FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Marriott Chiang Mai (former Le Meridien), Thailand [Master Thread]
Old Dec 12, 2017 | 8:17 pm
  #403  
dsquared37
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Originally Posted by UASPG
I am not convinced that, culturally, Marriott is ready to preserve the identity of the W and Le Meridien brands as they were conceived by Starwood. This last company pretty much reinvented the concept of Le Meridien after they purchased it and I think that overall they did a pretty good job with that Contemporary, European, art & culture and oriented theme.

The GM seems open minded but we will have to wait and see what he does and what Marriott chooses.

For now, what we are starting to see are the new company's standard being implemented:
- no more laundry at any property - pressing only (the WGS had just changed in the other direction)
- snacks at lounges offered all day long, with afternoon tea starting at 2:30 pm and evening hors d'oeuvres at 5:00 pm
- evening cocktails from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
and more ....
I just had 2 nights at the property and while the new GM probably hasn't implemented his changes yet this was my view:

Booked 2 rooms for 3 guests total and was offered a buyup for 1 to the lounge as my plat status was good for the first 2. I didn't remember the lounge being good enough for the 1900++ daily access so we deferred at checkin pending some discussion. In the end the 3rd person wanted in and were willing to pay however neither room's keys had been coded for lounge access so everything had to be re-keyed at the front desk.

Breakfast was better than I remembered from my last stay and there were only a few mosquitoes wending their way under the tables. Staff was omnipresent and competent.

The lounge was setup so guests were limited in self service. No glasses were out so you either scrounged in the unlocked cabinets or needed to ask staff. While the refrigerator was unlocked, there was no bottle opener for the San Pellegrino. The only thing that was self serve drink wise was a bottle of water or can or soda if you didn't want a glass/ice.

Once breakfast was cleared the counter was completely devoid of any food options until tea-time, though I was never in the lounge until 6 for drinks so I can't speak to the offerings. Cocktail time offerings looked limited but I partook only in some drink having had a late lunch both days. No alcohol was self serve.

The lounge seemed short staffed at times mid-day as well. It could take 10 minutes to get a mid-day coffee as the only people in the lounge.

One room had been upgraded to a suite, the other had been allocated as the attached room with single beds. In light of my preferences being 'no connecting doors' and both rooms having been booked as king beds staff was surprised I didn't want connected rooms, one of which with single beds. The odd thing was being locked out of my reservation a few days prior as if it were a BRG. The res showed the same wording about a complicated rate plan etc and there was no way to even go through the BRG workaround to view the reservation. FWIW the reservation was a non-cancellable rate and the SPG agent I spoke with suggested it might have been because room allocation and even room numbers had been set a few days prior potentially causing the lockout. Odd to say the least.

One other note: I do find it humorous that you are handed a hand written entry page each time you drive into the garage with license plate, time entered and a warning that non guests will incur a 500 baht fee however there's never any verification necessary and the little slip is handed back to the attendant unaltered upon exit.
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