Mrs. jkm024 and I had another great stay at the Marriott Gaslamp over Memorial Day Weekend. We booked the "Happy Happenings" package at the rate of $239/nt; this includes a $50 food & beverage credit and I applied an EEO so the second night was free. Pretty good deal to be in downtown San Diego on Memorial Day Weekend, if you ask me.

Upon checkin, I was informed that I was upgraded to a Junior Suite and was also given two coupons for free breakfast in the restaurant since the lounge was closed over the weekend. I have stayed at this hotel several times and have never been given breakfast on the weekend, so I assume this is relatively new - the coupon indicated that this benefit is for Platinums only.

I spent the $50 pretty easily at the rooftop bar, Altitude, which has gotta be the coolest hotel bar I've ever been at. I invited over a couple of friends and we had a great time hanging out by the fire pit looking out over the city.

I've gotten upgraded to some type of suite on each of my last several stays here, and the junior suite was nice - typical bedroom plus a sitting area. I selected the cheese plate for my amenity and thought it was a very nice presentation with bread, three different kinds of cheese, and fig spread along with a half bottle of wine. We enjoyed snacking on that while sitting in our room looking out over the ballpark and Coronado.

Two minor hiccups:

• The restaurant was crazy on Sunday morning and it took us about 15-20 minutes to be seated. The buffet had been picked over and I was glad that it was free. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth, but had I actually paid for the buffet I probably would've been irritated. The buffet includes French Toast, Waffles, or Pancackes made to order - we ordered French Toast and about five minutes later learned that they were out (???).
• Although the EEO was processed correctly, the $50 "Happy Happenings" credit was not applied and when I checked out the front desk had no idea what I was talking about. A quick call to Accounting solved that immediately.

I love the Gaslamp and it is my "go-to" hotel in San Diego - certainly one of my very favorite Marriotts in the US. Really special property in a great location, and free breakfast on the weekends for Plats (if that benefit sticks around) is the icing on the cake.