I don't disagree with the sentiment of the downgrade in points, but you're gonna request housekeeping just for spite? Seems a bit ridiculous.

Personally if I stay in a hotel < 4 days I leave the DND sign up. Unless there's some exceptional circumstance, like I had to use all the towels up cuz the shower was leaky. Do you change your bed linens at home daily? Towels? I'm probably messier than you guys, but I definitely don't change these things out daily.

The housekeepers already have a crappy enough job, I don't wanna add work to their plate. Plus, if less rooms need making up, then maybe JUST MAYBE there's a chance I can get a damn room before 1400. The check-in times are stupid and anything I can do to help myself maybe get an early check-in, I will.

There's no "work" or effort to make this green choice.

FYI...for years Marriott hotels have been offering 500 points/night for declining housekeeping (up to 3 nights per week). I can understand how SPG members could be upset, but it's not a change in Marriott's policy...I hope it's expanding to all hotels because I've gotten it at a few Marriotts but not at a Courtyard.

I am missing SPG already. Marriott and their deluge of upscale motels that they call "hotels" is ruining the SPG brand already.

My sentiments exactly.

It sucks that MAGC is less points, but I still do not need housekeeping daily. Its an unnecessary waste of resources with minimal value added.

The points are just an incentive to be environmentally friendly and happened to have side benefit of fewer house keeping staff.

Those who are environmentally conscious will still make a green choice with lower incentives. Those who get house keeping because the incentives are not generous enough means they're not really making a green choice because they want to be green. So you it's perfectly acceptable to request house keeping to stimulate the labor market so the hotel have to hire more staff and your room is cleaner because of it.

Before you get some kick backs for not using a service, now you use more of the service and more jobs for service staff, the room gets cleaner and slightly worse off for the environment.

This. Unless I'm staying longer than 3 nights, I always decline housekeeping service. Even at hotel chains which don't even have these green incentive programs. Daily housekeeping service is a waste of water and energy.

It's not a waste for many of us. I would be curious as to how many patrons accept this offer. I bet it is low.

The way I see it Marriott saves massively on labor costs and throws out a bone to customers. It needs to be a much bigger bone if they want me to hang my towels and reuse them.

As for the housekeepers it does absolutely nothing to benefit them. They get the same number of rooms to do a full clean. If anything it may reduce their schedule if they lose a shift because too many customers decided to "go green."

I'd say maybe 10% of my PMMR stays offered this, vs maybe 98% of my PMSPG stays.

And following that thought, if enough people stop participating in MAGC that housekeeping costs start to increase, then the program will need to increase the reward to restore the incentive.

While I get the frustration here, I agree with the sentiment that this is "on the margins" for most travelers, and I suspect the participation rate will drop only slightly, and not enough to change the incentive.

Marriott Gold, a status level that was basically equivalent to SPG Platinum, was renamed Platinum this year. But this has been discussed ad nauseam in other threads.

Funny, for every equivalent market and equivalent hotel I always found the lounges in the PMMR "upscale motels" better than the PMSPG properties. But again, the brand comparisons have been done in other threads...

While I agree that the points are an incentive to "make a green choice" it is naive to think that Marriott (or SPG) didn't institute this option as a cost savings measure (housekeeping staff, utilities, etc.) more so than an environmental measure. Maybe I'm cynical, but I would posit that the company does this primarily as a cost savings measure with the side benefit of less environmental impact. Implying that the hotel guest is choosing to help the environment is just good marketing spin.

The intent could be cost savings with side benefit of being environmental friendly or trying to be environmentally friendly with the side effect of cost savings. Intent could be interpret differnetly and the results are the same - the option is there for each individual to make a choice and an impact.

The intent of guests are also facing some reflections. You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. With less generous incentives, you can find out who is really trying to go green with the side benefits of having some points and who's really in for the points and self deceive they are being environmentally friendly.

There are also some that are just seem like they live in a war-zone, use a lot of towels and needs room cleaning daily to keep things organized but deep down they really they are job creators at heart and want maximize labor employment. :D

To me, this is probably the worst change in the whole programme in terms of how it affects me.

Normally a sole occupant, I often do not need to have the towels changed every day when there are up to 4 bath towels and 4 hand towels in the room. One each per day would last me up to 4 days. I don't normally make any mess and prefer to make the bed before the housekeeping starts anyway (who wants to sit there with an unmade bed in the morning?). I don't usually drink the hotel tea/coffee in the room so I don't even need those replenishing. I often decline housekeeping regardless of points.

In other words it was a 'free points for nothing' for me. It still is, even at -66.666666666666666%. However, the devaluation still stings! I like something for nothing from time to time, being that I pay for all of my travelling, including every night in a hotel (even if it's for business, it's essentially my money - and my total hotel nights per year amount to around 200+, so even though SPG is just a small part of it). :D

While this devaluation does not affect my behaviour, I suspect it will affect a lot of people's.
If it is noticed that more people are asking for housekeeping at hotels with high labour costs, they might just up the rate, maybe to the same level as the Plat welcome amenity of 1,000?

I'll just say this: I am now going to leave every of my Marriott stays with a suitcase full of shampoo. Except for the ones that switch to dispensers. :(

Yep. I was both MR Plat and SPG Plat at the same time for awhile and it wasn't even close. SPG won hands down.

Oh well. This whole program merger cluster isn't helping either.

I stuck with SPG even though I didn't need to after getting SPGLTP on the day it became live.

Now who knows... I guess I'll start shopping around! Lots of money to be spent!