ended up trying.

This was definitely the highest quality aspect of the lounge.  ****.

Juice.

There were 3 kinds of juice.  None were labelled.  None was what I think of as the most comon breakfast juice: orange juice.   All were pretty warm.  No ice available.

Fruit Day 1.

Every morning had some fruit.

The first day, it was 3 kinds of melon, pineapple, and strawberries.  I appreciated that they at least had one kind of berry.  However, there was only one set of tongs for all of them, and since I'm allergic to melon, this meant I couldn't partake.  I found the cross contamination interesting ... usually hotel breakfast buffets at least attempt to prevent it.

The second morning, the strawberries were gone, only the melons and pineapple remained.  One set of tongs.

The third morning, strawberries were back (but looked awful!), and a few blackberries were added.  Two sets of tongs for 6 items this time.

Fruit Day 4.

My final morning was the most abundant fruit-wise, with grapes too.  But the strawberries still looked pretty bad, and only one set of tongs for 6 items.

Green Bananas.

The last morning also featured bananas so green I thought they might be plantains.

Pastries, Day 1.

There were of course the requisite hotel breakfast buffet sad looking baked goods.  And yet ... captive audience I am, I dive in.

The selection my first morning was the best of my entire stay: 2 muffins, 2 kinds of square-ish danishes, 1 kind of rolled danish, and one bearclaw-like danish.  I tried several.

Pistachio Muffin.

First up, I went for the vibrant green muffin, which I assume was pistachio.

It was reasonably moist, but not really fresh tasting.  Tasted very processed.  I did like the pearl sugar on top.  Mild kinda fake pistachio flavor.  Seemed more like an unfrosted cupcake than a muffin really.  **.

Cheese? Danish.

This one looked the most ... fun?

It was, um, well, what it looked like.  Definitely not fresh pastry.  Not flaky in any way.  More sweet bread-like than laminated croissant/danish dough.  Strangely thick and firm icing all over the top.  Cream cheese-like filling.  It wasn't hard, but it was certainly firm.

I didn't want it for breakfast, but I actually didn't mind a hunk of it later topped with ice cream as an actual dessert.  But again, it was ok-ish for what it was.  If a bakery sold this, it would be a single star, but for a buffet frozen mass produced one, that tasted highly processed and sweet, but that was ok, it was ok?  **+.

Pastries, Day 2.

The next day, similar lineup, this time 3 muffins (blueberry, coffee cake, poppy), just the round fruit center danishes, and more of the cheese filled ones.

I tried the coffee cake muffin.  I liked the sweet streusel on top, but the rest was pretty boring.  At least not stale, but it didn't taste fresh, and had no actual flavor (no cinnamon or anything).  Streusel good, rest blah.  **.

Pastries, Day 3.

My third morning, there was no variety: only the bearclaw shaped danishes.  Some were the cheese-ish ones, others had apple filling.

I tried the apple one this time.  It was considerably less good than the cheese one, which makes me think I must have been in a specific kind of mood when I had the other.  It had an extremely minimal amount of apple filling, really, just a tiny dot of the compote in the center, but the apple element was fine, little cubes, nicely spiced.  The pastry though was more artificial tasting and even more dense.  Eh.  **.

Pastries, Day 4.

My final morning was back to having a bit of variety.  2 blueberry muffins, the bearclaw apple and cheese danishes, and some round apple and cheese danishes.

This time I tried a round cheese danish.  It was awful.  Hard.  Highly processed tasting.  I call it a cheese danish, but it didn't really have a sweet cream cheese filling like the claw shaped one, it just had some dense white stuff.  Did not want.  Nothing redeeming. *.

Cereal.

3 kinds of cereal, all sugared.  Corn flakes, Fruit Loops, and Frosted Mini Wheats (I'm assuming, none were labelled).

I enjoyed a bowl of frosted mini wheats one morning for nostalgia sake, but it really is disappointing not to have any lower sugar options.  No granola, no basics like Cheerios or Rice Crispies, etc.  

Only regular milk was available.  

This lineup never changed and was available daily.  These dispensers were more awful than most, as the entire display pulled out when you tried to use them.

Yogurt & Cottage Cheese.

I thought it was strange my first and second day that there was no yogurt option, generally a standard part of a continental breakfast lineup.  On my third morning, yogurt did show up (Dannon Light 'n Fit, strawberry banana or peach), along with Daisy cottage cheese (strawberry, blueberry, pineapple).

