TownePlace Suites by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Center Review

I am back at the Cape at Florida’s Space Coast. At the hotel I was staying at, I couldn’t extend my reservation because they were sold out for one night, I had to move to a different hotel. There were a few options but I wanted to try another Townplace Suites by Marriott so I can finally write a review on one. So, my choice fell on the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Center. As the name already suggests, it is in Titusville, which is just west of the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. From the hotel, it’s about a 15-minute drive to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

After I checked out of my current hotel in Cape Canaveral, I drove up to Titusville to check in to the TownePlace Suites. Funny thing, on my drive to the hotel, the hotel I just checked out off called me and let me know that they would be able to extend the stay. Unfortunately, I already had made the reservation which I couldn’t cancel anymore as it is already the day of check-in. Either way, I wanted to try the TownePlace Suites and driving time to work would be the same.

Location

The TownePlace Suites by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Center is located at the southern end of Titusville right next to I-95. This makes it easy to get wherever you need to go. Getting to the Kennedy Space Center is easy as well. You have to make one right turn and after that, it’s a straight shot down FL-405 which will turn into NASA Causeway once you enter the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Kennedy Space Center property.

It’s also a short drive to the historic downtown of Titusville and many good restaurants and attractions in the area. The TownePlace Suites by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Center is definitely a viable choice if you will be staying a long time in the area. There are many other hotels in the near vicinity of the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Center.

There are two good restaurants nearby, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Durango’s Steakhouse. Durango’s Steakhouse is just a short walk across the parking lot. You can walk straight from the hotel parking lot in the back onto the parking lot of Durango’s. Taking the car takes longer than walking.

The hotel is so new that it didn’t show up in satellite images on Google Maps. This property opened its doors for guests at the end of October in 2018. When I stayed here, it wasn’t even one year old.

Check-In

I arrived around 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon and there were lots of spots in the parking lot near the main entrance. This made it easy to check-in and take my bags up to the room. Check-in was easy as usual. I got greeted right as I entered the lobby, and the front desk was right there. After the agent looked up my reservation, I got the choice for my welcome amenity between bonus points or something from the market. Shortly after I had my keys in hand and was ready to pack my bags and take the elevator up to the fourth floor. The two elevators are located just past the front desk on the left-hand side. You can’t miss it.

1 Bedroom Suite (Room 428)

My room was almost all the way down the hallway on the left side. As the hotel is new, they have the new contactless room keys which I absolutely love. No more demagnetizing like you had it with the old keys with a magnetic strip.

Once I stepped into my room, I was standing in the hallway which had hardwood flooring instead of carpet. I love this, as you can come in, take your shoes off and it’s easier to clean. Right next to the door are three switches, two of them are for the lights in the hallway and the living room part of the suite, while the third one is the master switch, which cuts the power of both of the other two switches.

On the right side of the entrance hallway is a door to the neighboring room/suite. Just past that is a big closet with a double door. Inside there is an iron, ironing board, extra blankets for the sofa bed in the living room, and custom shelving you can arrange as you need it. Right outside of this closet is the climate control for the living room area. Opposite the closet is a full kitchen. Yes, a full kitchen, not just a kitchenette. It comes with all the appliances you can think of, like a microwave, dishwasher, coffee maker, stove oven, toaster, fridge, and ice chest combo, and all the silverware, dishes, pans and more you need to cook. If you need other things like blenders, rice cookers, slow cookers, you can borrow these things from the hotel for free. If you don’t know how to cook, or what to cook, you can even borrow a cookbook 😉 .

The kitchen counter goes seamlessly over into the living room area where it turns into a little office space with a work desk on wheels below it. On top, you find a room telephone, and a pinboard to organize your paperwork. The desk has a decent size, however, it doubles as a work desk and dining table in one. So you would have to move your electronics off the table to use it as a dining table as this is the only table in the room. Another negative aspect of the table is the edge of the table. They are not smooth enough and if you put your hand there to work on your laptop, it will start to hurt after a very short time. I grabbed a small towel from the bathroom and just put that between my arms and the table. Just where the living room starts, past the kitchen, the hardwood flooring ends, and the rest of the suite comes with carpet instead.

All the way up to the end of the kitchen, just before it turns into an office space, is hardwood flooring. Past that is just carpet throughout the rest of the room, except for the bathroom of course. Next to the office space is a well-sized flatscreen TV, which sits on top of a cabinet. The cabinet is empty and offers additional storage space if you need it. Opposite the TV is a two-seater sofa which comes with a footrest for one and a small table and lamp in the corner of the room, just behind the sofa. If needed the sofa can be transformed into an additional bed. Between the sofa and the TV is a window facing south, which is the backside of the hotel. There is no interesting view, you can only see the parking lot and Durango’s steakhouse. Just below the window is the A/C unit for the living room.

