Partial Platinum Breakfast benefit as Check-In Gift at Aloft Chicago River North
I understood the Platinum breakfast benefit at the Aloft brand to be "Breakfast in the hotel restaurant for member + 1 as a Platinum Elite welcome gift option. When I checked-in, I was asked whether I wanted the welcome gift to be points or breakfast. I chose what I thought was a free breakfast for my wife and me. The check-in agent included a breakfast voucher that stated on two identical small stickers affixed to the voucher--one on the front and one on the back-- that it was worth a $20 credit towards breakfast. I assumed that because my wife and me were each receiving a credit for breakfast that each sticker was a separate credit of $20 for a total credit of $40.
My wife and I had breakfast in the Beatrix Restaurant in the lobby of the Aloft the next morning. I presented the voucher to our server and we both ordered the all-American breakfast and a cup of coffee. The bill totaled $52.30 (that included a tip) less one $20 credit for a balance of $32.30. I asked our server if she had forgotten to include the second $20 credit. She said that the breakfast welcome gift was $20 total for the two of us. I was surprised and walked over to the front desk and the agent confirmed that the Platinum breakfast option was a single $20 credit for the two of us. I have so many issues with the way this property is ignoring the Platinum benefit:
1.) The property's management is offering Platinum members the choice of points or breakfast without being forthcoming on the value of the breakfast credit and the +1 benefit. Applying two stickers to the voucher looks like a deception to make the guest think they will receive $40 credit and then insisting after the fact that the credit is only $20 whether there are one or two guests. The $20 credit on a $52.30 tab is only 38% of a free breakfast. When the check-in agent says "Points or breakfast, they should disclose that the $20 credit won't cover one guest's typical tab, let alone two. Maybe the offer needs to be "Points or partial breakfast." Tea and toast isn't enough fuel.
2.) The server and front desk both say that they don't have to honor the Marriott breakfast standard for Platinum members because the restaurant is run by a separate entity. The reality is the Aloft Chicago River North has outsourced the restaurant function and this should not change adherence to the brand standard of a free breakfast for a Platinum guest and +1.
3.) There is a serious lack of customer focus. Many of the Marriott mid-tier brands are not providing conforming breakfast offerings, but Marriott continues to tout this as a Platinum benefit. I have stopped booking CY stays because the breakfast benefits are ill-defined and ill-enforced. Please join me in ignoring the brands and properties in the Marriott family that don't provide a free breakfast for Platinum guests +1.
I look forward to the day when a Platinum member and +1 receives a complimentary breakfast without the need for a research project. How about that Aloft Chicago River North?