hchang2017

If it is an award stay, would there be Platinum arrival gift?

YoungBubbie

Yes c

hockeyinsider

Most don't, but you never know.

vishalgupta22

I haven't stayed with SPG as. Platinum yet, but the way I read it is if I want breakfast, I have to choose that as a SPG pag. In that case, isn't Marriott's 500 point better? Maybe I am missing something.

CJKatl

I've had three SPG stays. At the Bangkok LM and Prague Sheraton I was given both breakfast and the 500 points. At the Bali Kuta Sheraton Resort, it was breakfast each morning in lieu of the 500 points.

Points Scrounger

You are correct: SPG Plat benefit is breakfast or​​​​​ points (with individual exceptions).

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Kacee

I'll take 500 SPG over 500 MR plus a crappy breakfast in an overcrowded lounge (or no breakfast at a resort or Edition) every day of the week

vishalgupta22

Depends on situation for me. If I am at JWM or autograph collection, I think breakfast (especially when traveling with family) can be lot more valuable then 500 star points.

More so in Asia what lot of properties provide full breakfast. I frequently travel to Asia for work so I guess it varies by region. In the U, 90% of my stays are at residence inns because of proximity to work. There is 0 expectations with RIs

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sbedelman

Only the the second time a hotel failed to offer me an arrival gift. When I informed them the agent offered a token amenity. I said that's not the way it works, asked then to honor the Guarantee at which point they looked at me like I was an alien so I asked them to have the manager call me because no one else was on duty that late when we checked in. They didn't. I emailed Marriott Customer Service who hasn't responded other than to acknowledge my email so I left a voicemail for the GM of the hotel. Tonight I received the following email.

"Thank you for choosing to stay at the Seattle Airport Marriott and providing your honest feedback on the Guest Satisfaction Survey.

Providing the highest level of hospitality is our number one priority and we sincerely apologize for falling short of meeting your expectations. As a teachable moment, we have shared your feedback with the appropriate hotel team to ensure the necessary guidelines are in place to prevent this from occurring in the future."

Once again, thank you for your valued feedback and we hope to serve you again whenever your travels bring you back to Seattle."

As I said this is only the second time I've ever invoked the Guarantee in more than 30 years as a Marriott customer almost all of them as Platinum. The funny thing is both times the hotels were in Seattle and both times the hotels refused to acknowledge the existence of the Guarantee. Is this playing dumb about the Guarantee the norm?

CJKatl

While I've never invoked the Arrival Gift guarantee, I did once invoke the Room Type Guarantee and had the "play dumb" response. It was at the Raleigh Crabtree FS. When I checked in the clerk went out of his way to tell me I didn't have a King guaranteed. It was odd that he mentioned this without my asking. When I pulled up the reservation it clearly showed King as guaranteed. The clerk said there was nothing he could do, so I told him he owed me $100. He said that wasn't going to happen, so I called the reservation line. He spoke to them then I believe he spoke to his manager on the phone. Suddenly there was a King room available and he was still willing to give me the $100, which I declined.

BTW I was also told something wasn't going to happen when I checked into the Fair Oaks FS in VA. One call to the reservation line and the woman that said that came back out and apologized for the "misunderstanding" and of course she would do everything possible, yadda, yadda, yadda... Bottom line: even at these two horrible properties calling reservations late at night can work.

uclacolumbiaunc

I booked two rooms at a Ritz-Carlton and a Renaissance. But I only got one welcome gift (points) each for the stays at both location. (only 1000 points at Ritz even though i booked two rooms, and only 500 points at Renaissance even though i booked two rooms)

My question is, if i booked two rooms, shouldn't i get two welcome gift (i.e. double the welcome points)?

hhoope01

No, you will only get one welcome gift as you can only personally stay in one of the two rooms per night.

Note that some hotel staff don't realize this and will try to offer you 2 Plat welcome gifts. If you ask for points for both, you will still only get 1 (as Marriott's system will catch it.) So in that case you will be much better off asking for points for one room and room credit/market item for the other (that way Marriott's system only sees one request for points.)

joshua362

Once I got 3 pints of ice cream at a RI where I took 3 rooms on points for a birthday celebration. It's a very local matter in this case.

Points Scrounger

Not a Marriott experience, but it does fit retelling the story here:

I was staying with my mother in Madrid, where we had each retired to our rooms following a rather hearty dinner. Not long afterwards, there was a knock at the door where an employee was standing with plates of ham and cheese for Mr Scrounger. The next morning my mother greeted me with a cry of "You pig!" as they had knocked on her door first and she assumed that I had called room service for that food, not knowing anything about (unsolicited) elite recognition amenities.

CPRich

It's you as a Platinum member who is receiving the "Guaranteed Platinum Arrival Gift". Number of rooms is irrelevant.