C17PSGR

That's excellent information! Thanks!

bhrubin

Red herring alert! Marriott properties cannot see any status unless the front desk agent looks at and understands the code in the computer at check-in.

As long as the Ambassador OR the Ambassador guest alerts the SPG hotel (or even Marriott/Ritz-Carlton hotel in some recent cases for me), the hotel knows we are Ambassador VIP status. You make it sound like it requires a herculean task to get recognition. It doesn't.

I've also on occasion informed the hotel in advance of my Ambassador status. That seemed to do the trick, too. Heck, that seemed to work quite well even with the Ritz Carlton Boston and Ritz Carlton Kyoto recently--despite them not officially yet recognizing the status.

First, in the Marriott world, Marriott Platinum Premier benefits, unpublished as they were, still didn't come close to the published benefits for a regular SPG Platinum. The comparison isn't even close. Marriott Platinum Premier didn't even get suite upgrades or guaranteed breakfast benefits like a regular SPG Platinum did at far more hotel types (including resorts). Marriott Platinum Premier didn't even get late checkout guarantees like a regular SPG Platinum.

Second, Platinum Premiers were also given "concierges" that weren't called ambassadors until Marriott acquired Starwood and then decided to copy the obviously better SPG Platinum Ambassador service. Your concierge, now referred to as an ambassador, STILL isn't equivalent to the SPG Ambassador. This has been established innumerable times by the Marriott threads on the subject. Your concierge/ambassador accomplishes almost nothing extra when compared to a regular SPG Platinum agent. SPG Ambassadors do far more and enable far more recognition throughout hotel stays.

This is obviously false and a gross exaggeration of truth. You and all other Marriott Plat Premiers have yet to ascribe any enhanced experiences at any Marriott hotels that come close to the enhanced and elevated experiences by many SPG Ambassador level guests. It isn't even close. Heck, you still won't talk about the specific identities of a single hotel where you allegedly had "exceeded experiences" as you claim. That's because it's hard to swallow that an enhanced experience at a Fairfield or Marriott is anything remotely as impressive as the innumerable enhanced and elevated experiences described for Ambassador guests at St Regis, Luxury Collection, and W hotels, let alone at Le Meridien, Westin, or Sheraton hotels.

Please do tell us the two properties at which you've enjoyed those MR suite upgrades this week. If you can't share the hotel identities or the suites involved, it's probably not as impressive as claimed.

Getting suite upgrades might impress you, but regular SPG Platinums have been enjoying suite upgrades for almost a decade now as a guaranteed published benefit. Marriott Rewards and your Platinum Premier status don't even come close. It isn't even close to comparing with SPG Ambassador status!

Well if it doesn't happen for you, you surmise it can't happen for anyone else. You're wrong.

You continue to try to reduce SPG Ambassador service because of the "need" for an Ambassador to contact the property. As if the intra-SPG hotel email is that tough to accomplish. You've never even considered the obvious probability that the reason SPG Ambassador guests can get such great recognition (throughout their entire hotel stays) is because there is that direct contact/reminder with the hotel management, as opposed to the Marriott reminder via a computer code at check-in with a front desk agent. Hmmm, a reminder email sent to hotel management versus a computer code for a front desk agent. Which might be better? Hmmm...

No. You don't have an Ambassador. You have a Marriott concierge--now called an ambassador to give you the illusion that you now have anything close to what SPG Ambassador guests have had for years. The dearth of enhanced experiences in Marriott threads is all the evidence everyone needs to know this obvious fact. But you keep pretending. Please stop! It's an obvious false equivalency.

