My experiences the past few days:

Needed to call Marriott Platinum Line. First have to search extensively in the App to find the phone number.

1. Call Number 1 - wait on hold for ten minutes (as a platinum), finally reach an agent… Agent asks me to “hold a moment”. I wait for 6 minutes…. Here him typing constantly the whole time. After six minutes say “hello” and he says “one moment sir”…. I wait two more minutes and then hang up.
2. Call Number 2 - Try calling again… rather than being transferred to agent after waiting, my call is “hung up” on by Marriott.

Fast forward to today… Call in….
Finally reach agent. Have a simple concern. Agent says they can’t adjust on their end, but the property can. I say, great I’ll hold while you call over to them. They inform me that I have to call and they are unable to call on my behalf to adjust the room from 1 guest to 2 guests (in a US Property, where this can be done without any additional fee typically). SPG and Hyatt are always able to call a property and place the guest on hold when necessary….

Elite benefits are nice, but frankly basic competence is good. Also, it is very hard to understand marriott agents, and the line never sounds clear. Two other big minuses.

However, they do have the footprint, and the Disney Swan/Dolphin connection, which does make them somewhat compelling, especially when you aren’t traveling enough to hit Globalist. BUT… even Discoverists get Hyatt to politely answer the phone, say their name, and assist them with basic matters, which is more than Marriott reservations offers platinums….