This thread goes right to the heart of expectations and the dwelling on failed expectations. The negative dwelling can cause more to paint the "standard" room with gloom than a bad decorating job.

For whatever reasons I have had friends and family point out my tendency to have control issues. For a time it caused problems with flying so I asked my neighbor who often flew long flights how she dealt with this as I knew she wasn't fond of it. She said she tries to control what she can and let the other go. She would take her own tea bags so she could have something she wanted, took comfy slippers. . .you get the idea.

So to get to the point, try to identify what you want in a stay before you arrive. In this case, with your status designation Marriott has offered you the opportunity to have high expectations. Control what you can--communicate. Ask the front desk what they can do to match, as best they can, your expectation (you figure out how to word it). You may even want to drop an email to the hotel prior to your arrival so they can pre-plan when the rooms are empty--not after others have already filled your expected room. Remember, the GM and the front desk are only human too and like everyone they are dealing with more than 1 thing (in this case - you ).

We have expectations with everything--work, travel, relationships, even how posters should respond on a BB. Control what you can -- yourself. Ignore the responses that at the end of the day really don't matter. If it's really, really out-of-line and worth noting, hopefully the moderators will deal with it. Don't invite the bad vibes the flamer has dispersed to get a moment of your personal dwelling.