Marriott "Fresh Bites" Room Service
Sep 27, 2018, 10:33 am
#271
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Platinum/LT Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 5,594
- Security far beyond the normal AirBnb
- Restaurant, bar, or several of each in the hotel (regardless of room service)
- Free internet (although that's many AirBnb as well)
- Breakfast (I have actually had that unexpectedly included at my AirBnb in Playa del Carmen)
- A mostly consistent experience in the room -- bed, bathroom, etc. This is important to me when I travel for business.
- Concierge lounges
- A concierge
- Parking
- Someone to answer my questions or help me 24 hours a day. I'm fortunately I've never lost my key at an AirBnb!
I could go on. But I understand the point you're trying to make, that Marriott is losing a competitive advantage by eliminating services. That may be true in some cases, but I don't believe it's true when they change or eliminate room service. It's the way the whole industry is going. Honestly, if you want someone to deliver a higher quality meal to your room, for half the price of room service, why not use UberEats or a similar service? Because the only value of room service vs. going to the hotel restaurant is the delivery right?
Sep 27, 2018, 10:46 am
#272
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Plum Nelly
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy, Delta Sky Miles, and S&H Green Stamps
Posts: 636
Sep 27, 2018, 10:52 am
#273
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Plum Nelly
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy, Delta Sky Miles, and S&H Green Stamps
Posts: 636
And yet another "Marriott sucks; SPG had all the best hotels in the universe" overreaction. *sigh*
Am I the only one hoping all the spoiled, self-entitled, wool-pulled-over-their-eyes SPG blind loyalists leave Marriott as soon as possible and take their crappy attitudes to some other hotel chain where it will become their problem?
Am I the only one hoping all the spoiled, self-entitled, wool-pulled-over-their-eyes SPG blind loyalists leave Marriott as soon as possible and take their crappy attitudes to some other hotel chain where it will become their problem?
Sep 27, 2018, 12:06 pm
#274
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
As for greener pastures, grab and go is an industry trend, There's always better food at the restaurant, the hotel loses money on the $30 hamburger, and there are zillions of choices with UberEats, Amazon Eats, Grubhub, etc. So ... you can go to Hilton or Hyatt but it will follow. So, the hotel tries to come up with something that works ... even though it doesn't work for me, as a legacy MR member. But, I'm not going to stay at Starriott properties because I have a poor experience at a particular legacy SPG property ... which I have.
As for the OP's situation, the options in the Baltimore Inner Harbor area are a Ren, a Marriott, and a Sheraton. There must be a convention because the Ren and the Marriott are sold out and OP was paying $400 a night. There's also a reason the Ren and the Marriott were sold out while the legacy SPG property had rooms available for $190 ... which probably doesn't fit the self perception of some legacy SPG folks here.
Sep 27, 2018, 8:55 pm
#276
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: CLT
Programs: Marriott Plat, AA Gold
Posts: 1,076
I lived in Baltimore for a few years. Wasn't a fan but they did have some good food. The Marriott Waterfront is literally smack in the middle of tons of different places to eat or get something to eat, ordering room service seems insane.
Sep 27, 2018, 10:10 pm
#277
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Albany, NY, USA
Programs: LT Mariott Platinum?, SPG Gold, Hilton Silver, AA Gold, Amtrak Nothing.
Posts: 104
And this is why there is a clash of expectations - Marriotts used to excel at cheap local partial service hotels often with lounges and lots of points towards free hotels, whereas Starwood had a reputation for full service hotels with things like room service and concierge as well as great recognition for its elites. In the merger of the programmes and the mid tier consumers are finding it is difficult for both of these things to be true.
Beyond its brands Starwood had its own distinct brand persona world’s away from the very US corporate very Utah persona of Marriott. This is ultimately where all the “our people are better than your people” stuff comes from.
If I’m paying $300 or so for a hotel for either a business stay or a weekend break I expect the option of room service and would be put out by it arriving with plastic cutlery. I find plastic cups in a room offensive enough, and that’s a direction lower end US Starwoods have already gone down.
There were so many places to choose for great dinners that I rarely had room service. But I agree, a full service hotel should have more than just boxed dinners.
Sep 28, 2018, 9:43 am
#278
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Somewhere in Florida
Posts: 2,622
Agreed. Even if the food sucks, at least plate it! That's still standard practice at my office for business meetings w/execs involved. Even Subway sandwiches are put on plates before being brought into the conference rooms.
Sep 28, 2018, 12:04 pm
#279
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Platinum/LT Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 5,594
I don't eat dinner in my bedroom at home, I don't want to do it at a hotel either. If I don't want to leave the building, I want a restaurant available.
Mar 3, 2019, 11:03 pm
#280
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,026
Marriott Marquis Chicago has the boxed meals. Given the price I was surprised when a guy showed up at the door with a bag.
No other real meal options within an easy walk late night so it's better than nothing but still..................
No other real meal options within an easy walk late night so it's better than nothing but still..................
Mar 4, 2019, 2:02 am
#281
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards (SE), Virgin America Elevate, Hyatt Gold Passport (Platinum), VIA Preference
Posts: 3,134
I've very rarely ordered room service. Actually, in my recollection, I've done it twice in the last decade. One time involved extreme exhaustion from travel, while the other time involved getting to my hotel at about 0100 after a marathon of flights due to IRROPS which had left me unable to get food after early afternoon. Notably, both incidents were at the same hotel (it wasn't a Marriott).
However, the underlying point that sits here is that when you need room service, you need room service.
However, the underlying point that sits here is that when you need room service, you need room service.
Mar 4, 2019, 5:56 am
#282
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Another example of fresh bites showing up at a property operating in a city with high labor costs, thanks in part to trade unions.
Mar 12, 2019, 8:02 am
#283
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Programs: Hyatt Gold, Marriott Silver Elite
Posts: 6
And who was the idiot in senior management who decided to do away with room service and hotel restaurants, and go with take away food in a bag that you have to leave your room and pick-up at a counter, because, and I quote a Marriott hotel rep, "The Millennials like eating food from Grub Hub"
Mar 12, 2019, 8:19 am
#284
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
And who was the idiot in senior management who decided to do away with room service and hotel restaurants, and go with take away food in a bag that you have to leave your room and pick-up at a counter, because, and I quote a Marriott hotel rep, "The Millennials like eating food from Grub Hub"
Mar 12, 2019, 12:26 pm
#285
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,113
And who was the idiot in senior management who decided to do away with room service and hotel restaurants, and go with take away food in a bag that you have to leave your room and pick-up at a counter, because, and I quote a Marriott hotel rep, "The Millennials like eating food from Grub Hub"
Cheers.