I stayed at the Ft. Lauderdale Marriott North last week as a Marriott Gold member.

I had booked a "standard" room with a request for a room on "high floor with view". The hotel has 3 concierge floor levels on floors 15 through 17.

When I checked in I was given a room on the 6th floor. I asked the front desk agent if I was assigned an "upgraded room" and he said yes. I then thought maybe I had a corner suite or something, since it was not on a high floor as requested. I then asked if I had access to the "concierge lounge" and he checked his computer and said yes, just use your room key to access the lounge on the 15th floor.

The room on the 6th floor did have a balcony and I have seen these rooms with balconies considered "deluxe rooms" at the www.marriott.com web site. It was not much larger than the standard rooms from what I could tell, the only difference seemed to be the balcony. I was only there for 2 nights, so I accepted the room, even though I would have preferred a higher floor. I wondered why when I requested a "high floor with view", I was assigned the 6th floor out of 17 floors. I wondered why I did not get a room on the concierge floor and figured all those rooms must have been taken and that is why I only got upgraded to a balcony room on the 6th floor.

Now I wonder if I got "upgraded" to a room in the next category and as far as the hotel was concerned, I was not "entitled" to being upgraded to a "concierge level" room as I have been in the past at other full service Marriott hotels.

If this is the case, this is a devalution of the previous "upgrade to the best available room" benefit for Gold members as far as I see it. Many hotel have rooms that they consider "deluxe", that are not on the concierge level floors and it may be that those are the only rooms that Gold members may be able to be upgraded to. If the upgrades are now only to the next "category", I can see how this is not a good thing for Gold members.

soccer

Is the deluxe room bigger than a standard room on the CL level? If so the hotel may have thought they were doing you a favor by giving you a bigger room.

I have stayed at the Ft. Lauderdale North FS a few times and have been both on the CL level and in a non-CL room with the balcony: as a plat; long before the past few weeks.

Although.... I actually prefer the CY at N Federal Hwy and Commercial Blvd, which is very close by and usually cheaper. No CL and it's more renovated sixties hotel than typical CY. Most people find it a little downtrodden, but I've always had a good stay there. If I'm with others, its the FS. If I'm on my own, it's the CY.

Getting back to Vicki's question - were the room sizes different or something special about the CL room vs the non-CL room?

Cheers.

As hard as I'm trying to remember, I cannot picture the rooms. I do remember the CL was open on weekends, there was a very nice male attendant who was probably in his late-twenties to mid-thirties, the manager on duty welcomed me when I checked in, the lights are dim in the lobby, and I was once in a room very close to the CL and I once had a balcony but remember thinking it didn't have a good view, so why bother having balconies. All that, but I cannot remember the rooms!

My last stay there was probably 18 months ago, and my other stay was shortly before that. The CL stay was on a weekend, and the balcony stay was during the week. The stay with the balcony was just after Christmas, for a funeral. I was surprised that I could get a good rate at the last minute.

Both were two night stays.

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Getting back to Vicki's question - were the room sizes different or something special about the CL room vs the non-CL room?

Cheers.
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Sharon


The room was what I would say was a standard room with a balcony with the same interior square footage. There was nothing special about the room, just that it had a balcony, without any furniture on it.

On the www.marriott.com web site the rooms are shown as:

Standard $119.00
Balcony $129.00
Concierge Level $169.00
One Bedroom Suite $269.00

Please note that the rooms at this hotel start on the 3rd floor, so the 6th floor is not very high up at all, keeping in mind that I requested a room on a "high floor with view".

I don't think that the 6th floor Balcony room would be considered a "nicer" room by most guests than a concierge level room on the 15th, 16th or 17th floor when when I requested a room on a "high floor with view".

The hotel may not have had a higher floor balcony or concierge level room available when I stayed there. Or possibly, my upgrade from a standard room to a balcony room was considered by the hotel as the only upgrade that I was entitled to since the balcony room was in the next category of rooms.

soccer

I will bet that they do consider the balcony room a "nicer" room than concierge level if you also have acces to the concierge lounge with the balcony room. Here's the thinking:

Standard $119.00
Balcony $129.00 - this room is worth 10 dollars more than a standard room
Concierge Level $169.00 - sounds like this room is identical to a standard room with the extra 50 dollars being the charge for accessing the lounge

So balcony room + concierge level access is a 119 + 10 + 50 = 179 dollar value.