Let's do a quick run down for just MY Ambassador enhancements:

(1) early check in (7:15 am at Prince Gallery Tokyo in May 2018, 11 am at St Regis San Francisco in July 2018, 1:30 pm at Westin San Jose, too many to count over the years)

(2)]bring a large dog beyond weight limits (110 lb dog for St Regis San Francisco despite 35 lb limit, for the SLS Beverly Hills despite 40 lb limit, for the US Grant San Diego despite 40 lb limit, Westin San Jose despite 40 lb limit, etc)

(3) massive suite upgrades at luxury hotels that don't even exist in the Marriott portfolio (Metropolitan Suite at St Regis San Francisco for all but 1 of my innumerable stays, Imperial Suite at Hotel Imperial Vienna, Royal Overwater Villa at St Regis Bora Bora, Dalmatia Suite at Gritti Palace Venice, Atelier Suite at Excelsior Gallia Milan, Kioi Suite at Prince Gallery Tokyo, Presidential Suite at Suiran Kyoto, St Regis Suite at St Regis Atlanta, Wow Suite at W Boston, Astor Suite at St Regis New York, Luxury Villa with Pool at St Regis Punta Mita, St Regis Suite at St Regis Houston, Wow Suite at W Westwood/W Beverly Hills, Lifestyle Suite at SLS Beverly Hills, Makkasar Suite at Prince de Galles Paris, Nines Suite at the Nines Portland, Charles River Suite at Liberty Boston, Astor Suite at St Regis Washington, Luxury Suite at St Regis Bahia Beach Puerto Rico, and Panorama Suite at Park Tower Knightsbridge London.

For the record, those are all stays I've had since May 2016. That's a lot of specialty suites and suites well above the regular Platinum upgrade/SNA pool. That's a lot of massive suite upgrades for hotel where I've only stayed a single time or two.

Sorry, but there isn't a single Marriott Plat Premier with concierge/ambassador that even comes close to a fraction of that suite upgrade record...because there aren't any hotels nearly as good for the entire Marriott portfolio and because your Marriott "concierge/ambassador" isn't the same as that for SPG Ambassador as of yet.

There's a reason you never hear about Plat Premiers getting suite upgrades at Ritz-Carlton and Edition hotels...in case anyone noticed.

(4) massive suite upgrades at hotels more comparable to those in the Marriott portfolio (Presidential Suite at Le Meridien Cambridge, Corner Suite at Le Meridien Cambridge almost every other time I'm there, One Bedroom Suite at Le Meridien Arlington, Executive Suite at Le Meridien Arlington every other time i"m there, One Bedroom Suite at Le Meridien Philadelphia almost every time I'm there, Palm Suite at Westin San Jose, One Bedroom Suite at Westin Richmond, One Bedroom Suite at Westin Charlotte, Executive Suite at Sheraton Hartford South, One Bedroom Suite at Sheraton Boston, etc.).

For the record, those are all stays I've had since March 2016. That's a lot of specialty suites and suites well above the regular Platinum upgrade/SNA pool.

(5) Refunds or credit that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to get, including $2000 applied as a food/beverage credit rather than lost at StR Bora Bora after airline canceled flight and we missed a pre-paid night. Also includes nights credited for problems, including W Boston, LIberty Boston, Sheraton Philadelphia, St Regis Dubai, StR Atlanta, etc.

(6) Recognized by name at hotels I've never before visited (Prince Gallery Tokyo, Suiran Kyoto, StR Osaka, StR Dubai, StR New York, StR Bora Bora, Gritti Palace Venice, Excelsior Gallia Milan, StR Rome, StR Atlanta, etc, etc).

(7) Given priority for hotel restaurant/seating at hotels I've never before visited (StR New York, StR SF, Gritti Palace Venice, The Palace SF, US Grant San Diego, etcl)

(8) Given priority for hotel bar seating and service at hotels I've never before visited (StR Osaka, Prince Gallery Tokyo, Gritti Palace Venice, StR New York, W Seattle, W Boston, Chatwal NYC, etc etc)

(9) Given VIP treatment all around by valets, bellman, front desk, restaurants etc (too many to list)

(10) Reduced room rates after asking (Westin San Jose)

(11) Given later check out than normal (including St Regis SF, StR New York, Chatwal NYC, W Westwood, StR Bora Bora, US Grant San Diego, StR Rome, etc)

(12) Given priority for housekeeping on a few occasions (StR Atlanta got crew to clean room before normal start, etc)

(13) Given some very nice welcome gifts, nicer than the average Plat welcome gift (robes, very nice wines, very nice cheese trays, very nice tea service, etc...at even the most luxe hotels)

Ambassador service in the SPG universe--especially being that the SPG universe includes so many luxury properties that just don't exist in the Marriott portfolio--allows a guest to enjoy luxury level service a lot more often, at an elevated level, at far more properties. Not just with requests to and from the hotels but while staying at the hotels. There's nothing comparable in the current Marriott universe. That's why Marriott is copying the SPG universe and the SPG Ambassador service.

