"It's in the Ts & Cs" does not equal "It's Ok to do".

Further, the Ts & Cs applied to the original agreement to arrive on day x. By calling and informing them of the change to day x+1, the traveler requested to amend the agreement. The hotel made some sort of response that indicated concurrence to the amendment with no mention of the financial penalty. As the penalty was, therefore, not part of the amended agreement, the Ts & Cs aren't really relevant. At best, this is he said / she said for what was agreed on the phone. At worst, this is breech of contract.

Either way .. an easy chargeback

don't forget to post your story at www.bonvoyed.com

You mean like
perhaps?

OP - was this in your conformation? If not, what did it say? I've seen a lot of what they "should" do, I'm still unclear on the terms that were agreed to at the time of reservation.

This could also be a mistake of the hotel ? Maybe give them the benefit of the doubt ?

p.s the hotel manager that posted that this was kosher i do wonder which hotel you manage so we can avoid it .

See post #41 above. These are the terms that were listed in my confirmation emails.

Separately, I rec'd a "Greetings" email 5 days after booking from a "Reservations Consultant" that closed with:

We would also like to bring to your attention that a 60-day cancellation policy is in effect for the dates of your reservation. If changes are required within 60 days of your arrival date, cancellation penalties and additional fees may apply. Due to our remote resort destination we strongly recommend you purchase travel insurance.

Seems like quite a reach to say (1) that this imposes some additional limitation on me since it came after the original booking and/or (2) that I made any change to the reservation. Moreover, a vague "additional fees may apply" means nothing. If someone interprets this to support the imposition of a $1000 "no show" fee, which I would strongly argue against, then it would seem the hotel could charge whatever they want ($10K) for any change (e.g, early check-in).

This is what I thought when I first noticed the charges on the folios emailed to me the morning we were checking out. But see my original post. I took the issue to the front desk and spoke with a manager at that time. He said the charges were correct (and he was the one that suggested belatedly that next time I should check in via the app). He offered to escalate to his manager and have him call me. The call came and the hotel held absolutely firm on the charges.

Kindly advise us what property you manage? As a customer, albeit one of many, who supports your livelihood, I'd like to ensure I don't do business with the likes of folks who think this is an acceptable way to behave in consumer transactions.

Have you done this? IMO while the option may no longer be available with Marriott, I don't think that the hotel can change unilaterally the terms and conditions which govern a stay already booked and paid for. If you've already sent the email (I'd send it to Marriott CS as well as the SPG address given, which undoubtedly has been routed to somewhere in Marriott), then I'd dispute it with the credit card company, providing them with a copy of your confirmation and your emails.

Absent any response, I agree. But
1. The manager doubled down on the position (per the OP.. and this OP seems to be reasoably laying out the encounter, vs the exaggerated histrionics we see some times)
2. See this: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...l#post30884353 Same property, another dick move.

To those who are using this as an example of Marriott "ruining" SPG, I just want to point out that this is a legacy SPG hotel and I have NEVER, in over 2,000 nights at Marriott hotels, been treated like this. I've had my fair share of crazy travel situations and one reason Marriott earned my loyalty is that whenever I called either Marriott central reservations or the hotel, I've been treated fairly and like a valued guest. That is, hotels have waived cancellation fees and always protected my room for whenever I was actually able to show up.

What happened to the OP is, in a word, unacceptable. I have faith that corporate Marriott recognizes that and will be able to correct the clearly unprofessional behavior of a legacy SPG hotel.

+1

The difference in my experience is that under Marriott, they cancel the reservation at the corporate level. SPG Platinum service's line was that we will ask the hotel and it is up to the hotel.

That being said, this is pretty outrageous. I understand rooms in the StR are likely scarce commodities this time of year and they don't want to lose the room revenue. It might be fair to say we're not going to refund your points for that missed night but the $1,000 charge is ridiculous.

After reading this, Bonvoy-age Marriott. I'll stick with hilton, they've never done anything remotely like this to me.

I think this hotel should just leave Marriott and become independent. They don't want people staying on points, they don't care about loyalty, they give as little as they can in term of benefits, and now that... It's not like you need to be part of Marriott to sell your room when you are the 2nd or 3rd closest hotel to the slopes in Aspen...

It can be the hotel's gain to do that, too.

I notified Sheraton Heathrow that I would not be able to turn up on a prepaid booking due to my flight being cancelled because of bad weather, so that they could perhaps sell the room to those stuck at LHR (there was a hotel shortage that night due to extensive cancellations).

The hotel replied saying they cancelled it and made a full refund. I was totally not expecting it. I wasn't a regular customer there back then, and I think I was just a Gold, or maybe not even that.

I really appreciated their kind gesture, and ever since then, they have had my loyalty and at least 90% of my nights at LHR have been with them for about the last 10 years.

1 night refund for loyalty for many dozens of nights? Good deal for me, and good deal for the hotel. A true win-win, and breeds loyalty. I even put up with their pretty dire rooms pre-refurbishment (they're nice now after the refurb, but they used to be pretty dire!).

Something similar happened with BA during the volcanic ash incident, with BA being so nice and accommodating with everything, while Qantas ended up on my 'really bad' books. The results? GGL/CCR with BA earned mostly on flying on their metal, and only AUD 350 in just one international revenue flight on QF ever since (I can't avoid them on Australian domestic), although I was BA Blue and Qantas Platinum (would have been Platinum One had it been in place) at the time.