Has The Platinum Gift Selection Changed for 2004??
 

I'm staying at Le Merigot, a JW Marriott in Santa Monica, CA, this weekend. Very nice property...no complaints whatsoever. Upon checking in, the Platinum Gift selection card offered just soft drinks and water plus the usual snack selections. No offer of beer or wine split as I've seen at every other full service Marriott/Renaissance in the past.
Is this a change for 2004 or could it perhaps have something to do with a local zoning regulation? I'm curious if others have seen this as well or this is an anomaly.
Thanks.....

Stayed there in 2002. Beer and wine choices for platinum amenity were available.

Thanks. Perhaps I should have been more specific and asked if this is the beginning of a system wide change in the Platinum gift selection. Seems strange that a JW Marriott would not have a beer/wine choice so I’m wondering if other Marriott properties will also be dropping this option.

The Marriotts I've stayed in so far this year have had the same platinum offerings as usual. Did you by any chance ask the front desk why the alcohol selections were not available?

On a related note, am I the only person who actually misses the old platinum amenity (the box with assorted snacks and two bottled waters)? The selection changed from season to season and property to property, and I thought it provided more value than the current selection. While I do appreciate the fact that there's now a choice of food and beverage, overall I liked the old benefit better.

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I haven't noticed a change in 2004. All of properties where I stayed offered alocoholic beverages on the card.


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I like the new benefit when I arrive at a "normal" (late afternoon-early evening) hour. However, on more than one occasion when I have been on a delayed flight (which usually meant missing dinner) and arrived at the hotel very late, I have been greeted with "Sorry sir, room service is closed for the evening." In that situation, you can't get a meal _or_ the amenity. That box of water 'n chips would have been awfully good at that point!

I am with DJ Iceman, I preferred the old PLT Gift much better.

When that's happened to me and they haven't come through with the amenity, I've called them on it and collected $100. They are supposed to provide the amenity, period; the rules say nothing that excuse them if the guest checks in late for whatever reason. Read the Marriott Rewards Platinum fine print on Marriott.com for details of how this all works.

When this last happened to me, the $100 guarantee was not yet policy - that happened some time in the Spring of last year. I have had hotels try to offer only the 500 points to try to weasel out of having to provide the amenity.

They tried the same thing with me, but then they immediately made good on the $100 when I specifically mentioned it.