Personal Blog 1 Britany Maher

For both of my blogs I wanted to see where tourists would stay when they traveled to Salt Lake City. I am comparing two different hotels, the Grand America and the Salt Lake City Downtown Marriot. The Grand America is completely unique to salt lake while the Marriot is part of a large hotel chain. I wanted to see what they had to offer to their guests. When you have lived somewhere for a long time, you often don’t realize its true potential. Salt Lake City is completely unique and it makes for an amazing tourist attraction for people all around the world. They come to see temple square, to ski or snowboard in the greatest snow on earth, to visit the great salt lake and the Bonneville salt flats, to see the Kennecott copper mine, capital theatre, genealogy center, miller sports park, and so much more. I have already examined the Grand America in my first blog, now here is the Salt Lake City Downtown Marriott.

The Marriott of Salt Lake City appears to be more fancy than the others that i have stayed at throughout Utah. This is probably due to the setting that it is in and so that it can compete with other hotels in the area. The lobby was very warm and welcoming, as soon as I entered I was welcomed by a man at the desk with a warm smile and a hello. The majority of the people walking in and out of the lobby appeared to be families with one or more children. This was very different than the Grand America which had the majority of businessmen and couples. Overall the atmosphere of the hotel appeared more family friendly then anything else.

The Marriott has a lovely view of the Salt Lake City Temple and the surrounding temple square, which is beautiful this time of year with all of the Christmas lights. Having temple square within walking distance from the hotel is a large draw for those coming to visit the temple. Also fairly close is the gateway with the planetarium and childrens museum which plays into the family friendly aspect of the hotel.

Unlike at the Grand America at which I felt unwelcome, I appeared to belong in the flow of traffic in the lobby, some people were dressed up, several dressed down, I was able to fit in just fine. Other than the nicer than average lobby, the rest of the hotel was like any other generic Marriott you would find across the state, with beige and tan colors and generic prints on the walls of the rooms. I think that the main draw of this hotel is its location. People come here to experience the world of salt lake around then and not to spend a lot of time in their hotel rooms. The price for this hotel starts out around 80 dollars and goes up from there, comparing to the Grand Americas 300 dollars +.

Which hotel you choose depends on the type of experience you want to have while in salt lake city. At the Grand America, the hotel becomes a large part of the trip and the overall experience. At the Marriott, the hotel is not just a place to stay and come back to when you are done with your site seeing. Even if i had the money to stay at the Grand America I would probably choose the Marriott based on the experience I had at both hotels.