jimmc66

I booked into the newish Marriott-owned Aloft Hotel at San Francisco Airport last Friday, September 30th. I was unimpressed with the faux-"hipness" of the brand, but it was just an overnight between longer haul flights. I am Marriott Gold, and have been so for many many years.

Early on Friday, Marriott texted me a prompt to check-in and queue for the electronic key. I like the electronic keys even before the limitations imposed by the pandemic. I checked-in and waited for me key. I arrived at SFO about 6pm, and still no electronic key.. Shuttled to the hotel and shuffled up to the check-in desk.

It was a "regular" check-in. No room had been assigned. They wanted my ID, my credit card - the whole shebang, with the same "initial and sign" paperwork. What's the point? They also hassled my about my certified Service Dog (who's been traveling with me for 10 years including trips to Europe, Japan, Guam, Australia. . .everywhere).

So then I asked what happened to the app check-in and digital key. The desk clerk said "we're not doing that now, due to identity fraud". I requested clarification - was MY account compromised in some way? No she said, we're not doing it for anyone!

Really?

I more distressed now about this and Marriott than anything else at the moment. I've requested an answer from Marriott, but have not received any further information.

GoSh4rks

Marriott's mobile check in has always amounted to nothing.

nexus7556

It depends on the property, some I've been able to go straight to the room without stopping at the desk. That being said I've heard the same same line from other properties that they need to verify my ID due to account fraud. If thats truly the reason, they should work to reduce that, maybe add 2FA, so that mobile check-in can work universally.

ElevatorEnthusiast

There is no hacking. The property doesn't trust guests to not use Marriott app logins to get access to rooms that they didn't book, so they are requiring ID checks at the front desk. Many properties are like this, and many aren't. This hotel just chooses to not trust Marriott app credentials (which could be shared or stolen via a variety of means) as a way to verify identity.

southlondonphil

To be fair, given Marriott's shameful history of repeated data breaches that seems a perfectly sensible view to take.

MePlatPremier

That’s probably not the case in CA, but in most jurisdictions all over the world hotels are required to collect each guest’s passport or ID details and report them to the government, for immigration and law enforcement purposes. This is why the electronic key will never catch on.

Norri

The fact that it doesn't work very well will be another reason. It's really poor when compared to the Hilton version.

Kacee

You know that FDAs make stuff up all the time, right?

Many properties don't use digital keys, for a variety of reasons. As others have already noted, the Marriott version is particularly crappy and not in wide use at all.

Of all the things to complain about . . . .

thatmikereed

I've never once had this work prior to check-in. Not once.

Oxon Flyer

Given Marriott's shameful history of repeated data breaches that seems a rather bold assumption to make …..

ElevatorEnthusiast

My point was specific to the OP's story about the front desk associate - this incident seemingly has nothing to do with a systemic data breach or hacking incident and instead has to do with the property in question using sensationalist terms, like "identity theft", to describe guests using the Marriott login credentials of others to check in (for whatever reason).

Marriott (and Starwood before the merger) have had known issues with data breaches, of course, but I prefer to assume that companies use these situations to learn and improve and to not overstate the impact of reported breaches (such as the recent social engineering attack on a single property that was reported a month or two ago).

HNLbasedFlyer

I said to myself that hotel has to of been open for at least 10 years now - and sure enough, 10 years open as of last month

mahasamatman

I guess for some people, 10 years can be "newish".

We stay there when we have no other reasonable choice because it's frequently about half the price of the nearby Marriott options. I guess you get what you pay for.