C17PSGR

I don't really understand the need to keep insulting others. You haven't been a part of the MR program and don't remotely have the experience to compare. In contrast, I have I don't really care to share my stays in order but, for example, in the past couple 4-6 weeks, I've had great suite upgrades in Santiago Chile, Charlotte City Center, Portland Waterfront, Hotel Chicago, JW Grovesnor London. So far in 2018 alone, I have 85 actual hotel nights between the two programs ... and several others at Hyatt and Hilton.

Instead of attacking others and repeating your same trips over and over, and talking about how much more expensive your hotels are, can we keep focused on sharing what our requests to ambassadors have been on what the outcome is?

bhrubin

There is no insult. You continue to post things that I repeatedly have offered evidence to show them to be inaccurate. Calling them inaccurate isn't insulting; it's just honest.

I don't need the experience to compare the Marriott "concierge/ambassador" program and the unpublished Platinum Premier status when there are numerous threads here in the Marriott Forum describing them for all to see. In none of them do any members describe any experiences supporting your assertion that they give anything close to the many examples shared here for SPG Ambassadors. You, yourself, post many times in those threads and talk about how your concierge is nothing more than a glorified Marriott Platinum agent that does about the same things. Yet you continue to state otherwise here. That disconnect is troubling if not downright insulting.

Asking for or discussing specific information isn't an attack.

Your "great suite upgrades in Santiago Chile, Charlotte City Center, Portland Waterfront, Hotel Chicago, JW Grovesnor London" are lovely--except they don't in any way distinguish your Marriott "concierge/ambassador" or Marriott Platinum Premier status from anything a regular SPG Platinum 25 stays would otherwise receive. That isn't an insult or attack; that is a simple and basic fact.

You (or any other counterparts with Marriott Plat Premier with or without concierges/ambassadors) have yet to offer any examples to back your assertion below that Platinum Premier "treatment...IMHO exceeds the experiences in this thread..."

You made the assertion. I am calling out that assertion as false and lacking any substantiation. I have provided lots of examples to substantiate how you're in error. So has @damon88, @EuropeanPete, @UA-NYC, and a few others. Not a single person on the Marriott side, including you, has done so.

I don't talk about how expensive the trips or hotels are. Many if not most of those stays luxury stays were on awards! As if it matters. But my next StR SF and several previous ones were award stays. My StR Bora Bora was on a reduced 3rd party auction win stay. Other award stays include the Gritti Palace Venice. St Regis Rome. Imperial Vienna. Prince de Galles Paris. Excelsior Gallia Milan. Park Tower Knighsbridge London. Oops. I paid $234 for the Prince Gallery Tokyo. I paid $219 for the St Regis Houston. I paid only $340 for my most recent July stay at the St Regis San Francisco. Oops again.

If you don't like how expensive the hotels are or can be at which I stay, that's a personal issue. Not one for this thread.

I reiterate that some, like you, are willfully ignoring the obvious benefits associated with SPG Ambassador status. We keep giving you tons of examples. Then you ignore them and pretend otherwise. Please stop.

C17PSGR

If we want to compare experiences as a Platinum Premier on the Marriott side to an SPG plat, perhaps someone is interested in starting that thread but no need to keep it here. If that's all the suites you've had since May 2016 that exceed the SPG standard suite requirement, I find that telling that you can't really compare programs. I'll note, as one example, you indicated you felt the StR in San Fran allowed you to check in early after initially denying a Your24. I've had that three times in the past month alone at different properties without any ambassador intervention between the JW in London, the Marriott in Santiago, and the Charlotte City Center. All three gave me great suites on top of that (although the Charlotte property offered me a choice of an immediate check-in to a non-suite or waiting for them to ready a suite). Similarly, after reading the thread about restaurants, I emailed into to research @ starwood. I received an email back today -- 3.5 days later which seems equivalent to what you posted -- with all the points in my account.