They were room temp though, not kept chilled in any way.  The last morning these same items were provided, but this time on a bucket of ice.

I  snagged a cottage cheese to have with lunch later.

Sausage / Bacon.

Everyday, there were two breakfast meats available.  I don't know what kind of sausage it was, as it was not labelled.  I think generic, very thin, pork patties?

The bacon looked comically fake almost.  Soft, and too streaky to be natural.  

I didn't try either.

Bacon / Sausage.

The next day links replaced the patties.  Still no labels.  I still didn't try any.

Bacon only.

The third day, just bacon.  Bacon seemed to be the real constant.

Potatoes.

The potatoes looked soft and soggy.  They were available every day.

Scrambled Eggs.

Requisite buffet scrambled eggs that I stayed far away from.  I don't really like fresh scrambled eggs (besides in Australia, at great places like Pina), let alone buffet eggs.  Available every day.

French Toast Sticks.

The first morning I was happy to see an interesting hot carb.  French toast sticks (or, at least, that is what I called them, they weren't labelled).  They didn't actually seem French toasted, e.g. no egg batter soak or anything, so maybe they were just soggy cinnamon sugar bread logs?  Because that is what they tasted like.  Just soggy bread.  Mounds of cinnamon/sugar in the bottom of the pan.  Not good at all. *.

The second morning, I was looking forward to trying some kind of different hot carb side (waffles, pancakes, etc), but alas, theses were back, and soggier looking.  I didn't try them then.

Mini Waffles.

Day three did bring change to the hot carb station, in the form of mini waffles.

They were soft.  Soggy.  And had a very strange aftertaste. *.

Big Waffles.

The final morning, more waffles, this time bigger square ones.

They were soft.  Soggy.  And also had a bad aftertaste.  Did not like.  *.

Condiments.

Generic breakfast syrup was available in individual packets on the side, along with ketchup and hot sauce.

Cheese / Salsa.

Also cheese and salsa.  I didn't try these toppings.

Bread & Bagels.

The first morning, there were 3 kinds of bagels, white/wheat/marble bread, and english muffins.  Subsequent days had only one kind of bagel, and by day three, no English muffins.  They seem to just run out of things and not care (it wasn't that it just needed replenishing, I generally stopped in around 7:15am when I got up, and again later around 9am, and items that weren't there that day, just weren't there).

A toaster was available.  Jam, peanut butter, and cream cheese in individual packets to spread.

There were no serving tongs at all for this station.  Everyone just grabbed bagels or bread with their hands.  Again, a surprise, like the single set of tongs for the cut fruit ... buffets usually at least try to prevent some of this.

I tried a bagel one morning, it was rock solid and clearly not fresh. *.

Daytime

Throughout the day, you could drop in for bottled chilled water (not pictured), soft drinks, or some kind of packaged snack. The offerings for the snack changed daily, ranging from chips to nuts to cookies.  The snacks were often in need of replenishing, as were the sodas.

Soft Drinks.

Soft drinks were Pepsi brand.  Regular or diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Starry, and Diet Crush.  I appreciated the Crush, but wished they had simple sparkling water / club soda.  They have not followed the industry trend of eliminating single use plastics to install filtered water taps, so the water was individual plastic bottles.

Snacks.

The snacks changed all the time.  There was always some kind of chips (Lay's brand, I saw regular, sour cream & onion, BBQ, and Doritos nacho cheese or ranch), and things like Cheddar Chex Mix, Goldfish Crackers, chocolate graham crackers, and honey roasted peanuts.  Always individually packaged, for grab n go.

Unlike many lounges, this one didn't have signs saying food was for consumption in the lounge only, and certainly seemed to encourage just stopping in to grab a drink and snack and taking it with you.  There was rarely any staff member around paying attention.

Evening Offings (5-7pm)

In the evening, 1 cold dish and 2 hot dishes are offered.  The selection seems ... entirely random?  I couldn't really make sense of it, besides that it often sorta seemed like random leftovers.  For the most part, the items weren't appetizers as many lounges have.  But they also weren't items that could make a meal, not what you'd consider main dishes.  It was sorta just either a side dish, some leftover breakfast food, or something totally random.  None of it was particularly good.

There were no additional beverages at night.  No wine nor beer, not even available to purchase.  I asked about buying a glass of wine, and I was told I could go downstairs to the bar.

Night 1: 

The first night was definitely the best of my three nights, by far.  The food was reasonable, and it sorta made sense together.

Cheese / Mystery Meat / Grapes.

