Fairfield Inn – St. Augustine, Florida Hotel Review

A dated, overpriced mid-range hotel off the interstate? I’m so there.

And yes, I was there. My sister and I stayed here at the Fairfield Inn St. Augustine in late December 2022, and rang in 2023 here. What a place for a NYE celebration, right?

Well, as far as St. Augustine hotels, it was all I could get. We were in Florida for a week at the end of December, planning it extremely last minute. Originally, we were going to go to a few other places in Florida, but we had so much fun during our first two nights in St. Augustine, we abandoned our plans and headed back to St. Augustine to do more touristy stuff, like do the Old Jail “After Dark” Experience.

And this is what we got – the Fairfield Inn in St. Augustine Florida.

Now, I’m not against Marriott’s Fairfield Inn properties. I’ve reviewed plenty of them on this site, some of which have been great. But this one? Not so much.

But let’s get into it…where do I begin? I guess let’s start with check-in

Check In at the St. Augustine Fairfield Inn

Check in was quick and efficient, but the best part was the cookies! They provide fresh cookies at the desk, which are very tasty. They never seemed to run out so whoever they have on oven duty just keeps pumpin’ out, day in and day out. Not bad! Although, there was no recognition for elite members (I hold Ambassador status with Marriott). Now, it’s not like I expect much at a Fairifeld (I mean, what are they going to upgrade me to??) but hey, at least give a free bottle of water or let me pick something from the market.

Staff was very nice and honored my late checkout that I requested on the app. I didn’t end up using it as our plans changed, but this hotel does read app requests, which doesn’t happen a lot at Marriotts.

Common Areas at the Fairfield Inn in St. Augustine, Florida

Common areas, while dated and worn, are cleaned immediately when there is a mess. My sister was a klutz and spilled her coffee in the elevator. Before we had a chance to tell an employee, someone had already cleaned this up. This was less than a five minute time frame from her spill to clean up. Mad props!

Breakfast area was nice and exactly what you’d expect at a Fairfield. Hot food, fruit, toast, waffle maker, etc.

If you read enough of my hotel reviews, you know I always use the fitness center and the St. Augustine Fairfield Inn stay was no different. The fitness center had ok equipment – everything worked but it’s very dated life fitness cardio stuff.

Laundry facilities worked well – $2 to wash, $2 to dry. The laundry room floor was dirty but before we could notify anyone, it was already cleaned.

Swimming pool and hot tub – the pool was open but the hot tub was in shambles. Apparently, it’s been in need of repair for well over a year now, and counting. So don’t count on it if you stay here.

Room at the Fairfield Inn – St. Augustine Florida

We had a standard two double bed room, and while the room itself was clean, housekeeping put a card asking for tips in the room when we arrived. The card itself was disgusting – it had grease stains all over it. That is NOT a good look – especially if you are begging for tips. That nasty card went directly into the trash.

The beds in the room felt off. We had a room with 2 doubles, but the beds felt like rollaways. Mattresses were worn out, you could feel and hear the springs. Pillows were flat. Bath towels were threadbare and need to be replaced.

The HVAC in the room was all off. Granted it was Dec/Jan, so it was chilly outside, but the room got very stuffy so we do want the A/C. It would get very cold in the room and then suddenly, without either of us changing the thermostat, turn very hot.

They are not doing daily housekeeping. We were not informed of this at check in. Again, I stay in hotels a lot and I no longer should have to ask what these hotels are doing. I expect daily housekeeping but here, they are only doing it every third night. Oh please! Enough with the Covid excuses! Quit cutting corners…it’s no longer acceptable

Fairfield Inn St. Augustine Review – Location

If you’re staying here to visit the downtown touristy area of St. Augustine, you will have about a 10 minute drive to the historic district. The hotel also offers a free shuttle to the district, but we did not use that, as we had a rental car. Hotels in downtown St. Augustine were ridiculously expensive, so staying outside of the historic district, while not as ‘happenin’, saves quite a bit of money.

So in general, the location is not bad, but it’s not walkable to anything. There are a bunch of chain restaurants across the highway if you want something familiar.

The Fairfield Inn also boasts of having an outlet mall next door (look at the hotel’s address – it’s on “Outlet Mall Blvd”) but this particular outlet mall next to this hotel has been bulldozed, so if you were counting on that, it’s not there anymore. If you are into outlet shopping, no fear – there is a large outlet mall across the highway.

All in all, I probably wouldn’t stay here again – maybe in a pinch, but there are much better places to stay in the area. The Fairfield Inn St. Augustine is in desperate need for a remodel!

Have you stayed at the Marriott Fairfield Inn in St. Augustine, Florida? Tell me about it in the comments!