dayone

A book in a drawer is a suggestion, not an infestation or an infliction. YMMV.

SkiAdcock

Agree. I don't understand the fixation on the books in a drawer, whether it be the Bible, Book of Mormon or the Koran. If someone is interested they can read it, whatever the it is. If they're not, then ignore it - or do what I do, toss my clothes or other items on top of it.

Based on the latest report above, sounds like I'll still stick w/ the Ren over the Marriott at LAX.

Cheers.

JHake10

BLG

From my limited experience, maybe more like "all the rooms are half updated."

Kacee

My room was about 95% updated. Everything was new except the bed frame . . . it was pretty odd, the mattress hung over by about 12 inches. Lobby is all new, M Club is all new (and nice). Pool area is updated and attractive.

Despite all the new stuff, I didn't like this property very much. It just had an uncomfortable, very corporate vibe. Much prefer Sheraton Gateway, which is a bit funky but I find it comfortable and they're great with the suite upgrades.
To me it was a very obvious reminder of who's in charge now.

They can't answer emails or their phones, but they've managed to fill tens of thousands of bedside drawers around the world with the Book of Mormon. It rubs me the wrong way.

Dr. HFH

What's up with this? I can't remember the last time I opened the drawer of the night table beside the bed. Do you guys (intended to be gender inclusive of everyone) check the drawers? Are you offended if you find something there that you don't like?

How about looking at it slightly differently. Management is putting it there so if people want it, they can find it. I don't use lotion. Ever. Can't stand the greasy feeling I get. But the fact that there's a small tube/container of lotion in every hotel bathroom doesn't offend me. I just don't use it. The Bible/Book of Mormon is in the drawer. You had to go looking for it. If you don't want to read it, don't. But does that mean that the hotel shouldn't make it easily available for those who do?

bennos

My analogy is to the coffee maker I never use, but otherwise I agree. MR is a business, it has determined that some portion of its customer base wants poorly written works of fiction available to it, just like some portion of its customer base wants bad coffee in the room. As another data point, MR has been an HRC Corporate Equality "best place to work" for the last several years (as had been Starwood), which I'm pretty sure wouldn't have been the case if corporate were pursuing a Mormon agenda.

Anyway, this discussion probably belongs in another thread.

Kacee

That's not why Marriott is doing it. They're doing it for the same reason the Mormon Church more or less requires young men aged between 18-25 to spend two years as missionaries. It's called proselytizing.

Dr. HFH

So it's not so much that the presence of the book in a closed drawer in your hotel room, but what really bugs you is why they do it? Any Marriott employee forcing you to read the book? Any even suggest that you take a look at it? Seems to me that they're free to put the book in a drawer in your room (not even out in the open), and you're free to ignore it.

How about MAGC? While they say that they have it for environmental reasons, the fact is that the MAGC program saves the company a ton of money. Do you have a problem with that, too, because of a [possibly] selfish motive?

SkiAdcock

Agree. Let's get back to reviews of the LAX Marriott. There's probably another thread already re: BOM or someone can start one.

Cheers.

cmculp

spark787

Little bit off topic but how come every Marriott property in the LA area now charge for parking?
Even a fairfield inn 30 miles away in Orange County charge 12USD for parking when it used to be free.
Seems like a cash grab.

jtwiz

I meant to post this last week. The LAX Marriott has been having an upgraded concierge lounge night on the ~middle Wednesday of each month. They bring one of their chefs into the lounge and have them cook a specialty item right there. This month it was a Cuban sandwich (and it was delicious!) Since this past Wednesday was immediately following the start of Bonvoy, they had these adorable mini cupcakes as well. They had a free mojito bar, crawfish etouffee, shrimp ceviche plus the usual crudite, cheeses, etc. It was really quite the celebration (and the place was packed.) I have to say that I grew more attached to the name Bonvoy when seeing it like this

ElevatorEnthusiast

No real upgrade - suites sold out online. Given 15th floor "concierge" King facing the runways. Good view, but dirty window. Room had too much extra space with too little furniture. Only one chair when there should have been a chaise lounge. Bed was comfortable - softish mattress, non-lumpy pillows, and covers of normal thickness. Climate control had trouble keeping up with sunset to west but cooled down overnight. Shower was great with strong pressure and full glass. TV had Internet TV OS.

Service was good and bad - bad at first as agents insisted no rooms were clean (they just didn't know and wouldn't ask Housekeeping). One made a big deal that if I took an accessible room, room changes WOULD NOT occur. Off-putting. Finally got a room at 2 PM on the third time of asking. Attitudes got better when I went back to ask for water from the front desk (they had some) - the agent in training was friendly and asked me how my day was going. I did receive a welcome letter and two bottles of Evian a few hours after checking in, as well. I was asked proactively about late checkout, which I didn't need.

Lounge is closed and locked except from 6 AM to 10:30 AM - breakfast was okay for a lounge. Basically scrambled eggs, turkey sausage links, and some kind-of-gross mini cinnamon rolls. I really do hate lounges. If it was closed, I'm sure I could have gotten a nice breakfast in the restaurant. The view of the runways was good, though.

Shuttle worked well after checkout in the morning - was sitting right there. Boy, am I glad that I'm not a LAX shuttle driver - crazy traffic, but still got all the way around to T7 in about 15ish minutes. Some Ren guests had to stand.

Overall, definitely not the worst - will probably try the Renaissance the next time I'm splitting flight legs between days.

DJ_Iceman

Thanks for the review. I think you'll find the Renaissance a superior hotel in every regard.