Bed type trumps all and cannot be denied. The desk clerk should say "Welcome, Ms/Mr Elite, I see you requested a king bed, however if you prefer I have a nice double room on the concierge floor" And then you have the choice.

We have never gotten a suite upgrades when traveling with our family- as when 2 doubles are requested there are rarely suites that have 2 doubles. When traveling with just DH and requesting a King jr. suites are much more forthcoming.

That's what I thought until I read the T&C.
Follow the link and scroll down to the section I cited. Term #6.

Under Elite Benefits Guarantee at Participating Marriott Hotel Brands (for Members of the Marriott Rewards Program and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Program)
Platinum and Gold Membership

6.The Room Type Guarantee does not cover room upgrades.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/elite.mi

Nowhere in there does it say you must accept an upgrade that does not suit your needs.

Property: Marriott San Diego Marina
Marsha Code: sangl
Length of stay (repeat stays?): 3 nights (about the 3rd stay in 12 months)
Greeting: I see you are a Plat and we have your number on file.
Room upgrade: Upgraded to corner executive suite prior to arrival
Suite upgrade: Yes
Special requests filled: N/A
Other: Not sure if the upgrade was a result of the hotel lobby and pool area being under renovation but it was a happy surprise regardless

Also, if I can make a suggestion, can we add the Marsha Code to these entries going forward as I have done above? It would assist with searches significantly rather then entering the general location (i.e. San Diego) and getting multiple results.

Did not even realize I made PP till I check my account after reading this thread. I had both my Marriott stays this year upgraded to suites. Thought it was just blind luck due to time of year. But maybe it is the PP status kicking in.

I am not sure if the 2010 rollover to 2011 counts towards lifetime nights. Hate to lose 25 nights if so. But I guess the upgrades offset this loss.

Does Marriott have a soft landing program? That is, you cannot drop more than one level like American Airlines.

I am not sure if the 2010 rollover to 2011 counts towards lifetime nights. Hate to lose 25 nights if so. But I guess the upgrades offset this loss.


Does Marriott have a soft landing program? That is, you cannot drop more than one level like American Airlines.[/QUOTE]

The nights that rollover count towards lifetime status (in both years), and Marriott does have a soft landing program.

In that case, I do not mind too much losing the 25 nights. The soft landing is more important to me than lifetime nights. If PP allows me one day to keep one extra year at platinum, I take it.

OK, Ren Eden Roc just went on my list.

Don't forget that Marriott's soft landing program at platinum (and probably PP as well I assume) is that if you fail to make plat they may keep you at the level for a couple of years anyway if you've had a few good years at plat - I've seen posts that imply they manually review any platinums dropping down to consider whether past behaviour means that you just had a bad year and have a strong history of staying with Marriott (the rollover nights program was a logical and more clearly defined version of this in some ways).

Personally I think that with strong travel habits (100+ nights/year for 3+ years) you can probably get away with a 1-2 year break from Marriott (with a few nights each year) and maintain plat, before you start to properly drop down to Gold - I know colleagues who have commented to me on this in the past.

(This is ignoring the lifetime platinum status of course)

The Eden Roc "rocks". It is one of my favorite marriotts. The two story suites are new in the renovation. The suites in the other tower have the open bathroom concept so that in tub can look out window. They are also great.

The bartender also gives PP heavier drinks

In Mexico now and the resorts here give free coffee in room (wow) to PP, they have not heard of the free breakfast. Need Marriott concierge if he is reading this to contact them!

If interested, i had been posting a few insights on this thread, and i just opened a new one that aligns well. Thought i'd share some color.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-insights.html

If interested, i had been posting a few insights on this thread, and i just opened a new one that aligns well. Thought i'd share some color.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-insights.html

Just because they didn't design the program well isn't a reason to blame the customers. Delta is having no such issues. Then again, Delta used simple English to explain and implement it and everyone understood it correctly.

If it aligns well, I suspect in a day or two it'll be merged into a main thread.

WHY? Free B/fast is NOT a benefit at "resorts"....of which it is IMPOSSIBLE to distinguish a resort/non-resort property...INCLUDING by name! ("Resorts" do NOT need "resort" in the name!)

Total CR@P from MI