Originally Posted by
wolfgame
The $100 guarantee was crazy....and I would have felt like an ... if I had ever brought it to Marriott's attention. Not my style...and far too much of a penalty against the hotel for not recognizing a hotel awards program status.
Although I've never invoked the guarantee, even when I've been entitled to it because my room preference wasn't fulfilled, the fact it is there makes it more likely we get the benefits we are promised. As I've mentioned once or twice before
on different threads on this board, I need a feather free room. That's not part of the guarantee, so it often doesn't happen. It's in my profile, I call and make sure it's been done, I'm told it's been done yet about a quarter of the time, it hasn't been done. If there was money on the line for the hotel, it would become something that would actually be checked and completed, not something to which many hotels give lip service.
Example: Late check-in last week at the Hoover AL CY. The desk clerk indicated the housekeeper, A****, said the room was feather free. Of course, it wasn't, and it took quite some time for the situation to be corrected. If the hotel had to pay out, A**** would have been reprimanded and would know not to do this again. Instead, A**** is either a liar or too incompetent to read the labels on the pillows but will likely not ever have to answer to anyone and will continue to be lazy or incompetent. Okay, the hotel is absolutely filthy, so obviously A**** is getting away with being paid for incompetence already. (Disgusting hardened crud on the elevator buttons, crunchy stuff on the carpets, nose imprints on the sliding glass door, etc.)
Heck, I'd be fine giving the $100 to charity. It's the hotel having to pay out the money that helps us; it's not about us profiting from a mistake. I don't want the $100; I want the feather free room. The guarantee would make it more likely I get the feather free room.
End of rant.