The bathroom is accessed from the living room and is just before the door to the bedroom. Inside the bathroom, you find a shower-bathtub combo. A vanity with a mirror is right next to the entrance and next to it is the toilet. I would say the size is perfect, as you have enough space inside, but you don’t waste any valuable space on having an oversized bathroom. Inside the shower, you find wall-mounted dispensers for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. There have been negative stories, where other stuff than these items was filled into the dispensers. However, I do like that hotels now go away from the mini bottles, which just created a ton of plastic trash. The dispensers are locked (if housekeeping doesn’t forget to do so) and it makes it harder for people to tamper with them. Of course, they are not bullet-proof as most of them are just made from plastic and if you want to force it open, you can. Then, however, you would see that someone tampered with it. If you are still scared about using the dispensers provided, just bring your own shampoo and co and no longer need to worry about what’s in the dispensers. But back to my experience, for some reason, the shampoo dispenser was completely empty as housekeeping forgot to refill it. These dispensers are also great if you deny daily housekeeping. You don’t need to ask any more for a ton of bottles or ask every day to have some sent to your room. Denying housekeeping has many plus points. For one it saves energy, and some hotels even give you bonus points for denying housekeeping. Marriott calls it “Make a Green Choice”.

As mentioned, the bedroom is separated by a door from the living area. If you walk in, you can see the king-sized bed in the center of the south wall. Directly opposite the bed is a TV which is also on top of a cabinet which offers additional storage. On either side of the bed is a nightstand with three drawers. One side comes with a room telephone and the other side has an alarm clock. Either side also had a lamp mounted to the headboard which comes with one power outlet and one USB port to charge your devices.

To the left of the bed, while standing in front of it, is another wall closet, like the one near the kitchen. It has the same type of shelf as the one opposite the kitchen. The only difference between the two is that the closet in the bedroom has no lights inside like the other one even though they are the exact same size. In each of the closets, you will find a laundry bag with the corresponding form to fill out. What I love here is that you have the option to get charged by weight instead of every single item by itself. ($7.50 for 3 pounds; $2.51 for 1 pound.)

The window in the bedroom faces west and doesn’t offer any special view either. Next to the bedroom door is the climate control for the bedroom which can be adjusted individually from the rest of the suite. A safe it the only thing which is missing in the room.

Public Areas

One of the main public areas at the hotel is the lobby. There is plenty of seating, which is used in the morning for breakfast, but you can come down and hang out all day long. Perfect to play board games if you are a bigger party staying at the hotel. The hotel has an assortment of board games which you can loan during your stay. A small workstation with a printer is located in the lobby seating area near the main entrance.

There is additional outdoor seating just in front of the lobby, near the main entrance of the hotel. This area comes with a firepit. Also, a great way to relax as I have barely seen anyone sitting out there. Most of the people spend time together at the back.

Out towards the backside of the building is the outdoor swimming pool. Perfect to relax and unwind after a long day of exploring. Inside the fenced-in area of the swimming pool are two BBQ grills you can use. All the required equipment is available from the front desk.

Just inside the hotel building is the fitness center. The fitness center room has a view of the pool as well as of the lobby. It is a basic fitness center with all the standard amenities you would expect.

Dining

The TownePlace Suites by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Center offers a standard breakfast buffet for its guests. One thing I like most about breakfast here is that it starts every day at 6:00 a.m., which is great if you work weekends.

You get the usual choice of bread, cereals, juices, coffee, and other things. They rotate their egg choice every few days between a cheese omelet and sunny side up eggs. A big plus for families with kids are the offering of Nutella. Of course, you can also use the Nutella as a single adult, but I know kids love it and so do I. The lobby offers plenty of seating for breakfast. I don’t know if it’s enough if it gets busy here, as I always leave the hotel at 6:30 just after breakfast.

Besides breakfast, there is a small market next to the front desk where you can find small snacks, drinks, and other stuff you might need for your stay. Just in case you are into cooking yourself, you can use one of their two gas-powered BBQ grills out back inside the pool area. The hotel serves coffee 24 hours in the lobby.

Conclusion

The TownePlace Suites by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Center is definitely a great place to stay in the area. No matter if it’s just for one night, while you are passing through on I-95 or you are here for a multi-week stay. You are covered with whatever you need. TownePlace Suites is one of Marriott’s extended stay properties which focuses really on that. Their Residence Inn brand is more for medium stays, as most of them just have a kitchenette. The staff here is amazing and super friendly. One thing was slightly annoying, the guest in a room close to me had two dogs and every morning and every night their dogs were howling. Not really loud, but you for sure can hear it. Usually, I am either already awake or still awake when it happens. So, I wasn’t too concerned about it. But if you try to sleep in and you have a light sleep, the howling will probably wake you up. I want to clarify that this is not the fault of the hotel, rather than the fault of the guest, who doesn’t have his dogs fully under control.

Another plus point is the EV-charging station and parking spot right in front of the main entrance of the hotel. Two parking spots are designated for electric vehicles (EV), but some idiots still park their SUV in there. No, a Suburban doesn’t count as EV. There were still parking spots available at the backside of the hotel, where I had to park to that night. Well, some people are just stupid and ignorant, what are you going to do?

I don’t know if this is a current issue with Marriott’s reservation system, but I had to leave earlier than planned and therefore checked out a few days early. For some reason I never really got checked out of the computer and the hotel kept charging me. I did an in-person check-out at the front desk and even had a small chat with the person working day about my stay. This was my second consecutive stay at a Marriott property where I left before the scheduled check out date and never got checked out. I will keep an eye on it during my future stays. Unfortunately getting to the hotel to work on it wasn’t that easy. The first time I called, the lady told me she couldn’t check right now but will do it later, but never heard back from her, nor did she check me out. My second call never picked up, even though I tried a few times that day. Only during my third call and talk with the person at the front desk I was able to clear things up.