Downtown / Old Town Wichita now has a great new hotel for visitors and residents alike. The Courtyard Marriott, on 2nd Street near the Old Town Square and directly across from The Pump House opened its doors around the 2nd week of December and has been greeted warmly in the community.

The new 5-story hotel was actually built on top of the previous two-story structure, originally built in 1930 as a warehouse. You wouldn't know it from the inside, however. The new site is immaculate, and while feeling just a bit too "hotel like" for my personal tastes, they have not skimped on too many of the amenities. The lounge area is very large and could accommodate at least two dozen people comfortably. There is a bar area that has seating in near the lounge for another two dozen or so. All of this is just as you walk in the front door as well, so there is absolutely no searching or meandering through.

The service staff was extremely cordial and accommodated all of our needs and wishes. They even went so far as to call in the engineer (on his day off) when we couldn't figure out how to get some sticky security lights turned off in the banquet hall.

The rooms are HUGE...by and large the biggest hotel room I've ever seen. We had two full-size beds in the room and could have EASILY fit another two in the room with space to spare.

Our event (the YP Debonair New Years Affair) was held in the second floor banquet room and was catered by their in-house contracted caterer, Larkspur. The food was amazing and there was more than enough for the 170 people present.

Pluses:

• Huge Rooms
• Extremely close to Old Town and the night life
• Virtually all of the amenities including breakfast bar, laundry and jacuzzi
• Large lounge and bar area right in the commons as you walk into the hotel
• Overly helpful service staff
• Terrific location for a new hotel in Wichita!

Minuses:

• Parking is very bad. There were perhaps 30 stalls for the entire hotel of which there are 75 +/- rooms.
• Because of the location along the old railroad tracks, and due to the recent rain, mud was everywhere along the walk from the parking lot to the hotel entrance.
• Valet parking, while available, was a fairly steep $10
• Room prices; while DEFINITELY WORTH THE MONEY, were a little steep for the area at around $220 / night for the Suite. $99 for a King Sized bed. 

All in all, I would definitely give the new Courtyard Marriott a 4 out of 5. Nicely done!

Courtyard Marriott in Old Town
820 E 2nd Street North
Wichita, Kansas 67202
Phone:  1-316-264-5300
Fax:  1-316-264-5302

 ~Dubya