Beverly Hills Marriott [Master Thread]
 

Noticed the property is open. Category 8. M Lounge. Lounge is open daily for brekkie & snacks, but no evening offerings on Fri/Sat night.

Look forward to first trip report.

Cheers.

I missed this thread yesterday, but since i drive past the hotel (formerly the Crowne Plaza) every night on my way home from work, for the first time tonight I noticed the Marriott signage in front. I had no idea the hotel was re-branding, and I almost wrapped my car around a pole rubber-necking. :D

This is an ideal location for mattress runners, as it is directly across the street from the Residence Inn.

Note that the hotel is not in Beverly Hills proper, but it is walkable to the "Golden Triangle," in a neighborhood with a lot of Kosher restaurants (which close from before sunset on Fridays until after sunset on Saturday nights).

Beverly Hills Marriott Debuts With $26M Renovation

The official hotel launch party and events will be in September.

The M Lounge:
http://cache.marriott.com/propertyim...hototour22.jpg

Great location but, as stated above, not Beverly Hills. Just a couple blocks though. It is a great area and is extremely central to the west side (beaches, UCLA, museums, etc...). The property itself has looked sort of old, from the outside, but I have never stayed there. We often stay at the RI across the street.

I may have to plan a mid-week "staycation" to check it out. It will cut my 25-minute commute in half, too. :p

I wonder if there is any chance of local Flyertalkers getting invited to the launch party?

Hi all

I'm currently in the middle of a 4 night stay at this property. Checked in Monday for business and figured I'd give a report on things.

There are still some renovations ongoing but for the most part, they are close to being finished. The "Marriott" sign on top of the building went up on Tuesday. The lobby, guest rooms and halls, club lounge and restaurant are all complete. There is some work going on near the elevators and on one of the elevators but from what I can see, it is pretty close.

Valet parking is the only parking option - no self parking. I believe it is $30 per night.

Rooms - I'm a platinum and got a standard room with no view really to speak of (so no upgrade). The room isn't bad but it is different than most FS Marriotts. Hard to explain but it has more of a Vegas style hotel feel to it than it does a FS Marriott hotel. For example, there is no desk or workspace in the room. Near the window, there is a large couch and a small circular table. So if you are planning to be using the hotel to work at night in your room, make other arrangements. Bathroom is OK - nice big shower but the rest of it is nothing special.

Lounge - For breakfast is has been the standard. Cereals, oatmeal, three hot dishes (eggs, meats, potatoes), bagels, muffins etc. The evening appetizers and deserts have been sub par. There hasn't been much out in terms of food. There are a few bowls of candy (M&Ms, Gummy Bears, Chocolate Pretzels) and a tray of cookies and fruit out at all times. The first night there were hot veggies and crackers but I have not seen anything else. I will go back tonight around 6 to see if anything is different. Last night around 7:30 I went in and no food outside that mentioned above was out. One thing is that there does not appear to be coffee or tea after breakfast. One guest asked the lounge attendant and he said "We don't have coffee or tea out after 12 noon". The one plus was when I checked in Monday the front desk clerk mentioned free drinks in the lounge. I did see many people drinking and there were no charge slips anywhere so this seemed to be the case. I'm sure this will change soon.

Location wise the hotel is directly across from the RI. It is a 10 minute or so walk up Beverly Drive to get to the restaurants and the start of Rodeo Drive. I am working in Century City so the location is key for me. A lot of the staff are former Crowne Plaza staff so I'm guessing they are catching up on the Marriott way of things.

I'm here another night so if anyone has any questions I can try and track them down.

Thanks for the trip report!

Getting concerned that Marriott seems to be going to no desk situation at full-service properties. If you get a moment & if you feel strongly enough about it, please mention this is NOT good for biz travelers.

Can you ask what the situation is for the M Lounge on the weekends? Most seem to be open 24/7, but only do brekkie and evening offerings Sun night-Thursday night & brekkie only on Sat/Sun mornings, & no evening food options on Fri/Sat nights.

Also, any confirmation if the free drinks are for opening timeframe or if they think it will continue. Tres weird no coffee or tea out after noon.

Did they offer you the PAG? (500 pts or $10FB coupon).

Cheers.

There is some free street parking in the residential neighborhoods surrounding the hotel, but you have to check the signs very carefully, and you have to be willing to walk a few blocks -- something most LA residents would never dream of doing. :D

As has been the mantra with real estate: Location, location, location.

I suspect they think higher rates are expected for a BH address vs LA.

I always laugh when thinking about the Sheraton San Jose is actually in Milpitas. That town has been described as San Jose's armpit... I prefer the use of proper names with the exception of names referencing nearby locations like SFO or Disneyland.

Indeed-- that's one of the first things I thought of when I saw photos of this property! I'm assuming some market research/focus groups have convinced all the hotel companies that "millennials" don't like desks and prefer flexible work spaces. Hyatt has been doing this too at new and renovated properties, but they are at least replacing the desk/desk chair with armchairs or couches that pull up to real tables (check out the Hyatt Regency Boston to see the set up). I still don't find that ideal, but it's better than what I'm seeing at FS Marriotts now (I just noticed the same set-up at the downtown Ren in Chicago).

Yes, I was offered the 500 pts/$10 FB coupon.

I will follow up upon my return today on your other questions on the weekend lounge and drinks and report back.

One think I did forget to post was the wireless internet. I've been using my iPhone & iPad to connect so upon doing so connecting through the settings and wireless "Marriott Guest" option, usually you get the pop up asking you for your choice of internet speed etc. You put in your login and done. At this property it is no joke taking a good 10 minutes just to get the page to load the login screen. Once you are connected the speed is decent but connecting is awful.

I would mention that to them. They can't fix it if they don't know.

Cheers.

While this property is what I would consider to be in a good, central location, I suspect that the clientele is primarily "leisure" -- Lots of tourists looking to stay in a hotel with "Beverly Hills" in the name, as well as wedding & Bar/Bat Mitzvah room blocks to service the numerous temples which line Pico Boulevard. I can see why Marriott would take the risk of designing rooms without desks at this property, even though I don't agree with this decision on any level if they expect to court business travelers.

OK a few updates:

The free booze situation has corrected itself. They apparently didn't have any drink charge slips. They are now using hotel made print outs for the time being until they get the standard sign cards.

Lounge is open for breakfast on the weekends. They mentioned it should be open for water and things at non-breakfast times but no night time appetizers or anything...but based on this weeks offerings, no big deal.

Just read that it had its formal opening yesterday. Were there any FTers there for the big opening event?

Cheers.