dblue

Gotcha. Was talking about the Iberville hotel, but looked like it was only 2-3 blocks away but I see what you mean.

CJKatl

You had me worried. In NO, a few blocks is a different area. Friends don't let friends stay at the other CY. I was concerned you would think you were following my advice, stay at the horrible CY and I would have inadvertently ruined your trip!

dblue

No worries. Thanks for your help.

volleyca

I have the JW for $30 less per night than the CY iberville. Do you think I am making the right choice with the JW(I know it seems like a very strange question)

dayone

I've stayed at both properties. JW is the right choice, without question.

ZZYZXROAD

The JW no brainer.

CJKatl

Agree I'd do the JW, unless... If you are looking to stumble in somewhere at the end of a long night of fine dining (!) I might do the CY Iberville. Also, if you are looking for two separate sleeping areas (ie on for adults and one for kids), the CY Iberville will work better for you.

TheMan

Has anyone been told at the New Orleans Marriott that if they want an UPGRADE to a larger room(suite, etc) that regardless of availability it is never FREE. They tried to charge me 50% of the room value on top of the current rate of a standard room for an upgrade. The most that you get for a FREE upgrade is a room with a better view or concierge floor. My understanding of the rules for upgrade is "Based upon availability at check-in". No charge is mentioned. Am I wrong or how do they get away with it?

777 global mile hound

As a fellow Marriott Platinum and I got my status complimentary after staying 3 nights
it's really one of the worst elite tier in my 20 plus years of being in these programs.
Having not earned it I like it just fine
Some hotels exceed expectations and others offer you a croissant and coffee for breakfast and some cereal as a breakfast benefit .Meager and sad for the required business

Marriott has a perception that it's good and someone obviously thinks so
I've only seen one program worse that's IHG Rewards Platinum

The Hyatt French Quarter is fantastic with upgrades as is the Westin Canal Place
And the Sheraton and the Hilton Riverside
All above properties upgrade routinely into luxury vip suites with or without asking if a top tier member
I will never stay with any hotel company and get so little back in return
Having said that this is still more of an isolated property issue that won't exceed expectations as available
so if u like what Marriott is doing otherwise you should be fine
I'm happy to take the MR elite status as its better than nothing
Had I earned it the hard way I'd be pretty upset
I have had a few Marriott properties impress me but the program promises little and the hotels have many outs especially as suites are not a published Nor specific benefit

OU812

I had a great upgrade to the Presidential Suite at that hotel, but that was a few years ago.

I had a similar encounter with the Fairview Park Marriott (near DC) this past weekend, when I inquired about an upgrade from my 5th floor room. Was told a suite was available, but my room rate would be changed from $119 to $499 per night (the hotel was not sold out). I was told that an upgrade to a room on a higher floor (which was in my profile and my MR # was in the reservation, booked on Marriott.com) was also available, but would be $30 more be night, concierge level would be $50. The Front Desk Supervisor told me that all upgrades whether MR elite or not require a change to the room rate and there was no way for them to do a complimentary upgrade in the system. Since I was late for a rehearsal dinner and wasn't going to be in the room that much, I did not pursue it any further. I was going to do a little research to see if there were more changes to the T&Cs, or if this hotel was making excuses for not following policy.

Regards,

RIP...

SkiAdcock

Hotel is making up excuses/its own policy & not following Marriott's.

Cheers.

dat4life

I have a stay at the Rennaissance Pere Marquette coming up next week, and received an email stating something similar next week.

This is just a quick overnight for a wedding, so I'm fine with the small room. But this email really irked me. There is nothing in the Marriott Reward T&C that restricts any rate from upgrades, nor was there any sort of language speaking to this in the rate rules. If the hotel had no other rooms available, I completely understand. But to restrict it outright for any type of rate really bothers me. And seriously, I can't think of many rates that don't reserve a specific room type.

I'm so glad that I did the Hyatt Diamond Challenge last year, and shifted the majority of my stays in the direction of Hyatt.

Eujeanie

They must have changed the language on the website after you booked:

Rate Rules


Big Discount, Tiny Room - 119 SQFT, see Rate Rules

Additional Information
SMALL QUEEN ROOMS ARE 119 SQ FEET AND ARE GREAT FOR 1 OR 2
PEOPLE THAT WILL BE SPENDING MINIMAL TIME IN THEIR ROOM.
************************************************** ************
This discounted rate applies only to the Cozy Queen room type.
Elite member upgrades are not allowed when booking this rate.

Holding Your Reservation
We will need a credit card number to reserve your room.


Cancelling Your Reservation
You may cancel your reservation for no charge until July 18, 2015 (3 day[s] before arrival).
Please note that we will assess a fee of 149.03 USD if you must cancel after this deadline.
If you have made a prepayment, we will retain all or part of your prepayment. If not, we will charge your credit card.

This fee equals 1 night(s) of your room charge plus tax.


Modifying Your Reservation
Please note that a change in the length or dates of your reservation may result in a rate change.
Your current rate may be available if your modified reservation still includes:
A stay of 3 night(s) or less.

hhoope01

Note that the rooms you are referencing are a special case and are very discounted compared to their "normal" standard room. When I made my reservations, the hotel was very upfront that those "small" rooms were very discounted and treated differently. If you want to possibly get an elite upgrade, then reserve a standard room. I didn't have any issues given how upfront the hotel was with those "special" small rooms or with the price they offered them at (I was attending a conference on my own dime and getting one of those rooms was a heaven send given how low the rate was compared to every other hotel in that area.)

So to me, the Ren Pere Marquette's statement about upgrades for just those special rooms is very different than the OP's situation where the NO Marriott said they don't upgrade any elites at all. But just like your situation at the Ren Pere, there may be more to the NO Marriott's upgrade statement than we know at the moment.

RogerD408

I do believe this is in violation of the MR T&Cs. I would suggest forwarding that message to MR and ask for their clarification of the rules. If this is going to be allowed then they should update the T&Cs and notify all members that properties will now be allowed to declare certain rates exempt from the upgrade benefit.

Now on the upside, doing something like this is a lot better than making the FDCs lie and say there are no upgrades available when in fact there is. Maybe this property is beta-testing the concept. Either way, MR should disclose the situation if that's the case.