My wife and I recently visited Kansas City for a get-away weekend and decided that we wanted to stay on the Country Club Plaza. I have a preference for Marriot hotels as I have found them to be consistently good places to stay no matter what city or country. This Marriot is an excellent example of a "typical" Marriot. Our room was spacious and clean. The bathroom was immaculate, though the one in our room was a little bit smaller than I would have expected. One oddity for me was that the hair dryer is stored in a cloth bag in the closet rather than in the bathroom itself. One up side to staying at a Marriot is that you can request extra towels when reserving the room on line.
The hotel offers valet parking as well as self-parking. Either way, you are going to pay to park your car on site. One should not shy away from the hotel because of the parking charges. Literally anyplace where you want to park in this area has a fee attached. Driving your car onto the Plaza for dinner is going to cost you at least as much as the valet service at the hotel. The Marriot offers a free shuttle service both to and from the Plaza. Of course, if you prefer to walk, it is about a quarter mile to get from the front door to the shops in the Plaza. Those who have visited the Plaza before know that you will do quite a bit of walking if you want to visit all that the Plaza has to offer. We had about a ten minute wait to take the shuttle to the plaza. When we wished to return to the hotel, we called the service number and the shuttle was pulled up to the curb within five minutes of the call.
The thing that sets Marriot apart from other hotels is the level of service that you receive. After leaving our vehicle with the valet, my wife realized that she had left her coat in the car. A call down to the desk resulted in an associate arriving at our door (on the tenth floor) with my wife's coat in a matter of minutes. Had I parked myself, I would have had to go get that coat myself.
The lady at the front desk was very polite and efficient; in fact, everyone from the valet to the shuttle driver were extremely polite and accomodating.
My only real issue with the hotel is the fact that IF they have noisy guests out in the hallway, you are probably going to be able to hear it, so keep that in mind if you are planning to stay on weekends or around holidays etc.
The hotel has a bar and a restaurant, but with the Plaza night-life being so close, we had no reason to try the ammenities. A small refrigerator is available upon request for a charge as is internet access. I would prefer that Internet is complimentary in this day and age, but this is not the case.
I would conclude this review with a couple of comments. First, if you are staying here, you need to remember that everything in the area is "upscale" and thus has a little higher price tag on it than you might find in other parts of the greater Kansas City area. The second comment is that the Plaza is centrally located, so exploring Kansas City is rather convenient when using the Plaza as a start point.

Recently stayed there for a business meeting and it was perfect. The rooms were nice and spacious, the bar was more than adequate, parking was easy, free shuttle to local resteraunts and shopping and the staff members were great. I couldn't ask for anything else. Definitely recommend this hotel in KC.

Took the kids to stay where we could see the Plaza Lights. Even though this hotel is not right on the Plaza, they do have rooms that still provide a nice view of the lights. Staff was very nice and room was updated and very functional. Overall a very nice stay. One word of warning, the pool is really a lap pool, not the best for small children.

I arrived at the hotel from a funeral, unfortunately the same weekend as New Year's Eve. When I checked in, the desk clerk asked if I was self parking or valet parking. I said I would park myself and he instructed me how to enter the garage. The arm gate was raised with no attendant, so I parked, Upon leaving the hotel, I saw on my bill $14 a day for parking. When I asked the desk clerk about this saying that is was implied that it was a guest amenity, he said prices were clearly marked on all the garage entrances. I stayed on the 5th floor which upon leaving the elevator smells like feces or an open sewer. Having read older reviews of this hotel, there are several others who make the same claim. My room had a picture missing, with anchor hooks exposed, the desk chair was broken, mirror frame chipped, and when I took a shower, I stood in three inches of my own bath water. The windows were screwed shut, so escaping the poo smell from the hall I had to play the A/C - Heater game to try and push fresh temperate air into my room. Lastly, a group of white trash drunks, I'd say about 8 of them in about three rooms on our floor came home late on New Year's Eve yelling and fighting at the top of their lungs. Several other guests poked out of their rooms asking them to be quiet. Finally I called the front desk and told them to do something, or I'd call the police. It took 45 minutes for a security guard to finally arrive and tell them to quiet down. All in all, these crooks are in the money making business, not the hospitality business. NOT a three star hotel, not worth the money.