Originally Posted by
VSLover
these comments are just baffling.
- admit SPG was better
- admit the customer is the hotel
- admit that thanks to a larger number of hotels, customers shouldnt expect much from loyalty because they have loads more places to go to!
sure we have more places to select from, but if we are not going to be rewarded for that loyalty regardless of which hotel from the larger portfolio we stay in, then loyalty erodes and there is no point to search for so-so
marriott hotels anymore is there? i feel the lux end of the SPG portfolio would have attracted a certain type of customer, certainly me, and given marriott does not have much on their side of the house, well why continue staying at the lux side of SPG properties if it makes no difference to the in the long term?
I think the idea is that you get rewarded by earning points more than by getting high touch service that makes you feel appreciated, and that there is a higher amount of luxury hotels to redeem at. And the fact is that by the numbers, Marriott had a lot “more” on “their side of the house” in terms of customer stays, number of customers, corporate contracts. There is a bit of customer rotation here, but the customer that benefits the most from Bonvoy is one that has a variety of stays, ranging from Courtyard to Marriott to St Regis, and now can combine all those stays in 1. I am guessing there were fewer of those types of customers at SPG but a lot at Marriott, a lot at maybe Hilton and Intercontinental and a lot that may have been free agents. Remember that there were far fewer SPG loyalists than any of those other categories I mentioned