Marriott has been tough on Gov't Contractor's since the late 80s. Prior to my current Govt job, I had been traveling as a Govt Contractor for 20+ years. I got turned away from Marriott's twice trying to use the per diem rate as a contractor. Once at the Marriott Richmond in the late 80s and once at the SeaTac Marriott in the mid 90s.

The Marriott Richmond was near capacity and I had no status, and they wouldn't accept the letter the Gov't agency provided saying we were entitled to Gov't per diem rates. (But they checked a female coworker in without any problems) Wound up staying at the Omni Hotel in downtown Richmond, VA and met Eddie Van Halen and Michael Anthony at a bar across the street (Van Halen was in concert the next night) ^

A few years later, the SeaTac Marriott turned a team of 7 (X 5 nights) away because we didn't have Govt ID. One of our team members who was Platinum at the time booked the rooms for us. I, again, had no status. The Platinum team member's flight was late so he wasn't there when we checked in. The MOD didn't care. Since no one had Govt ID, no one was getting a room at the Gov't rate. He did offer the corporate rate, that was $40 more per night. We wound up staying at the Raddison down the street. I couldn't believe the MOD was turning away $3400+ in room revenue ($99 X 5 X 7) plus incidentals. (Our team would have spent at least half our daily meal allowance in the bar each night.) BTW, the Plat who arrived much later got his room with no problem. (And he didn't have Gov't ID)

My advice now, if you are travelling with a team, try to get them to stay at the same Marriott. As others have said, call the Marriott you would like to stay at and explain the situation. Ask to speak to the GM, not just the front desk. Explain how many nights you need and that you need a rate as close to Gov't per diem as possible. When I worked for a big consulting firm, I was often able to get a rate at or a few bucks over per diem. But when you figured in free breakfast and evening snacks (at FS Marriotts) it was a wash.

Good Luck.

Regards,

RIP...