i started traveling for work over 15 years ago....at that time i would spend around 100 nights a year in hotels....over the years my work related travel increased to the point that now i end up spending anywhere between 150-200 nights a year on the road....before the spg/marriott merger, over different years, i had held diamond status with hilton, royal ambassador with ihg, platinum with marriott & platinum with spg....my time with ihg & marriott had been brief but i continued to hold top status with spg & retained hilton as my backup program, giving them enough stays every year to retain gold status....so its safe to say that i have tested the waters over the years with different chains....while spg has been my top program for the last 15 years, the first 5-7 years i started traveling were spread out between spg & another programs, often leading to top status with both of them....

as a spg loyalist, i was extremely skeptical when the merger was announced....spg had real benefits that were far superior to their competitors....i was afraid i was going to lose most, if not all, of them....marriott decided to incorporate most of them into the combined program which initially laid my fears to rest....however, their implementation led me back to what i was worried about initially....the benefits still exist, but combined with their incompetent it & inconsistent service, these benefits fail to deliver....here are some of them:

points - i was extremely happy with marriott's 3:1 conversion when it came to merging spg points....but on the flip side, marriott reduced the points earning capacity when it came to earning through credit cards & peak awards combined with the recent category increases have seriously devalued the points & made the free night certificates pretty much useless....

ambassador service - i've had ambassador since since 2011....i was one of the first members to be offered this by spg when it began as an invitation only service....i had a fantastic ambassador & the service was outstanding....this was the main reason i gave up on all the other programs & started staying exclusively with spg, even if i had to go out of my way to do so....my ambassador got promoted within the organization a few years later & over the years i've had different ambassadors....the level of service, while not as great as it had been initially, continued to be consistent....once marriott took over, the service level dropped to an all time low....this last year i have seen an improvement, however its nowhere near what it used to be....

suite night awards - this was a great benefit that resulted in an upgrade to a proper suite....they awards were automated & glitches of them not being honored were almost non-existent....these days the suite night awards can best be described as 'slightly better room awards'....most of the properties i've tried to use them at don't offer upgrades to suites but only to slight better rooms than the one booked....some properties only allow you to upgrade from a king bed to 2 queen bedded rooms....this is a complete waste of suite night awards....there are also multiple reported incidents of suite nights being denied after they have been approved....there is also the fact that marriott's systems are incompetent enough to not allow these to be used on prepaid rates....while marriott retained this benefit, they have completely destroyed it....

your24 - this, in my opinion, was one of the best benefits of the spg program....i have lost count of the number of times i have managed to check in at 6am or check out at 11pm....there was transparency with how one could request this benefit & i had an approval rate of around 80%....with marriott now there is no transparency as far as this benefit is concerned....it can only be requested through your ambassador & half the time the property denies having received a request....my approval rate has also now reduced to under 50%....marriott has also completely destroyed this benefit as well....

marriott's it - there is no doubt about the fact that marriott is really struggling here....between the extra points being deducted, to free nights not being returned, to promo points not crediting on time, to suite nights not being allowed on pre-paid reservations, to not being able to view multiple rates on their website at the same time, to a number of other issues, their systems suck....

starwood lurker - those from the marriott side of the merger will never understand what a big loss is was to lose william as the starwood lurker here on ft....those from the spg days know what an amazing asset he was....

there are some positives though....the main one being the large footprint they have now....marriott is present pretty much everywhere & has some of the best properties around the world....towards the second half of 2019, the ambassador service has started to show a little bit of improvement since the merger took place....ambassador as a status is now being recognized at properties as well....

for me though, all these positives are not enough for me to remain loyal to marriott....i'm going to start splitting my stays between marriott & hilton....i'll end the year with top status in both programs....will see how hilton diamond treats me before i decide what the future holds for me as far as my travels are concerned in 2021 & beyond....

Your experiences 100% mirror mine. Only 2 differences 1) I was more optimistic with Marriott at first as they seemed to be taking the best of SPG and 2) I bailed out earlier than you did (by end October 2018 I was upset and basically didn't pay for any stays for the next 13 months) and switched to Hyatt over your choice of Hilton

​Try Hyatt. The program is superior to Marriott - the only issue is the footprint and lack of high end hotels.

​​​​​In fact, I'm sitting right now at a pool at a Luxury Collection hotel that I've booked for 21 nights because it is superior to the Hyatts in the country I am staying.

If Marriott could just fix the IT, CS and culture... CS is hit or miss. IT is just awful.

I personally don't care much about promotions, point devaluation, weak amenities... I do care about service and things working smoothly and the. feeling that they actually care about me as a loyal member

Hyatt trumps Marriott on everything but footprint

footprint is the reason i've not tried hyatt....they simply don't have properties in many places i travel to....

