myperks

oh boy... popcorn time awaiting comments on this...

Guate87

4:00 PM checkout for Marriott Platinums and above has been valuable to me during Covid.

As a Diamond with Hilton I have to negotiate checkout time with every property.

For small town US stays, I bounce back and forth between both.

AMEX Platinum gives Gold with both Hilton and Marriott. You could compare your experiences after a year.

Kacee

Hilton Gold is a much more meaningful status, at least in non-COVID times, offering a breakfast benefit and decent upgrade potential. It's generally considered the best mid-tier status level. Hilton has only one higher level (Diamond) whereas Marriott has three (Platinum, Titanium, Ambassador).

skywalkerLAX

Another thing: I wouldn't say a hotel chain (any really) doesn't want your business because they aren't offering you a status match. Marriott had challenges and matches for years, the most recent one just a month ago just for calling up. Maybe you simply didn't sign up on time?

Kacee

+1
While I'm no fan of Marriott in general these days, "Marriott won't give me free status" doesn't seem a particularly compelling complaint.

jjLDNY

Hahahahahahah. I immediately moved to the next page to see if anyone had quoted this.

Hipplewm Could you elaborate on 'better' and 'isn't bad' with Amb and Tit? Cupcakes and the Spa credit seem like one-offs over your 100+ stays

skywalkerLAX

Pretty expensive parfait considering the overall annual investment. Not everyone eats breakfast like a pigeon though.

SPN Lifer

"Recent trends in the United States and Canada have introduced parfaits without cream or liqueurs. These are made by simply layering yogurt with granola, nuts, and/or fresh fruits (such as peaches, strawberries, or blueberries)."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parfait

As a Titanium, I didn't realize that the $10 food & beverage credit at a Courtyard would cover a parfait and orange juice. I may have to readjust my priorities once breakfast returns to normal.

narvik

Apparently not all of them though: https://viewfromthewing.com/the-j-w-...-theyre-suing/

Hipplewm

I typically stay 225-250 nights a year. I am like the OP where it is iin out of the way places and generally I have a fairfield, RI and courtyard to choose from. As an Ambassador, the hotels I stay at rarely see one and I usually get upgraded to a suite or a huge king bed room, even for stays of 3-5 weeks. When I am staying for work, I require a bed, not much else and anything else is appreciated. I don't get pissy about not getting an upgrade etc. I save all that energy for vacations.

As far as Spa and cupcakes, I was referencing a single stay. My ambassador has arranged some amazing things for my family over the years. Again with covid the ambassador situation has degraded and we will all have to see how it bounces back
Also, if you look on the UA forum there is a 90000 page threadnaught about how upgrades are impossible - same for Marriott - SNA's can't be used - So far I am 100% with Marriott and pretty dang good with UA. I plan my vacations out 8-10 months in advance, do my homework, pick nice properties and try to find any advantages possible. It generally works out for me, Starting that early, I am pretty flexible on time and dates etc, so that makes it a bit easier.


OK, so he was asking about courtyard and breakfast - they have a bistro and you can get other stuff, I just really like the parfait and OJ. Most are closed due to covid, but pre covid, I was always happy with the credit and food selection. Lets face it, Courtyard is not a high end destination, it would be comparable to a Garden inn most likely. HGI is a better breakfast for diamonds, but not that much.


FWIW - I have also been Diamond at Hilton for many years (Gave up about 2 years ago keeping double status) I just didn't get the same benefit from Hilton PERSONALLY - and it allowed me to get Ambassador status by shfiting that extra spend to Marriott. If I stayed in cities and Hyatts were an option etc, maybe I would shift etc, but for me and in my situation, Marriott is a good fit. The change in upgrades and perks going from Platinum/Titanium to Ambassador was noticable. IHG is also fine, but their options outside of the US are paltry.

Hipplewm

Depends on where and tax rates - generally it is between $9.75 and $11

writerguyfl

FYI: Many hotels will have things like microwaves sitting in storage. That's especially true for "pseudo-extended stay" places like a Courtyard.

If you're staying more than 1 or 2 nights at a hotel and desire to have a microwave, it's worth asking. Chances are decent they will have a spare one they will provide for free.

UA-NYC

Marriott really, really wants that sweet hotel owner business....if only they could not have to deal w/those pesky consumers actually staying in the hotels...

mfirst

well, this got a little more interesting as Marriott just confirmed my Platinum status match
15 days until April to keep until 02/2022.... with my current plan, that should be easy

I can ask about a microwave and bowls/etc
there was mention of Bistro's and places to get food - I guess I need to explore a little bit (or just ask here?) - but does that imply that status will give you a daily breakfast credit instead?

-m

Hipplewm

Bistro is the name of the little cafe thing inside of a courtyard (It is standard for EVERY courtyard) the F&B credit - YOU MUST ask for it - it is a welcome amenity choice. 99.999999999% of the time - they say "Do you want the points? - the second you say "Yes" you lost your F&B credit. You have to answer - "I want the F&B amenity"
Here is the listing - https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/mem...s/guarantee.mi

Notice under JW Marriott if you choose the F&B credit it is $10 per STAY (You get free breakfast in the lounge along with nightly oursderves and other stuff - so no worry there) but courtyard F&B is $10 per DAY - that is a big diference if you are staying 2 weeks, or 3-5 weeks like I typically do.

My only "Gripe" is how most hotels handle - even after 2 years most don't have an electronic way to handle it, so they give you a card for EVERY DAY - all dated with your room number and you present that to the bistro daily - I will say most places after a few days they see me coming - get my stuff out, in a bag with silverware - take my voucher and that is it - even if it is $10.63 - especially the places I tend to stay 50+ nights a year. YMMV

All this stuff is about the details and I am about as Anal Retentive as it gets, so processing this crap is easy - almost natural to extract maximum benefit. So much so, when my wife is with me and wants XXX, she now asks me first "What is the best way to get XXX" because quite a few times she has bought stuff and I pointed out to her later that what she bought was all free in the room. She is a penny pincher and now hesistates to buy anything LOL