As I said earlier, lets keep focused on requests we have made to ambassadors and how the ambassadors have responded. That helps people, just as one of the other posters here made me think I could get assistance from my Marriott ambassador on an SPG stay. Similarly, the recent restaurant thread helped those not familiar with that SPG benefit and I scored nearly a 1000 Starpoints quickly from that. Bickering about which program is better doesn't help anyone -- its one program in three weeks. Lets help each other here, and not worry about whether hotels are luxury or not luxury (there's a forum for that on FT).

And for those interested in comparing your claims to others with SPG ambassadors, there is a thread in the SPG forum.

bhrubin

4getofn

Keyser

its been this way for years in the spg forum....i see no reason why he would change in the mr forum now....

spgplat21

I'm anything but a Marriott apologist, but I have to give credit where credit is due. My Marriott suite upgrade percentage has been pretty ridiculous this past year, and the stays/upgrades below were all non-suite bookings except for the RC Grand Cayman stay. And this was all after having a total of 10 nights with MR prior to 2017 and still mainly focusing on SPG. I will likely qualify for an ambassador next year with my combined nights and spend so I'm anxious to see what the elite treatment will be like once the programs officially combine. If it keeps up at this rate, I will be very pleased. Here's my MR stays/upgrades (not counting some boring CY, RI stays in small towns) from the last year and a half.

JW Marriott Austin - 2 stays (1 suite, 1 high floor room)
RC New York Central Park - 3 stays (1 very large suite, 1 junior suite, 1 regular room with an external view)
RC Philadelphia - 3 stays (2 suites, no upgrade the 3rd stay)
JW Essex House - 1 stay (1 junior suite)
RC Boston - 1 stay (1 suite)
RC Grand Cayman - 1 stay (upgraded non-view suite to an ocean view residence) (on a side note, it was complete crap that my exorbitant non-room rate spend that week earned absolutely 0 points, but I'm glad that's changing going forward and the nice upgrade helped dull the pain)
Marriott PHL Airport - 1 stay (no upgrade)
Renaissance New Orleans - 1 stay (no upgrade)
Renaissance Austin - 1 stay (1 suite upgrade)

Flying for Fun

My upgrades have been dismal to non-existent on both sides, even downgraded twice! Perhaps I need a 100+ lb dog & an heir of entitlement!

I know when I check into the St. Regis Bora Bora after my Tahitian cruise in February I would be more than peeved if I saw, smelled or heard a dog that clearly exceeded restrictions on the property. I wouldn't be advertising properties that bend rules for the perceived "elite" of the "elites."

It is likely I will meet the requirments for an ambassador in 2019. I am interested in what that looks like going forward with Marriott not what was a "true" luxury experience in the soon to be defunct SPG "environment."

James

C17PSGR

We're all staying 100+ nights a year and I hope we can all focus on helping each other on what it looks like going forward. I've gotten at least a couple of ideas out of this thread that I can use from others. I don't mind bending rules per se so long as they don't adversely impact the experiences of other guests ... I think its great that one poster was able to work with his ambassador and get a pool heating charge comped!

And for those who like discussing "true luxury," there is a forum on FT unrelated to anything to do with the ambassador program. I don't normally follow that forum but there were some things that might be of interest to those in the Starriott program unrelated to the ambassador program. For example, it looks like the Starwood Luxury Privileges program which has some similarities to the Amex FHR program is being rolled into the Marriott Stars program. I might start a separate Stars thread to try to understand the benefits of that program. It also looks like there are travel agents in that Luxury Hotel forum that promote their ability to get guests VIP treatment (whatever that means) at hotels.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...ls-travel-220/

damon88

DJ_Iceman

Let me translate: "There is a segment of the traveling public that is too poor and unimportant to have someone planning their travel for them, but who fancy themselves really important and high-value. So we've created a program that essentially does nothing more than provide a middleman to help them complete travel planning tasks they could more easily do themselves, but with a healthy dose of ego-rubbing thrown in. Our research shows that these folks now stay with us more frequently because their low self-esteem becomes addicted to the appearance of stroking, and they even become rabid proponents of the brand online for no other reason than bragging about how important they are!"