If that room doesn't have any value to you you need to let the front desk know. Many times peopel check off high level and don't really value it that* much if they can get an upgraded rooom on a lower floor.

The upcharge for concierge level isn't an upcharge for a "category" of room, it's and upcharge for concierge level access.

The sign near the concierge level lounge stated that it was closed on the weekends. I believe that it what states at the www.marriott.com web site as well. I stayed at the hotel Monday to Wednesday, so the Concierge Lounge was open when I was there. I did not think it was that great of a Concierge Lounge, it was crowded each time I was there and the food was not good for breakfast or in the evening. The one employee handling everything on the lounge, especially at breakfast could not keep things well stocked at all, i.e. no coffee, no silverware, ran out of eggs, etc.

You are right about the view from the balcony, it was in a corner, so you really did not have a good view on the one side at all, it looked into a hallway.

soccer

But MY request was for a room on a high floor with view, not a room with a balcony on a low floor.

soccer

Then you need to speak up.

I requested a room on a "high floor with view" at the time of reservation.

I requested a room on a "high floor with view" at check-in.

When I was assigned a room on the 6th floor, I asked if it was an "upgraded" room. and was told yes.

I then asked if I had access to the Concierge Lounge and the agent checked and said "yes".

I guess when I got to the room, I could have gone down to the front desk and insisted on a higher floor room on the concierge level. Is that what you suggest?

By the way, I had the bellman help me with my baggage and tipped him. I was not all that excited about lugging my luggage back down to the front desk at that point and accepted the room I was given.

The point of my original post was to advise other Gold members that a new policy may have already gone into effect, based on what was changed in the terms of the Marriott Rewards documentation provided to me as a Gold member. My post was based on my experience only at this specific hotel and stay.

If anyone can state that they know for a fact, Gold members are still entitled to the "best available room" at the hotel including Concierge Level rooms at Full Service Marriott Hotels, I would welcome that.

soccer

You asked if you got an upgrade. - yes you did.
You asked if you had access to the CL lounge- yes you did

Did you ever ask if you received a high floor room with a view? It does not appear that you did.

Best available room does NOT mean specific room type you requested in the note son your reservation. I think the new wording is very confusing, but I don't think your particular checkin on this date had ANYTHING to do with this. If you had recieved a high floor room with a view that did not have a balcony and was not on the CL level the hotel would not have been able to answer "Did I get an upgrade" with yes. They would have to say no. Because at this hotel, a high floor standard room with a view is not any more $$ than a lower floor room unless it includes concierge access, and for Gold's and Plat's ALL rooms allow concierge access.

As Vicki says, you should have spoken up. There is the chance that the hotel thinks of the sixth floor as being a "higher floor" in terms of customer preferences. Personally, I won't stay on a first floor, don't like the second floor, but am fine with anything above that. IMO, there are noise issues on the second floor, and the first floor creeps me out, because I keep thinking people can see in the room and climb through the window. Being away from the ice machine is usually a bigger deal to me than third versus tenth or so floor, but alas, there is no box to check for being away from the ice machine.

I'm sorry to find out that the CL is no longer open on weekends. It is a very narrow CL, I do remember that.

just finished a weekend stay at the Hua Hin Marriott before it deflags next month......... although I had a pre-arrival upgrade to a beachfront room, upon checkin the FOM informed me they had upgraded me further to the Presidential Suite, with its own jacuzzi, as a beach party might disturb me........... both the pre-arrival and upon arrival upgrades provided WITHOUT asking....... so notwithstanding the stated policy there are a few properties that still know how to take care of its regulars

I just finished a 10 day stay on points at a J. W. in Asia and after the first three days was upgraded to a very nice suite on the CL floor for the rest of my stay. (I'm Plat.)