Footprint is a serious issue. There are a lot in UAE (I think you wrote you used to like Sheraton Emirates Mall). Dubai ones, however, are not in the best location. We just stayed at HR Dubai and it was a bit run down and location not great. I, haven't tried any of the HPs bit Andaz running good promos and I'll probably try the PH soon unless m old standby GH draws me back

i travel a lot in india & to a lot of small towns in north america....marriott & hilton serve me best in these locations....most of the bigger cities i go to will have options for hyatt but unfortunately that is a small percentage of my travel....

Marriott just appointed a new Chief Information and Digital Officer who will oversee "all aspects of the company’s information technology and digital strategies." Link here.

No such thing as coincidence, eh?

khabah

The best Marriott period for consumers was after the implementation of the SPG to Marriott 3:1 Transfers and before the addition of new Category 8. Things went downhill afterwards.

I'm not here to bash Marriott Bonvoy. I think as with all things, it will take time to integrate the two sets of programs, cultures, and guests. These things are in cycles. I'm LTT in Bonvoy through a combination of Marriott and SPG history. I did favor SPGs service, consistency, and ability to use points to guarantee suites for my family during busy Christmas or Spring Break type vacations (read: high demand award stays).

Bonvoy is unwieldy right now. I think (hope) Marriott is making / will make an effort to simplify the program. Too many brands and too many individual experiences at each brand, to me, lead to an experience where I don't know what to expect.

I'll never leave Marriott because it is literally all over the map. I am branching out to Hyatt not because I'm anti-Marriott, but more-so because it's another avenue for me to provide the types of experiences I have had with other hotel chains, including Marriott/SPG. Hyatt will be my first choice if they are located within reasonable proximity and within a reasonable price, otherwise that stay will go to Marriott.

On a separate side note, my wife and I were discussing some of our more memorable hotel stays since we've met - original W in Murray Hill NYC when we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite, Jalousie Hilton all those years ago before they left Hilton, Tamarindo and Careyes Luxury Collection properties just South of Puerto Vallarta - and I wish all the hotel chains would do what Amazon and now Nordstroms do... show me the history of all my stays. It would be nice to travel back in time and remember where I (we) have traveled every now and then.

All these positives? I count 1.

This one "ambassador service has started to show a little bit of improvement" when preceded by "however its nowhere near what it used to be", is as positive as telling a POS that you don't stink that bad for a fat person.

So far I was lucky my SNA cleared or denied without issue. Manage to get couple of amazing suites from SNA.
And Bonvoy have update their confirmation email to include the details of which suite/room your SNA is cleared for.

I do experience that SNA option was withdrawn by property and it make the SNA without any suite selected.

And yes, I agree that SNA supposedly upgrade you to a Suite not just better room.
Afterall it is called a Suite Night Award .... not Slightly Nicer Accomodation

the service was great with spg, hit rock bottom right after the merger & has now started to improve again....however, it still has a long way to go to get back to the level it was at initially....it is what it is....

one thing to keep in mind - with marriot you now have the OPTION - YOU - NOT the hotel - have the option to specify what sort of rooms you would consider for your SNA to clear. if you want to pick any upgrade, including a lowly 2 queen instead of a single king - as a possible option it is up to you. If you only want a proper suite, just check those options - this is done either when you put in the SNA yourself or customer service does it.

Only if more than one option is offered.

I dont think I understand what you are saying. Most properties have more than 2 types of rooms.

lets say you book the very cheapest room and there are 10 categories of rooms. When you put in for the SNA you will have the option of selecting up to all of the 9 higher rooms. OR you could pick a category 5 or higher room. Now maybe this property only upgrades to a category 4 - that means your SNA wont clear. if you pick all 9, the property could put you in ANY room thats better than what you booked and eat up the SNA. You can select onyl the el jumbo presidential suite - thats doesnt mean they will give it to you...

What @yyzflyer is saying is that the property still chooses what's in the SNA pool, so they can choose to not even put any real suites in the SNA pool which is becoming a frequent occurrence, along with many hotels simply pulling out of SNAs altogether.

In that case, your theoretical property might ONLY offer something like a corner room for SNAs, even though the room categories are like the following:
Standard room < View Room < Corner Room < Jr Suite < Jr Suite w/ Sofa Bed < 1 Bedroom Suite < 1 Bedroom view suite.

Just because there are many higher categories doesn't mean the property makes them available for SNAs. Some might only expose one type of suite, another might expose no suites at all.

So going back to your original reply:

As @Keyser was saying, nowadays there are many properties where there is no option for a suite in the SNA list.

Also just to be clear, I don't subscribe to the idea that SNAs were good under SPG and are bad now. They have always been a terribly implemented weak benefit. I am continually jealous of the TSUs that Hyatt elites get; a confirmed suite upgrade at the time of booking if a standard suite is available.