This past year I decided on my quest for being a points and status junkie to switch over from Hilton to Marriott. The transition was difficult since Marriott would not really honor a status match. I took it as a challenge upon myself to see if it was truly worthwhile or if I was going to be another person who got Bonvoyed.

One of my more memorable stays was when I had to head down to Baton Rouge doing some aid and relief assistance for hurricane Barry this year. We had all of our gear together to rough it if the storm got really bad, however, my plan was that if a hotel was available that we should snag some rooms. We were pricing out hotels in the area and surprisingly, the Autograph in Baton Rouge was reasonably inexpensive in regards to the other hotels in the area. It was right downtown, had a restaurant in-house (in case some things got bad with the storm), and seemed really nice. My coworkers who I was traveling with at the time felt a bit guilty staying in such a nice place when we were down there to get dirty and help out with search and rescue.

The room I got was a pretty standard double queen room, it was very comfortable with a nice bathroom and plenty of storage and desk space. I apologize for the messy room photo but I forgot to take one as soon as I walked in! My room had a wonderful view of downtown Batton Rouge.

We decided that we would go and eat dinner at the hotel restaurant since everything around town was locking down due to the incoming storm. Normally hotel restaurants are mediocre at best, however, at this restaurant the food was stellar. They had a full bar, great wine selection, and a good looking food menu. I tried to convince all my coworkers to have something different, but we all ended up with the same dish at the end of the night.

We started off with a bottle which was recommended by one of my coworkers who is a bit more of a wine aficionado than I am. They were out of his first choice but brought out this bottle which was supposedly an older more desirable bottle of wine. The server decanted the bottle and poured us all a glass.

The steak was amazing. Well cooked, and the demi was a great addition to a filet which can sometimes turn out a bit dry since there is such little fat on the cut. The broccolini was sauteed in olive oil and garlic and went well with the meal. The experience and food were so good we ended up going back the following night and had the same experience over again! The nifty part about the Watermark is that when you are finished with your food, they bring the check in one of the books they have on the shelf. They ask you as a guest to sign that book and then they keep it on the bookshelves at the hotel!

If you are in Baton Rouge and this hotel is reasonably priced- it is worth the money to stay. Marriott has a very consistent guest experience and this hotel is a great addition to their brand.

If you would like reservations you can find the hotel website here.