FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii [Master Thread]

Mar 10, 2018 | 2:20 pm

#844

jpdx

Moderator: Mileage Run, InterContinental Hotels

Join Date: May 2004

Posts: 6,425

Quote:

Originally Posted by bocastephen

How ridiculous! What does integrating with Marriott have to do with Platinum reserved seating at the pool? That benefit was never a SPG thing, it was a property thing, and how incredibly petty for Marriott to even bring this up as something that needs to be cut, it never cost them a dime! Or perhaps it's the new management team running around and slashing for no reason.

I bet Hawaii Starwoods see a ton of Marriott elites who figured out that they can stay at Marriott properties for work and then transfer their points/status to SPG and get benefits on their vacations. The benefits at SPG hotels (better upgrades/club/breakfast/resort fee waiver/other goodies) are worth some serious money if you're bringing your family to Hawaii for a week, probably easily some $500/week in cash savings (not to mention the value of the upgrade) over staying at a Marriott resort, where you get nothing. The discrepancy between elite treatments at Marriott and Starwood is glaring no matter which Hawaii property thread you look at; I stayed at the Hapuna a few weeks ago and they had major construction going on -- but when you read up on the thread for the neighboring Mauna Kea Autograph (no upgrades/benefits) it's blindingly obvious that Hapuna was the better choice despite the construction. I would assume that we'll see continuous erosion of benefits at SPG properties in Hawaii (and similar locations), where the far superior SPG benefits must cause Marriott properties to lose business from elites. Non-required benefits (resort fee waiver, chairs reservation, goodie bags) are first to go, and don't expect any of the SPG properties in Hawaii to go beyond what's required once the programs have been integrated.

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