bhrubin

C17PSGR

And even under the old SPG terms, the description from corporate policy was that speciality suites that were excluded were Presidential suites and equivalent. Unfortunately, in my personal experience and what appears to be reported by others, a number of legacy SPG properties have decided that they will define "standard suites" to a very limited set of specific suites and refuse to upgrade to any other rooms.

That's not saying some legacy MR properties didn't do the same as we've both experienced.

This all comes down to a battle from housekeeping that wants to reduce costs and some GM's who are more focused on short term costs rather than longer term revenue.

MR should mandate that we receive surveys specific to elite level with a checklist of whether we received program benefits. Once those scores started impacting Medallia ratings, we'd see a change. But ... I don't get surveys any more. Anyone know why that is?

GoPhils

bhrubin

UA-NYC

Yes, the Westin Alexandria as well as one other...that's it, right? Two properties do not define ~1,500.

As I have said previously, the Select Suite terminology was a floor, not a ceiling...I and many others have gotten themed / Presidential / higher tier suites many times over the years. Helped to be a good SPG customer.

bhrubin

rny321

Thank you for the update. Although the web page describing the Asia Pacific upgrade policy was still active, I assumed that the less definitive policy in the combined company's Terms & Conditions superseded it. Now if only they would expand that policy to the parts of the world where most of the complaints about the lack of standard suites originate.

rny321

As long as we are repeating ourselves, here is what I wrote in response to a similar posts of yours:

"I don't believe the concern is that a hotel would upgrade a guest to the Presidential suite when they were only required to upgrade to a standard suite. The issue at some hotels has been there were only a couple of standard suites and numerous others that were priced modestly higher. Under the current rules, if those standard suites are booked, there may not be a suite upgrade unless the hotel employees are being generous. Where the old APAC system applied, one of the higher level suites should have been offered."

The following is my response (complete with typos) to "I don't see what the problem is in Asia - if you have any level of status and a pulse, you are likely getting a suite"

"Prior to a paid stay at the St. Regis Osaka stay, I checked what suites would be covered by a SNA. When I arrived in the evening for a 2-night stay, I was told that the hotel was full and was only given what I believe was an upgrade to a higher floor. When I arrived at my room, I checked and I there were numerous lower level suites available and IIRC at least one of the types of suites that were available for SNAs. Since I was getting up very early the next morning, I didn't feel like arguing. When I wrote a review of the hotel, I was told that standard suites were unavailable during my stay. If the hotel had been subject to the MR rules, the excuse of no standard suites wouldn't be valid.

Although Korea hotels are not fully covered by the old APAC rules and it was after 8/18, on an award stay the JW Marriott Dongdaemun upgraded me to one of their largest suites when assigning a lower level one would have required a mid stay move.

I am not arguing that JWM's treat guests better than StRs, but in this instance the old MR APAC rules would have helped if they had applied to Japan. Although I agree with you that suite upgrades in Asia are common, it is hard to argue that the old MR APAC policy as written wasn't better than the current system wide one."

KRSW

That would imply some level of competency at the Marriott corporate offices. Given all of the missteps with the merger and failed promotions, it's obvious that they're clueless.

I wanted to...but then realized what a nightmare it would have been if the charges posted. I can see it now... Calling up Marriott corporate, wait on hold for an hour only to have them tell me I need to speak directly to the property, etc.

HHonors OUTSIDER

I don't know if Marriott is serious about Bonvoy but if they are all I have to say is don't do it. Its not too late just let Marriott Rewards run another 20 years or more.

C17PSGR

In the for what its worth, they had a new screen when I checked in at a Renaissance tonight. The FD showed me the screen and everything was spelled out.

dayone

What is "everything" and how was it "spelled out"?

ryw

Also curious what it looked like. I was at a Courtyard in NYC several weeks ago, and they had their computer set up under the check in counter, which had a glass top. I could kind of peer over the counter and look down - while I couldn't read the characters from my angle, it looked like that the particular FDA was using something that looked more like a terminal system.

A friend sent me this picture from the Salesforce Conference/Convention a couple months ago, where apparently they had a booth talking about ways in which Salesforce helps creates systems for Marriott, including a screen displaying the following. (I believe it's only a mockup or demo of something similar to what an FDA might see - it's not a screenshot from an active working system). I'd be curious to know if this is similar to what's actually being used (or has been used) at Marriott properties!

C17PSGR

sorry ... typing at the bar.

previously, at full service legacy Marriott properties, there was a blue screen showing guest information including a line of several codes beginning with the two-letter code for the person's status and followed by other things such as type of bed, connecting room, etc.

tonight, I was greeted as having Ambassador status for the first time in many stays. I asked her how she knew that and she showed me the screen which had been reorganized. The screen contain my personal information and a separate line stating: M0 Ambassador.

this is different than the previous display which would show x4 followed by a number of codes with M0 in the middle of those codes.

while many of us are grumbling regarding Marriott's IT, this is a rather obvious improvement. It also seems like it is on the path of better distinguishing the different levels. I suspect there is a lot going on that may not be immediately obvious to guests.

It looked nothing like the screen above with graphical displays. It was just a blue screen with characters. I would almost certainly opt out of anything that looked like the display above as that's not information I necessarily want available at the front desk. At first glance, it looks cool but the privacy issues are concerning. I don't really want the front desk having my picture or knowing my future stays.

EuropeanPete