FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Marriott Bonvoy ‘Ambassador Elite’ Level : experiences (2020 and earlier)
Old Nov 26, 2018, 6:15 pm
  #1397  
bhrubin
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Originally Posted by hockeyinsider
... do whatever it wants. The terms and conditions are so contradictory and full of loopholes. It's a joke. There is no referee. I'm in a fight right now because I'm at a property that refused to upgrade me, despite ambassador status, to a suite. After I called my ambassador, they upgraded me to the entry-level suite even though four, higher-level suites are available. I called them out on any speciality suite exemption since all of the suites are (1) bookable through normal Marriott booking channels and (2) all are eligible for Marriott suite night award certificates. If they're going to claim the speciality suite exemption then those suites should only be bookable through the property's sales office, which is what properties like the Marriott Detroit Airport, Marriott Livonia, Marriott Troy, Marriott Auburn Hills/Pontiac/Bloomfield Hills and others have long done to avoid complimentary upgrades.
Good for you for fighting the good fight. Might I ask what the property is? I’ll be most curious.

I am pleased to hear that your Ambassador did at least force the issue enough to help you get the initial suite upgrade you deserved.

I don’t blame you for wanting a nicer suite, but I should caution us all that any suite upgrade (especially from an entry level room) is something for which we should be grateful.

In this case, however, where you had to fight to get the suite upgrade you deserved in the first place, it is not at all inappropriate to expect service recovery to include an even nicer suite upgrade and/or some other compensatory action. I dare say that this is a poorly managed hotel when it behaves so badly—and shows so little recognition for an Ambassador guest, no less. I’m guessing it’s a legacy Marriott.

Perhaps we might consider starting a new thread for unfulfilled suite upgrades at hotels that don’t seem to live up to the spirit of Ambassador status. Just like threads about suite upgrades...but with wikis to make it more obvious when certain hotels seem to fail an Ambassador guest or Ambassador suite upgrade despite ample suite availability online. (I realize online availability isn’t the current delineation for whether a suite is available, but perhaps this might push Marriott for more transparency in that regard.) Regardless, it might shame some hotels into better recognition and treatment.

The only way way to really improve these scenarios is to shame the hotels by sharing the poor experiences on FlyerTalk, TripAdvisor, and Twitter, hoping that enough other people stay elsewhere, too. Only when it hits the hotel’s bottom line does change usually happen.
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