Had a good stay here last week. I was celebrating a special occasion with my wife and notified the hotel in advance.

I went back and forth about requesting a renovated room, but given my Platinum status and the challenges above for an Ambassador member I thought better of it.

Much to my surprise, we were upgraded to a corner renovated room upon arrival, with a view of the Harbour. We were also nominated as Guests of the Day, which was something new to me in nearly 1,000 nights in Marriotts over the past decade - and presumably unique to this property. This came with the benefits I already had as a Platinum (breakfast and 4pm late checkout) alongside a $25 food and beverage credit which could be applied to room service and all the restaurants. In recognition that I already had most of the Guest of the Day benefits, they gave me an additional 5,000 points which posted before the points for the stay itself.

This experience left me very pleasantly surprised - I am simply not used to this level of hospitality in North America. So a thumbs up from me for this hotel, and make sure you tell them if you have a special occasion.

The only negatives were that the renovations are still in progress and there was construction noise during the day, but this was rarely disruptive. Additionally, the breakfast spread was weak in quantity and quality, certainly compared to the Westin Montreal and Sheraton in Ottawa.