Horace

There are three different issues as play here:


1. Complexity of the Platinum Elite breakfast benefit program.

If the folks in charge at Marriott Bonvoy could have their way, there would probably just be three categories, modeled have how SPG did it: (i) breakfast in the restaurant as a Platinum Elite and higher Welcome Gift choice, as at most SPG brands; (ii) breakfast for nobody, as at Design Hotels; and (iii) breakfast for all guests regardless of loyalty program membership or status, as at Element. (There would also be lounge access as a separate benefit, as at Westin).

However, with 7,000 Marriott Bonvoy hotels, almost none of which are owned by Marriott and almost all of which are operating under franchise contracts that pre-date the merger, it's not surprising that breakfast benefits are still more-or-less what they were before the merger (with some improvement at a few brands).


2. Failure of some properties to provide what the Terms & Conditions promise.

When the Terms & Conditions call for "breakfast in the restaurant" at a full-service brand, a breakfast consisting of just a muffin, coffee, and juice is a failure. Vouchers for $10 per day for member + 1, when breakfast actually costs two or three times that amount, is a failure. When a Courtyard in Canada that is supposed to provide vouchers equivalent to $10 USD only provides vouchers for $10 CAD, that's a failure too. Somehow, there are some hotels continue to get away with it, while Marriott looks the other way.

This is inexcusable. It's bad business because it tells Elite members that Marriott says one thing, but does another. It's an insult to Elite members. And it's an insult to all the hotels that do a good job providing the published benefits.

Marriott should enforce Platinum breakfast standards for each brand, with encouragement to add something local or regional at breakfast that goes beyond the minimum.


3. No effective way for members to deal with failures.

As has been asked in this thread, how does one successfully request $100 compensation when a hotel says the breakfast is not a Platinum Elite benefit (at a brand where it is)? When an agent at Marriott Bonvoy Guest Services has never been trained on the Terms & Conditions and assumes the hotel is always right and the guest is always wrong, how does a guest get a failure corrected?


Of these three issues, the complexity is the one we have to live with. It is what it is. But Marriott can fix the other two — if it want wants to.