Flygirl_DE

As we also prefer the flatbed seating, we booked the 9:15 p.m. flight to SFO. So far so good until last week when we were informed by United about the schedule change: instead of 9:15 p.m. now the flight leaves HNL at 11:15 p.m. .... This will be challenging and I hope that SW is finding a solution for MG

bocastephen

They have been very good trip at reading policies - and very bad at taking care of multi-decade repeat elite customers. I would say we're identified the failure point right here.

HIFlya

Obviously they want you to spend your money at Rum Fire.

spgplatfromchitown

I understand they have to take away perks that were once offered because the business is tough but this is a good example of how treating an elite member has gone out the window.

Is it really going to save them $ by letting a loyal guest stay in the room for an extra 2 hours? Or is it worth having them leave with a bad feeling? Come on SW!

bocastephen

Business is not tough, business is perfectly fine - and most of the perks that Marriott took away, either on the initiative of the Japanese corporate franchisee, or by somehow inexplicably forcing the franchisee to follow Marriott's instructions, included mostly zero cost benefits such as suite upgrades at check-in, early check-in, flexible late check-out even with a room swap, priority access for pool lounge chairs, and if we must assign a cost to something, being able to order a hot breakfast in lieu of the lounge being closed - a breakfast which would generally contain roughly $5 in food cost against a $300++ room rate, most of that being the fruit since papaya and pineapple costs have gone up, and the majority of these perks were gone before the virus hit.

This is not a cost issue - it's just a middle finger wag at long time customers, mostly elite members, by a new management group after the former management team left in disgust. The Sheraton Hawaii collection of SPG is nowhere near the same quality and experience as these hotels are under Marriott, nor was the SPG collection under Whiny Sorenson anywhere near the quality experience as it was years ago. Some of us probably remember those classic Sheraton Waikiki shampoo and conditioner bottles that were shaped in the likeness of the hotel building. That's the classic Sheraton Waikiki that I remember.

margarita girl

This is what the resort fee includes as of Jan 2022.

edgewood49

Wow thats some expensive bottles of water !!

MSPeconomist

There's not even one bottle of water included in the resort fee, just two "pouches" plus a presumably self-serve refill station somewhere on the property. For approximately $50 per night in addition to the regular room rates (in money or points.

BTW, when the resort fee is charged per night, to me it's inappropriate/unfair to make some benefits (such as one day of Go-Pro use) be limited to once per stay.

Kacee

$49.55/per night

edgewood49

They have a "captive" audience once you're on that plane over you become "at their mercy" , the CEO of Marriott is not going to anything to help us until of course it hits his bottom line. Sad very sad that it has come down to this tell me how does the average person afford the islands? I assume that the bars and restaurants are pricing equally higher.

bocastephen

The bottles are eco-friendly and handy to refill, and can be re-used easily outside the hotel, refilled at the airport for the flight, even used for awhile when you're back home - but eventually they will get funky inside and you cannot clean them with a cleanser....but they are more useful than a bottle, just not for $25 each.

The rest of the resort fee is absolute nonsense especially when you need to pay for parking on top of the fee - which now puts you at a 20-30%+ premium of your daily room rate. This is where the federal government needs to step in and outlaw this form of piecemeal pricing, which for too many guests, is a surprise at check-in.

I love how the SUP lesson is on dry land - that's really useful.

Has anyone ever actually tried to rent a GoPro?

edgewood49

I deleted the post but Gary Left posted today about a Marriott Property FLL and it's outrageous add on charges similar to the Sheraton I fear this will get worse before better. I would love to hear what the Marriott Lurker has to say about all this. It would be interesting to see a spread sheet of all the "beach" properties and their charges.

bocastephen

I am 100% certain the Lurker team will say nothing, except to parrot current policy, which predates even the SPG/Marriott merger. Resort fees are not new by a stretch - but the increase in price from the $20-25 of years back to some properties being well north of $50 per night is absolutely ludicrous....especially when a property like the SW charges everyone the fee regardless of property loyalty, or status, and then turns around and hands over a breakfast fit for a not-so-hungry gerbil.

Sorry but the margins are just not that tight that free parking for Elite and select guests along with a hot breakfast or complimentary buffet is going to make or break the numbers - and if it does, then some people really need to find new jobs.

HNLbasedFlyer

If it makes anyone feel any better - my 3 night "comped" stay at Bellagio next week is roughly $150 ($45 resort fee+ taxes) which essentially gets me nothing - at least they are waived when I move to Caesars Palace.

edgewood49

Bellagio is a beautiful property we worked on that building a number of times but price point I would move to Caesars and they have Joe's Stone Crab!!