How does Marriott treat you as an elite?

[lilkid28]

Just a quick follow up from this, which I hadn’t expected so soon… I gave the same feedback as posted above to the property just yesterday, and to their credit, they appear to be taking it seriously, arranging for hotel and ops management to review what I have said, and also offered me a bunch of points as a token of appreciation for the time taken to prepare and provide the feedback as I did.

I’ve accepted that token, which I’ll bundle with my few remaining Bonvoy points on a night or two somewhere more basic on a ‘boys weekend’ or something.

Cheers,
Matt.

How many points did they comp?

I stayed at St Regis Langkawi in 2022, the 'basic' rooms, and they were great for me and the wife.

 

[dairyfloss]

How many points did they comp?

I stayed at St Regis Langkawi in 2022, the 'basic' rooms, and they were great for me and the wife.

100K, which is less than the points component of the stay, but still a reasonable number

 

[mattr00]

Status: Platinum Elite
Property: Sheraton Sydney
Date: Saturday 2 Sep - Monday 4 Sep
Booked: City Side Room King
Received: Grand Executive Park View

Pretty good stay all round. We had really early check in (like 11am) which they were happy to accommodate plus 4pm check out. The “Grand Executive” room type, as far as I can tell, is just a higher floor. Good upgrade nonetheless for a weekend. Had some complimentary plate of chocolates and a bottle of red as a welcome gift as well.

Had a room change due to noisy elevator which happened reasonably quickly. Took the restaurant breakfast instead of points and it was fine - pretty good for what it is but didn’t blow me away.

The lounge was awesome. Definitely can get a bit busy but we found a table without too much fuss. The terrace area has some great view of Hyde Park if you can snag a table there. Drinks options were good - table service but I found myself having to get up and find a staff most of the time. Can do most mixed in coughtails for you. Food options were rotating, but there were mini burgers, meat pies, oysters, prawn and salmon nigiri, plus desserts (brownies, small cakes etc). Can easily fill up on this and call it a night (especially if you blew your allowance on lunch)

The hotel is strangely showing it’s age a little bit though. It went through a major renovation in 2018, but aspects of it just seems older than it should be? The bathroom in particular didn’t seem like it’s only 5 years old. Not a big deal in any way, just something I noticed.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

I continue to really value Marriott status as an Ambassador.

Sheraton LAX
Got an 8pm checkout and corner suite with a great runway view on points redemption which was much appreciated




Back at the Ritz Carlton this week. Always excellent service and great view. As is documented, suite upgrades and benefits are carved out but when travelling for work I’m not so concerned. Probably wouldn’t stay here on personal.

 

[pauly7]

Didn’t want to start a new thread so just quickly does anyone have an email address for Le Meridien Melbourne by chance? Staying there in a few weeks have a question for them. Thanks.

 

[knagelli]

Status: Gold Elite
Property: Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas
Date: 3 - 7 Nov 2023
Booked: Garden View Room
Received: Lagoon Access/View Room

Overall it was a decent stay but the air-con in the room was too noisy. We had two different bookings and requested to be connected which was done promptly so we did not have to change rooms midway.

However two concerns issues during our stay - the house keeping staff did a pretty okay job by setting up the room but leaving the used coffee cups as is without replacing them on the third and fourth day. And they charged me for a mini bar item which was not there in the first place at time of checkin ( I had to ask them to remove which was addressed later as we have not used the minibar).

The room was okay from inside but looked a bit dated from outside. Even though the lagoon/pool timings were from 6:30 AM - 8:30 PM , there was no lights around the pool area and it was pretty dark past sunset unless you open the doors of your room to have some light.

Was provided a bottle of a premium champagne with a personal welcome note.

 

[siri]

I suggest, you look into Hyatt Hotel program. They always looked after me even when major exhibitions that took all hotel rooms by the attendees . Also they never took my points away either since I almost had million Hyatt points and always rooms were there to use with points. I passed lots of points to my daughter in UK and it can be done easily as well.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

I’m just catching up on recent posts and read Matt’s recent review. I think it’s very unfair to the Marriott program.