EuropeanPete

I think that you've misunderstood what the Ambassador programme is.

C17PSGR

Well ... I think its all a little unclear what the Ambassador programme is, but I think the personal concierge service term used by Arne seems to capture a bit of the concept. Unfortunately, I'm just not sure I understand the value proposition for me of a personal concierge, although it has certainly saved me some time this month. Generally, my sense is that benefits/perks for those who stay more than 100 nights will be decreasing.

While most of my travel is work related, I've just returned from Europe for a fun trip and used my ambassador for two of my three Starriott stays. Additionally, on a separate issue, a hotel didn't add my 500 bonus points and she quickly updated that.

Stay 1: Legacy SPG Luxury Collection in a major European city (Grand Bretagne)

Thanks to comments by an earlier poster, I learned that ambassadors could provide assistance across legacy programs so I asked my ambassador to confirm with the hotel that I would be arriving around 2 AM and to ask for priority consideration for an upgrade, She quickly did both as requested. I was also curious since there seems to be a suggestion that one can't truly understand the value of the ambassador program unless staying in a LC or StR. When I arrived at the hotel to check in, the FD agent quickly checked me in, commented that my ambassador had confirmed the 2 AM arrival, and thanked me for my loyalty. He also informed me no upgrades were available. That was the extent of my ambassador experience at the property. The bellman was certainly not expecting me, I didn't get seating any faster at the restaurant or better seating, the housekeeping staff appeared to treat my room as any other, no one seemed to recognize me. etc. That doesn't mean service was bad -- it's just that I was treated as any other guest (which was absolutely fine with me). On the downside, when I asked for a 4 PM checkout (which I thought was guaranteed), I was told 1 was the best they could do. I pushed and got 2. Unfortunately, since I needed to head to the airport at 4 this created a bit of a quandary and we decided to just checkout.

Verdict: Nice property and I'll return. Value of having an ambassador at this Luxury Collection: practically none. Compliance with program rules: would not provide late checkout and I'm fairly confident someone was upgraded at this property and wouldn't think there were to many people with ambassadors but it wasn't me this time. And to be clear ... on check-in they specifically referenced that my ambassador had contacted the property so I don't think they were treating me any differently because it was a Marriott ambassador.

Stay 2: Legacy Marriott Autograph Property (Domes Chania)

My ambassador contacted the property to ask for priority for an upgrade but told me the property was fully booked so I shouldn't be too optimistic. When I arrived, they thanked me for being a Plat Premier and apologized that no upgrades were available (still .. someone must have been upgraded ...). In our room, we had a bottle of wine and a fruit platter along with a handwritten note on a black card that had ambassador on the front thanking me for staying. Of course, I think the hotel gives all guests a bottle of wine upon arrival. This is a very nice property and would certainly fit at the level of the LC. Again, after arriving, there was no special treatment ... drinks at the pool and beach came when I ordered them, we waited for a table at the restaurant in order of the time we got there, etc.

Verdict: Nice property and I'll return. Value of having an ambassador at this expensive resort property: practically none beyond a fruit platter.

Stay 3: Legacy Marriott property: (Marriott Marquis Doha).

I did not request assistance from my ambassador with this property and was on a very cheap rate. However, before I arrived, I noticed I had been pre-upgraded to a suite. When I arrived, the FD agent welcomed me back, thanked me for being a Plat Premier, thanked me for returning to the property, and made no reference to ambassador status (if that's what it is). When we came to our room, we had a nice fruit platter and handwritten note. After that, everything else was pretty normal.

Verdict: Nice property and I'll return. Value of having an ambassador at this property: N/A. Value of having an engaged General Manager at the property: very high.

Bottom line -- it's certainly helpful to have a "concierge" who I can email to deal with a 2 AM arrival in Greece but beyond that I received minimal benefit from the ambassador program at two expensive properties -- one LC and one Autograph. In fact, at one of the properties (the LC), they refused to provide a published benefit of a 4 PM checkout and I didn't feel like escalating it any further. Frankly, this is the first extended holiday over a very busy year with 92 actual nights YTD at Starriott properties and I was hopeful the properties would make sure I had the best rooms available. Alas, its Europe in August, so I wasn't to surprised.