I am at a property now (TownePlace Suites San Luis Obispo) and having some issues as the property did not clean our room every other day as per Marriott rules.
Backstory: I came home at 4:30pm after a long day to find our room wasn't cleaned. This was our 2nd day and the room wasn't cleaned the1st day either. When I called down to ask for a cleaning (since none occurred on either day) the Operations Manager said we only clean upon request, and such request must be made by 3pm. I said, if you have such a policy you need to let us know at check-in. It'd be quite easy for me to make a request before 3pm if I knew about it.
She said it's on our website (which I learned later it is not and in fact then recalled choosing every other day housekeeping when I checked in online - see screenshot showing their process). I said you expect everyone to read your full website before booking? Why not provide this info on your confirmation email or at checkin? She said it was a systemwide Marriott policy and all Marriotts do this. I then explained to her there is no such systemwide policy for cleaning on request by 3pm and almost without pause she then modified her statement to it's a TownePlace Suites policy then. I said, listen, lying right to me is really upsetting me. Why not just admit it's your personal specific property rule and you should've let me know about it in advance. Can you at least have someone come collect the trash and bring us some coffee? She said we were welcome to bring the trash down to the front desk and she'd throw it out for me. I could pick up some coffee then. I was aghast. Apparently I'm to be the housecleaner now traipsing through the elevators and hotel with my trash. I hung up and calmed down then went down to the front desk to address this in person (armed with the info below). On the way I also took a photo of the hallways - which were a mess. Perhaps this should've been the hint as to why they didn't clean the room... they can't even clean the hallway.
Marriott housekeeping policy
https://help.marriott.com/s/article/Article-34039- Premium Hotels, excluding Resorts, will offer Daily Service
- Select and Extended-Stay Hotels will offer Every-Other-Day Service
- Luxury Hotels/Resorts and Premium Resorts will offer Daily Full Clean Service
At the front desk I said, why lie to me? Why not just say you have a specific property rule and you should've told me about it somehow? Lying to me is very irksome. She was apologetic and then replied "this is what I was told to say". I said, well what they are telling you to say is incorrect and you can easily check the Marriott brand standards on their website. I then asked for the GMs card and number, scheduled a cleaning for the following day and went back to my room.
My question is - does Marriott care if properties are not following their brand rules? Should I report the hotel?
I'm not looking for any sort of compensation. I do however believe Marriott should desire properties who hang their brands on their shingles to follow their corporate policies. If the issues are not remedied, eventually, I would think Marriott would want to de-flag the property (surely not over housekeeping, just saying
eventually if a property is not following their rules). After all, it would reflect negatively on their brand. Any thoughts on this? Or should I just move along and let other guests get as frustrated as I did when the property doesn't clean even after clicking the "clean every other day via online check in" button because the property has a harsher hidden policy they don't tell their guests?
Online check in process above.
hallway mess
mess in hallway