bmr12

This property called and left me a message the morning of my arrival to tell me they didn’t intend to honor my room type because they had decided to take a “large government contract”. When I returned the call, I was lied to when they said they hadn’t changed my reservation (the app clearly showed I had been changed) and they didn’t even offer to reduce my rate as they’d moved me to a less expensive type of room. Subsequent complaints to the General Manager were not responded to and only getting Marriott corporate involved got me any resolution. I won’t return and you should probably consider booking elsewhere also.

MSPeconomist

What are the two room types and their respective prices?

bmr12

I don't remember the specifics on price. They were trying to move me from a King Suite to a Double Queen room and the price difference was somewhere between $10-20.

4getofn

Interesting I just booked two Fairfield Inn reservations and the double queen rooms were both more expensive than a King …

bmr12

over the years I’ve seen it both ways. In this case it was a “King Suite”—King with a sofa bed, not just a “King” which might just have a chair and smaller room.

MSPeconomist

I'm still confused about room types. Does this particular Fairfield Inn offer only King Suites and Double Queen Suites, or was the downgrade from a suite to a regular room? [Yes, I realize that I could find this property's webpage on marriott.com and check, but IMO it's the OP's responsibility to provide details so that we can understand what the "downgrade" really was.]

4getofn

I missed the “Suite”, I apologize… Yes, if you booked the suite and they put you in a double queen I would be mad too !!

LAX

Is there such a thing as "downgrade" compensation in the hotel industry in general? I know airlines have protocols in place on how to handle something like this.

LAX

xooz

Isn't OP due at least the $25 room guarantee benefit?

bmr12

I believe I would have been if I had tried to check in, but I cancelled and booked elsewhere.

bmr12

A quick peek shows they offer all four: King, King Suite, Two Queens, Two Queen Suite. I was bumped from a King Suite to a Two Queen non-Suite (just went again and looked at the screenshot).

Jon Maiman

Under the circumstances, I think you made a good decision. You could have continued to fight with the property and likely had a miserable stay. Cutting your losses and making your own alternate arrangements is much better. You may also want to post a negative review on TripAdvisor (if you haven't already).

--Jon

writerguyfl

While I've not worked at a Marriott property, the chains in which I worked did not have any official downgrade policies for their hotels. Unlike some situations (like relocating guests on oversold nights), there's really no industry-standard procedure. Essentially, it's up to each individual hotel as to how it's handled.

I worked in a great hotel and one that was mediocre, at best. In that mediocre property, the standard operating procedure would be to hand out a couple of free drink tickets for the bar. If the guest complained, we would lower the rate but that action wouldn't have been automatic. (I didn't last long at that hotel because of nonsense like that.)

In contrast, the staff at the "great hotel" would roll out the red carpet to a guest who was downgraded. A reduced rate was automatic, as was an in-room amenity with a handwritten apology card from the General Manager. Additionally, like all guests who get relocated (aka walked), a downgraded guest would be placed on our internal VIP list. Any guest on that list was automatically upgraded on all subsequent stays. If there were no upgrades available, they'd be given access to the Concierge lounge for that stay.

The Road Goes On Forever

There is very much no official policy in place to handle downgrades. To a lot of GM’s and Sales Managers, as crude as this may sound, you’re guaranteed a room, not a room type. Like writerguyfl mentioned, there are properties out there that will take care of you with a reduced rate, future upgrades or with trying to get you set up with two connecting rooms of different room types versus a suite, proactively paying any penalties, etc. if something happens.

Just like there are other properties that couldn’t care less and to them an email from corporate customer care person can be ignored or a bad Trip Advisor review is seen as meaningless (a lot of times the GM doesn't care what the reviews are and farm out responding to them to a member of the desk staff who will post as the GM with pre-approved copy and paste responses - I know, I've been told to do it).

I’ve worked for GM’s that have been in both camps although admittedly most fell into the apathetic camp rather than the proactive camp. It’s simply easier that way with little to no downside, even if it's unethical and wrong.