Not sure what you know about the budgets for Marriott Desert Springs Villas I, but the owners of Villas I have provided the JW Marriott Desert Springs Hotel with a consistent source of income for the past 20 years, so that the Villas I owners and guests could use the hotel spa and recreational facilities. I don't remember the exact details, but the math went something to the effect of 250 villas x 51 weeks x $45.00 per villa/week; a very solid source of income to the hotel (exclusive of all of the additional incidental charges that the Villas I owners and guests generated at the hotel while they were on the hotel's grounds). Instead, for reasons that I do not believe can be attributed to the funding source, the hotel owners (acting on behalf of Marriott (the franchise whose name hangs over the front door)) did not reportedly negotiate in good faith with the Desert Springs Villas I Board and presented ludicrous excuses for ending the relationship. In fact, the Board on behalf of the villa owners was prepared to increase their payment to the hotel, as the spa/recreation agreement was attributed to creating a "value add" for the Villas I owners and guests, may have lead to increased trading power of Villas I weeks with Interval International (as demand for Villas I exceeded Villas II, due in part to the recreation agreement), and is similarly assumed to have lead to higher rental income and resale value for Villas I owners. So yes, I am saying that we and many others would have been delighted to pay Host, the owners of the hotel, an increased and reasonable fee to sustain the spa/recreation agreement.

With regard to any (entirely speculative (one does not know what cash moved from one company to another, or what may have been bartered between the two companies (e.g. crew rooms)) increased charge by AA to Marriott, again, if the basis for the increase is (perceived by us) to be fair and reasonable, we would have paid an increased fee. Starwood's SPG program is much more attractive when it comes to hotel points to airline mile transfers then Marriott Rewards.

Delta's SkyMiles program is widely perceived by non-Medallion members to be pathetic (conjecture, not scientifically supported). Delta is quick to sell miles to numerous sources for short money, create numerous incentive programs (perceived by the User as generous until they attempt to redeem their miles), and to create a supply of standard redemption seats that dramatically dwarfs their aggressive sale of SkyMiles.

It's sad to watch the downfall of Marriott. I really believe that JW Jr. is less engaged today in the business then he was several years ago, and as a result of his more limited engagement/participation that the core Marriott family values have been lost in Marriott's day to day operations. As to the JW Marriott Desert Springs Hotel, that hotel has reportedly been adversely impacted by the economy, with dramatically reduced occupancy, massive layoffs, a dramatic reduction in spa business, a dramatic reduction in conference and catering business, and a dramatic reduction in the number of restaurants that it operates. In my opinion, Host has made numerous flawed decisions in the operation of that hotel, and is paying the price for their poor decisions and lousy attitude.