Well construction of the Marriott Marquis in Washington DC is the topic of the thread, and the "discussion of when was/is a good time to build" was in context and specific to this property.

Yes, since folks are interested in the particulars about this property then it would probably be a good idea to start a master thread for this hotel instead of hijacking this thread.

As far as you being judgmental about what is important to others, well I'll leave that to you.

Marriott Marquis Washington DC
 

Since FTers wanted to debate costs of opening hotels in the other thread re: the property vs. the actual property itself, decided to create a new thread where FTers can discuss the property & things that are more important such as exec lounge, category, etc. :p ;) :D

MMDC is a Cat 6. Connected to Washington Convention Ctr via underground tunnel.

1,175 total guest rooms including 625 double guest rooms and 501 king guest rooms. Offering 49 Washington, DC hotel suites with two Presidential and six Vice Presidential suites. Room types seem to be guest room, atrium view, city view, larger atrium view room, M club room/club level, exec king larger guest room, suites.

8,000 sq foot bi level Health Club and 28 rooms will be in the historic Samuel L Gompers Building.

Wireless charge in rooms is $12.95 for regular & $16.95 for enhanced. No reports yet on whether the enhanced is free for Gold/Plats. Free wifi in lobby & public areas.

Valet parking is $45+tax with in/out privileges. Nothing on the website about self-parking.

Restaurant/bar options include:

Anthem: A vibrant casual dining restaurant with a nod to the original 1927 Marriott Hot Shoppe including a nine-seat counter and a crowd-pleasing focus on breakfast Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner

The Dignitary: An upscale lounge including a 40-seat outdoor patio and 30 bourbons from the Eastern US

High Velocity: A high-tech sports bar with 48-beers on tap and signature Moscow Mules

Lobby Bar: Featuring bites from Marriott Hotels' signature "5/10/20" menu which consists of locally sourced small bites, shareable plates and lounge friendly entrees

Dining Your Way: An easy, fast, and affordable 24/7 food service for delivery to guests' rooms or pick-up; Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner

A Speciality Restaurant: A restaurant to open in late 2014

According to article in Washington Post that paytonc provided a link to in the exec lounge sticky:

"M Club" lounge on the 12th floor of this property will be open 24/7, with "comfortable couches, flat-screen TVs, an outdoor patio and around-the-clock booze." Food offerings include "a full breakfast, nightly hors d’oeuvres, a 24-hour bar for gold and platinum Marriott Rewards members. Guests can also pay a fee to access the lounge."

Other items from the article:

Amenities via mobile app: In addition to checking in and out of their rooms using the company’s mobile app, guests at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C. can request everything from more blankets to wake-up calls with the push of a button. This is the first Marriott hotel in the Washington area to provide the amenities-via-app service, which the company began rolling out last year.

Enter Dining Your Way: "a hipper, more practical alternative to room service. Instead of rolling tables and plate covers, the 24-hour service takes a page out of the popularity of delivery sites such as Seamless.com." Hotel guests can place orders in advance and have the option of picking up their food if they don’t want it brought to their room. “And no more signing a check,” “We’ll just have a receipt stapled to the side of the bag.”

Look forward to trip reports after FTers have stayed at the property!

Cheers.

Interesting since DC law prohibits the sale of alcohol after 2AM (3AM on weekends)

What I thought was interesting was this:

Room service is dead, says Daniel A. Nadeau, the hotel’s general manager. Just consider the statistics: Among Marriott customers, about 40 percent eat in their rooms — but only 6 percent eat food purchased from the hotel. “Most [guests] are ordering out or bringing food back to their rooms,” Nadeau said. “People are less and less taking advantage of room service as it exists today.”

I thought the 40%/6% data interesting/a bit puzzling. In all the FS hotels I've stayed at I see a lot more room service carts/trays in the hallways than I do empty pizza cartons or food bags. I wonder if the 40/6 is true for FS or if it's more for lesser brands such as FI, SHS, RI.

Or if this is just an attempt to get staffing down, aka, hey if we can get the guests to come pick up their food less staff we have to use (the grocery store equivalent of if we can get them to bag their own groceries less baggers we have to hire). Can't speak for others but I'm not interested in getting a steak, salad, pasta dish & side delivered in 'bags'. A FS hotel isn't McDonalds.

Cheers.

Yesterday I booked a stay here a couple of weeks away, and your post prompted me to call and ask about the wifi just now, the person looked up my reservation and stated that "as a platinum rewards member, you will get free enhanced internet access". I'm sure that will apply to gold as well.

it is true for hotels that offer room service the volume is (and has been for a while) down...the other brands you mentioned typically don't offer room service

34% of the 40% bring in food from outside at FS hotels? Seems a high % & is different than just not ordering room service. Again I'm not a fan of we'll put your steak or your seafood or your pasta dish in a plastic container & deliver it to your room in a bag w/ a receipt attached to it. :rolleyes: I could maybe see it if it was a sandwich or pizza, but room service menus normally encompass more than that.

Cheers.

This is just one datapoint, but I was at the Dulles Marriott the other day, and ordered pizza delivered, when I walked out to the lobby to meet the driver, he had pizzas for two other guests.

You gave up points for a pizza? :eek: :p :D I've been staying at FS Marriotts for years & I don't think I've ever ordered delivery from an outside source. Either room service, hotel restaurant or eat off-site. And I've seen a lot of room service trays & carts in the hallways. I'm not saying people don't bring in food, but I think that only 6% are ordering in-house of all that are eating in their rooms at FS properties is a bit low based on what I've observed.

FWIW (and dif chain) - the NY Hilton tried changing its room service because of the high staffing costs for such a large property, but had to backtrack to traditional method because of push back from guests & what was expected in a FS property.

My guess is the 'dine your way' concept is designed to do two things: 1) reduce staffing costs if they can get guests to schlep down to the pick-up spot to pick up their food, especially given the size of this particular property; 2) increase revenue by hoping to get the guests to order from 'dine your way' vs. ordering from the outside pizza or chinese place.

Cheers.

Thanks for the info. I'll be staying here in June, and will report back.

Well I hope they weren't including FI/SHS/RI in there since the second number would be 0% (except for maybe a few exceptions). But you never know...

Thanks! Please do.

Cheers.

Something else I was wondering about - ie, will it really work given the mobile app already has hiccups...

Amenities via mobile app: In addition to checking in and out of their rooms using the company’s mobile app, guests at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C. can request everything from more blankets to wake-up calls with the push of a button. This is the first Marriott hotel in the Washington area to provide the amenities-via-app service, which the company began rolling out last year.

Speaking for myself, I'd probably have a back-up plan on the wake-up call ;)

Cheers.

I like the Dining Your Way concept. Long overdue.

When I'm traveling alone and/or don't have dinner meetings or social events, I hardly ever order room service. I do, however, bring in takeout from nearby restaurants all the time. Partly that's because the room service menu isn't that exciting, partly to support local business, partly because there are more options this way, and partly because I find the whole room delivery thing awkward (is that service charge a tip? is it ok to answer the door in my bathrobe? do I really care where you put the tray?).

When I do order room service, it's because it's 11pm and it's too late to find another option.

(Also, I don't understand why people think there won't still be delivery to the room. The quote specifically says it will be an option to pick up your food with a receipt stapled to the bag.)

Isn't Dining Your Way going to be the same menu, just that there's the option of picking up the food yourself vs. having it delivered to the room? I don't think they're planning on having menus from area restaurants available to choose from.

Back to mobile - I'm really hoping someone tries to order more towels or blankets or something just to test it.

Cheers.