Also, be careful if you are gunning for lifetime plat.

Getting PP will cost you 25 rollover nights this year that count for lifetime status.

If you aren't gunning for LT, then go for it, otherwise it might not be worth it.

Property: Harbor Beach marriott

Length of stay (repeat stays?): 2 Nights, never been here before

Greeting: No, but the associate was nice and I was glad to be out of the Ren but that is another story...let's suffice it to say that constant landscaping is not restful

Room upgrade: Yes-nice oceanfront room-nothing spectacular, but lovely view and the room is comfy-plus i love the oversized chair and ottoman

Suite upgrade: No

Special requests filled: Took lots of calls and teeth pulling to get a fridge and get the $25 charge waived.....

Other: Parking was comped and i was given a coupon for a free movie (too bad there isn't anything playing i want to see!:rolleyes::p)

Asked for turndown...they actually do this correctly! (as in refresh the room too!)

Lounge: N/A

Will stay in property again: Yes

They do courtesy calls to make sure requests are fulfilled, but i must admit that after about 6 of these calls i was getting annoyed (had to get the toilet fixed 2 or 3 times, the houseman spilled water all over the floor and it took an hour for someone to clean it up...yes i could have done it myself in 2 seconds, that isn't the point...he should have been more careful and HE should have gotten a towel and done it himself.....)

BUT if it's good enough for the boss, then i guess i can 'rough it'......should have come here at the outset....ah well.....

+1.

I am totally torn on this. "Wasted" 25 rollover nights...but PP does have its benefits. Have had quite a few suites, extra amenities, etc, etc....but those 25 nights would help towards lifetime gold. (Not sure what the thrill is w.LT plat here....except a few extra points, LT gold gets me what I want - LOUNGE access!)

How do you waste 25 days by becoming PP?

Property: Santa Ynez Valley Marriott
Length of stay (repeat stays?): 3 nights, I've stayed here twice before
Greeting: We have your platinum number on file
Room upgrade: No
Suite upgrade: No. When I asked, I was told they had a suite on the higway-facing side of the hotel. I declined, as the road noise is really bad over there.
Special requests filled: N/A
Other: No lounge, but the complimentary breakfast buffet in the restaurant is quite nice and varied. Restaurant staff is among the friendlist I've experienced!
Will stay in property again: Yes, because it's the only FS Marriott within a 100-mile radius

This is not true. Marriott Concierge stated that rollover nights will not count towards lifetime nights from now on, that it was only a computer error this year that they will not be correcting.

To save me the research, do you know off-hand if the discussions concluded that nights earned through card spending (new this year - 1EQN per $3K spend) or other bonuses would carry the same weight as actual paid/stayed nights towards PP? I have over triple-digit nights this year, the majority because of the aforementioned bonuses, so I'm curious if I'm likely to see PP down the pike.

Sorry to ask for a second favor, but would you be kind enough to cite where you saw this? I could have sworn I read otherwise, where it was stated explicitly that rollover nights would again count towards lifetime status.

This is a bit of an ongoing saga. Marriott awards lifetime elite membership once you've been a member for 12 years or more and satisfied certain stay and pointearning criteria. The lifetime membership can be Silver, Gold or Plat. Part of the criteria is that you have to have stayed 600 recorded nights for LT Silver, 800 for LT Gold and 1000 for LT Plat. Note even though the Platinum Premier status exists you cannot earn Lifetime Platinum Premier status.

If during 2009 you exceeded the nights needed to maintain status they rolled over to 2010 and were then added as if you'd already stayed those nights in 2010. Hence the rolled over nights effectively counted a second time towards LT totals. In my case I had 99 nights stayed in 2009 which was 24 more than needed for plat that year so they rolled over to 2010. My total nights throughout my membership was 220 including those nights, but after they rolled over in January 2010 I was credited with those rollovers to my LT total too, so then had 244 nights... in effect those extra 24 nights had counted twice.

The rollover targets are 75 for Plat but 100 for PP. Hence a Plat with 110 nights rolls over 35 nights (which then counts a second time for LT status) whereas a PP would only see 10 rollover nights, a "cost" of 25 nights. Some PP's believe the benefits of PP are so weak over plat that they're not worth the additional cost in rollover nights. Certainly the published benefits of PP seem to be very little, a special telephone number to a sort of hotel PA, that's about it. However the discretionary benefits given by many hotels are in the experience of many PP's worth it as they record many more very good upgrades and other extras. These are not mandated as part of the PP status however and therefore PP's are finding their "mileage" does vary. Those that score the best hotel treatment like it, those that don't say the status isn't worth the rollovers sacrificed.

As a common Plat who has no chance (nor do I wish to be away from home so much that I have a chance) of acheiving PP I can't comment, but it does seem the rollover gripe of PP's would be reduced if Marriott were to abandon the double-counting, not something I suspect anyone would encourage Marriott to consider. For the forseeable future it appears being a PP will "cost" 25 nights more than Plat, in the same way being Plat "costs" 25 nights more than being Gold.

Finally it is worth commenting that the rollover scheme is not a permanent feature of MR, it commenced in 2009 and the first rollovers took place in 2010. MR has confirmed the scheme will continue this year but whether it will be extended for 2011/2012 in not known.

Just call Marriott International HQ in Bethesda, and ask for "Mr. Marriott's Office" or "Mr. Marriott's Office of Consumer Affairs" and your call will be transferred to his assistants.

This is unfortunate news. I also am interested in a link. Can anyone please post where the MC stated this?

Thanks,

bd

I didn't find anything about a "computer error", but that doesn't mean there isn't something out there from MC on this. The closest I could find was this post: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...l#post13225920

With over 1700 LT nights, I keep waiting for a LTPP announcement.

Following Hhopes post I searched my way through MC's posts and could only find that highlighted by Hhope.

Hopefully newbiztraveler will be able to locate the post, since this was new to me when I read it, although it does seem logical, bearing in mind the software foulups that accompanied this (beneficial) improvement.

I was mistaken.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyalt...-elite-easier/

As you noted calling and asking for Mr. Marriott's office will result in you being transferred to Consumer Affairs in SLC - great team (also as you've noted in the past)

The direct dial to this office is

MHRS 800-535-4028

Courtyard/Fairfield/Springhill Suites 800-831-0224

Residence Inn / Towneplace Suites 800-422-5560

Renaissance 800-462-1901