Closing CLs on Sunday Evenings
 

This past Sunday I checked into the FS "Long Island Marriott" at about 3:00pm. The check-in agent welcomed me as PLAT and told me that I was welcome to use the CL, which would open at 5:30pm that evening, and again for breakfast the next morning (Monday) at 6:00am.

At 6:00pm, I went up to the CL to grab some Diet Pepsi (of course Diet Coke would be better :D ), to find it locked. I went down to the front desk, where I asked the (new) agent what was going on. She said, "They have closed it this evening due to low occupancy; it will be open in the morning."

I guess "they" know best. :td: And why the day shift didn't know about the decision "they" made, is beyond me.

You should ask the front desk for some complementary soda/water since the lounge is closed and see what happens.

Marriott is closing the lounges on Sunday evenings. I have upcoming stays at the Irvine, CA Marriott and the Frankfurt, Germany Marriott and the lounge is closed on Sunday night at both of these.

I did. I was told there was one bottle of water in my room (there was). That's all they would allow.

The bottle in the room is normal - even when the lounge is open.

Not an acceptible answer from the front desk. You were told it was open, there are published hours, and then it was closed due to "low occupancy". Thats not a good reason. I'd push back and ask to speak to the manager.

As Rylan stated, this answer is unacceptable and reflects a number of problems at the hotel: the hotel not standing behind a product that it offered (Sunday night lounge), a lousy answer at the front desk and the clerk's lack of empowerment to do anything about it.

It would have cost, what, 50c for a can of soda and an apology? Nice job thinking about customer service, Marriott.

One of my first jobs out of college was working as a telephone customer service agent at a large money manager. From Day 1, I was empowered to fix any mistake or make any judgment call up to $100, no questions asked. I can count on my left hand the number of times I actually gave out that money in two years, but if you give the line people the ability to do the right thing, they will.

Mike

When I worked for Marriott I was empowered-as an hourly associate, then a supervisor and finally department manager to make guests happy! I think, in 5.5 years there, I probably comped a total of $200 bucks worth of stuff-a couple bottles of wine, a breakfast or 2, a few drinks, some magazines and a few pieces of CAKE! (i love cake!)

Less than $40 bucks a year to keep guests happy?? Me thinks that was money well spent.....one of the guests STILL stays in Marriotts, I've been bumping into her for YEARS!

Well, if Sunday lounge closing is going to increase amongst properties, this would add to the devaluation of the program.

Cheers.

Last week in Aug, we stayed at the Metarie Lakeways Marriott in New Orleans, the CL was closed on sun, but they gave us 2 coupons for the breakfast buffet (fri/sat) the rate on sun/mon came with breakfast, they also put a coupon under the door about 5p on Sunday apologizing that the CL was closed & offered 2 free drinks & an appetizer down in the bar! We were staying on the Conceirge floor, w/a wonderful lake view!!! They know customer service at this place. I asked one morning if I could have 1 extra coupon for my aunt that was coming to have breakfast w/us & they said, no problem!!! :) :) :)

I have a question. I'm staying at a FS near Dulles tonight. At check-in, the key packet the FD agent gave me had Gold Elite stamped on it (which is my status) and on the inside was stamped "join us for the complimentary breakfast buffet" with the M-F hours on it. So I went down to the front desk tonight and asked the FD agent if this is all that I need for the breakfast tomorrow (sat). He looked up my room to make sure of my status and said that they only do the free breakfast M-F but not on the weekends. And the reason is because they don't have a concierge lounge, and if they did, it would only be open M-F, not on the weekends. Does that make sense to anyone? Shouldn't Golds and Plats have CL access, or free breakfast if it's closed, 7 days a week?

Kind of. Some US FS Hotels that have lounges have been open 7 days a week in the past, but many US locations that were open on weekends are now closed. Many of us are not happy about this. Most International FS hotels remain open 7 days a week.

No. There is no guarantee of lounge access 7 days a week. Marriott Rewards Terms and Conditions specifically exclude weekends and resort properties from having to provide breakfast to elites as noted in number 9 shown below:

Sounds like you might be at the IAD Suites.....??:confused: If so, I have gotten breakfast (i am a Plat Premier) every time i have stayed there, 99% of the time it's on weekends, but they may have stopped that......

However, breakfast or lounge access is M-F so no, you are not guaranteed that 7 days a week.....

I'm staying at the Duplin-Pleasonton Marriott. Its Sunday night. I've heard from a reliable source that the property is at 30% capacity. The property's new policy is to leave the lounge unattended Sunday evening and Monday morning. In the evening, the lounge is stocked with beverages and baked cookies; pastries and beverages will be available in the morning.

The policy also includes breakfast coupons for the full service buffet on Sunday and Monday mornings. This morning, the buffet not only included breakfast items but an array of hot lunch entrees, salads, and deserts.

The rate this weekend was $79 a night and I scored a $100 bonus buck to boot!!!!

Is this in any way a devaluation of the program. No way. The lounge is open. This should satisfy those who cry out for a private retreat. The dining room is quite nice - not noisy at all. Those who have deplored the "cutbacks" in lounge offerings can revel in all the choices in the available buffet.

Obviously, the property feels the savings from not offering hot entrees in the lounge Sunday and not having to staff the lounge outweighs the costs of the buffets.

When I checked in Saturday, after taking the 500 point welcome gift, I tried to purchase a couple bottles of soda. The desk clerk insisted that they were complimentary. He indicated that they try to do everything they can for Platinums.

This is a very nice property at the end of a Bart line. A hotel shuttle takes you the 2.8 or so miles from the station to the hotel.

Signing off from the CL on a very quite C floor.

Whenever I've had a hotel close the lounge due to "low occupancy", the property has made up for it with breakfast, drink, and appetizer chits. I find this most common on stays where a federal holiday lands in the middle of a week (e.g., U.S. Thanksgiving or Christmas).

The Renaissance Minneapolis, Renaissance Seattle, and Marriott MSP Airport are three where this has happened to us in the past 2-3 years - all of them did what I consider the fair thing considering there was hardly anyone at the hotel and staff probably wanted more time off for the holidays.