itsaboutthejourney

As tiresome as having to figure out what a Marriott "Family Hotel" is? God bless.

CJKatl

The irony is that there are places where the FI is the best Marriott choice, like near DFW. Anyone who choose the FS will be very disappointed, and while the Gaylord is a nice, well run hotel, getting in and out of the hotel makes it impractical for most looking for an airport location.

Sorry if having to learn a basic business/legal term that has been used for many years on this thread, without issue, is hard. Like so many things there might be a difference between how people on the Marriott thread did things and how people on the SPG thread did things, but there is no reason for SPG enthusiasts to come over here and be insulting. All the OP had to do was nicely ask. Calling us "lazy" because she didn't know a vocabulary word, which BTW is a common business term, was unnecessary. How her lack of knowledge equates to our laziness makes no sense.

Here is a link to a simple definition for this basic term: corporate family. Please let us know if there are any other basic terms or terms commonly used on this thread you need defined.

mahasamatman

It's not hard if you parse it correctly. It's "Marriott family" hotel. I actually never imagined it could be read otherwise until this thread came along, but now I see how it could be misinterpreted.

C17PSGR

I suppose so but ... one difference is that the threads in the Starwood forum for the same purpose use the phrase which Starwood property ....that's easier to distinguish in that forum because there is not a "Starwood" hotel. Here, in this forum, its used to discuss brands in a location across the Marriott portfolio. Adopting the same phrases as used in that forum won't work here.

hhoope01

I will admit that the first time I saw one of the "family" threads, I thought it was concerning Marriott's in a location that were best for families. But after actually looking through the thread, it was very easy to see that it really was referring to comparing the "family of Marriott hotels" in a certain location. So while the word "family" might have a couple of different meanings, looking over any of those threads should give the reader a quick understanding of its purpose. And I agree that just because someone prefers one meaning over the other, doesn't then mean the person who created the thread was lazy or have any other implications (except one person had one meaning in their head and another person had a different one.)

I do think it is a fair question to ask other FTers reading the Marriott forum if they are also confused and if a title change might be helpful. If you can get a general consensus, I've always found Bruce to be very accommodating to the folks here and very willing to make changes based on feedback here. But, and this is just my opinion, using terms like "lazy" that will most likely be perceived as derogatory, probably hurts your case more than it helps it.

UA-NYC

I agree that "family" has optics that something more neutral like "affiliated" doesn't. And while I don't personally love the "family" description, I got it maybe on the second time I went to the MR forum (and it didn't impact me the first time), and don't think it's a huge deal either way.

controller1

UA-NYC

I do agree it makes it a bit more intuitive

nacho

I don't even think I got confused the first time I saw the thread because it's with a location such as Houston. To me when I'm thinking about hotels for families, I will expect terms like "hotels for families" or "family friendly hotels".

It's a matter of taste really.

Twickenham

They're already titled that way. Just checked, and all the "Marriott-family" threads currently on the 1st page of this board have the hyphen between Marriott and family.

I agree that 'affiliated' would be more exact, but if you read it properly, there is no confusion as to the meaning.

controller1

You're right. Perhaps a moderator has been busy today changing thread titles since I find it hard to believe that these threads, which were started by numerous OPs, have conformed to the same style!

itsaboutthejourney

Coming from my point of view that Marriott is generally more conservative, the types of vacation properties they have a lot of, and likely a clientele make-up that skews hetero couples with children, I immediately assumed the threads were people looking for family friendly hotels and seeing so many of the FT theads titled as such only enhanced my perception that Marriott skews children/family.

When the forums are merged, I suggest the mods use a more technical term to describe area hotels so those actually wanting family/children friendly hotels can find those threads easily.

CJKatl

Where does this come from? I've been reading this board, TA and MI for years and can tell you this is flat out wrong. Do you have a cite? Any factual basis? And more important, why would that even possibly matter? Rather than ask for changes based on made up bias, why not spend a little time reading the Marriott board? Any reader will find all kinds of people posting information about many types of hotels offering diverse experiences, each of which is valid and informative.

BTW, I, like many others here, do not fit within your made-up clientele parameters and have been happy staying at Marriotts for over fifteen years. A chain with a small, limited imprint would not have worked for me over those years.

itsaboutthejourney

You sound offended, apologies if my post about Marriott hotels being family friendly offended you - that was not my intention. We all come from different backrounds and geographical areas (you appear to be in the South, me the North), hence different entry points where we develop opinions and viewpoints. I've not been shy in saying mine of Marriott is generally conservative, religious, tacky or boring decor, and mostly focused on heterosexual families with a lot of properties designed to cater to them. Clearly that has been successful for them and their shareholders, but that is not for me. Sharon has opened my eyes to how inclusive MAR as a corporation has been to GLBT community and a few others have encouraged me to look at Autograph and Edition as unique, design-focused properties more in the boutique space, so I'm open to having my opinion changed. But overall I'm coming from a viewpoint that Marriott is generally focused on (heterosexual) families as a customer base, this thread would not exist if others had similar thoughts.

CJKatl

Please do not put words in my, um, mouth, or whatever the expression would be online. Why the need to make up stuff about people? I live in the South now but grew up in the North. I was born in Manhattan, NYC. You seem to also have some other parameters for me that are dead wrong. The bottom line is my incredulousness on the made up stuff isn't offense, it's just pointing out that sweeping conclusions should not be based on this sort of fiction, nor should any changes be made based on made-up conclusions.

Please just read the posts without trying to define the posters. So many SPG enthusiasts have come over to the Marriott boards with this type of exclusionary elitism which we have rarely previously seen on the Marriott board. I'm hoping the Marriott board can remain uninfected by the faux elitism.