Marriott it trying to tie Marriott Rewards and MCVI closer together.
*The Platinum Arrival gift of 500 points is relatively new (in the past 6-18 months)
*I think owners, regardless of status level, are highest on the cue (room location, checkin, checkout, etc).
*Upgrades have happened (view and/or villa size), but again, based upon availability & spot in the cue. Since you're probably there for a week there is less likelihood of open availability for your entire stay.
*I've found that Marriott (and most lodging establishments) want the customer to have a positive experience and will generally try to extend a checkout - even if you have no status. The ultimate extension my be more dependant upon occupancy & staffing than your actual reward level with MR.
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- Yes, it seems that the platinum arrival gift is 500 points with no choice of anything else (From my 2 stays this year).
- I'm not an owner but would hope I get the room I bought and pay maintenance fees for!!
- In June I had two reservations at the same MVCI - it was 40-50% full. My longer reservation - 7 nights - had a plunge pool. My shorter reservation - 2 nights - didn't. They told me they had plunge pool rooms available - but wouldn't consider upgrading me (platinum) as "this isn't run as a Marriott"
- On checkout I was refused, so I went to the front desk - since I was told to wait 4 hours when switching rooms (to 3pm to accomodate "someone checking out late"), I simply thanked them for the late checkout and asked that the manager come to my room to explain if there was a problem (and even managed to do it politely)

After having stayed at two MVCI's this year, my opinion is that staying is only a good idea if you have children and need the second room. And as to cleaning the room, it took housekeeping about 20 minutes to clean our room each day.....