Part 6 of The Complete Girl Scout Guide to Traveling to Savannah, Georgia
The location of the Fairfield Inn and Suites, Downtown Savannah was perfect for walking in/around Savannah. It is only about 5-10 minutes from the train station and located off MLK Jr near Oglethorpe.
Check-In: Our party arrived at 3 different times but all of the rooms were under my name. I had called in advance to let them know that the other parties were allowed to check-in and provided their names. We also asked for the rooms to be near one another, and on the same floor. Thankfully our group was traveling with parents so no girls were staying in a room without an adult. Unfortunately we had issues with check-in and our requests. One of the parties arrived early with no problems at check-in. They used the card on file for that room. The other early arrival tried to check-in at 11pm and they wouldn’t let her checkin because her credit card didn’t have enough room for ($800+) incidental charges. She had to wait in the lobby until 2am when we arrived to check-in. Our check-in process was smooth at 2am. However we realized that our rooms were all spread out. 2 on the 5th floor and 2 on the 6th floor. Again, it wasn’t an issue for our group to be separated, just not what we requested. The lady at check-in said it wasn’t noted on our account.
We all had 2 queen beds and the rooms were spacious and clean. We paired 2 families per room and the girls/mother’s shared a bed. The hotel didn’t stock the rooms with enough towels for all 4 people in the rooms. They stated there was a towel shortage due to COVID so we had to pick up more towels as needed from the front desk. We heard rumblings from other guests that they had called to request towels that never arrived. Thanks to COVID restrictions the rooms are not cleaned during your stay and supplies are not restocked. If you needed more towels, toilet paper, etc you had to request those from the front desk or catch one of the cleaning crews on your floor.
The staff was not super accommodating or friendly. It felt like the hotel still had staffing issues which is understandable but it wasn’t the same customer experience we were accustomed to prior to COVID. We had one of our girls with anxiety over elevators and they wouldn’t help her find the stairs. When she finally walked down the stairs from her floor we realized the fire exit inside the hotel was actually locked and only accessible though the ballroom/meeting room. They wouldn’t allow her access to those stairs. I’m sure that’s a fire hazard – but we’re grateful we didn’t have an emergency. Unfortunately that girl did have an unpleasant stay because her anxiety made her feel really dizzy and nauseous the first two days of our trip.
FREE BREAKFAST! One of the key reasons we chose this location and hotel was for it’s low price and free breakfast. Having free breakfast for our group allowed us to save almost $100 per day as a troop. This was a great savings for us!! The girls learned that if you want to save money sometimes you have to make sacrifices. The continental breakfast was actually pretty decent. Scrambled eggs, omelets (not made to order), sausage, Canadian bacon, oatmeal, cereal, bagels, toast, muffins, yogurt and fresh fruit. Plenty of drink options as well; coffee, juice, milk, and water.
Part 7: Day 1 Agenda in Savannah, GA
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