Originally Posted by
icanneverflyenough
marriott clearly intends for certain brands (sheraton, le meridien, renaissance, westin, autograph collection, delta marriott, jw marriott) to have lounges for eligible elite status guests as well as guests who buy a room that includes access. even autograph collection properties are intended to have lounges. but it seems like more and more properties from these brands (esp internaitonally) dont have lounges. what was an exception has almost becoome a rule. look at paris. out of 13ish properties that should have lounges only 4 have lounges. that means 70% of marriott's paris properties from brands that should lounges dont. so perhaps it's time for marriott to change the benefits like requiring complimentary soft beverages at properties without lounges. wqhat say u?
Lounge access at Rewards-legacy brands and SPG-legacy brands are two different things. I would not lump these eight brands together.
Lounge Access at five Rewards-legacy brands — Marriott, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Delta, and Renaissance (hotels but not resorts) — is in addition to the Platinum Elite (and higher) Welcome Gift. If the hotel does not have a lounge or the lounge is closed, member can choose 750 points OR breakfast for member + 1 Elite Pantry access is an approved alternative at Delta). A limited number of hotels provide 1,000 points each day the lounge is closed instead of a choice. Daily breakfast in the restaurant for member + 1 is
not a Welcome Gift option.
Lounge Access at three SPG-legacy brands — Le Méridien, Sheraton, and Westin — only means that if the hotel has a lounge and it is open, then Platinum Elite (and higher) members have access. There is not an alternative benefit if there is not an open lounge. However, daily breakfast in the restaurant for member + 1 is a Welcome Gift option.
To make things more confusing, resorts of five Rewards-legacy brands — Marriott, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Delta, and Renaissance — are not included in the Lounge Access benefit. However, they provide the option of daily breakfast in the restaurant for member + 1 as a Welcome Gift option, unlike hotels of the same brands.
If Marriott were designing its Elite benefits and brand structure from scratch, it would make sense for similar brands (such as Sheraton and Marriott) to provide the same benefits. There would also be fewer full-service brands. But with thousands of franchise contracts signed over a course of dozens of years, Marriott Bonvoy seems to be stuck with a bewilderingly complex Elite benefits program.
It's not a brand requirement to have club lounges at any of these eight brands. Lounges make business sense at larger properties with plenty of higher-tier guests.
No. I don't expect hotels that do not currently have club lounges to add them, except in rare cases in which a hotel owner sees it as an opportunity reduce the cost of providing breakfast to Elite guests.
No. I don't expect Marriott to force properties without lounges to provide alternative evening offerings. Smart hotel owners might do so on their own to attract higher-tier guests and to get their repeat business. But most hotel owners would balk at any increased expenses not required by their franchise agreement.