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Why there is no Elite member check in desk in Marriott?

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Why there is no Elite member check in desk in Marriott?

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Old May 11, 2019, 9:12 pm
  #1  
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Why there is no Elite member check in desk in Marriott?

SPG used always set a Gold and Plat exclusive check in area , Marriott almost has no elite member desk, its" Marriott rewards membership zone" with a tiny sign on the desk is pointless. Anybody can use it.

Hyatt now usually set a World of Hyatt area for its higher tier member, why Marriott never think about this?Isn't this essential for a chain hotel?
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Old May 12, 2019, 6:38 am
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Hyatt has a single sign for all three levels, in my experience. But not everyone with a pulse is in WOH (unlike Marriott) so less of an issue.
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Old May 12, 2019, 6:39 am
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The last few hotels I have been staying at, there is no longer an 'elite' members desk to bypass a sometimes long queue.
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Old May 12, 2019, 9:35 am
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it varies widely in my experience. Sometimes there is one and sometimes there is not. Sometimes it is all Elites sometimes just Platinum and up. It would be nice to have some consistency ...
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Old May 12, 2019, 9:37 am
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......and enforcement. If someone who isn't elite tries to use the elite line, they should be sent back to the end of the regular line instead of being served.
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Old May 12, 2019, 10:39 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
......and enforcement. If someone who isn't elite tries to use the elite line, they should be sent back to the end of the regular line instead of being served.
Not to sound too bourgeois but this is my number one pet peeve when I am traveling. People should be gently reminded of their status when they aren’t utilizing the appropriate line afforded to them.
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Old May 12, 2019, 12:25 pm
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W Singapore did something I consider very smart about elite spg lines before.

They left the counter unattended. But when someone queueing there they send extra staff out and check the guest credentials. If the guest is elites, they process the check in if not the person was directed to other queue.

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Old May 12, 2019, 12:29 pm
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Hyatt has a single sign for all three levels, in my experience.
My experience is at Hyatt it is only a sign at the end of the desk and is seldom staffed, given precedence, or enforced if misused.

But if you advertise it, like Hyatt always does, but it is not actually followed, like Hyatt usually does not, then I would rather they just take down the sign. I don't have a problem with next in line but they need to stop teasing.
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Old May 12, 2019, 12:33 pm
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Originally Posted by cfischer
it varies widely in my experience. Sometimes there is one and sometimes there is not. Sometimes it is all Elites sometimes just Platinum and up. It would be nice to have some consistency ...
Depends on the size of the hotel, as well.

Go to the Times Square Marriott Marquis, and there is a separate section. Go to the RC Budapest and there isn't.
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Old May 12, 2019, 12:46 pm
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OP, I'm a big SPG person and quick to say how great SPG was, but this area was not one of them. Many SPG hotels had no dedicated check-in area. Many more had a dedicated line but didn't staff it, or would call over people in the (usually longer) regular line rather than help those elites in the elite line.

That said, I'm with you OP. Not having an elite line, or having one but not staffing or utilizing it, is one of my biggest frustrations. Not having a line actually can impact whether I'll stay somewhere again. For instance, my last (and truly last..not going back) stay at the Sheraton Detroit Airport was a cluster at check-in. DL was having irrops and must have booked all available rooms at the Sheraton. I had a regular paid reservation and arrived to find a check-in line 30+ people long with only 2 agents. No elite line was visible. I went to the front and asked where Plats wait, I was told at the back of the extremely long line. It took me about an hour to check in.

Meanwhile there are amazing hotels like the Westin Seattle that have a separate room for check-in. Those definitely get my repeat business.
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Old May 12, 2019, 2:05 pm
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From what I've seen, the elite check-in counters are by far the toughest to manage from a operational perspective.
If you man this counter, guests will want to check-in regardless of status.. and it isn't always easy to turn status-less guests away simply by telling them that the counter is 'only for elite guests'... particularly if the counter is not serving anybody at the time.
And so this counter becomes just any other counter if manned, defeating the purpose of having one in the first place.
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Old May 12, 2019, 5:44 pm
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Originally Posted by Vince Chan
SPG used always set a Gold and Plat exclusive check in area , Marriott almost has no elite member desk, its" Marriott rewards membership zone" with a tiny sign on the desk is pointless. Anybody can use it.

Hyatt now usually set a World of Hyatt area for its higher tier member, why Marriott never think about this?Isn't this essential for a chain hotel?

I had a flight cancel on May 5 at the Miami Airport. I called the Ambassador line and they got me a room at the Sheraton Miami Airport. I was advised by my Ambassador to go to the Elite check in because the hotel lobby was a zoo. The hotel was only allowing elites to in the elite line. There must have been 30 people in line for regular check in and nobody in the elite line. I was checked in and into my room in less than 5 minutes after arriving in the hotel.

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Old May 12, 2019, 6:19 pm
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Delta has Sky Priority positions at check-in counters, and a separate line for them. If no one is at the SP line, the SP clerks will call people from the regular line over, then when someone shows up at the SP line they will get taken care of next.

Maybe Marriott could do something like that.
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Old May 12, 2019, 6:32 pm
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Originally Posted by fliesdelta
Delta has Sky Priority positions at check-in counters, and a separate line for them. If no one is at the SP line, the SP clerks will call people from the regular line over, then when someone shows up at the SP line they will get taken care of next.

Maybe Marriott could do something like that.
I was thinking similarly that Marriott should copy what the casinos do. They have a couple (or more) different lines but all desks serve all lines. When someone is in the elite line they are the next customer served and as long as there are people in the elite line, that line will continue to be served until empty prior to serving those in the non-elite line.
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Old May 12, 2019, 6:41 pm
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An elite check-in line is nice when the alternative is a long line, but my ego isn't so fragile that I need to distinguish myself from the hoi-polloi just for the sake of it.
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