How does Marriott treat you as an elite?

[amaroo]

Wow, don't complain! For two nights, two rooms i thought it would be around 10 - 15,000! they probably added a late fee penalty.......

Doesn’t look like much of a bonus..

 

[cove]

I am at a Renaissance in Long Beach CA for 3 nights. Parking is $32 a day but we do have a conference room rate and the conference hall is just across the road. I am just a member of Marriott and collect a few points for a free night or two.

 

[leadman]

11/27/2018 Hotel Stay* Sheraton Skyline Hotel London Heathrow
11/24/2018 - 11/25/2018

+2,953 Points

(1,116 Base + 837 Elite + 1,000 Extra)

This was for one night recently and a one night stay ranges from 2500 to 6000. I'm Pt so i get the top bonus points. I think you got a bonus over bonus! Might be a good idea to close the thread!!!!!!!

 

[dairyfloss]

@amaroo - On that base earn of 50,452, you would have needed to spend US$2,522.60 across both rooms (incl. other charges at the hotel) per night... possible?

 

[lilkid28]

Platinum Elite stayed at Ritz Carlton Pudong Shanghai .... booked one suite and one room with club access - received exactly what I booked. Spectacular hotel with absolutely stunning views.

Only complaint - the stay was early Oct, and today I was finally awarded the points, that's basically 10 weeks. Ended up with 78,678 points for a two night stay. No idea if that's correct or not - how does one calculate these things?

Marriott sure treats you well as an Elite.

 

[amaroo]

@amaroo - On that base earn of 50,452, you would have needed to spend US$2,522.60 across both rooms (incl. other charges at the hotel) per night... possible?

Can't recall spending that much - will need to go and have a look at the CC statement.

 

[Matt_01]

Can't recall spending that much - will need to go and have a look at the CC statement.

I have a vague recollection of an offer from Marriott for bookings between Oct-Dec that may have included bonus points but may be wrong. We were in Hong Kong late September and Beijing in early October.

OT also when we were in HK prior going to CN we were staying at the Marriott, we were kicked out of the lounge around 6 or 6:30 pm due to my daughter being a minor. As a result we only stayed there 2 nights before checking out early and moving to the Conrad which is next door as the Hilton chain will let her stay in the lounge. Not sure if the minors must be out by 6pm this is a unique Marriott rule, if it is it will influence hotel choice when travelling as a family.

@dairyfloss thanks for the additional information. This is interesting to know as I based on your calculations and knowing the costs to stay at said hotel the Marriott rewards program seems to be better value for points earn than Hilton when it comes to booking more than one room during the stay.

As I am Marriott P and Hilton D I am not too fussed which chain I stay with.

 

[amaroo]

OT also when we were in HK prior going to CN we were staying at the Marriott, we were kicked out of the lounge around 6 or 6:30 pm due to my daughter being a minor. As a result we only stayed there 2 nights before checking out early and moving to the Conrad which is next door as the Hilton chain will let her stay in the lounge. Not sure if the minors must be out by 6pm this is a unique Marriott rule, if it is it will influence hotel choice when travelling as a family.

That really is very poor! Would be enough to see me change brands .... have visited all sorts of clubs / lounges with my kids and have never experienced this issue. Fair enough places like Park Hyatt Tokyo, where the club is a bar..... but never a stand alone lounge.

FWIW club access at the RC Shanghai is room / suite based... no level of "public" status will get you in. It's a lovely lounge with terrific views. Well worth spending the coin on a room/suite type to get access.

 

[dairyfloss]

OT also when we were in HK prior going to CN we were staying at the Marriott, we were kicked out of the lounge around 6 or 6:30 pm due to my daughter being a minor. As a result we only stayed there 2 nights before checking out early and moving to the Conrad which is next door as the Hilton chain will let her stay in the lounge. Not sure if the minors must be out by 6pm this is a unique Marriott rule, if it is it will influence hotel choice when travelling as a family.

