Hurricane interrupted 7 night travel package award stay.
 

We recently decided to act on the side of caution when the hotel we were staying at was in the "cone of uncertainty" of a Cat 5 Hurricane. We left after a few nights of the 7 night stay. There was no mandatory evacuation but there were airline waivers etc. The property never sustained a direct hit in the end. When checking out the front desk agent after checking with the manager assured me it wouldn't be an issue refunding the balance of the award or switching out the 7 night certificate. So far I've hit a wall trying to do that, am I straight out of luck or has anyone had success in a similar situation. I have points to cover the nights stayed.

I can't give you Marriott specific advice but I can give you Hurricane advice. I live in NC and just had the, umm, pleasure of Florence and Michael visiting. If you were staying at a property in a state that had a declared state of emergency contact that states Attorney General office. I'm not saying it will work but it may be worth a try.

Since you used a TP hotel cert, once you checked-in, your cert was "used". There is no partial refund for unused nights and there probably isn't a way for them to easily "switch" to a paid stay once you have checked-in. And I'd guess Marriott will only provide them reimbursement for the nights you actually stayed at the hotel. So basically you are asking the hotel to "purchase" points from Marriott to give to you for nights they will not have any revenue from the cert or you. That is asking a lot from a hotel given the hurricane wasn't caused by them or their fault.

The hotel may waive any change fees because you checked-out early due to the hurricane, but I don't see them giving out points for unused nights. But hey, it can't hurt to ask them if they will.

You will need to deal with the GM or appropriate department manager on this. Call. Do not email. This needs to be a conversation.

There has never been a policy for refunding unused nights on travel certificates. It is considered "used" whether you stay one night or seven.

And unless I've misread your post, the hotel was NOT closed and guests kicked out. SImply you made the decision yourself to leave. You might consider that decision to be justified, and perhaps the local authorities will agree, but a hotel is one of the better places to be caught during a hurricane. My partner and I certainly spent a lot of time trying to find a hotel for my retired father-in-law in Miami as Irma approached last year...

So, if the GM or Marriott is willing to make a gesture to you, take it. But acting like they are obliged to do something is another matter.

This.

I would have done the same thing you did under the circumstances.

But, I would hardly call Marriott "inflexible." That's what polcies are for. Customers know the risks, evaluate them and live with them.

Check your travel insurance to see whether it has some oddball kind of payment for non-cash payments.

To everyone attacking the OP. Read the bold again. All the OP is asking for is the hotel to follow through on what they SAID! The OP asked if they checked out early if it would be refunded and/or could be switched and they were told yes. Seems pretty straight forward to me.

Can he prove it ? :)

After several attempts trying to get cert partially refunded I gave up on this. I was not eligible to get credit card insurance coverage. United actually refunded my unused return ticket no questions.

Hurricane interrupted package award stays are basically a loss at Marriott. There is no way to refund them

Did you ever ask that same hotel to at least allow you to stay the same # of nights that you ended up not staying there?, after all they got paid for all of them and if they told you youd get a partial refund (which we all now know isnt the case)?

No