Ed French and Marriott really need to reevaluate the idea that it is too expensive to give elite members (gold and higher) free breakfast on the weekends at full service properties in Canada and the United States. There are many markets where occupancy dives during the weekend, and most of their competitors (Hilton & Hyatt) don't seem to have a problem offering free breakfast.
The Residence Inn brand has become less competitive in the evening offerings, and some properties try to cut corners for breakfast. Hilton's Homewood Suites and some Hyatt's Hyatt House (the former Summerfield Suite properties) are able to put out better evening offerings from Monday to Thursday night. A lot of Residence Inns only have evening offerings from Monday to Wednesday nights.
A lot of people on the FT Hyatt section like to bash the Hyatt Places, but I prefer them over many Courtyard properties. Yes, they don't really have any upgrades (although I have seldom gotten upgraded at a Courtyard without asking), but they put out a better breakfast than the Bistro offerings. It is a buffet, and you can grab coffee/tea & a bagel if you have to have a quick breakfast in the time it will take to order that from a Courtyard restaurant. I like the hot offerings in the Hyatt Place breakfast and the ability to drink more than one cup of orange juice and milk without running up a huge tab.
I am on the side of those who feel that segregating the free internet perk for elite members by making them pay for the fastest internet is not a good idea. Yes, some people use more bandwidth, but guests don't pay extra if they drink more coffee in the lounge/room, take more water bottles from the lounge or use more housekeeping service. It is expected that some guests will use some services more than others. I will never use a hotel iron, and I seldom watch a lot of TV, but I understand that a hotel needs to cover the costs of having an iron and TV because many guests need these amenities.
I do not use as much housekeeping for multi-night stays, am not a coffee drinker and try to drink tap water when possible. This saves the hotel money. I am a heavier user of bandwidth than those who just check email, but if Marriott decides that being a platinum/platinum premier member is only good enough for free internet that is 1 Mbps or whatever the hotel deems fast enough, then I will cut my stays with Marriott.
Hyatt does a better job of making diamond members feel valued, but all hotels treat repeat guests better than top tier guests visiting for the first time. That is not a surprise since the industry values repeat customers. If Marriott had not decided to trim benefits in 2008, I would not have gotten a diamond match from Hyatt. After that, I discovered that Marriott's lead in service was less than I thought.
If Ed French thinks that he can say that elite members are valued without putting the money to back up those words, Marriott is going to discover the hard way that hotel guests can switch chains. I miss the Marriott of several years ago that had more of the spirit of the company that Bill Marriott wrote about in his book, The Spirit to Serve.