Gig103

I am attending a wedding soon and the bridal-party group rate is with a Marriott Renaissance. I just achieved Gold Elite via an SPG match and logged in to see a few things

1) The prepaid rate is $15 under the group rate
2) I will now qualify for included breakfast

The question for the experts here is how upgrades work. If I change to the prepaid rate (only 2 weeks out, airplane tickets booked) will I lose out on an upgrade opportunity? And are upgrades one-category or best available? I'd pay the extra $10 for a deluxe room if it means they'll boost me to the club level, but if the CL is an option anyway I'll stay in my current reservation.

davie355

I don't know about upgrades, but as Gold, you are guaranteed lounge access even if you do not stay on the club level.

MSPeconomist

Would the prepaid rate be booked through the Marriott website?

Do you know whether your group rate earns points etc. for the guest (and not the bride)? Sometimes the contract specifies no points and no elite benefits, etc.

Gig103

The prepaid would be right from the Marriott website and it's cheaper than the group rate. So I was planning to swap since the group rate was/is refundable. I just was trying to figure out if I should book the cheapest and see what upgrade is available at check-in, or go for the middle rate.

joshua362

Couple of things, upgrades at Marriott are very hit & miss but it shouldn't matter what rate or points that you book. If 100% certain of going and it won't hurt the bridal party (sometimes they have minimums), save some $.

Wedding is likely to be on the weekend? Club level nothing special and Lounge is likely to be closed and weekend "breakfast" can be anything from a few muffins & coffee in a room to a full spread in the restaurant and anything in between (including an upcharge or just some points). Call & ask if that important to you as I screwed up, traveled 3000 miles to learn the lounge was recently closed and points were given in lieu of a $40pp breakfast.

Gotta love that Marriott inconsistency...

Gig103

Thanks Joshua. I went for the cheapest nonrefundable then, saved $15/night which almost covers the parking fee. I did confirm that the Gold/Plat breakfast is in the club lounge and has some hot items too.

C17PSGR

Also, I don't think the rates matter for upgrade purposes.

Presumably, on a weekend, they'll upgrade you to the concierge lounge floor. In some hotels, those rooms are actually nicer. In other hotels, they are the same except for bottled water and a couple of other amenities in the room.

am13

Cannot speak to upgrades as a gold, but as plat I cannot remember the last time I did NOT get a room on the executive level at a full-service hotel regardless of the rate booked...even when booked via sites like hotwire. I think it was over a year ago at the CLE Marriott when everything was snowed in and I was on an award stay. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I doubt you'll have much of an issue.

hhoope01

While there can be instances of no points or night/stay credits, I know of no instances where elite benefits would be withheld. If you give them your MR#, you should always still get elite benefits.

joshua362

Complete opposite of my general experience, just happened again to me last week where despite PP and a note within the res, I had to beg at check-in to change to a concierge level room (St Pete-CLW Marriott).

Some (few) properties automatically prioritize rooms, most don't IME and look at you like a deer in the headlights when you ask if the requested upgrade or concierge level room has come through.

The exception is a handful of Marriott's where I stay 30+ night per year but even then I email in advance to request a specific room.

pinniped

Upgrades wouldn't factor into my decision-making with anything Marriott. Significant upgrades are rare; at many places because they genuinely don't exist. (Lots of Marriotts are built with few suites - often confirmed when you go and try to book one with cash.)

As a Gold, I always get my bed/smoke preference (this is a big plus over both HH and SPG) and usually on the concierge level or close to it. The rate you select wouldn't affect this, although by booking the direct Marriott.com rate you eliminate any chance that the group rate had a weird provision in it that the points wouldn't be earned.

SkiAdcock

The suite thing varies. I know an elite who booked an Autograph Collection in Asia on a $100LNF & was upgraded to a suite; stay starts tomorrow I think. Has never stayed there before & didn't reach out to the property.

I also agree w/ pinniped that if there are very few suites, odds of getting one go down significantly. If there are only 4 suites, not all elites are going to get one. If there are 30 then better odds.

I enjoy suites, but I like having exec lounge access more, especially w/ int'l properties. Domestic lounges really vary.

General policy is if one truly knows they're doing a trip & it won't screw up a wedding block, etc, then going w/ a less expensive alternative is a valid alternative, especially if the dif in rate helps cover the cost of parking.

Cheers.

catocony

Did you confirm that the lounge is open for breakfast on the weekends? Many are closed from Friday mid-day to Sunday evening. Yes, Marriott will sell weekend specials touting the concierge lounge even when the lounge is closed.

If the lounge is closed, ask them what do they do for Golds on the weekend. Most will give you vouchers to the restaurant for use at the buffet there. Some will just give you points and you're on your own for breakfast.

One tip to Marriott CL newbies - if you're there over a weekend with a closed lounge, and you check in prior to Thursday night, on Friday morning, load up on drinks and stuff. Some lounges, they're locked from mid-day Friday until Sunday.

However, some lounges may be semi-open on weekends, as in you can get in to get drinks out of the fridge and maybe some snacks they put out like fruit, bags of chips, that kind of things. No hot food, no one working the lounge, just a place to get some bottles of water or cans of soda. Ask beforehand so there are no surprises.

Having a room on the concierge level isn't really a big deal. It's the same room as elsewhere. You have more convenient access to the lounge since you don't have to walk the stairs or take the elevator, but if you get a room right by the lounge it can pretty noisy.

rasheed

I am going to throw a flag here.

I recently saw a sheet of paper at an overseas property that indicated for a Gold member to be allowed one guest and a Platinum member to be allowed two guests.

However, if you are assigned a Concierge Level (or labeled) room, you would have access for the people in your party as long as you are within the allowed capacity of the room(s).

We all know that enforcement of executive lounge use is not very consistent, but if there was ever a time for Marriott to be more strict and you had a larger group, an assigned CL room would help in many ways. Of note, most higher level rooms (suites/etc.) also include the CL access language in the room description.

Rasheed

catocony

I've never seen that myself, and I've stayed at over 100 full-service properties around the world. It might be a weird corner case, certainly not enforced in the US which is where I assume the OP is staying.