Gold is a fairly mid tier status and the properties chosen are quite low on the spectrum in terms of their ability to offer a differentiated service. I’m a bit surprised at the article given the experience of the author.

I think Marriott’s reach and general commitment to their guaranteed perks at the platinum and above tier are unparalleled. The others are very wishy washy at best in terms of what is absolutely guaranteed.

 

[dajop]

I think Marriott’s reach and general commitment to their guaranteed perks at the platinum and above tier are unparalleled. The others are very wishy washy at best in terms of what is absolutely guaranteed.

Generally speaking I simultaneously agree and disagree with this specific comment. I'm now LTG after 8 years of being platinum pre-Covid (I missed the extension bonanza as I dropped at the end of 2019 after concentrating on my partners' membership who is Titanium).

Outside the US, and particularly in Asia Pacific region (yes, including Australia), Marriott hotels provide the guaranteed and perks and more, and are excellent at recognising status, even golds.

Inside the US, well our experience is not as fantastic, and often feels like being platinum or titanium is the entry level, with so many status holders there.

One thing we find is that last minute bookings (day of arrival) miss the ( night-auditor ??) processing that allocates upgrades and alerts housekeeping to small perks (like in room welcome gestures such as chocolates, which of course aren't guaranteed), and sometimes don't even to seem to have record of Bonvoy status. But I can't recall any such problems with advance bookings.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

I probably should’ve caveated the above post with YMMV to be safe given the reactions.

I had some recent stays in New York and never found any issues with the guaranteed benefits offered by the specific hotel

 

[QF_Flyer]

I suggest, you look into Hyatt Hotel program. They always looked after me even when major exhibitions that took all hotel rooms by the attendees . Also they never took my points away either since I almost had million Hyatt points and always rooms were there to use with points. I passed lots of points to my daughter in UK and it can be done easily as well.

The problem here is that, unless you have access to US credit cards, or stay in Hyatts anyway, it's a very difficult program to engage with.

 

[QF_Flyer]

I’m just catching up on recent posts and read Matt’s recent review. I think it’s very unfair to the Marriott program.

Gold is a fairly mid tier status and the properties chosen are quite low on the spectrum in terms of their ability to offer a differentiated service. I’m a bit surprised at the article given the experience of the author.

I think Marriott’s reach and general commitment to their guaranteed perks at the platinum and above tier are unparalleled. The others are very wishy washy at best in terms of what is absolutely guaranteed.

I'm not sure. I agree that they're lower end hotels, but my experience as Marriott Gold (even back when Gold meant something, i.e. back in the Marriott Rewards days, pre-Bonvoy) it's always been a bit of a weak program for me, vs Hilton & IHG, which I've generally had good experiences with (and as a result stayed loyal to) - also more recently ALL too.

I am considering giving Marriott another chance, but it depends on whether I decide to take out the Bonvoy Brilliant card (hence Platinum status) or not. Either way I need to narrow down my hotel spectrum, as maintaining top-tier with Hilton, IHG and ALL (Platinum with the latter, Diamond doesn't even come into play, nor does it offer anything extra I really care about) is going to become unsustainable.

 

[Daver6]

I’m just catching up on recent posts and read Matt’s recent review. I think it’s very unfair to the Marriott program.

Gold is a fairly mid tier status and the properties chosen are quite low on the spectrum in terms of their ability to offer a differentiated service. I’m a bit surprised at the article given the experience of the author.

I think Marriott’s reach and general commitment to their guaranteed perks at the platinum and above tier are unparalleled. The others are very wishy washy at best in terms of what is absolutely guaranteed.

I tend to agree with Matt as a gold. The benefits at gold are fairly worthless at best (especially compared to HH or ALL which I'm familiar with). The room upgrades as gold for me have been non-existent. The best I've ever got is a different view, same room type. Yes, I know that's all I should expect but with ALL and HH I've actually received proper upgrades in the past when at the second lowest level.

