rylan

I would think and expect that hotels will not charge that bogus fee when they can't provide the 'amenities'... but who knows, probably depends on the location and manager.

Kacee

Camelback Inn is offering breakfast take out on weekdays, with elite breakfast consisting of one entree and a beverage. On weekends, the restaurant (Rita's) is open; was given a $12 per person credit. Didn't ask about late check-out. Not currently charging resort fee or for parking. By contrast, most Hyatts in the Valley are now back to charging a resort fee.

Arizona has reopened and demand for hotel rooms is climbing.

lamphs

I've given this some thought. I am currently a Platinum and likely would have been Titanium this year. The 3 benefits important to me are the lounge (breakfast plus a work area during the day), late checkout, and the gym. I am 'loyal' to Marriott solely for these benefits, especially late checkout.

I like the breakfast buffet especially on a weekend and sometimes over do it. Most times, especially for work days, a quick healthy breakfast is in order, or maybe I just want to grab a cup of coffee. This is a time savings for me. A packaged breakfast, if offered, is likely not to be very healthy. In addition, the lounge provides a great workplace during the day. Thinking back to my last four full-service stays, there are rarely more than 2-3 guests in the lounge during the workday, so that works for social distancing. I also think that a guest needs to take some personal responsibility, i.e. wipe down any surfaces around the table, chair, etc. (although there seems to be data that suggests that the COVID-19 does not transmit via surfaces very well); wear your mask.

The gym for a quick ride on the bicycle or treadmill. I generally use the gym in the mid to late afternoon or after dinner. It is an area of a property that rarely has more than maybe 1 or 2 other guests utilizing it at a given time. And another area for personal responsibility. Wipe down the surfaces before and after using the equipment, just like you would under normal conditions; wear your mask; and the property could limit the number of guests in the gym. This is an easy problem to solve.

Finally, not granting late checkout is a bit ridiculous. Why is it important to me? Because I've been in an un-air conditioned factory all day and generally have a late flight, I go back to the room to shower prior to heading to the airport. I believe that 'time required for extra cleaning' as a reason to deny late checkout is a stretch. I am a volunteer EMT in a jurisdiction in the Washington, DC area. Every ambulance patient is treated as if COVD19-positive. Upon unloading the patient at the hospital, my job, as the driver, is to perform decontamination. This is a strict process: electronic patient care equipment is set aside, all interior surfaces are wiped, the cot is wiped, including the mattress, side rails, straps; the electronic equipment is wiped and replaced; and then other surfaces, such as door handles, steering wheel, radio controls, etc. are wiped. While my partner finishes 'paperwork' with the nurse, I do all of this in about 20 minutes. Thinking of a standard hotel room, I can't imagine that it takes a significant amount of time to give the room an additional surface wipe.

SPN Lifer

Recognizing that the gym is open to all, let us hope that Marriott will continue to preserve these three valuable benefits for its loyal Bonv°y Platinum Elite members and above.

Personally, I like the lounge & buffet, late checkouts, miniature toiletries, pen & notepad sets, and environmental housekeeping options.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-marriott-bonvoy/2017412-buffets-restaurants-lounges-thing-past.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-marriott-bonvoy/2017961-refused-late-check-out-due-covid-experiences.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-marriott-bonvoy/1984883-marriott-eliminate-single-use-toiletry-bottles.html

Another pathetic cut from marriott : Make a Green Choice >> -67%

Bonv°y!

bocastephen

Without our brand benefits, specifically breakfast, lounges, flexible check-out, etc., why would anyone choose a Marriott branded property over a newer, good condition Holiday Inn Express or an AirBNB? I am not seeing the value proposition from Marriott recently - and I don't see things improving either.

MSPeconomist

Agree. Without elite benefits, I'm a free agent and most Marriotts will not win. I'll go with Hyatt, Hilton, or some independent or boutique hotel. Other things being equal, I'd rather earn Hyatt points and nights anyway.

bocastephen

That's why getting Lifetime Platinum under SPG was a huge win for me - I can use Marriott when I feel like it, but still look for other options when the options from Marriott fall below expectation, as they are now.

Adelphos

Keep in mind that certain "benefits" (like buffets in lounges or restaurants) will likely not be offered by any brand, or independent hotel, for several months if not longer. And many of these changes will impact all guests - for example, Residence Inn breakfasts probably will be grab and go for the foreseeable future, and those are available to all guests. Same with DoubleTree for Hilton. Certain elite benefits like like checkout, additional points, etc will stay.

cfabar1

Marriott has always been skimpy that won't change.

I find during a time of very low occupancy rates the lack of late-check out to be an absurd idea. If there is a compelling reason why that cannot be accommodated, it should be rarely done for Platinum guests. My suspicion is part of the hesitance is the fact that Marriott property owners never wanted this benefit to begin with and it was viewed as a necessary concession as part of the merger with Starwood Preferred Guest, a vastly superior outfit than Marriott will ever aspire to be.

