Marriott's directive not to overachieve, is alive and well at the NY Marriott Marquis (Times Square). Haven't been there since summer '07. Talk about downgrades:

Regular bottled water no longer offered. If you don't want sparkling water (Pellegrino) you must get water from a water dispenser! According to the attendant, they no longer offer individual bottles of regular water and the Pellegrino will be discontinued later this Spring. Sodas will also be discontinued once contract with Pepsi is up this summer. Attendant indicated they may install a soft drink dipenser as the cost per beverage is a lot cheaper than the 12oz cans they offer now.


Breakfast - scrambled eggs, no bacon or other meat. Now, Mini-bagels with large tub of cream cheese instead of individual packets. Mini croissants and mini muffins. No hot oatmeal, instant only. Fruit only consists of Honeydew Melon or canteloupe. No strawberries, pineapple etc. (Apples and bananas were available.)

Lounge very busy Monday and Tuesday (4/6 & 4/7) due to Spring Break. Long Line (10 min) for eggs, bagels, etc. At 9:25am while there still was a line of 10 people, lounge attendants walked through lounge stating, "Last call for breakfast, breakfast ends at 9:30am, if you want breakfast please get in line now!" Really uncalled for considering how crowded the lounge was at that time and the fact that there was not one open table in the lounge, people were standing up eating, etc...

Evening - appetizers consisted of one meat and one vegetarian item, brie, a swiss cheese block, and crackers. No veggie tray or other items offered. No chips, nuts or other snack type items offered.

Dessert - cookies and brownies only. No cheesecake (which was offered every night during my last stay), no other type of cakes or dessert items. offered. (Cookies and brownies are the same as those offered to conference attendees during the afternoon break.)

Basically, there is nothing to set the NY Marriott Marquis CL apart from any other FS Marriott CL in Kansas City, Dallas, or any place else. I would be very disappointed if I paid $70 per night to upgrade to the concierge level and access the CL as some foreign visitors from the UK had.


Regards,

RIP...