The Courtyard by Marriott, Steele Creek is a couple of miles
to the south of Charlotte Airport, opposite an outlet mall.
As hotels go in general, this is a lovely modern hotel with
excellent amenities including an outdoor pool, gym, and most importantly a 24
hour tuck shop in the reception selling snacks and soft drinks. Car parking on
site is free.
From a spotting point of view, it is more than adequate.
I stayed one night and rang ahead earlier in the day to
request a high floor room facing east, the request was noted and I got exactly
what I asked for.
I was allocated room 402, which is the room right at the end
of the corridor on the top floor, you couldn’t get any better. Any even
numbered room from 402 through to 422 will give a similar view.
Room 402 is a room with one King Bed with Sofa Bed.
Even rooms with higher
numbers than 422 will also get a view, but maybe not quite as good.
Basically, from here, you will easily get half of the action
at CLT. If aircraft are departing to the south, you’ll get them all. If they
are landing from the south, you will also get them.
Arrivals (or departures) from the north are trickier as
these are 6 or 7 miles away. While I was there, I was picking out arrivals on
the eastern most runway without too much difficulty, but arrivals from the
north on the western runway were at too tight an angle.
If you were on a lower floor room you wouldn’t see anything
to the north but you’d be fine with stuff arriving / departing to the south.
Charlotte has no hotels right next to the airport, so I did
a lot of research trying to work out where would be best, and I was pleased
with the outcome – it was ideal for a one-night stop.
Once the CLT Overlook had opened at 0800, however, I drove
over there for the superior view which you wouldn’t’ manage to get from any
hotel. The two locations complemented each other quite nicely.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xAHtoVZRd55BLYTW8
The second image shows the view from the room giving an unobstructed view to the east for any arrivals or departures from or to the south.
The final image above is the view of the arrivals from the north, the lights are just above the apartment block but can be made out clearly with good optics.
