Cost of Drinks in Concierge Lounge
 

I am currently staying at a Marriott in Florida (perhaps the worst FS in Florida Btw) and the cost for a Liquor drink was just raised by 40% in the Concierge room from my last stay 30 days ago. The cost of the same Liquor drink is now more expensive in the Lounge than it is down stairs at the lobby bar. Really?!?! For that matter it is now the most expensive place in this city to buy the same drink. Don't think Capital Grill charges as much believe it or not. Nothing fancy btw....a Jack and Coke.

On a side note the lounge was so crowded last night (there were No seats available for anyone) that people would come upstairs see how busy it was and turn around and go downstairs. I sat at the bar downstairs with 2 other Platinums who were in the same boat who didn't want to fight the 30-50 people in the small room for some cheese and crackers and overpriced drinks.

Very dissapointing.

Which FS in Florida? Stay in FL often and love to avoid this one. Sounds like another FS just going through the CL motions on autopilot...

BTW, do you pour yourself? Then you control the amount of Jack that goes in. Jack and Pepsi (most likely what they serve) just doesn't have the same sweet, sweet taste as the real thing.

Marriott figures people will pay for the lounge convenience in the same way they do for the mini-bar. Others will drink at the lobby bar. If people are still buying the stuff in the lounge, you can bet the property won't change the price.

Which FS property?

Cheers.

FS Marriott in Jacksonville.

It is a Cat 3 for a reason. No inroom safe (this should be a standard imho), Bathrooms are Old and outdated, no Mini bar, No microwave, small concierge floor and no upgrades ever. Not that this matters I guess as the lady at the front desk told me the only difference in the upgraded rooms are slippers and a robe vs. the normal rooms.

There are several NEW CY's and the Sawgrass Marriott that are much nicer and if the CL is going to be over priced and over crowded no reason to stay at this property as the prices are better elsewhere.

Does anyone know any other CL that price their drinks above the bar prices?

I didn't and went downstairs and bought it there. Now looking for another place to stay in Jax as the CL is useless imho and the ONLY benefit of staying at this hotel.

Thanks for naming the property.

Frequently the only dif between exec room & non-exec is robe/slippers (sometimes cotton balls/q-tips).

There are other properties where the c.l. pricing might be slightly above bar prices.

Cheers.

I would like to know the other hotels if anyone has any examples. I mentioned this to a Front Desk worker and they looked SHOCKED as they frequently tell guests drinks are cheaper upstairs at this property. If they make the drinks cost more upstairs than than you basically are paying for any free food in form of increased drink prices. So in other words the "free" food is being supplemented by charging more for the drinks. Not sure how that benefits someone who spends 1/3 of their year in a marriott hotel.


Frequently the only dif between exec room & non-exec is robe/slippers (sometimes cotton balls/q-tips).


This is sad and borderlines on false advertising imho. I know business is tough for marriott right now (notice all the gift card deals out there), but this is starting to get ridiculous.

* I did not say all hotels charge more in the exec lounge, but I've come across a few that have. Do I care enough to create a thread about it? No. You can do so though. ;)

* Well in addition to the exec room robe/slippers, people on the exec level also get access to the exec lounge (those who aren't elite; elites get access re: of floor). So I don't think your comment on false advertising is accurate.

Cheers.

:confused:

Don't think this is just Marriott hotels.

I am currently at the Westin Edina (suburb of Minneapolis) and got upgraded to club floor even though I have no SPG status. Went to check out the club lounge - all wine $11/glass. That being said, there is a McCormick and Schmicks in the hotel with happy hour specials of $5 wine and non-HH prices starting at $6. Mini-bar price is actually cheaper than club lounge ($21 for half bottle of red wine, $19 for white, divide by two is less than $11). So I also do not understand the way the markup is calculated.

