Seems like a reasonably typical vapid CS experience.

Update Covid 19 in Italy

Hello from Italy,
I would like to share with all Marriott friends that Italian governement could appprove a new law this night, extending red zone to all Lombardia (including Milan) and other 11 areas (e.g. Venice, Pesaro...), where It will be forbidden to enter or exit from 8th March to 3rd April 2020.
We are monitoring the news but this will have some impact on our travels.
At the moment it is still a draft.
http://amp.theguardian.com/world/202...7/italy-set-to

Anaheim Marriott - Natural Products Expo West cancelled
 

Hi All,

One of the largest trade shows in the US was cancelled on Monday night due to COVID-19 concerns — about 12 hours before it was to start. Over 80,000 people typically attend each year.

I had 8 room nights booked at about $370/night each and the Anaheim Marriott won’t budge and is charging for all nights. I’m on the hook for over $2000 in charges.

They were booked as individual reservations due to difficulty booking earlier and would have been pieced together at check-in. If it was treated as one reservation it would have been a 2 night penalty according to the rate rules when originally booked.

I think this is terrible policy. Anyone else on the same boat with convention cancellations?

I’m Lifetime Titanium and will shift my loyalty from here forward if this isn’t resolved.

This is terrible management by the show administration team!

Have you tried contacting Marriott CS?

It would be appreciated if Marriott ( and other chains) could offer some reassurances ( or at least information) about the way in which rooms are cleaned/disinfected between guests. Having staff wear masks and putting hand sanitizer bottles in lobbies and restaurants is one thing, but still we have no idea if there are enhanced procedures for cleaning rooms and contents.
Of course nothing prepares for a sight observed this morning at a Marriott breakfast: a disgusting creature blowing his nose into a linen napkin, then dumping it on the table.

Italy update 8th march
The ordinance has been approved in late night.
This is NOT an absolute closure, you can travel if needed for work, health reasons or other urgences.
Flights and trains are NOT affected, so NO cancellations.

Hope this will help to stop infections.

I’m sure this has been debated here before but I am truly amazed hotel prices are not coming down. I have a potential 1 night trip to Miami end of March and prices are as high now as pre covid

conferences get cancelled and prices don’t budge. Do hotels prefer lower occupancy and getting their sky high rates over more people and a lower nightly rate?

Seeing the exact same thing, it's pretty crazy to me.

M Club lounges and Coronavirus risk
 

As virus-stricken cruise ships are talked about in the news, one of the most common themes is about how they’re a health nightmare — because of reliance on buffets.

Pick up a serving spoon at any buffet, and you’re shaking hands with the dozens of people who used it before you. You might as well just lick all of their hands :(

So what of M Club Lounges?

Breakfast and evening snacks are all communal self-serve — with everyone’s hands all touching the exact same serving ware.

Has anyone seen any M Clubs that have implemented anything that’s safer and more sanitary than the usual communal serving implements?

(At my last stay with a lounge - SF Marriott Marquis - I used my own teaspoon to serve my own breakfast. It takes a lot of scoops with a teaspoon to get scrambled eggs on a plate.)

Wash your hands. The food is safe but you are correct the serving spoons are not.

bottom line wash your hands after touching them

to help avoid issues there is hand sanitizer but what I do is

1- grab paper napkin and using the napkin hold the spoon
2- use hand sanitizer when seated at table and do not touch food with hands
3- wash hands immediately after eating

ive been doing this for years and this is not a new habit for me

the really messed up thing about covid is it’s almost as if people realized there are germs. Flu and other virus have been out there so why now do people care about proper hygiene

wash your hands people and to any man who has ever gone to the bathroom and failed to wash their hands or think two seconds of water no soap works Wake up. The sheer number of people who fit into this category is mind blowing

one more rant. Shaking hands is insane. Covid or not just think of the germs as per above people NEVER washing their hands then touching EVERYTHING

I'm not so sure about insane?! There are many hands out there that are probably cleaner than the item you just touched.

Sounds like yours might be one of those clean ones :)

Agreed on all points.

When there's a pandemic (or close to one) and multiple states of emergency, it's bloody dangerous to have travelers from all over the world all sharing the same serving implements as they fill up their plates right before eating. It's inherently unsafe.

When a hotel offers a buffet style self-service (whether in an M Club or in a restaurant) it therefore requires guests to come up with their own workarounds (just like what you described) simply in order to stay safe. Given where the world is at today, that's not acceptable.

It only makes sense to lower the rate if you think that will cause more rooms to sell. With half the world scared out of their minds, the hotels may feel that anyone booking rooms right now is less price sensitive since they must have a compelling reason to need to travel now.

I always bring purrell wipes with me all the time anywhere I go. For me, it's even more important that I have them in lounges since handwashing stations or bathrooms are non existent in many hotel lounges.

Good to work hard to protect yourself.

Good luck.

David