FlyerTalk Forums - Brisbane Marriott, Australia [Master Thread]

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Marriott Brisbane, Australia

Hey All,

Thanks for the link to the Marriott.

It was as shame that the following occurred, but I thought I'd let everyone know what a disappointment this hotel was. I will keep you posted with their response?! (Should I get one). PS, on a special deal, this Hotel cost $200 per night.

I just wrote this now:

"Dear Marriott,

I am writing with terrible disappointment regarding the way I was treated during my stay between 22nd December through 28th December.

My deluxe river view room was more than acceptable. The bathroom, tv,etc was perfect. Also, the valet parking my family and I utilised was of the highest standard.

That said, on the 26th December, 11am, my room was invaded by no less than 3 staff members, including the chain to my room being cut. My friend (who stayed with me in ONE of the two beds available, was in the bathroom, showering before myself, so we could go out for the day.

Humiliated and shocked, I was told that "I would be paying for this". This threat was later revoked upon questioning the day after, but was told that this is Marriott policy?

My concern, is that I still had two days remaining and that if the door is locked and chained, that should be enough warning that the room is occupied. Also, no note was left under the door, nor any phone calls made from housekeeping/reception.

I found this treatment completely unacceptable for a hotel of such high standards and pricing.

I look forward to response in due course.

Kind Regards"

funkystarr, welcome to FlyerTalk!

As this is better posted in FlyerTalk's Marriott forum, rather than bumping up a likely out-dated TravelBuzz thread, I'll move this straight-away to the Marriott forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Wow, sorry to hear about your experience. I would be interested in hearing about Marriott Corporate's reply.

What did the hotel say was their reason for breaking into your room?

FWIW, $200 is a great rate for this hotel. I stayed here back in November on a Friend and Family rate pretty close to what you paid. The only problem I had (as a Plat) was that initially they said I wasn't entitled to lounge access. I asked them to check with Guest Services, they did, and I was provided lounge access. No one broke into my room.

confused........... what alleged rule were you in violation of? too many people in the room (family + one), or other??

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkystarr (Post 17715929)

Hey All,
Thanks for the link to the Marriott.
It was as shame that the following occurred, but I thought I'd let everyone know what a disappointment this hotel was. I will keep you posted with their response?! (Should I get one). PS, on a special deal, this Hotel cost $200 per night.
I just wrote this now:
"Dear Marriott,
I am writing with terrible disappointment regarding the way I was treated during my stay between 22nd December through 28th December.
My deluxe river view room was more than acceptable. The bathroom, tv,etc was perfect. Also, the valet parking my family and I utilised was of the highest standard.
That said, on the 26th December, 11am, my room was invaded by no less than 3 staff members, including the chain to my room being cut. My friend (who stayed with me in ONE of the two beds available, was in the bathroom, showering before myself, so we could go out for the day.
Humiliated and shocked, I was told that "I would be paying for this". This threat was later revoked upon questioning the day after, but was told that this is Marriott policy?
My concern, is that I still had two days remaining and that if the door is locked and chained, that should be enough warning that the room is occupied. Also, no note was left under the door, nor any phone calls made from housekeeping/reception.
I found this treatment completely unacceptable for a hotel of such high standards and pricing.
I look forward to response in due course.
Kind Regards"

Did you have the "Do Not Disturb" sign on your door from the time you checked-in?

They will enter your room after 3 days for safety and security reasons.

Marriott Brisbane

As I didn't see a thread for the Brisbane Marriott, I thought I would start one.

FYI, President Obama stayed here for the 2014 G20 summit (Russian President Putin stayed at the Hilton).

This hotel was simply fantastic from beginning to end! It is a beautiful luxury hotel in the heart of Brisbane's CBD, so it is in a perfect location.

It is very well appointed, and the toiletries are unique and excellent! The beds are very comfortable, and the views of the river and bridge are simply stunning, especially at night!

The wifi is very fast.

The crown jewel of the hotel is its EXCEPTIONAL staff!

As a Marriott Gold, I received 2 personal notes.

In the lounge, Bing was incredibly gracious and helpful, including preparing me a fresh apple and carrot juice blend each morning. He goes above and beyond to make sure each guest feels welcome, cared for, and attended to.

While this hotel is quite large, the staff truly attempts to go above and beyond to make sure each guest feels unique and special. I was thoroughly impressed!

Having stayed here many times in the past was VERY disappointed to see thet they have discontinued the GOLD benefit of free Valet Parking. At $55 is pretty pricey and thus this was probably my last stay here, as pretty good in all other respects.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lhiltz (Post 25106783)

for some reason Brisbane has some of the most expensive city parking in the world.

Any recent stays here?

I stayed there late last year for a few nights as a gold member. Received a slight upgrade in room (to a river view)
Free wifi.
Lounge was good but very busy. There is the usual wines & spirits, plus a different cocktail each night. The food in the lounge was good but they seemed to struggle to keep up with demand.
I had breakfast in the restaurant included in my rate. It was fine. Table service hot dishes. If you wanted a cappuccino etc you had to pay for it. Can't remember how much but probably about $5.

Marriott Brisbane

I’m going to be visiting Brisbane for the first time. I am Gold with both Marriott and Hilton. I had narrowed down my choices to those two properties and contacted each property to see how well I could be accommodated since my flight arrives at 6:25am local time. I was really surprised at the difference in offerings. Is the Hilton far superior or something?

Marriott said they would do their very best to accommodate an early check-in of 7am, upgraded me to an executive King, and said I could eat breakfast upon arrival even though I had not stayed the night.

