I found a a nice $50/hour rate in my area. I'm gonna jump on this I think.

My question, do these stay credits contribute to lifetime status?

Yes! Each event is 10 nights towards lifetime. Additionally the nights count toward the annual rollover nights so potentially as many as 20 lifetime nights per event.

I recently made my first two Marriott meeting reservations. I started with the Marriott online booking form and got emails from hotel personnel. In response to the emails I requested a small conference room for 4-6 people for one hour and received an hourly rate that was quite reasonable. Written contracts were sent. Neither contained my MR number or any reference to any kind of rewards, but I wrote my MR number on the contracts before signing and returning.

The first meeting was on Friday. Everything seemed to go well. The courteous receptionist ran my credit card and gave me a receipt with my MR number on it. Nothing has posted so far, but it's only been two days so I'm hopeful.

I'm less optimistic about the second meeting, which will be tomorrow (Monday) at a different property. In response to the signed contract with my MR number on it, my contact responded that this hotel doesn't award MR points unless the client books either 10 guest rooms or a full-day meeting room, but that she was giving me 1000 MR bonus points. I responded that I was grateful for the bonus points and recognized that the number of non-bonus points I'd get for this meeting would be very small, but I just want to make sure the meting will be entered into the system so that MR will have an accurate account of my activity. I got a response that was courteous but noncommittal. I figure it's best to discuss this further after the meeting -- which, by the way, will be a real meeting albeit small and inexpensive.

It will not count as a rewarding event to give you the 10 nights if they post the points as a bonus.

Right. That's why I'm not optimistic. It's also why I pushed back, saying that points don't matter so much to me as having the meeting entered into the system so that Marriott will have an accurate account of my activity. I'll raise this again after the meeting.

I believe I've read several times in this thread that the eligibility nights awarded for "Rewarding Events" don't cost the hotel anything. Does anyone know for sure that this is accurate? If so, I will point this out to my hotel contact.

It's' not uncommon for properties to batch up the posting of meeting rooms to once a week or even once a month. I'd give them a week and then make contact to request when they are expected to process the meeting.This agent is clueless of the proper process. KEEP ALL PAPERWORK. You may need to escalate to the Sales Manager at the property or to MR to get them up to speed with the program. Property staff has been the worst informed about the MR program rules in most all cases. Even some of the MR CSRs will make up rules to fit the failure so they don't have to research and resolve an issue. It's important to know the rules and make sure they deliver.

Thanks so much. The person I'm dealing with is the sales manager at this small property, so if I were to escalate it would have to be to MR. The sales manager seems like a nice enough person, so I'm hoping that after the meeting (a few hours from now) she'll agree to enter it into the MR system. I'm afraid this may be a case not of unfamiliarity with the process but rather of incomplete/incorrect knowledge, which is usually much harder to address.

Keep in mind there are two different systems, one that is used for guest stays, and one that is used for meetings. Seems like some properties are lacking in knowledge of the second posting tool. Again, remember to keep receipts and names and dates of people you've talked to so all parties can be educated.

Good luck.

Might not be relevant but as a reminder, not all brands under the Marriitt family participate in the Rewarding Events program. E.g. off my head, I think Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites are non-participating.

Just tell them to use the Group Posting Tool, and you'll get the Rewarding Events credit (assuming you booked the event in a brand that participates in Rewarding Events). This stuff is not hard. Just read the wiki and the thread, but generally:
- Book in Courtyard or Fairfield Inn away from major cities, for the lowest price
- You can use the online tool
- You don't need to reserve 10 rooms - just make sure you put your MR number on the contract the hotel sends you, and make sure they post it using the "Group Posting Tool"
- You don't need to actually show up for the meeting.

Am I limited to 50,000 points total or does the 50,000 points not include the points from each room?

I have never gotten more than 50k points.

I kind of had the same issue with my local marriott. I bargained with them for a 100$ price for a 2 hour interview, signed the contract and everything.

When the time came to post the nights and points (300 as 3 points per $) I got 1000 points but no nights credit.

I reached out to the sales rep who I sent the signed contract and she said I get only points since I did not book any rooms. I sent her the screenshot from marriott rewards and she
re-directed me to customer service.

So I contacted customer service and the first rep said its upto the property to award the nights and customer service could not help me.

So I HUCA and the next rep was very helpful, she got the sales rep from the property on the other line and explained to her what needs to be done (all the while I was on hold).

At the end of the call I got 1000 bonus points as a goodwill measure, 300 points for the meeting and 10 nights credit as well.

She apologized multiple times and at the end said we both ended up educating the sales rep at the property.

I forgot to note down her name as I plan to schedule 2 more in the coming months.

I just hope the sales rep will automatically post this time.

More importantly, the first rep needs to be educated as well. All too often CSRs will make up rules to fit the error. Doing that means less work for them (and may result in fewer members of the program). It's understandable the property may be missing a few points, but for a CSR to not know the rules is inexcusable!

I have been able to negotiate 2 separate instances of $75 "interview" rentals at different properties. One I did not show up to and one I did. The former posted right away and the latter which I was present, took three weeks and three phone calls but all was good in the end.

I have two more scheduled at Marriott properties for stays later in the month, one at $100 and another at $75 so feel good about my $325 spend so far considering I am not going out of my way.