JW Marriott Singapore South Beach makes a big deal of this on booking, and in all correspondence leading up to stay... they state "Children below 12 years of age are not allowed in the Executive Lounge after 7pm". This said, I've not had my minor with me when staying there, and not noticed if others did or didn't either, so can't say whether it's actually enforced.

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[Matt_01]

That really is very poor! Would be enough to see me change brands .... have visited all sorts of clubs / lounges with my kids and have never experienced this issue. Fair enough places like Park Hyatt Tokyo, where the club is a bar..... but never a stand alone lounge.

FWIW club access at the RC Shanghai is room / suite based... no level of "public" status will get you in. It's a lovely lounge with terrific views. Well worth spending the coin on a room/suite type to get access.

In all fairness to the HK Marriott they did advise us on arrival about the minors (under 12) and the lounge policy on arrival. I thought this may have been a new thing as the lounge had moved location from what I knew up on L35/36 or around those floors down to L4/5 area some time in the previous 4 weeks since I last stayed there. BTW the new lounge is much larger and a lot nicer than the previous club lounge.

I was not sure if this was a HK local law so I wandered over to the Conrad and asked them about local laws regarding minors in lounges and the Conrad indicated there were none. That evening the Marriott lounge the staff did inform us that my daughter could only stay to 6pm, we tried it on but around 6:30 was told my daughter had to leave. Checked out the following morning and checked into the Conrad. I also cancelled the following weeks Marriott Beijing bookings and changed to Hilton.

In all honesty these are first world problems. I have stayed in these properties on a number of occasions but it is normally solo travel and have not thought to ask about club rules regarding minors access. We have never had issues at the Hilton other than locations that have local laws in regards to minors and establishment categorisation that serve alcohol e.g. Canada's Laws in places like Quebec.

Also I am aware of the RC rules on club access and when I stay with them book club rooms or suites.

JW Marriott Singapore South Beach makes a big deal of this on booking, and in all correspondence leading up to stay... they state "Children below 12 years of age are not allowed in the Executive Lounge after 7pm". This said, I've not had my minor with me when staying there, and not noticed if others did or didn't either, so can't say whether it's actually enforced.

Cheers,
Matt.

Thanks for the the information above. Provided guests are made aware of the rules in advance more than happy as one can make choices based on the information provided. Case example we are off to Japan in the next 8 weeks and booked into Tokyo Hilton. The Hilton has already advised us the lounge is being renovated during our stay. Alternative arrangements have been offered however this includes a bar that my daughter can not stay in after 6pm.

I was considering changing to the RC or Marriott in Tokyo, however based on my HK experience and your post above we will most likely end up in the Conrad or the Shangri-La.

 

[Matt_01]

Also I did not mean to hijack the thread. My experience with the Marriott/RC/SPG chain is that in most cases I book the cheapest room room possible and have been upgraded to larger rooms, corner rooms or a suite for most bookings.

 

[amaroo]

We're trialing moving away from the big branded loyalty schemes and booking direct via a Virtuoso agent. Have booked four properties over the next 4 weeks. From what I can see even when you stay in a big brand property the Virtuoso benefits exceed what they give their top tier elites.... particular when there is no lounge / club.

 

[dairyfloss]

We're trialing moving away from the big branded loyalty schemes and booking direct via a Virtuoso agent. Have booked four properties over the next 4 weeks. From what I can see even when you stay in a big brand property the Virtuoso benefits exceed what they give their top tier elites.... particular when there is no lounge / club.

At the risk of going OT a little... is there a way to book hotels with a Virtuoso agent online, i.e. self-service? Or you need to have and get in touch with a real person? I prefer to research and make my bookings on the spot, and at all hours of the day and night.

 

[amaroo]

At the risk of going OT a little... is there a way to book hotels with a Virtuoso agent online, i.e. self-service? Or you need to have and get in touch with a real person? I prefer to research and make my bookings on the spot, and at all hours of the day and night.

Afraid it's an agent only thing. I do all my own research and tell the agent what to do.

