Originally Posted by
JC5280
And thats what I like better about Marriotts. No matter where you go, you can almost always find something in the brand to stay with. Marriott has a much broader reach because of this, and so usually in smaller towns you have a choice of a Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, etc to stay in without a single Starwood property to choose from. In the towns where I have had a choice, the upgraded Courtyards are the hotel of preference for coworkers over an older FourPoints.
In a new role, I am staying in larger cities, in the city centers now more, so I will have more choices, but generally find the ultra-luxury SPG brands ridiculously priced anyway.
Well, it should be obvious that Marriott WANTS the upper upscale and luxury market affiliation and customer base that Starwood brings--hence the acquisition. That you don't like those properties is irrelevant to Marriott's obvious interest. Marriott isn't copying Starwood elite benefits and adding them to its current Marriott Rewards program to simply make you happy; they are trying to make Starwood elite customers happy and interested in staying with the new merged company.
Marriott has always had great customer loyalty with business customers--staying in business friendly hotel brands. Marriott has not had great customer loyalty with affluent customers, however. Starwood has the best customer loyalty among affluent customers of all the major points hotel chains. That's the audience that Marriott wants to attract with the Starwood acquisition and the new elite concierge service--which is trying to emulate the Starwood Ambassador program for its super-elites.
If you like staying at Courtyards, then that's great--stay at Courtyards! But I wouldn't think an elite concierge is going to be able to elevate your experience at a Courtyard any more than a Starwood Ambassador can elevate the experience at a Four Points.
I think you're missing the boat on what elite concierge service means.