Originally Posted by
Sez_Who
Okay, I'll bite and throw out a few questions...
[1] What do you wish hotel guests would do before they check in?
[2] From your perspective, what are some of the more egregious examples of elite status demands?
[3] Wife and I had this conversation some time ago. Each of us travels a couple hundred nights a year but we can count on one hand the number of times we have met a hotel GM. Do they ever come out from their office in the back or do they simply try to avoid hotel guest contact?
1. Get a credit card. Too many people show up with a debit card and do not understand that we have to put a hold on their account when they show up.
Bring their confirmation number. Some people just show up and have no idea where they are staying. Then we have to spend a lot of time calling around hotels, some outside the Marriott brand, trying to find their reservation.
2. Often times Plats and PP will ask for an upgraded room, and I was not able to give them one. They then tell me how many years they have been with Marriott and how many times they have met Mr. Marriott. They would then tell me to find them a suite at a different hotel and pay for it. This doesn't happen too often, but more often than you would think.
Every weekend was the same...being yelled at for not offering breakfast. I do think that elite members should at least get the buffet on the weekend. Some guests would be so upset that we did not offer breakfast and tell us how we are ruining their vacation. Often I would want to (but never did) tell these guests that they are on a reward stay and could maybe pony up a little cash for the breakfast considering we have regular guests paying hundreds of dollars a night and then buying breakfast.
3. I don't think GMs try to avoid guests, but rather they have a lot to do. A lot of GMs are quite removed from what is happening at the front desk as well. Our rooms director would often be around the front desk greeting elite guests, though.