Marriott Courtyard is rolling out new re-designed lobbies to appeal especially to business travelers, and they reached out to me to see if I’d be willing to share it with my readers. The offer? I could give away 2 free nights at any Marriott Courtyard in the Continental U.S., and they’d give me free nights for myself as well.

As regular visitors to View from the Wing know, when I get offers like these my first question is, “Do you mind if I just give away those nights to my readers as well?” And the answer is almost universally yes. I’ll wind up checking out the new lobbies in the normal course of my travels, I don’t need the free nights, I much enjoy giving them away to readers instead.

So that’s the offer — I have 2 sets of 2 free nights at any Marriott Courtyard in the Continental U.S. to give away! (With apologies to my international readers with no plans to visit the United States.)

I’m not a Marriott Rewards elite member, but Marriott more than anything else is known for its consistency. They’re everywhere. Many towns, a Marriott Courtyard or similar is the top option in town which makes it really useful and sometimes you just need a reliable place to sleep near a meeting. It’s great to see them being thoughtful about how to be more than just a room while maintaining a mid-level price point (though indeed, in some cities like New York one could hardly consider the price point mid-level, but then it ought to be compared to most other options!).

Here’s Marriott’s 30 second spot promoting their new lobby:

They’re holding events through December 16 at BWI, Houston Intercontinental, and Phoenix airports to promote the lobbies… couches for relaxation, luggage tags to give away.

They’ve renovated about 500 properties with better lobbies to allow groups to congregate, prepare for meetings, etc. Here’s the list of properties that have the new lobbies They have more stations with powerports, and a touch screen information TV. They’ve adopted a standard Bistro coffee/sandwhich place that’s apparently doing well with double digit percentage gains in sales.

Here’s how to enter to win:

• Leave a comment in this post naming something you especially value in a hotel when on business travel.
  
• Normally I say “one entry per person” and more than one will disqualify you. This time we’ll try something new. You may enter as many times as you like, however you may not enter twice in a row meaning that you have to have at least one other person comment after you before adding another comment/entry.
  
• The contest will last until 12pm Eastern on December 12. I will draw two winners who will each receive the two free nights with the help of Random.org. Winners will be put in touch with Marriott’s representative to claim their prize.

All interpretations are mine and final and I have no liability in this, all rules imposed by Marriott and their representatives will apply. I’m passing along an opportunity and making this available to my readers, I’ve not taken any compensation for doing so, let’s all treat this in this spirit with which it’s intended. By entering you indicate your agreement. Thanks!

Any questions, ask away!