I stayed at a Marriott RI some 10-12 times and for my last 2-3 stays they had new products that were just awful. Just how much CAN you cut costs?

Branding is bull. Just like airlines having means created by some famous chef. I don't care how good the chef is; if he/she has very little to work with (i.e. a choice of 3-5 meals in TATL biz that can be easily produced by the catering company, frozen and cooked in one of those ovens, and the cost <= $15) then it's still going to be crap. Similarly, when a famous brand has a contract with a hotel, I don't care how good their actual products are, their 25 cent/gallon hotel shampoo is crap.