Originally Posted by
dtremit
- I count 37 potential permutations just of the breakfast-as-amenity policy. (Potential because I don't know if all the brands exist in all the possible regions.)
I don't understand where the number 37 comes from. The very nature of permutations is to multiply several different variables together to achieve a very large number. In this way, it would be possible to come up with a much larger number than 37 — but it would be a meaningless number.
The Wiki at the top of this thread identifies 6 major ways in which Marriott provides breakfast, partial breakfast, or no breakfast to Platinum Elite (and higher) guests. Yes, there are exemptions and variations, so the real number is larger than 6.
Ideally there would be only three categories (and lounge access would be completely separate, at it was in the SPG program for Le Méridien, Sheraton, and Westin):
1 — Breakfast in the hotel restaurant for Platinum Elite (and higher) as a Welcome gift choice, with the breakfast commensurate to the brand (for example, luxury breakfast at luxury brands and more basic breakfast at select service brands, but never just a muffin and coffee at any brand).
2 — Breakfast for all guests regardless of membership or tier, consistently, where such a breakfast is a standard for the brand (no exceptions).
3 — No complimentary breakfast for any status tier.
Unfortunately, it's much more complicated. As I wrote earlier in this thread, apparently, Marriott was unable to force hotel owners to accept an entirely new benefit structure. SPG legacy brands tend to offer similar breakfast benefits to the old SPG program, while Rewards legacy brands tend to offer similar breakfast benefits to the old Rewards program. Things are better than before at five brands of resorts and four select service brands.
Originally Posted by
dtremit
- 7 brands guarantee lounge access everywhere
- of those, 5 offer different alternative amenities in the US vs Europe.
- There are 20 named properties that don't follow any of those rules.
- Exactly one brand offers lounge access only outside the US.
Actually, 9 brands offer "Guaranteed Lounge Access" in the T&Cs, but it does not mean the same thing for every brand.
I disagree with the statement, "There are 20 named properties that don't follow any of those rules." There are 20 U.S. properties that provide lounge access during the week and a paltry 1,000 points on weekends. That's the rule they follow. It's best for Platinum Elite (and higher) guests to avoid these hotels because there are usually better Marriott Bonvoy choices.
Originally Posted by
dtremit
- There are 7 more brands where you get nothing, with no particular logic to them except for them all being legacy Marriott brands. That said, the lack of breakfast benefit at premium brands is particularly galling.
The logic is that the franchise agreements for some brands do not incude Platinum Elite (and higher) breakfast. It makes sense for timeshare brands because of the nature of timeshares. For other brands, it seems odd, but Marriott and its guests are stuck with how it is.
The brands without Platinum Elite (and higher) breakfast (or breakfast for everyone as a standard of the brand) are:
— Design Hotels
— Edition
— Fairfield Asia Pacific hotels
— Gaylord Hotels
— Marriott Executive Apartments / ExecuStay
— Marriott Vacation Club / MVC Pulse / Grand Residences by Marriott
— The Ritz-Carlton
— Vistana / Sheraton Vacation Club / Westin Vacation Club
Design Hotels was a SPG brand, not a Marriott Rewards brand.
Originally Posted by
dtremit
- There are 5 brands where everyone gets breakfast, so there's no additional elite benefit.
Actually, there are other Elite benefits that non-Elite guests do not receive. There just isn't an additional breakfast benefit.