Marriott sets the bar pretty low regarding perks for elite members. However, some hotels manage to underperform and not provide the few things that are promised.
With our Platinum status, Marriott provides the following:
- Enhanced Room Upgrade
- Welcome Gift Choice
- Lounge Access
- 4 p.m. Late Checkout
- Complimentary Enhanced In-Room Internet
Before I give Marriott too much credit, I didn’t push my luck, but I’ll explain later.
As I mentioned in a previous post, when we flew to New York City, we arrived at our hotel around 3 am, due to a flight delay. While the computer initially had problems dealing with that, our bill eventually got straightened out. We received our three nights of stay credits, 500 bonus points (which we picked as our welcome amenity over a food/bar credit) and 50% extra points.
When we arrived at the room, we logged into the enhanced internet with no problems. It was plenty fast for our needs. Also, there was no hotel lounge for us to access but there was a large seating area with food and plenty of space to work/relax.
For the room upgrade, I applied three Suite Night Awards that had been extended until June of this year. We were staying at a Residence Inn so there were no suites, but we were confirmed into a room with a view of Times Square. I include this as a win because many people say their SNA requests never clear and go to waste.
Finally, there’s the benefit that’s the least likely to be honored – late checkout.
The evening before we left the hotel, I went to the front desk and asked if we could get a late checkout. I knew we were going to leave before 4pm and I didn’t want to mess up any room assignments so I asked for a 1pm checkout. The agent clicked around a few seconds and said we were all set.
I also made one additional request of the hotel before our stay, which was noted on our reservation and provided when we checked in.
I don’t have many expectations when staying with Marriott, even with status. With so many people giving them grief, I wanted to point out that most stays end up with guests getting what they promised. Even if, to begin with, that’s not very much. As bloggers, we tend to focus on the extremes of when a stay is fantastic or horrible. The majority of hotel stays are in the middle and all you can ask is to get what you were promised.
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3 comments
I find that is the secret to being pleased with Bonvoy. I’m a lifetime platinum and have very low expectations, so whatever I get is a win!
The fact that Marriott fulfilling their basic promises is worthy of a blog headline tells me all I need to know about the integrity of their company.
The sad thing is the Starwood program really did live up to its promises and in many cases, consistently over-achieved, especially in Europe. I am a lifetime Titanium and find they just barely deliver on what they promise.