No rants or raves, just an interesting observation.

A few months ago I was traveling on the East Coast, and found myself at the Newark Airport with a six hour layover (well, a small rant – thanks United!). Rather than hang around the airport I got on the Marriott shuttle to the Newark Marriott hotel. I went to the front desk and spoke with a gentleman who turned out to be the front desk supervisor. I showed him my Platinum card, explained I had checked out of a Marriott property that morning, would check into another one that evening, and would be returning through Newark in two days and would be checking into his hotel at that time. I asked if I could wait in the concierge lounge before going back to the airport for my flight.

In short, he did not accommodate my request, explaining that only guests currently staying at the hotel could use the lounge. He handled the situation very professionally, and I had no complaints about how I was treated, as he volunteered to let me find a quiet corner of the coffee shop to wait, and even bought lunch for me. I didn’t think much more about it until yesterday.

My wife and I are up in San Francisco (at the very nice Residence Inn at Oyster Point), using my weekend promo cert, and celebrating her 50th birthday. Yesterday we literally walked from one side of SF to the other, eventually winding up passing by the downtown SF Marriott. On a whim we walked in, I approached the front desk, showed by Platinum card, explained we were staying at a different property, but wondered if we could visit the lounge (living in the SF bay area I don’t get to stay at this hotel, and I’ve heard it’s really got a great view from the lounge).

The gentleman and desk replied “…of course, you are welcome to use our lounges any time, any where you are; we appreciate your loyalty”. Went up, relaxed in the lounge a while, enjoyed the view (and some water), and continued on our way to Pac Bell park to watch Barry Bonds park number 648 in the water! A very nice birthday for my wife.

As I said, no rants or raves, no issues with the treatment, just interesting to get the divergent feedback.