I don't mind the idea of the gym or pool being closed, unless they are allowed to be open via state statute. In that case, they should figure out how to accommodate this. This is done EASILY especially for the Gym, where people could have assigned times to enter and exit and it could be cleaned between each use. The pool has repeatedly been shown and explained as not a way to contract COVID-19 based on media reports I have read.

Breakfast is easy to offer an alternate amenity for, and there are options as well for the lack of evening lounge access. I understand Marriott wants to provide flexibility, and I support that, but I think what consumers deserve is a good-faith effort, and not a penny-pinching approach to turn every Marriott property into a Super 8 hotel with cleaner sheets and newer furniture. I also think that properties that are not capable of providing Resort amenities as promised in their resort fee MUST waive those fees or be open to legal recourse from dissatisfied guests.

bocastephen

There is no valid reason to stop buffet service provided certain simple safeguards are in place, and violators are ejected and banned from the lounge or restaurant. Buffets will be open again, they are already at normal service levels in Asia, people just need to use some basic common sense and courtesy when using shared food stations and be prepared for punishment if they refuse. Even without a buffet per se, if Marriott actually cared about its Elite customers, and those paying extra for club floor rooms and suites, they could offer a carry-out American breakfast as I described upthread which has a food/service cost of maybe $4 if that - two eggs, two pancakes, two bacon or sausage strips, a cup of coffee or juice boxed to go. This isn't about food safety, it's about being cheap. I could somewhat understand it back in April when occupancy was in the teens and no one was traveling, but people are on the move again and occupancy is on the upswing - giving a small sub-set of guests $4 worth of breakfast is not going to break the bank.

TSTraveler

Ah there are many valid reasons to preclude buffets: social distance issues for anyone wanting to use the buffet, contamination issues for serving utensils, contamination issues for the entire service area, etc. Just because some people or hotels choose to not worry about such issues doesn't mean they don't exist.

Most of us call that room service. For full service hotels, that's exactly where people should turn. For elites, certain brands still might offer complimentary continental breakfast service via room service.

It isn't about food safety, but it still is about safety. The food isn't a likely transmission vehicle for covid, but almost everything else associated with food can be. That may be inconvenient, but it isn't necessarily cheap to avoid or minimize those.

bocastephen

Like it or not, buffets are coming back, so it's better to figure out how to manage these expectations now as competitors will figure it out and draw people away. Breakfast is a big part of a hotel's value proposition especially an elite staying at a higher priced branded property. Beds, bathrooms, and lounges are mostly interchangeable between Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton, so the brand that gets this wrong is the one that will lose.

No, this is not room service - room service has a high cost. This is phoning in an order and walking your behind downstairs to pick it up and take it to your room, or car or wherever.

social distancing is easy to manage by controlling how many people are in the restaurant, and up at the buffet at any given time - there are ways to figure this out, it's not difficult. What contamination issue for the "entire service area"? what is an "entire service area"? Serving utensils can be mitigated by requiring the use of a disposable food service glove by everyone at the buffet - put on at the front of the line and taken for disposal at the end of the line. When I eat at buffets, decades before coronavirus, I specifically request a food service glove, or use a napkin to wrap around a serving handle, I never touch anything - again, it's not that difficult for those who want to be protected. Sneeze guards can be enlarged to provide much broader coverage and masks can be compulsory for people up at the buffet. For those who refuse to cooperate, and insist on re-using dishes, touching food with bare hands, touching utensils with bare hands, coughing or sneezing near the food, etc., they just need to be ejected and banned.

Kacee

I have plenty of issues with Marriott, but lack of elite benefits right now is not a Marriott-specific issue. If you've been traveling, you know that properties of all stripe have been struggling to figure out what services they can and can't provide. The problems are exacerbated by staffing cuts and extremely low occupancy levels, which make it both difficult and uneconomical for properties to provide pre-coronavirus levels of service.

Overall, I find Hilton's current policies to be most guest-friendly, while Hyatt and Marriott are roughly equal. Hyatt properties have been especially quick to reinstate resort fees, which I find particularly offensive given the lack of on-property amenities.

CalAlumnus13

Currently staying at the Marriott Del Mar as a Titanium. Zero elite benefits. Even the Towneplace Suites I stayed at two weeks ago offered a grab and go breakfast, but absolutely nothing here. This is in San Diego County, where restaurants are allowed to open. It’s a choice, not a requirement.

I also specifically requested a suite upgrade for my two-night stay, and they said none were available (right!). They said they were comping parking, but I had selected a parking-included rate because of the high parking cost; they didn’t adjust my rate down in recognition.

In hindsight I should have stayed at a Fairfield, Towneplace, etc. At least they seem to be offering something for breakfast. I thought a full-service hotel would do at least as much for someone with status as those brands do for every guest.

Kacee

Hotels are closing down entire sections of their properties, thus limiting the number and types of rooms available. This has been true virtually everywhere I've stayed. Complaining about it is the equivalent of banging your head against the wall. There's just no point. It's simply the reality of the current situation.