Thinking about the entries on the
You are not entitled to a room on the concierge level! thread and the frequently posted opinion (here and on the Starwood Preferred Guest forum) regarding upgrades causes me to introduce this topic.
I don't recall precisely where I first read it, but someone opined that the reason that *wood treated its elites more consistently than Marriott with regards to upgrading was due to Starwood owning and managing its hotels as compared to Marriott where the majority are owned by others and can be self-managed or via a contract by Marriottl.
Logic would suggest that Marriott personnel would be more likely to administer to the
spirit of Marriott's representations of its upgrading practices (found in both summaries and the terms and conditions in Marriott Rewards) as opposed to a Marriott-flagged hotel's front desk personnel and management, employed directly by the establishment's owner.
Please forgive the preceding lengthy exposition for the purposes of posing theses questions -
1. Of it's approximately 2,400 flagged properties, does anyone have an idea as to how many (or what percentage) Marriott-flagged properties are actually managed by them?
2. Does anyone had any experience(s) that either confirms or debunks the above theory?
In closing let me state that I'm well aware that Marriott holds all locations to the same standard.
But, as a practical matter (and borne out by countless posts and threads), one gets the impression that the reality is that it is impossible for them to enforce published policies having to do with upgrades across the breadth of their properties.
Therefore, they've come to accept having to live with the consequences.