Agree…

I go out of my way to stay at Marriott properties all year, sometimes when they are higher or not as convenient. All full service brands. Each of the last 5+ years have spent over $25k US each year with over 125 nights each year as well.

Given the redemption rates at some of these luxury properties using points these days (80-120k/night), is it too much to expect a complimentary breakfast?

And, that’s why RC and Edition have not been on my radar screen for business or pleasure

That statement is just bizarre/irrational on numerous levels.

It's just stunning to me how blinded people become by this game...

Regards

Possible your conference rate did not help the situation either.

If money doesn’t matter, book a suite and buy breakfast.

Not just that comment but this whole thread is stupid. The average person who is wealthy enough to regularly stay at Ritz Carlton's does not care that they have to pay a little extra for breakfast.

A bit out of topic here, but the "guarantee" late check out seems is no longer a guarantee. Look at the online check in at the apps. It just said "priority".

I kind of notice that quite some new hotels that join post merger, always think the late check out is at 2pm at max. I just completed a stay with the hotel and when I was asking "4pm late check out", the FO told me "we'll see what we can do".

I have a fantastic stay at Ritz Carlton Pacific Place Jakarta, which is Club room only hotel. I would not stay in the other Ritz in Jakarta. I rather stayed at JW MArriott or even Westin as elite will be treated "better".

I personally can understand that hotel Ritz (and some other brand) wants to maintain the exclusivity of the Club Lounge and hence limit the access to it. As you can see now, many Club lounge is literality like zoo even here in Asia.

I have only 2 stay in StR, one in Bangkok and one in DC.

My stay in StR DC almost have no benefit at all. There is no coffee machine in the room. No cattle to make a tea. I was told that I can get it from buttler service. But every morning, I was transfered to the restaurant, and the staff was asking me to sign. I should have stayed in Westin.

So I will avoid StR, as it seems not the brand that suite me.

At the end, you just need to undertand the brand better and see which one suite you better.

While I can afford to pay for brekkie at a Ritz, I feel strongly about getting the elite benefits that I feel I have earned. I do care and therefore tend to favour StR or other complying brands.

It's evident from your post history you churn credit cards for sign up bonuses. You are not Ritz Carlton's target audience. Their target audience do not care about having to pay for breakfast.

Why bother being loyal if one doesn't get any benefits for being loyal? Nope, I'll just stay at a STR or Park Hyatt where one gets benefits from a loyalty program or just stay at Mandarin Oriental or Pensinsula and be a free agent.

You said money doesn’t matter. If those are your choices, and I was in your shoes, it’d be MO/Pen every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

My Park Hyatt experiences are far superior to any MO/ Peninsula/ 4S I've had. By far. That's why I've switched to Hyatt. They know my preferences. A whole list of them special order me Greek yogurt and berries for breakfast, others prepare shisha for me on my terrace every day without me ordering/ asking.

​​​​Hyatt goes above and beyond for me, as a loyalty program should.

As for STR, I generally get good service there in Middle East and Asia. Not like under SPG days but comparable to the other brands. None of those other brands have ever gone above and beyond for me, even though I stay at them fairly regularly (not as much as Hyatt).

Everyone has there own preferences. Money or cost isn't my determining factor. Loyalty is a two way street. If it's one way, I'm out.

Ritz Carlton hotels don't honor certain Bonvoy benefits. This is well known. If you don't like that, don't stay. Others will stay in your place instead. Simple as that. It's not "audacity" - it's just business. The OP clearly doesn't lack for choice, so I am not sure what the issue is.

I recently was in a Ritz Carlton property where the hotel renovated and expanded the club lounge. The club lounge rooms sold for $1,000 to $2,000 extra per night. The lounge was crowded (I was able to just stop in and tour the lounge, so I didn't pay) with happy paying customers. That's their audience - it doesn't apparently include the OP.

As always, check individual reviews, age of the property, location, etc and book the best hotel for your needs. For me, that will include many Ritz Carlton properties.

It takes very little to "earn" free breakfast in the Bonvoy program - all you need to do is sign up for an American Express credit card. Similarly, Hilton Gold/Diamond can be purchased for as little as $150 a year. With Hyatt, many top tier elites may in fact "earn" their breakfast benefit (especially since it is limited to Globalist), but from a broad standpoint, given how many hotels give away status, the idea that people "earned" or "deserve" breakfast at these hotels has always been kind of funny to me

I’m really not sure that’s true on two points:
- Firstly, people who regularly spend $1K on a hotel room are rarely careless with their money - unless you’re in Dubai, Miami or similar
- Secondly, I rarely see Ritz Carltons as the best hotel in their market. The same is true of St Regis, but the programme recognition is enough to mean that I’ve stayed at 20 or so around the world. There are very very few cities where a rational consumer would choose an RC or a Peninsula, MO or other hotel in the category. If the RC was the Aman or Four Seasons of a city, I would probably stay much more often.

…And all of this is seperate to the RC’s almost always being the most ugly, poorly decorated luxury chain. It’s often like someone who spent their entire life in a Marriott Courtyard won the lottery and so designed something which the intention of being bling for Utah.