Executive Suite Review: Marriott Irvine Spectrum

Background:

My friend was coming down from Seattle, and we needed a night in the Orange County, California area before taking the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to San Diego the next day. In trying to find a hotel, I remember a relatively new hotel opened in the Irvine Spectrum area, and rates were $120 a night. So, the Marriott Irvine Spectrum was booked!

Disclaimer: I stayed at the property in February of this year before the COVID-19 situation worsened.

Suite Night Award Upgrade:

Since my friend is a Platinum Elite member, he had a Suite Night Award to apply. The presidential suite online wasn’t eligible to apply the suite night award to, so he just chose the “1 Bedroom Executive Suite” and he was notified a few days before arrival that the room was ours!

Lobby:

The lobby is quite large, with plenty of seating and a full service Starbucks. Additionally, the bar and Heirloom Kitchen extend past the lobby to make the whole ground floor seem grand and inviting.

One Bedroom Executive Suite:

The 1000 square foot Executive Suite at the Marriott Irvine Spectrum was quite nice, exceeding my expectations! Our room was on the 12th floor, and it’s located on the corner of the square shaped building.

Here’s a video of the room:

Upon entry, you enter a long hallway that takes you to a large half bathroom. They could have made it a full bathroom with how large it was. I liked the modern design.

Then, you have the full residential style kitchen stocked with kitchen supplies like pots and pans. A Nespresso machine was provided as well. And, a large dining table that seats 6. Again, I loved the modern design in the kitchen.

Next to the kitchen is a nice living room with floor to ceiling windows. The sofa also converts into a sofabed.

The bedroom had a comfortable king sized bed and a sofa lounger by the window. The room is equipped with Alexa, and she can control the lights, music, etc of the room. The furniture was kept up very well and the room was pretty clean.

The master bathroom is large and has double sinks as well as a tub/shower combo. I do wonder why they didn’t make the bathroom fancier and have a separate shower and tub considering there is a lot of wasted space.

M Club Lounge:

The M Club Lounge located on the lobby level is open 24 hours which is a nice touch. I only utilized it for drinks late night and for the morning breakfast service. There’s ample indoor seating as well as a lot of outdoor seating overlooking the pool area. The hostess at the breakfast lounge service was amazing! So kind and helpful.

As far as domestic US lounges go, the breakfast service at the Marriott Irvine Spectrum was amazing. They had bacon, eggs, fruits, pastries and waffles.

They also have two Starbucks machines which is nice to get some coffee/tea before heading out for the day.

Hive and Honey Rooftop Bar:

A cool feature of the Marriott Irvine Spectrum is that there is a rooftop bar called Hive and Honey. It’s the only rooftop bar in Irvine, and I had low expectations given the hotel’s very suburban/corporate location. It was a cute bar, with nice decor and views of Orange County. I met some other friends up there on Friday night. But man, the first bartender I got drinks from was horrible. I normally don’t send drinks back, but had to this time. Thankfully, the bartender who remade my drink was better. Drinks don’t come cheap here, about $16 each.

Amenities:

I didn’t have time to check out the fitness center but it’s two stories and has Peloton bikes which sounds great to me! There’s also an outdoor pool that I saw from the lounge.

Location:

For my purpose, the hotel was a great location as it was a 20 minute walk or 5 minute Uber to the Irvine Train Station to catch my Amtrak to San Diego. Also, the Irvine Spectrum Mall is just a short walk away.

An annoying aspect of the hotel is that given its suburban location, they charge $39 a day for parking and it is valet only! Thankfully, I just parked my car at the Amtrak station (free parking for 72 hours).

The Verdict:

As far as suburban hotels go, it’s nice to know I have a solid option in Irvine if I need to stay here. Probably one of the best Marriott’s I’ve stayed at, with a great M Club lounge and nice modern rooms. Sad that I got in after 8pm and had to leave to catch my train at 9am the next morning!

Check out my YouTube video tour of the room here!

Have you stayed at the Marriott Irvine Spectrum before? What were your thoughts? Comment below!

Happy travels,

Ty

Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!