Meghan Markle famously took a selfie with a friend on the fencing of the Buckingham Palace as a simple tourist in London 15 years before becoming a resident of that palace.
I visited Detroit first in 2008 for the North American auto show when deployed at the GM Tech Center who was a client of the company I worked for. We put up in a humble room of Candlewood Suites in far away Warren where I not only shared the room with a coworker but also we got the groceries and cooked our food daily for the entire 8 weeks duration of the stay.
After visiting the show I strolled out of the COBO Center with a friend and took a photo in front of the Detroit Mariott Hotel just for memory realizing little that I will be staying in a lavish suite of the hotel some time again in the future.
Fast forward 2019 and I was in Detroit again at the COBO Center to attend a conference and this time around I was an invited guest of a multinational company. They provided me accommodation in the Detroit Mariott hotel in an ultra-plush high-end lavish 3-rooms suite. One of the bedrooms had a view facing the COBO Center, and right from the comfort of the cozy bed in the suite, I could clearly see the spot where I had taken the photo from the streets 12 years ago with my friend.
I stayed on floor 62 and felt like in 7th heaven or cloud 9 whichever is higher. This suite gave breathtaking views of downtown Detroit from one of the bedrooms. The view from the other bedroom view had River Detroit and the occasional tankers that sailed leisurely.
The Detroit Mariott hotel is located amid the shop and eateries of the Renaissance Center overlooking the Detroit River. The Millender Center Station is a 3-minute walk and the Detroit Opera House is less than a mile from the hotel.
The hotel also has 3 levels each dedicated to the reception lobby, a bar, and the third floor a business center having 34 meeting rooms. Be careful about the bar on floor 3 at the reception Lobby which is costly and bad quality, instead go to the McDonald’s or Subway in the adjacent Renaissance Center.
As seen in the picture above, my suite was furnished with flat-screen TVs, desks, and coffeemakers. Wi-Fi was available for free, pull-out sofas in the main room, minifridges in both the main room and the bedroom with the river view serving as the cherry on the cake. Other amenities in the Detroit Marriott hotel to which I had access to was a lounge with free continental breakfast and evening appetizers and a modern fitness center consisting of a gym, jacuzzi, and massage parlor.
This was an absolutely fascinating experience for me.
Neither Meghan would have nor I had imagined in our wildest dreams of ending up enjoying a lavish stay in the buildings that we posed in front of several years ago.
The US trip last year, especially the visit to Detroit was the most memorable of all trips until then.
Accessibility Features
Being a chain of world-class hotels the Detroit Mariott had various accessibility arrangements for the differently-able and also for the vision-impaired.
Ramp access.
A wheelchair-accessible Entrance.
A wheelchair-accessible Parking.
Wheelchair-accessible Washroom/Toilet.
Wheelchair-accessible Elevators.
Tactile Paths for the Vision-Impaired.
Extra Large Displays for the Vision-Impaired.
What else to do in Michigan
While you are still in Michigan, especially in Detroit there are the top 10 recommended places:
5. GM Renaissance Center
6. COBO Center
7. Belle Isle, located in Detroit River
8. Detroit Public Library
9. Greenfield Village
10. Historic Fort Wayne
Have you ever got an opportunity to stay at a place that you have least expected?
I’d be interested in knowing your experiences.
Until then… Happy Guiding 
This article is part of the Michigan #StateChallenge Meetup and Trivia Quiz hosted by @Kwiksatik and @Denise_Barlock and co-hosted by @Erna_LaBeau
