Just checked out of the JW Marriott Camelback in Scottsdale. I arrived to attend a big conference on property. I was told my room wasn't ready but they'd call my cell as soon as it was available. No complaints - I arrived at 1:30 pm and that IS early - and they called me around 3:00 to tell me my room was ready.

Now the fun begins. I was assigned a room that was THE farthest room from the conference/meeting/lobby area. And at that property that's a LONG way. Knowing that I'd be going back and forth frequently, I asked if as Marriott Rewards Gold member I could get a room closer to the meeting area (which would literally be any other room on the property). No sale! They told me the property was full and the Gold status doesn't apply to room assignments.

Does that sound right to you? I understand that Gold is supposed to deliver some sort of "space avaialable" upgrade but the staff really treated that "status" as if I was trying to use my local library card or something. Got me to thinking - does Marriott value Gold status or is that still too low on the food chain to garner any special service?

Would welcome your thoughts and Gold experiences.

With Rollover and Credit Card nights, Gold is pretty easy.
If it is a corporate event with any sort of folks who travel, I imagine half the people are Gold.
As with Airlines, Gold is the new Silver.

I don't think MR elite status comes into this at all. Elite room upgrades are to better views, bigger rooms, etc. and the front desk was right that it doesn't come into play with room location at all. And if the place was full, it was full, otherwise I'm sure they would have been happy to move you to a closer location (regardless of MR status).

It'd be like saying you wanted green towels but all they had were white. It doesn't matter what status level you are; it's simply irrelevant to the task at hand. They wouldn't have green towels for a platinum premier, either. For all they know, you could have complained if you had a closer room because you wanted more mental separation away from the conference!

I don't know if I'm explaining myself very well at all, but I don't think this is an example of them not valuing gold status.

From what I read out of this it's more the attitude of the FD-staff that ticked the OP off, and I would be straight with him on that. It seems that the usual "let me see if I can work this out with you" attitude and the final "I am very sorry, I did all I could but there is nothing I can do" was completely missing and replaced by a "I am busy, get the hell off" response, and such a response would have me go ballistic.

And honestly I have a hard time to believe that at the designated Check-in time all rooms closer to the convention area were already assigned AND their keys handed over to the occupying guests. So it certainly would have been some legwork but far from impossible to accomodate such a request. Of course that may have only postponed the same problem with another guest, but then it would have been genuinely impossible and at that most probably substantial later time could be communicated to that person more reasonably.

So with these two things I'd be working my way up the management food-chain at the property, and I would be surprised if I'd need to go above the FD-manager to get a room in my desired location...

Greetings - Dirk

P.S.: In regard to "Gold is pretty easy": Please note that there are lots of areas that have no credit-card available where people must do the full 50 nights at Marriott to achieve that status, and that means an average of one night per week of the year at a Marriott-property, and no Fairfield Inns and their sisters available (Courtyard as the lowest brand in Europe e.g.). Also rollover-nights are only of limited use once you have Gold status since you must stay over 50 nights in the respective year to roll over any night into the next...

The harsh reality is that status is really a PR deal and some properties know this and only offer the bare minimum (i.e. welcome gift) while others go all out. These are individually owned franchises after all. An in demand resort, nearly sold out, forgot it. The promises are great, the deliveries are inconsistent and can never be counted on, even something as being automatically put on the CL level if they can sell the room for more money to someone else.

Our job here is tell each other who are good at playing the game. If we had hard numbers as to occupancy levels when we stay, that would be a big help.

+1 In Europe especially Scandinavia (where I'm living in) there are less than 10 Marriotts. It's pretty difficult to maintain Gold.

Gold Status certainly does apply to room assignments. As a Gold, you are entitled to the best available room, excluding suites. If the Camelback was sold out, that complicates matters. It depends on when you asked to move. If you asked upon receiving your room assignment and seeing where it was on the resort map when your room was ready at 3:00, they should have at least tried to accommodate you. They will usually do this by moving someone without status, again if possible. If you asked later that evening, then it was very likely there was not a room to move you to. Regardless, you should have received better treatment, especially at a resort that has AAA Five Diamond rating.

Regards,

RIP...

Last time I looked Camelback was in the US

So while Gold may be a big deal overseas, in the US it is not that big a deal.
So I imagine the impression that the OP got that Gold was not a big deal to the front desk is correct.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9330; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.706 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

MR Gold is pretty easy...if it's your primary hotel chain. It's my fourth option and I usually have to make a late Dec stay every year.

Absolutely agree, at least for the US. Don't forget annual "challenges".

There is definitely a huge deflation going on that probably extends to the PLT and PLT Premier levels as well...

At the least, poor response by fd clerk.

Various Marriott pr statements repeatedly have stated that plats/golds are entitled to finest available accomodations excluding suites. This clearly implies that a gold will get priority consideration for rooms that may be more favorable for various reasons and situations. For example, if a gold is assigned to a room with a view of a garbage dump or next door to the elevators or the vending room, I would expect that a complaint to the front desk based on status would produce a room without the drawbacks, assuming one was available. What I would not expect would be a response that gold status has nothing to do with room assignments.

Gold status, in certain situations and particularly when the property is full or heavy with other elites, may not be sufficient to attain an upgrade or desireable room, but to be told it is not relevant to room assignment is absurd.

I would write the general manager of the property, quote what you were told by the front desk clerk, and ask if it is really the policy of the property not to take status (gold/plat/plat+) into consideration when assigning rooms.

Complaining about not getting a great room at a sold-out property may not be the best use of one's time.

"Sorry, we are full. That's the only room available"
"But I have Gold status"


What is the hoped for outcome? Kick someone out of a room they already occupy? Did he tell you "we have better rooms available, but I'm not going to give you one because your status doesn't mean anything"?

Trying to understand the complete situation.

But...uh...but...uh...DYKWIA!

BTW, zero would mean no elite benefits...did you get free internet? ok, it meant something. did you get access to CL lounge/breakfast (assuming weekday if it was a conference)? ok, it meant something. did you get a 25% point bonus? ok it meant something.

Good grief...next time AA doesn't have any exit row seats available I'll try your line "but I'm GOLD"...sorry sir, there are no exit row seats left....BUT IM GOLD!!!

The dismissive responses about gold status seem off-mark and petty (after all, some gold elites are probably worth more revenue to Marriott than some plat elites).

A simple request of a room located closer to the lobby from a gold elite member should not be met with attitude from the front desk. Perhaps the OP should have been specific about wanting a "close-in" room when he/she first arrived. Perhaps the OP could have suggested that he/she would be willing to take a "lesser" view or different bed type, or even change rooms the next days. But, bottom line, the FD was out-of-line.

OP - I think a simple note to the front desk manager would be in order. Very short and to the point, no hyperbole - just disappointment that a simple room request for a gold member could not be honored.