Reservations mgr and/or GM should be able to help you out w/checking & negotiating rates.

As a local who does business with all the local Marriott's my recommendation for several reasons would be the Residence Inn in Salinas. The manager there will negotiate rates and over 30 days is exempt from local Travel/Occupancy taxes. Location is better for non-expensive dining and parking is free. Breakfast and dinner are covered if you don't want to go out and indoor pool facilities if you want. Also, is a new location in very good condition.

Remember that RI only earns 5 points to the dollar. Thats a killer for me on a long stay

For a stay that long, i would genuinely be shocked if the sales team couldn't get you less than $140 per night. That is alot of nights of guaranteed revenue i bet they will want to work with you to get something if you explain the situation. I would bypass central res for now and contact the sales department directly. Let us know how it works out

This looks like the most recent thread on this property...

I did a Thu/Sat award stay last week. I used the virtual concierge to request a room upgrade from the standard city view room and received a personal email about a day later from the property confirming the receipt of my request.

Upon check in, I was given a room facing the bay on the fifth floor at the end of the hallway (closest to the bay). While the property is in the downtown business district, it is very quiet without much vehicle traffic. We cracked the windows open in the morning to enjoy the cool ocean breeze and listen to the noisy seagulls and barking seals.

There's still no lounge; each morning, we went down to the registration counter and picked up our breakfast certs for Gold/Plats. The continental breakfast options were more than enough for us and I thought the $5 upcharge for the full buffet was a very good deal. I found the staff in the restaurant and registration desk to be very friendly.

We had no problem finding street parking within a block from the hotel; street parking is free after 6 p.m., so there's really very little reason to use the valet.

We bought our aqarium tickets via AAA, but it's nice to know you can get them at the hotel as well. I highly recommend getting tickets in advance and going as soon as the doors open to beat the crowds. The City of Monterey offers a free downtown shuttle that goes to Cannary Row; we didn't use it, but it's a nice option if you don't feel like walking to the aquarium or trying to find parking there.

Bernardus did a free wine tasting in the lobby on Friday evening; I thought that was a nice touch.

A final update to the thread below; the rooms now have wi-fi and no wired connections. We had a hard time staying connected on our iPhones but my laptop stayed connected without issue.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...oom-wi-fi.html

Thanks for the stay report-- could you please post an update re breakfast in the Executive Lounge sticky thread? I'm not sure if it changed with the recent change in breakfast policy or earlier, but this property used to give out coupons (M-F) for the full breakfast buffet.

Any one know reason why August 17-18 are blacked out at this hotel? Normally the system lets me book with plat override even if the hotel is full unless it is an approve special event.

No idea, but maybe an event at Pebble Beach? Just drove by both a few weeks ago for the first time visiting the famous Aquarium.

Concours d'Elegance is the reason.

Well I was 1/2 right. Who knew a "celebration of automobiles" was the cause at a golf course. Oh, how the other half lives...

And the historic races at Laguna Seca. It's a big deal for car lovers.

At the hotel now and they are still loading up cars from the event and those not sold at auction.

Been watching them from my room since yesterday. Cars are awesome.

Asked for late checkout for next weekend in response to virtual concierge email and got a nice personalized email confirming 2 pm.

Anyone know what the room described as "executive suite" on online checkin is? I only see Junior Suite and Presidential Suite for sale on website.

I stayed here for a conference.

On arrival (around 11 pm), I was told no upgrades were available and was initially given a room on the 3rd floor right next to the elevator. I asked for something away from the elevator. The next room (also on 3rd floor) reeked of cigarette smoke so asked again to be moved. The front desk agent apologized and told me he would comp parking. This time I was given a room on the 4th floor with an interior view immediately adjacent to the rooftop HVAC units which were extremely loud. I didn't bother trying to move again.

In the morning, I asked whether it would be possible to move to a better room. By chance, I was speaking to the Room Controller, who took one look at my room assignment and said "that's not the room I assigned you." She seemed rather annoyed the night staff had apparently given my room away. She gave me a partial bay view room on the 5th floor. It was marked as an "Elite" room and was much nicer than the three previous rooms - updated bathroom and ugraded decor and furnishings.

I took the points over continental breakfast, as my meals were comped through the conference. I had the full buffet my first morning. It was a limited selection and the quality was mediocre (particularly the fruit and breads, which were really not appealing at all). There was an omelette bar. They pipe loud muzak into the entire lobby and cafe area and I found it quite annoying.

Service was generally friendly throughout the hotel, certainly the best part of the experience. Wifi was strong throughout the property (in fact, I picked up the signal at the coffeeshop across the street).

On check-out, I was dismayed to note that parking had not been comped. I brought this up at the front desk and the issue was satisfactorily resolved.

I don't think I'd return to this property. If you do stay here, make sure to ask for one of the Elite rooms. The standard ones are not nice at all.