I got an email and survey from Marriott today basically asking where I have been! It thanked me for being a Platinum and then ran me through a couple of questions on why I haven't been staying at Marriott hotels as frequently as I have been in the past. Choices were whether it was a conscious decision or "out of my control" (i.e. change in job, retirement, etc.)

It gave me some food for thought...my last vacation was in Key West where we rented a house for a week. (The Marriott properties are way outside of downtown, not where I want to be.) And before that we were in Saratoga Springs for the races and the Hampton Inn up there treats me beautifully (second year getting an upgrade to a suite, although to clarify, it was mid week.) The CY and RI are okay, but much more expensive and slightly farther from the racetrack and downtown.

Most of my business travel has been in Europe this summer and my corporate budget just doesn't extend to Marriott hotels in most major cities, or in the case of Luxembourg - there isn't one! I go with Hilton, they just seem to have a lot more reasonably priced properties. The exception being the LHR Renaissance, which will probably skyrocket in price once the construction is done.

Bottom line, I will most likely just squeak in for Platinum again this year, but it has been challenging. It was interesting to see that Marriott reached out to get my feedback - I will give them credit for that. I would like to see them expand into Europe (especially London) with some of their lower end properties beyond the few CYs sprinkled around.