Originally Posted by
C17PSGR
Of course, LC and Autograph hotels have looser affiliations with SPG and Marriott than franchised properties so its hard to know what they will do regarding issues that are not defined by the program rules.
I think your Marriott--based expectation and experience with Autograph Collection is quite different from our SPG-based expectation and experience with Luxury Collection and Tribute Portfolio. Those soft brands are still expected to adhere to program rules in the same way as the other regular brands like St Regis, W, Sheraton, Marriott, JW Marriott, etc. (It's just that Marriott specified different program rules for Ritz-Carlton and Edition than the rest of the Marriott portfolio in a similar way that SPG only did so for the Design Hotels.)
Luxury Collection hotels adhere in the same way to SPG rules and parameters (and elite recognition) as all other SPG brands--except for Design Hotels.
I think Marriott didn't enforce its rules and parameters on its soft brand properties in Autograph in the same way that SPG did with its soft brand properties in Luxury Collection (and Tribute Portfolio). Let's also be clear that Autograph is more closely aligned with Tribute Portfolio, in that the soft branding is for the upper upscale segment, not luxury; Luxury Collection has no perfect luxury Marriott counterpart in that its soft branding is for the luxury segment. But they all are soft brands. (Design is the only (soft) brand in SPG that was never fully part of the SPG rules and parameters.)
That's why Autograph properties like the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and Domes Crete don't always recognize or offer better treatment for Marriott elites in the same way as at mainline Marriott brands like JW Marriott, Marriott, Renaissance, etc.
That doesn't happen in the SPG universe with Luxury Collection--all Luxury Collection hotels are expected to recognize and offer better treatment for SPG elites in the same way as might happen at any St Regis, W, Le Meridien, Westin, etc. SPG has far more consistent elite recognition across all its brands. Design Hotels was the sole exception as a soft brand added late and without full integration into SPG.
That's why a current "Marriott Ambassador" in the current Marriott Rewards program has less chance to impact this Domes private pool heating issue than a current SPG Ambassador in the current SPG program. That may change for your current Marriott Ambassadors once the parameters of the new Loyalty Program begin. You again are creating a false equivalency between the current Marriott Ambassador program (which is nothing more than a trial run intended to help Marriott copy the SPG version) and the current SPG Ambassador program (which has been running for 5 years and is far more reliably beneficial).