Originally Posted by
lsquare
SNIP
I forgot to mention that I have an AMEX Platinum and that gives me Marriott Gold. So maybe I'll get other perks such as late check-out when booking directly with Ovolo?
The more I read about free breakfast with Platinum status, the more I feel that maybe it's not really worth it considering that hotels are looking to scale back or implement a fairly basic breakfast policy. I might be different from most people in that I prefer hot meals whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The thing that would make it all worthwhile to gain status is the guaranteed late check-out. I hope it truly is guaranteed because if it's not, then status is fairly useless for me.
Gold won't get you much anywhere. The major benefits of Bonvoy (breakfast, potential of suite upgrades, 4pm check out, lounge access which can be substantial free meals and your evening's alcohol) only kick in at Platinum. But it never hurts to ask at reception if you want a late check out.
Breakfast is not being scaled back and anecdotes you hear about are usually isolated edge cases that have enraged someone enough to post about it. In Asia, even in lower brands like Courtyards or Four Points, you will generally be able to go to the main hotel buffet for your entire stay either be default or by trading your welcome points (which at Courtyards and Four Points means giving up 500 points which are of trivial value). You can go to the main huge buffet at the Courtyard Sha Tin but at the Courtyard HK you get breakfast in the lounge. No matter it still has hot items. It's still recognisably breakfast. In the US, some lower-end brands are different and Courtyards give you US$10 to spend on breakfast but if I understand it correctly before the Bonvoy branding they didn't give you anything. I'm sure someone can correct me if that wasn't the case but it doesn't matter. Breakfast isn't being scaled back as a benefit though the implementation of the policy in different hotels varies.
But primarily, if you're doing the challenge then you're investing 16 nights to get breakfast and evening food/booze plus some suite upgrades for a year. Whether it's worth pushing yourself for 50 nights to renew it is a calculation you have to make based on your stay patterns. If you're ending up at 40-50 nights then a few mattress runs (or the famed $100 meeting for 10 nights) will get you over the line. But, again, only if you get the value from the benefits from stays you would be doing anyway.