Originally Posted by
cfischer
I have had multiple destination fees waived, even as part of corporate rates or as part of award stays - never received (nor expected) any of the free things that come with it. Now, certain hotels where this fee covers say 'beach chair rentals' etc. - they have essentially no means of checking that since basically 99.9% of guests have it ... you get these almost always. Things like 'tickets', 'rentals', 'F&B credit' where there is '1 per day' - they always check that you did not have it already - those you don't get when your rate doesn't have the destination fee.
That's certainly how I would approach Marriott. And you are right, that's how Marriott does it consistently when the destination fee isn't charge.
However, I can see why people are confused and asked the question since this is not consistent across the industry. You do get the benefits associated with destination fee at Hyatt (not sure about Hilton who also waives it on points reservations) even when you are not paying for it. I'm not bringing this up to say which is better. Just to provide context on why people get confused.