Thanks for all the comments. First, I should say that I did not leave it until after the arrival date to call about this - reservation is not until tomorrow (Monday). Called Renaissance several times and situation is unresolved:
1) Called Renaissance worldwide number. Agent denied that there was any special policy in place for eruption induced disruption, i.e. no refund. Umn... said thanks and hung up.
2) Called Hotel (Renaissance LHR) directly, but was transfered to Renaissance Worldwide! This time, agent said there was indeed a policy - that it was being dealt with on a case by case basis by "Marriott Customer Care." However, transfer to them failed...
3) Called a Marriott Customer line. Was told that agent #2 was correct, but that it was some special office to which she would have to transfer me - this time call transfer worked. However, turns out that this "Customer Care Office" is not empowered to actually deal with this. They are only "documenting" cases, and then contacting hotels, who make decision on case-by-case decision. She tried to contact Hotel again to query their policy, but office is closed by now.
Overall, a very uninspiring interaction. Hilton has a clear, uniform policy - why all the run-around with Marriott/Renaissance? I have stayed at the Renaissance before, won't be in future unless they match Hilton, who are my other main provider in LHR.
Last edited by Wexflyer; Apr 20, 2010 at 10:09 pm