Again, like breakfast, nothing was labelled, so I'm not entirely sure what was on this platter.

The grapes were fresh, juicy, and refreshing after a hot day but had very bitter skins.  *.

There were 3 kinds of cheese: an herby one in front, slices of what looked like mozzarella, and cubes of something that looked munster like.  I tried the herby one but it really had no flavor.  Crumbly texture.  **.

The single meat selection was a real mystery.  I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be strangely soft salami, or strangely formed pate.  I suspect the former.  It was not good.  *.

Something ... Mexican.

Nothing was labelled, so hard to say exactly what this was, but it was some soggy corn tortillas, layered with red enchilada-like sauce, and lots of cheese.  I guess maybe it was supposed to be enchiladas?  But I don't think they were rolled up.  Mostly just mushy and pretty generic tasting.  **.

Black Beans & Cheese.

I think this was just black beans with melted cheddar.  It honestly wasn't bad - the beans were tender but not mushy, it had some flavor, yay for melty cheese.  But it felt like it needed chips or tortillas or something to go with it.  Really just a side dish.  ***.

By far the best of the evening dishes, including subsequent nights.

Night 2:

The next night ... was abysmal compared to the previous night.

Fruit Platter.

No cheese and meat the second night, instead the cold option was what looked like the leftover breakfast fruit just plated up differently.  All melons, so I avoided.

Potatoes.

Um, wow.  So yes, one of the two hot dishes the second night was just more of the breakfast potatoes.  This really was the night of leftovers.

Taquitos (mystery filling).

The final offering in the very underwhelming lineup that night seemed to be taquitos.  I had no idea what the filling would be, kinda assuming shredded chicken, or maybe beef, or who knows, just beans?  After eating one, I still have no idea what the answer was.  It might have been mashed beans and cheese.  It might have been beef.  I truly don't know.  It was a brown paste.  A complete mystery, even when I tried to dissect it a bit and just taste the filling.

The shell was generic crispy corn tortilla.  

These were basically very low end grocery store frozen section quality.  But at least somehow still crispy and not soggy? **.

Salsa & Sour Cream.

They did at least have sour cream and salsa out to jazz them up, unlike the night before.  Both were average.

Night #3

My final night was even more random.

Salad.

The cold dish was a welcome surprise.  No cheese or fruit tonight, instead, salad.  Mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes.  Generic ranch on the side.  This was a pretty basic average salad, and kinda seemed like perhaps the catered meeting big group downstairs had extra salad from their lunch service that they just sent our way, but it was nice to see vegetables.  **+.

Beef & Stuff.

Next ... I have no idea what this was.

Chunks of potato.  Slimy mushrooms.  Bell peppers.  And very, very, very overcooked ground beef.  It sorta seemed like a breakfast potato/peppers/mushrooms dish, that they threw some extra ground beef in and then cooked to death.  The flavor was not good either. *.

Beans.

And last, beans again, this time pinto beans.  They tasted like from a can, but were fine I guess, and had some herbs in there at least.  The black beans the first night were considerably better.  **+.

No cheese or other condiments provided this night.

Desserts (7-9pm)

Later in the evening, not until 7pm, desserts come out.   Of course, these were what I was most interested in.  Every night had only a single item.

Cheesecake.

I got there my first night around 8:30pm, and found only this half tray of cheesecake. 

It was ... well, clearly mass produced frozen distributed cheesecake, not anything made in house.  About on par with any other product of this variety.  Reasonable texture, reasonable creaminess, not too sweet, a bit of cream cheese flavor, but not actually particularly good.  I didn't care for the overly fruity and fake tasting fruit swirl.  Crust was soft but not too sawdust like.

For buffet cheesecake, it met expectations, **, but if I restaurant served it, I would be very very unhappy..

Tiramisu.

The second night, it was tiramisu.

I snagged a slice to save for lunch the next day, since I avoid caffeine at night.

It was fairly average generic mass produced tiramisu.  Relatively boozy and coffee forward, the ladyfingers were sorta moist, the cream layers didn't taste off.  The ladyfingers though had a strange consistency, like they may have been gluten free or something.  Lots of cocoa powder on top.  Again, for buffet dessert, it was about as expected, better than the cheesecake, **+, but if a restaurant served it, I'd be pretty unhappy.

Lemon? Cake.

The final night looked really promising.  A big cake!  With fresh fruit!

However ... yeah.  This was not good.  The cake was dry, the frosting was fine except that it turned out to be lemon which I don't care for.  Some of the berries were moldy.  **.