Vince Chan

I work in hotel business and find that ironically, most of the staff ( say 90%) did not have elite status, they usually stay at their hotel chain by employee rate which means you get the standard room for a cheap price, and of course no SNP. I even hear that Marriott does not encourage their employee to hold Plat status( I heard about this but I can not confirm).

So I am just curious some big shot in a hotel , such as GM or director of blah blah, some of them like to criticize their competitor and feels like they are invincible, but I feel that they probably did not hold status of any kind.

So IF a GM of Marriott A check into another Marriott by employee rate, did he or she automatically get VIP treatment? Or just like everyone else?

When he or she leave his /her hotel and check into another of its sister hotel off duty, did GM automatically get recognized or just like everyone else?

Do you think that most directors or GM of a franchise hotel hold Elite status?

C17PSGR

Vince ... shouldn't this be part of your other thread rather than a new one?

Kagehitokiri

what?

owners could get starwood "VIP" status, there were threads on that

edit >

actually i dont think most of OP's threads are any different than many other threads here, FT has a lot of comparing brands and programs. and OP is not one of those who claims their their preferred brand / program is the only good one, etc.

SkiAdcock

Half of his post doesn't even make sense/is mixing a variety of things so hard to actually respond.

But then again, on a scale of 1-100, whether a GM has Plat status probably falls closer to the 1 category for me in terms of do I even care.

Cheers.

Dr. HFH

I don't understand some of what you've said (and thus wondering if English is your first language), but to answer this clear question, it depends on many factors.


Automatically? No. Depends on a lot of factors, same as whether or not anyone gets recognized anywhere.


I would guess no, but it's just a guess. I have absolutely no supporting, or even relevant, data.

mdaecher

this thread sucks. who cares, but if I was a GM and wanted something special, I'd probably just e-mail the GM at the property I was going to be staying

RogerD408

I don't think Marriott allows their employees to have any status in MR, let alone Plat, so the Associate Rate is the better approach and I'm sure it's a non-earning rate anyway. I am not sure if their Family & Friends Rate is able to earn nights/points either. However, for GM-level people, there is an "owner" rate I've heard about that is probably even better than the Associate Rate. Since these are not available to the general public, I don't bother with trying to understand what they get and why. Also, Marriott has been known to have an invitation-only status (above Platinum Premier) that is bestowed by corporate for insiders and those they wish to court to bring in more business, again, way beyond my reach so not too concerned.

As side note, I did have a stay a few years ago and apparently an employee had the room before me and left his folio behind. It showed a very nice discounted rate and turned out to be someone I knew from a prior life!!! Both of us had moved on to other things, but shows you never know what's across that next bridge.

Bfhause

Associate rates don't earn any elite nights or points. Unless your the GM of a large resort or convention center-type property, there is minimal business travel involved.

I would say the generally accepted practice in the industry is the take care (upgrades, amenities, etc.) of other associates when at all possible with the understanding that they the hotel will accommodate all other Elite members, VIPs, etc. first. Case in point, I was once upgraded some unbelievable corner suite overlooking Times Square at the Marriott Marquis the weekend after NYE when they were like 17% staying on the associate rate (paying like $60/night). Some months later I returned to the same hotel, checked in w/ the same FDM and was told all they had was a handicap-accessible double queen room (i booked/wanted a King) with a terrific view of some dumpsters. You win some, you lose some.

If it was a real special trip (birthday, anniversary, etc.) I would email ahead. I proposed to my wife in SF and was staying at the RC. I had emailed ahead to let them know and they went out of their way to make it special for us, even though we weren't able to have an upgrade or anything else as there was a massive Indian wedding happening the same weekend.

Just my experience as a GM, albeit pre-merger. Not sure how much has changed in the past few years...

NDDomer86

Marriott employees are not allowed to maintain a Marriott Rewards account therefore per the T&C of the program, it is impossible for a General Manager to have any status at all.

In real world practice though, it is possible for a General Manager to earn status the same way any other member does but if Marriott Rewards makes the connection between the employee and the account, they can close the account and revoke any status/points.

I was a [legacy] Gold member prior to taking a brief job (less than six months) with Marriott a number of years back. Stays on the Associate Rate [AR] were never booked under my account, but if the AR was unavailable or not significantly lower than publicly available rates, I would book under my MR account to receive elite benefits and status. Ultimately I ended up graduating to Platinum status but when Marriott Rewards connected my account with my employment shortly before I left the company (not for this reason), they emailed me quoting the T&C, clawed back the stays and points, and dropped my status back to Gold

SpicyMorale

You can have an account, you simply call in and let them know to switch your account to employee thus no point earning/status. FDA's routinely get caught as they can put their own accounts numbers in when a guest checks in but does not have an account, usually takes awhile for IT to catch on.