When I booked (two days prior to arrival), the property was offering the base room, the "Executive" room (which I booked), and some type of suite. As previously noted, they were unable to put me in my booked room type, and instead put me in the base king, with a view of construction/dumpsters across the street.

I did ask the FDA about suite availability. First she denied that the property had suites. When I told her suites had shown for sale at booking, she responded that "there are only four of them" :rolleyes:

And btw, my main complaint here was about Ambassador service, which misread my email and gave me the standard "upgrades are subject to availability" nonsense in response. My complaint wasn't about not being upgraded, it was about a downgrade from my booked category into an objectively awful room. Properties shouldn't be doing that to any guest, and they certainly shouldn't be doing it to Ambassadors.

did you at least get a rate adjustment? (Sorry if I missed it upthread)

they certainly are doing it, and the marriot siop rules dont kick back in till what, september?

Although I’ve been upgraded at my last 3 hotels in July I think the challenge is that the big suites have not been made up, and would
only be when the room is booked.

this is a theory, but I think a logical one as most rooms will need to be prepped following months of no usage. My friends who are amb and I suggested they would book we larger suites and then cancel them so that they were ready to be upgraded to.

I'm in my second year of being an Ambassador and after asking for assistance only twice and receiving very little help on the first request and absolutely no help on the second request I'd say the Ambassador service is practically useless. If anyone is aiming to make a stretch to for Ambassador, I would advise against it. Maybe I'm in the minority here or I don't spend enough to make me as special as other Ambassadors but I never receive anything from my Ambassador for any of my stays. Short or long. Luxury or economy.

For my last request I emailed my assigned ambassador and the general ambassador email asking for some help in locating a Marriott branded quarantine hotel in Taipei. At the time the Aloft Beitou was booked full. Gave dates of arrival and all necessary info. I received two emails. One from my assigned ambassador saying that she was out of the office and one from another ambassador that just said she would make contact with Marriott employees in Taipei to see if they can give some assistance. That was weeks ago. Crickets since.

TBH, reading some of the great service reports here makes me wonder what my team and I are doing wrong considering that everyone on my team that travels is an Ambassador Elite member and we all get the same lack of attention.

Regarding upgrades. I have just come to expect that I am not getting a room upgrade. Pandemic travel or not. Most times the FDA says that you for being an Ambassador Elite, I have given you a room upgrade I walk into a room and it looks identical to the room I booked. I'd rather just not be given an upgrade to be disappointed.

Sorry this post sounds grim but I feel like the Ambassador status is mostly worthless unless you are someone that enjoys chasing status for sake of having it.

FDA said she was adjusting rate, but I was charged the rate I booked. She did waive the $15 parking charge.

Please PM us your information if you would like us to forward your feedback to Ambassador team and follow up the case with hotel.



Best Regards,



Abbey L
Specialist, Social Media
Marriott International
[email protected]

TBH that was my original opinion about the service as well. My assigned ambassador is a nice guy, but there was only so much he could assist with, and most of it were things I could do myself faster and more efficiently than him.

In fact, in SPG times I occasionally went out of my way not to reach 100 nights so
I would’t get sn ambassador.

I did however had a change of mind last year. While on a month-long Asian trip I was twice the victim of Marriott IT’s zombie reservations coming back to life and having my cc charged or preauthorized. My ambassador was super diligent in having that sorted out, kept a constant line of communication with the hotels and gave me regular feedback, to the point of calling me several times on the same day to update me on his démarches. He was decisive in solving rhat mess promptly.

Of course this was only possible because he wasn’t on holidays and all the issues I had happened (and could be sorted with the hotels) during his regular office hours. Had it been otherwise I suspect I would have gotten zero assistance from the general ambassador line.

All this made me see the ambassador program in a different light and acknowledge that there is definitely some good value in it, albeit residual.

If it helps, the Marriott Taipei is a favourite of mine. I too am an Ambassador and I received a very nice upgrade last November to a one bedroom suite. I know the hotel is a bit far from the action but that suits me just fine. The lounge is also very nice. In the other timeline that I think of (too) often, I would at this moment be planning a return!

the first time this happened since i started traveling again i had been told by front desk staff i know at regular places i stay that they simply arent upgrading, period. this was at a 1000 room property when they had just opened up and were at 3% capacity. they are running on a skeleton crew for housekeeping and the fancier rooms take more time to prep / clean.

thank you for reaching out. At this point I rather you shared my experience with Ambassador management to hopefully draw some change moving forward regarding the services provided rather than just greasing the squeaky wheel. I'd rather be an advocate for a overall greater experience for all. Thank you thought for the offer.

Agreed. There is definitely value in the program. Although not nearly as much value as being sold by Marriott.

Thank you for the suggestion. I have made arrangements for my stay already. I will look into your suggestion if I have a return visit.

Update: Giving credit where due, a different Ambassador (who I had corresponded with earlier), replied separately and apologized for my experience. She also opened a case. I very quickly received an apology from the hotel and some points. As well as another email from the original Ambassador asking me to give Marriott another chance.

IMO they should consider promoting this woman to head of loyalty, since she obviously gets it.

Part of me thinks the reason you got this treatment was because of the exposure on FT. Otherwise, such instances for us AE guests are treated as “noise around the edges”.

Maybe send a nice email to David Flueck complimenting / recognizing her.

That thought crossed my mind.