This was in constrast to Hilton on the other hand who wanted to charge me extra (quite hefty I might add) depending on the hour I checked in early. They also said any benefits like upgrades would be bestowed upon me at check-in, and they could not guarantee anything.

I was really shocked at the stark differences, and obviously went with the Marriott. Why such differences? I can understand Hilton not being able to offer a guaranteed executive upgrade, but at least access to the lounge or something. Why does Hilton treat their Gold’s this way at this location? Is the Hilton just poor management?

Here is a post-Covid update with a stay on the first day of the school holidays.

The rooms are decidedly dated, with the executive rooms the same size as the regular ones except for a Nespresso machine. With only 4 suites in the entire hotel, elites should not expect a suite upgrade. I was not able to secure one even with a SNA. Had received an upgrade confirmation but no suites were available at check-in.

The highlight for me was the executive lounge on the 26th floor with expansive views over the city and river. The service level here was exemplary - far above what I would expect from a Marriott. My name was remembered and my glass was promptly topped up during the generous happy hour from 5:30 to 8:30pm. Platinums and above will receive their continental breakfast here. The buffet upgrade to the main restaurant is an additional $15.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...afea175a56.jpg
River views from the lounge
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...500db467af.jpg
Canapés, lots of room left for dinner by the river

Eh, too many problems with this property - I likely wouldn't return when the Westin and W are much better. Here are my pros, cons, and photos:

Note: I missed evening lounge service, so I can't comment on that.

Pros:

Upgraded to a Story Bridge View on the same floor as the lounge (26) - all rooms were sold out on the day of arrival
The room itself is nice looking
View towards Story Bridge was nice, especially at sunrise
Lounge breakfast was actually pretty good with scrambled eggs, fresh croissants, chocolate muffins, etc.

Neutral:

In-room welcome gift was just a bottle of wine - didn't touch that as I don't like wine

Cons:

While the shower pressure was good, the temperature wildly fluctuated between cold and scalding with no movement of the controls every few minutes
The bed covers were initially way too thin - solved by requesting an additional duvet
Pillows were way too thick and uncomfortable
Delivered an under-door bill with the redemption cost that would be billed to Marriott Bonvoy - they didn't seem to get at checkout that it's odd for that to be delivered to the end guest (though, they easily knew I wouldn't be paying it)

When I seen the floor diagram, I was going to ask "only 8 rooms to a floor?" Then I seen your picture of the hotel.

Stayed 3 nights over the weekend. Pleasantly surprised with this property.

As a titanium, the night before I was upgraded from base room to executive floor room facing story bridge. Very nice view! (There was "1" suite for sale on the app at the time of check-in but no suite upgrade on offer, which I understand is due to the very limited number of suites they have in total.) Welcome gift choice was offerred and f&b included full bottle of wine (red, white, sparkling, among other beverage choices) plus fruit or cheese plate. When I got to the room I found another bottle of wine already waiting for me with a welcome note. Very nice!

Late check-out wasn't mentioned at check-in and was not coded to my card, but I had no push back getting it set up the night before departure.

Room was in good order and comfortable size. Still felt newly renovated. Shower pressure was good. Room was very clean and housekeeping did a notably excellent job every night.

Location is excellent. If you walk 3 blocks in one direction you have the bar district, a block in the other direction is the office district, a block in another direction is the river with a seawall adorned with a bunch of bars / restaurants and with a great view of the city's lights, and in another there's a very large shopping street / mall. Anything within the CBD felt walkable from the hotel.

Lounge has free flow booze from 5:30pm-8:30pm, very limited hot and cold food appetizers (think spring rolls and samosas, plus a soup) for the first couple hours, then a few dessert options for the last bit. Lounge attendants also offer a number of cocktails (expresso martini, pina colada, mango bellini being the more popular ones). Lounge has a small variety of cold non-alcoholic drinks 24/7. Not sure whether it was due to the time of year or being on the weekend or if it's just the local market, but executive floor and lounge are very popular with families and kids using their outdoor voices / toddlers running around were the norm. That said, attendants were working hard and even remembered my name across nights. Elite breakfast is served in the lounge rather than the restaurant.

For dinner, I was particularly impressed with the downstairs restaurant. Probably the best restaurant fare in a Bonvoy property I've had over the past 100 nights. Strong and interesting flavors, cooked well. The chef also came around to solicit feedback from guests.

I did have an odd challenge at check-out. My rate was booked under a current promo offerred at a number of properties across Oceania which includes a nightly restaurant credit. At checkout, I wasn't asked to review the folio, they just said they'd charge the card on file. I asked for a copy of the folio and saw the credit hadn't been applied, so I asked the FDA to apply it. She then asked to clarify "what restaurant credit" before seeing it as "part of the room rate" and clicked around for several minutes. Another guest approached the front desk, the FDA greeted her, and then she asked if the FDA was free and she told them yes (while I was standing there waiting for her to finish fixing the overcharge). I asked her if the credit has been applied, she said yes and that the updated folio should arrive to my email soon. Cool. Except it never came. In my ride to the airport, I initiated a chat in the app and after 30 minutes they responded and said they have now refunded my card for the missing credit ... except they only did one night's worth, as if they interpreted the room rate language as "per stay" rather than what is explicitly "per night". I then had to follow up yet again to alert them that it is "per night" and they finally refunded me a second time for the remainder. I'm not sure if I'm the only person who booked this property under the current local promo and staff are just not familiar with it, but the takeaway is to be very careful reviewing your folio here because their night audit proces and/or staff training for applying appropriate credits folio review seems broken. But again, notwithstanding this awkward exercise, I had a good stay and would stay here again.