controlz

I'm not too familiar with the dates that Marriott acquired St. Regis and other Luxury hotels, however, would it be reasonable to say that the service/experience at these hotels has reduced following Marriott's involvement? If so, do you think this is because Marriott has a different management style, or the Marriott Bonvoy program has significantly increased the number of guests, resulting in a reduction in quality? I would like to see the St.Regis experience matching that of Four Seasons.

JBord

Can you provide some examples of what's changed? It's possible the changes are due to Marriott affiliation but it's more likely they're property-specific. Hard to tell without examples.

The statement about increasing the number of guests is baffling though. Are you suggesting Marriott has required the properties to build more rooms? Before or after Marriott affiliation, the goal of any property is to fill all their rooms with guests. Each property is responsible for staffing to it's vacancy rate and providing a certain level of service, that has nothing to do with Marriott or it's loyalty program. This is a problem that, if it exists, could have happened if the hotel was full in the past as well.

With examples, we can figure out if the things you've noticed are attributable to the Bonvoy program or not.

controlz

I understand your comments with regards to occupancy. I just made an assumption that once a property has been added to a new loyalty program, it opens the door to more customers and would likely be closer to maximum capacity more of the time. One example where I feel the experience doesn't feel as 'exclusive' anymore is St.Regis Bal Harbour.

TGLoyalty

but that also happens with time, a new property won’t have a steady stream of repeat and new customers keeping occupancy high. However, over time more people hear about nice properties on forums, from friends etc and start planning stays.

EuropeanPete

I doubt this has happened in quite the way that the OP mentions, but those of us who are frequent guests will probably have noticed some things on the edges:
- Elite recognition and follow-through is now less reliable - A combination of dodgy systems and the inevitable getting used to the new programme. Status isn't always fed through correctly, welcome letters addressed to other people, the usual welcome gifts no longer reliable
- The issues with Marriott's half century old IT systems have reduced the ability to provide luxury level customer service. One example which impacts me is the way the Grand Bretagne used to always send me right up to the Concierge lounge, whereas since the systems change-over it's always "Is this your first time in Athens?". The SGS has apparently gone to great effort simply to provide a slip advising guests of how many stays they've had
- An influx of legacy Marriott elites to some properties (presumably mainly in the US) who anecdotally I've found significantly more demanding at reception of a range of benefits than what I saw in the SPG days. This has created some challenges for the front desk which I suspect has had a negative effect on the rest of us (not least in the number of suites I miss out on because some Titanium threw a tantrum into getting one)
- There are some anecdotal reports on the edges of Marriott "customer service standards" demanding that things be scaled back (references to lounge offerings for other brands, etc.).but I haven't seen much in these brands yet. Let's see whether Utah can resist the temptation to offshore the toiletries to a cheapo Chinese brand and to support the St Regis sabering ritual with champagne actually made in champagne...

mctaste

Bonvoy has made the Ritz Carlton worse, as there is no point providing high quality offerings to everyone staying for free via Marriot points. The Club level is in a nose dive...

I would guess this applies to Marriot’s other acquisitions as well.

controlz

This is what I was getting at. The knock-on effect of these free redemptions...

Beltway2A

Marriott acquired the Ritz Carlton brand in 1998. What is it about the Bonvoy program (2018) that you feel made the Ritz Carlton worse?

mctaste

RC wasn’t part of the Marriot points system until much more recently, however. It is really the points that are the problem. People do not earn them by staying at RC, they earn them on business travel at Sheratons...then spend them on rewards rooms at the RC.

The most obvious negative side effect would be the spartan, bottom shelf booze offerings in the Club lounge. Which makes sense, as the Club level is where the points spenders prefer to stay to maximize the Free Stuff. The Club lounge is definitely worse off, post-Bonvoy.

boolean64

I have one anecdote ... We were at the St Regis Punta Mita recently. Had a previous stay there a couple years ago and the breakfast buffet was complimentary for platinum. Not a sub-set of the breakfast buffet, but the whole buffet. This time, there was a special "Bonvoy Elite" breakfast menu that made clear that only the cold items (excluding the cold meats) were part of the elite benefit. The fact that it was bonvoy branded combined with my prior experience suggests this is pretty recent. Don't know if this is the hotel using the merger to cut costs or if there was a bit of a push from corporate to enforce consistency and not over-deliver...but this is definitely one glaring instance where the realized benefits have been reduced post-merger. I fully appreciate that the SRPM is well within its rights to only give continental breakfast and that they were going above and beyond before. But for a hotel that used to be the best of the best in terms of everything including elite recognition, this was a clear step backwards.

Um, the only way to get into RC Club is to pay cash or a LOT of extra points. RC does not allow elites complimentary access to their clubs. So whatever reduction in club quality is not linked to Bonvoy Elites "maximizing free stuff" as they are not getting it for free.

TGLoyalty

it had its own programme but you could still redeem Marriott points for RC. Anyway no one in bonvoy gets free club access at RC so I don’t think this is the issue. Everyone using the club has paid to be in there one way or another either with cash or extra points.

Intl359Widget

Most if not all point redemptions at Ritz Carlton properties do not include Club access and one does not get Club access with their Platinum or Titanium status so that premise doesn't jive.

UA-NYC

EP started a great list - will offer up #5 :
- Marriott has already stated they are trying to reduce costs for their most important customers - hotel owners (it's clearly no longer the end customer, the traveller). This can only have a trickle down effect on the Elite experience on-property.

JBord

I thought this thread started by taking issue with quality of service at certain brands, but it's now become about either reduction of benefits or inconsistent application of benefits under the Marriott program.

Club access, breakfast or breakfast menus, and other benefits-related items are separate from quality of service, at least in my opinion. Obviously there have been positive and negative changes to benefits, inconsistency as properties learn the new program, and some IT issues. While I haven't stayed at a St. Regis since the program merger, I've personally found the quality of service I receive to be the same as pre-merger at all the brands I've used.

I still maintain that the quality of service you receive is almost 100% dependent on the property and it's owner/GM/employees.

MaxFlying

This is a shame, definitely was always a big plus at the property, There is also something a bit tacky about special menus. I was considering a third trip here after the misery that was the St Regis Bal Harbour but perhaps not. Was there an easy option to buy-up to the full buffet?