Another benefit of Virtuoso - when booking two or more rooms, everyone gets the benefits as they flow through to the room occupants I.E breakfast, hotel credit (normally US100 per room), upgrades, early/late check in/out, etc

 

[LadyC]

At the risk of going OT a little... is there a way to book hotels with a Virtuoso agent online, i.e. self-service? Or you need to have and get in touch with a real person? I prefer to research and make my bookings on the spot, and at all hours of the day and night.

Have a look at this website. Luxury Travel Agency - Luxury Hotels, Online Booking, Virtuoso Rates, Reviews - Classic Travel

They are Virtuoso but don't necessarily offer the Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Starwood Luxury Privileges etc online so it can depend upon what hotels you are looking at.

BTW I haven't booked with them but use them to check Virtuoso pricing (which can be different to cheap OTA rates due to add ons)

 

[Bell21]

Hope below is still relevant to this thread. Recent gold elite member and first time experience using sheraton with this status.

Sheraton denarau villas - 20.12.18 to 23.12.18. 2 bedroom villa. room upgrade (garden to lagoon view) and late check-out both confirmed prior to arrival. 15 per cent discount offer to gold and above on resort meals, and surprised with free dessert tool - a nice start

Sheraton waikiki - 23.12.18 to 26.12.18. Ohana suite. 1 day to go but very impressed so far especially given its xmas week - both early check-in and late check-out granted prior to arrival (no room upgrade but would've turned it down anyway as this is best suite for us), and a great surprise gift (a one-off I think that I think was just lucky and I wouldnt expect again). Also has lounge access for everyone in suite but this is not related to gold status.

One more sheraton to try this week but a category 5 and don't need early check-in, late check-out or room upgrade (they provided a room upgrade prior to gold status)

Fantastic experience so far with marriott --- I didn't really value gold status when I got my amex Plat card but I certainly do now

 

[Bell21]

Lol - that is meant to say 'free dessert tool'

 

[Bell21]

Lol - that is meant to say 'free dessert tool'

Too!!

 

[annielee]

Just want to share some experience last month in Japan.

Marriott Courtyard Ginza (1night)
Points + Pay
Booked basic room, upgraded to Deluxe (No lounge)
Welcome gift and snacks for 2pax in the room

Marriott Courtyard Shin-Osaka (7 nights using the travel package cert)
Booked basic room, got upgraded to Deluxe, asked about suite availability, informed not available for 7 nights, enquire for few nights and got it for the last 4 nights but will need to move the luggage, which is not an issue
Lounge on site is quite generous with a lot on offer for the day (tea break, evening snack, supper)

This will be my last year as Platinum elite, not sure how im going to maintain the status after that...

 

[lilkid28]

My experience in 2018 as Platinum Elite (did a Platinum challenge/mattress run of 3 nights @$100-120 p/n in Sheraton Docklands in may 2017)

Status: Platinum Elite
Property: JW Marriott Hong Kong
When: 23/09/18 - 30/09/18
Booked: Deluxe Room (Base) using 7 night travel package certificate
Upgrade: JW Suite (5 nights). Enquired about Suite upgrade upon check-in, was told no rooms available (matched what I saw on the app) However, they advised and provided upgrade to JW Suite for last 5 nights, had to move bags but happily did so.
Received: 4pm late checkout, lounge access with daily breakfast, hors d'oeuvre, evening coughtail. Definitely one of the best hotel lounges

Status: Platinum Elite
Property: Prince de Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris
When: 28/12/18 - 02/01/19
Booked: Art Deco Room (Base) for 60,000 points x 4 nights (5th night free). Was retailing for 700 Euro/ AUD1100+ per night
Upgrade: Mosaic Suite, reflected 2 days before check-in on the mobile app. Was retailing for 1100 Euro/ AUD1750 per night
Received: 4pm late checkout, daily continental breakfast for 2 (bread, cereal and pastries)

This is my first year as Platinum Elite and definitely had a good experience both trips. Won't be able to maintain Platinum after March 2019.

Perhaps next time would be after another Platinum challenge (I think once every 3 years?).