Dr. HFH

Exactly. I would be pretty disappointed in this situation. There would be no place else in Dubai that I would consider. At this point, however, there's really little to be done. This is a NYE rezzie? There are certainly other nice places to go for NYE; however, as pointed out upthread, unless the substitute property has the same owner, Al Maha will have to pay out of pocket. OP doesn't give any info about him/herself in the displayed profile; but if s/he has an Ambassador, this would be a perfect situation to give to the Ambassador. Let the Ambassador find a somewhat comparable property and negotiate some type of F&B credit or other special concession as partial compensation. Ambassadors have both the ability/authority (I'm pretty sure) and bigger picture vision to understand what's going on and make things happen. I believe that Ambassadors have a budget for this stuff, too. I only used my Ambassador a few times during the two years that I had an Ambassador, but she did some great things for me.

pete.th

Unfortunately I'm only Gold with Marriott, so I'm not sure if I'm entitled to any compensation here. I did email back a couple days ago mentioning that I booked way in advance and I'm not really sure if the hotel's full so I want to hear some clarification. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt for the time being; it might actually be a Marriott system error. However, they should really be more responsive in addressing this issue.

I'd also agree with some other posts that there is no comparable properties in Dubai, unless they give me the RC Al Wadi + activities + full board. However, since I'm not being walked from the property, I'm not sure whether I'm entitled to compensation in this case. My reading of the T&C is that I'm not entitled to compensation, but in the spirit of goodwill I should be offered something. If I don't hear back today, I'll give the hotel a call tomorrow and will report back on what's offered to me.

pete.th

So in total I actually have 5 bookings made, each 1-night for 28 Dec, 29 Dec, 30 Dec, 31 Dec and 1 Jan. Original plan was to stay 2-3 nights. But if you looked at the hotel's email, they've canceled the nights of 29 Dec and 31 Dec, leaving me with a gap in between my 3 remaining bookings. Too convenient for them perhaps?

SHLTP

So you are gaming system kind of by booking 5 nights but expecting to cancel several?

pete.th

I wouldn't say gaming. I am waiting to see what dates work best with my schedule and flight cost and intend to cancel the unwanted ones as soon as I finalize my plans. But what Al Maha is proposing right now is leaving me with isolated one night bookings which won't work for me.

Keyser

i often book separate reservations myself because my travel plans change quite often....wouldn't call it gaming the system....

SHLTP

It is "kind of" - perfectly legit and but also leaves hotels scrambling. My guess is many ppl are doing what OP is doing and making points advance bookings with expectation of cancelling some of the nights. People will then claim hitel is playing with system when openings pop up closer to artoval date.

Tough for hotels to deal with last minute if not in city locations or where last minute bookings take place.

I understand OPs anger... But I also understand issues property dealing with

kaizen7

Does Al Maha informs you what Marriott comparable hotel they think to move you into?

hockeyinsider

Under Marriott Bonvoy's terms and conditions you are entitled to 90,000 points and $200 in compensation per reservation as well as "comparable" accommodation if the hotel decides not to honor the reservation.

I would not voluntarily cancel the reservation. I also wouldn't appear too eager to settle and negotiate. You have the upper hand here, not the hotel.

arlflyer

SHLTP

I also think Marriott should get rid of advanced points booking (or have very early cancellation deadlines) or only allow one advance booking at a time in order to prevent abuse. I often can't book with points as I bet speculators reserve up on holiday periods

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pete.th

Not yet. Waiting for the GM to email me back to discuss but he's been MIA for 2 days now.

pete.th

This. And since they're informing me in advance I'm effectively not being "walked," so no compensation required even if I show up.

pete.th

I think that's fair but I would also say that points advance, to me at least, is one of the few remaining bright spots of Bonvoy especially for those without a pool of million points to spend. A tighter cancellation deadline, say, 3 months, is acceptable to me. Take it away and it's Bonvoyage.

hockeyinsider

Probably because he's reading this thread. It's a safe bet the Marriott lurkers have alerted the property.