My experience has been at Marriott and JW Marriotts in Singapore, Canada, US and UAE. The biggest insult was at the JW Marriott in Singapore where I was "upgraded" to an executive room but told no access to the lounge. What's the point? It's the same room then with the only extra benefit denied. As a HH Gold when upgraded to an executive room it came with lounge access.

 

[QF_Flyer]

I tend to agree with Matt as a gold. The benefits at gold are fairly worthless at best (especially compared to HH or ALL which I'm familiar with). The room upgrades as gold for me have been non-existent. The best I've ever got is a different view, same room type. Yes, I know that's all I should expect but with ALL and HH I've actually received proper upgrades in the past when at the second lowest level.

My experience has been at Marriott and JW Marriotts in Singapore, Canada, US and UAE. The biggest insult was at the JW Marriott in Singapore where I was "upgraded" to an executive room but told no access to the lounge. What's the point? It's the same room then with the only extra benefit denied. As a HH Gold when upgraded to an executive room it came with lounge access.

The upgrading to exec level rooms but without exec benefits is a bugbear of mine, IHG do this too and I hate it! In fairness, IHG do make it clear that's the case. But I agree, if you're upgraded to an Exec/Club level room, it should include the benefits you'd get if you'd booked it, or just don't bother, especially if it's otherwise the same room.

Hilton make it clear that Golds only get lounge access if upgraded to an Exec level room, but at least do guarantee access if you do get said upgrade (as a Diamond I've never been kept in a non-exec level room to benefit from the guaranteed access, and when I was Gold I was never not upgraded, either way, no complaints from me in that respect).

 

[_TheTraveller_]

I also second Matt's review of Marriot's Gold status. Even at Westins I have instances benefits were ignored/not applied. I have no expectations when staying at Marriott properties. In my limited experience, I've found IHG Plat/HH Gold/ALL Gold more generous in applying benefits.

For those who are travelling on their own dime or have mid-tier statuses from credit cards, I would agree that Marriott is probably the weakest and isn't worth pursing. I don't doubt that many at the platinum+ levels are receiving excellent recognition and benefits but that's probably not representative of most experiences.

 

[siri]

The problem here is that, unless you have access to US credit cards, or stay in Hyatts anyway, it's a very difficult program to engage with.

??, This is not the case since you can register with any card.. Where did you get this info? Pls go to Hyatt web and register.. Misinformation does not help. Amex , Visa, MC are all international networks.

 

[_TheTraveller_]

??, This is not the case since you can register with any card.. Where did you get this info? Pls go to Hyatt web and register.. Misinformation does not help. Amex , Visa, MC are all international networks.

They're talking about the ability to earn points via Hyatt branded credit cards. I would agree that it's difficult to engagement with the program when they don't have hotels available where I would like to stay or only have high-end hotels.

For Australians it's definitely more difficult to engage with Hyatt in comparison to someone in the US.

 

[siri]

They're talking about the ability to earn points via Hyatt branded credit cards. I would agree that it's difficult to engagement with the program when they don't have hotels available where I would like to stay or only have high-end hotels.

For Australians it's definitely more difficult to engage with Hyatt in comparison to someone in the US.

Sorry, i was not talking about US credit cards, I was referring to Hyatt membership and getting points while staying… They treat you better than any other.. like Hilton , Shangrilla etc..

 

[drron]

Sorry, i was not talking about US credit cards, I was referring to Hyatt membership and getting points while staying… They treat you better than any other.. like Hilton , Shangrilla etc..

There are just too few of them where we want to travel. a few years ago I attempted to get status and eventually just gave up.

 

[Daver6]

Status: Gold Elite
Property: Sheraton Grand Macao
Date: Dec 2023
Booked: Deluxe king (base room)
Received: As booked

Check-in area was a zoo with a massive line. Turns out there is a separate Bonvoy elite area with a much shorter queue but hardly fast. My check-in at the counter must have taken 15 minutes at least. Got some cookies due to status. Not able to upgrade me to even a higher floor. Continues to show me that gold benefits with Marriott are worthless.