MSPeconomist

What I find frustrating is the elimination of lounge entitlement even for top tier elites in properties that have a lounge despite the brand not being included in the list. PG Tokyo (LC) is the leading example, but one can also point to Bangkok Athenee (currently LC but it formerly was a LRM) which still seems to give lounge access to elites even though this isn't required. Also IIRC there are a few alofts etc. in Asia with lounges, so it seems strange that lounge access is required only in Courtyards outside of USA/Canada.

I can understand excluding RC lounges, just like Sheraton Towers lounges were always excluded under SPG as a free elite benefit, but it doesn't make sense to me that the merger caused me to lose guaranteed lounge access at hotels such as The Nines in Portland or (Plaza) Athenee in Bangkok as well as losing absolute (according to new policy) lounge use at PG and potential lounge access at other Prince Bonvoy members, some of which IIRC are also classified as LC.

entropy

I'd rather just have a corner where I can get some snacks (pretzels, chips, etc), soda, milk and some greek yogurt int he AM. I don't need a warming tray of greasy bacon, home fries and powdered scrambled eggs.

Horace

Sheraton Cerritos Hotel in Cerritos, California, does not have a Club Lounge. And it's not a recently added property.

There are other Sheratons without Club Lounges.

MSPeconomist

I suspect that there are some USA convention and airport Sheratons without lounges, maybe the huge flagship NYC property (across the street from the NY Hilton at about 50th and Avenue of the Americas) and RDU/Research Triangle.

Collierkr

As has been documented in this forum previously, Marriott properites haven't had free alcoholic beverages in many many years. That is a legacy SPG thing. Don't look for it to change at true Marriotts.

MSPeconomist

HUH? Are you talking about USA (etc.) or abroad? I know of very few USA lounges that have ever (at least in the last ten years or so) offered free alcohol (The Nines LC in Portland and a Sheraton near Sonoma wine country would be the ones I recall, plus the GH ORD which I believe has changed its policy) while it seems to be standard in Marriott family lounges overseas, most recently the JW Design Square in Seoul.

icanneverflyenough

but they were the exception, not the rule.

Horace

Yes. But I was responding to a post that essentially said there were no exceptions. I agree that the Sheraton brand has a high percentage of properties with Club Lounges.

The eight Marriott brands with lounge access (nine if you include Courtyard is Asia Pacific) all have a mix of properties with and without Club/Concierge/Signature/Executive Lounges. The ratio is higher for some brands and lower for others.

For example, Autograph Collection has many smaller boutique properties where there just wouldn't be enough higher-tier guests for such a lounge to make business sense. I've had wonderful restaurant breakfasts at some of these. Some Autograph Collection properties have lounges — the Mayflower in DC and the Henry in Dearborn come to mind.

The premise of this thread — that Marriott "clearly intends" for all hotels of some of its brands to have lounges, and that hotels without such lounges are somehow not up to brand standards — is mistaken.

Marriott "clearly" leaves that decision to the hotels. The Marriott Bonvoy program defines what higher-tier guests can expect if there is or isn't a lounge.

Collierkr

Like i said, “many many years ago”. But that isn’t the point. Free alcohol in a Marriott lounge is now a unicorn.

MSPeconomist

Not outside of the USA, in fact as recently as a week ago in South Korea.

ftrichard

Again, you must be talking about domestic lounges in the US.

I greatly enjoy many hours of free alcohol in Marriott lounges across Asia and it is absolutely the norm in many of the group's other brands including Westins, Le Meridiens, Courtyards. I get free alcohol in the W lounge in Guangzhou

The experience of international travellers is greatly different to the experience of domestic US travellers in many aspects of our stays including lounge access and the service provision in the lounges. Free alcohol in a Marriott lounge is emphatically not a unicorn. Free alcohol in a US Marriott lounge may well be.

Marriott15

Collierkr, are you talking about my ambassador reception idea or some M lounges offering free drinks? Because I know a good bit that offer free beer and wine in their lounge.

icanneverflyenough

doesnt marriott still manage most of its international hotels whereas domestically most are managed by franchisees or other operators? maybe thats why.

i can generally tell if a hotel is managed by marriott because a full service brand managed by marriott typically has additional management layers including guest relations manager, operations manager, and a front office manager. many franchisee or third party managed hotels have a director of rooms that combines the two or three divisions (operations, front office, guest relations) that are typically separate at marriott managed hotels. 4 and 5 starred marriott managed hotels generally also have bellmen and doormen. key bridge marriott in arlington, just across from washington dc is a good example of this. less common at comparable hotels not managed by marriott, who have a valet parking attendant who might do all of those duties.

BrightlyBob

Although I absolutely agree that lounges are not mandated across the board at any Bonvoy brand, I personally expect them at Marriotts, Sheraton’s and JW Marriotts. Bonvoy has successfully “adjusted my expectations” downwards at Delta, but that’s not a good thing! I look for them at Renaissance, Westin and to a lesser extent Le Meridien but don’t expect them at those brands.

Providing a lounge is a real cost to hotels and I do wonder why Bonvoy allows Marriotts and Sheraton’s to be opened without lounges, and indeed in the case of the Edinburgh Marriott lounge, just simply to wordlessly close it. It’s irritating to have to check the room lists to see if there’s a lounge at my chosen Marriott/Sheraton.

And lastly - free booze in lounges. I’ve never seen free booze in a North American Marriott, JW or Renaissance lounge but away from North America every lounge I’ve visited is open 7 days a week and provides at least a couple of hours of free beer and wine every evening, with many offering pump your own draft beer, several different types of wine and a selection of spirits for 4 to 6 hours. Food selections, especially in Asia, can serve as a full meal. Notably the London Renaissance St Pancras lounge has a couple of hours free spirits but also free beer and wine from 2pm till 10pm daily and the Sopot Sheraton likewise has a couple of hours free spirits but also a free beer fridge from 6am to midnight!

icanneverflyenough

Wouldn''t it be a cost savings to have a lounge especially with so many guests having free breakfast now?

At some popular hotels you could have 50% of the guests on any week night having Platinum, Titanium, or Ambassador statuses. If you have to provide them with a breakfast surely it is cheaper to offer it in the lounge where it's buffet and basically self-serve with maybe at most one attendant needed to setup and clean tables. The cost has to be a lot lower than a restaurant breakfast for the same number of guests. Plus in tipping countries the waitresses or waiters at breakfast probably don't get as high of a tip as someone who is paying for breakfast and probably tips 15% or 20% even though the Marriott breakfast vouchers are supposed to include a tip. I would be shocked if Marriott's vouchers had a 20% tip since there are more than a handful of properties that ignore these vouchers and instead supply vouchers that expressly state tip not included.

At night it may be a different story because offering too much high quality free food and drinks means your bar or restaurant may loose highly profitable F&B revenue. On the other hand serving cheap and low quality food (either breakfast or at night) in the lounge doesn't give a good impression of the restaurant and may cause me to avoid having a dinner at the hotel. Explains the subtle up-selling of dinner main courses in Marriott M Clubs. I admit I've ordered dinner in the lounges of these hotels after having a decent appetizer and realizing I'd rather sit in the lounge and work from my computer than go take up a table in the noisy and crowded restaurant where it's more difficult to work from at night. So by having a decent appetizer they actually got money from me.