Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Eugene East/Springfield

Usually, I stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Eugene when visiting our location in Oregon, just a bit south of Eugene. There were a few reasons why I changed my mind and stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Eugene East/Springfield. First, IHG had some IT issues, and I couldn’t book a room. Then I had two Chase offers which would give me back over $60 each when staying at a Fairfield hotel by Marriott. That had me convinced, as I could just split the charges for my long-term stay and put them on both cards to reach the necessary spend.

I really want to try out the Hyatt in Eugene as well but this one is located further north and will add even more driving time, which is already long enough from the southern end of town. Next time when I am in town.

Booking & Stay Details

I booked the Fairfield Inn & Suites Eugene East/Springfield through the Marriott app. It had to be a cash rate to be eligible for the Chase offers. A standard King room went for an average of about $185 per night during my stay. 

Location

The Fairfield Inn & Suites Eugene East/Springfield is located at the south-eastern end of Eugene, close to I-5. It’s easy to get to and from the hotel from the freeway. The hotel is located close to the Willamette River, which runs through Eugene. There is a crosswalk close to the hotel, which gives you access to a trail which runs along the river and connects to the Knickerbocker Bicycle Bridge. It is worth a stroll for some magnificent views. The University of Oregon campus is only a few blocks away from the hotel as well as downtown Eugene. 

Parking

Parking is complimentary in the hotel’s parking lot. There is some parking right in front of the hotel building and more spots are available in the lot which is shared with the nearby Candlewood Suites and Tru by Hilton. You are only allowed one car per room, and they don’t have a lot of space to accommodate large, oversized vehicles or cars with trailers. There are ways, but I would call ahead to make sure if. Pick-up trucks and SUVs are no problem. You are supposed to get a parking pass for your vehicle. I didn’t have one for the first week of my stay as the agent who checked me in never gave me one. Either way, parking is complimentary.

Shuttle Service

No shuttle services provided by the Fairfield Inn & Suites Eugene East/Springfield.

Check-In

I drove down from Portland and stopped by really quickly to check into my room before continuing my drive to work. Check-in was quick and easy, but the agent forgot to give me a parking pass, which I found out about one week later when I extended my stay. As welcome amenity I was offered points or an item from the lobby market. No upgrades were available as they were sold out for the first night of my stay and I decided not to pursue a upgrade later into my stay.  The elevators are located to the left just past the front desk.

1 King Bed Room (Room 218)

This room is one of the smallest rooms in the hotel. As you enter you have your bathroom on the right. Inside you find a vanity with a single sink and a large wall-mounted mirror. Power outlets are easy to get too next to the vanity. The toilet is next to the vanity, but the placement of the toilet paper is very inconvenient as it is way too far back to reach. On the other side of the bathroom is a walk-in shower with a large glass door. Dispensers for body wash, shampoo and conditioner are mounted on the wall inside the shower. 

As you continue the entryway you have an open closet on the right, next to the shower door. On the shelves you find a microwave and coffee maker and at the bottom is a small refrigerator. Around the corner of the closet is a way to hang some smaller items and a small door opens another small storage compartment. Inside is a shelf and hangers as well as an iron but no ironing board. 

The King-sized bed is centered on the wall to the right. On either side is a nightstand with a light. Each of the lights has two power outlets to power your devices but no USB ports are available. On the nightstand you find as usual the in-room phone and an alarm clock. 

Opposite the bed is a dresser, shelf, desk combination. The shelf holds the rather small TV. Below you have some storage space on top of the dresser which has two drawers. To the left of the TV is a small area where you can put a suitcase and to the right you have a work desk on wheels and an office chair. It’s easy to pull out the desk to have some more room available to work, however this will shrink down the space between desk and bed to nothing. Power outlets are mounted on the wallboard right above the desk. In the middle of the outside wall is a window which faces southeast and gives you a view of the parking lot. If you can, try to get a river view room, you can see the glow of the sunset from there. Underneath the window is the air conditioning unit which can be controlled from a terminal on the wall next to the bed.

Public Areas & Amenities

Lobby

Nothing special to note here. Most of the lobby space is the seating for the breakfast area, which is at the far end of the lobby. There are a few more comfortable seating options opposite the front desk. The business center is also located in the lobby area.

Business Center

The business center consists of a single workstation and a printer. It is located on a desk opposite the front desk. You can’t miss it.

Fitness Center

The entrance to the fitness center is located opposite the elevator. You need your room key to get in. It’s a pretty well-equipped fitness center.

Indoor-Pool

Next to the fitness center is the indoor pool. To access the pool area, you need your room key as well. The pool is a decent size, about what you would expect at a hotel like this. There are some chaise loungers spread out around the pool area.

Guest Laundry

The hotel offers a guest laundry facility. Inside the guest laundry is a coin-operated dispenser for soap and fabric softener.

Speaking about laundry. I tried to use the dry-cleaning service and ran into serious issues. I dropped off the bag with the paperwork Tuesday morning before 6 a.m. When I tried to pick up my laundry the next day, they tried to give me the unwashed laundry back. They forgot to send it out and told me the driver would pick it up the next day. It didn’t get picked up the next day either. I don’t know what exactly was going on, but my laundry bags were finally picked up on Friday and returned later the same day. Another dry cleaning order was fulfilled the same day. I dropped it off in the morning and got my clothes back in the evening of the same day.

Dining

Breakfast

Well, it’s not really a good breakfast here. The options are so minimal here. You will get a mix of pre-made and warmed-up food items. It’s usually quiche and then something in the sort of ham and cheese croissant or similar. Sounds like Mcdonald’s breakfast but it doesn’t taste as good. Besides that, they offer pre-packed oatmeal and cereals. They ran out of the most desired cereals a day after my arrival, and I had to take what was left over. Besides that, there is yogurt and chocolate milk available. They also have some bagels for breakfast but also an extremely limited choice. However, the staff is restocking breakfast items quickly as they run low during breakfast hours.

Coffee is available 24/7 at the hotel, at the same spot in the breakfast area. For some reason, they remove the flavored creamer for breakfast, and you only get a choice of different creamers and milk for your breakfast coffee. I wonder why? I love to get some French vanilla or hazelnut flavored creamer in the morning.

Corner Market

Next to the front desk is a small lobby market which has a fairly broad selection of items for purchase. It will get you by for sure but that’s about it.

Conclusion

Well, my stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Eugene East/Springfield was nothing special. I did spend most of my time away from the hotel anyway and just used the room as a crash pad at night. Breakfast is bad here and not worth mentioning like they do when you are on hold while calling the hotel. The hotel was clean, and they took their commitment seriously. I even saw a guy with a disinfecting sprayer going through the hotel.

They are doing their part at least. Staff were always friendly. The parking lot could be a bit bigger, especially if multiple hotels share the same lot. Other than that, nothing really to complain about.