Move (or travel) to Asia, where:

-all alcohol (including high end cocktails) is free in all Marriott club lounges
-the lounges are open 7 days a week and often until midnight
-all hotels and resorts provide free breakfast on weekends (and most allow you to choose between the club lounge and the full restaurant buffet)
-and where suite upgrades are the absolute norm for Gold and Plats. Even the Courtyard in Hong Kong has a good club lounge.

Okay, I'm kidding about moving, but as others have said around here, Asia is the golden land for elite recognition. It's too bad domestic stays suck so much in comparison.

FYI in case you jr1202sr (and others) didn't know it - it's really hard to respond to a quote when you embed your answer within the quote you're responding to. My response orginally to yours was to your 1-liner after your quote stuff. So I separated out the rest below.

Re: your asking for examples re: properties that charge more/less in exec lounge. Doesn't happen often, but it does. Re: which properties. I can't remember but don't really care. Speaking only for myself, it's the least most important thing when it comes to booking a hotel that I think of. If it's important to you, my recommendation is - start a thread saying which lounges charge more than bars. It's FT. You'll get responses, and then you can avoid those properties.

"I am speaking of misleading advertising towards Platinum members (NOT the average customer) You are promised an upgrade to the next best room if available. So all this marriott does is put some qtips in a bowl and say they complied with their pledge. How hard would it be to add a minibar or nicer towels? Back to the point-This hotel is simply one of the worst out there. Count how many non airport FS Marriotts are catergory 3. That says it all. How can they defend not having a safe in the room at a business hotel in the middle of the business district?"

As a fellow Plat, I disagree w/ the misleading advertising comment. Marriott says the next best room - that could be an ocean view, exec level, etc. Exec rooms get exec lounge access - which is a biggie, and let's face it, those 'average customers' are actually paying for it vs hoping for an upgrade like most Golds/Plats - plus some extra stuff like qtips/cotton/bathrobes/slippers. If you get anything other than a standard room, then yes Marriott has fulfilled its promise to both Golds & Plats. No misleading advertising.

Heck I don't always defend Marriott & will diss them when it's needed, but if you're going to diss them on this, then you better be ready to axe out all the other chains that do the exact same thing.

Re: how hard to add a minibar, etc. Many exec level rooms (and reg rooms) have them, although not all. I stay clear of mini-bars due to the mark-up. Nicer towels. Seriously? It's a regular hotel chain, not the Ritz. In-room safes. I find that to be hit or miss, depending on when the property was updated. I do agree w/ you that more hotels should do them, but I also say that of non-Marriott hotel chains too. It's not specific to Marriott.

I'd say you're going to be disappointed w/ the other chains because all the defects you just mentioned re: Marriott are also true of other hotel chains.

Re: the hotel you mention being the worst. I'll take your word for it, and will avoid the property.

Re: Cat 3, we already know most Cats are a combination of award stays plus location, etc. It does not surprise me at all that an airport property in any city is a lower cat than a downtown property. Again, that's true of multiple chains.

Cheers

I do agree that this is not specific to Marriott; it crosses all chains. However, I don't think it's the norm at every single property.

I would say comparing a happy hour at a restaurant to exec lounge is not apples to oranges. I'd also say that mini-bar to lounge isn't either. It's rare for me to do mini-bar at all, but most mini-bars have 1/2 bottle of swill (my term for cheap wine), whereas you get a bit better in exec lounge and/or hotel bar.

PS - It's also not the norm for exec lounge pricing at Marriotts to be $11/glass (although Ritz probably). What the heck is the Westin smoking?!

Cheers.

Personally, I've never been to a Marriott concierge lounge where the booze is higher priced than the lobby/restaurant bar. Its usually been a couple bucks less.

This has been my experience and why I was wondering if anyone had any examples of other FS Marriotts that do this. I haven't ever seen it before.

In most cases, the domestic US and Canadian CLs I have visited have alcohol prices close to or slightly above the lobby bar. I think drink pricing is left up to the individual hotels who have to take two things into consideration:

1. Its an honor bar. Most guests are honest and fill out the chit for their drinks, but we have all seen instances where a guest comes into a lounge fills a glass with their alcohol of choice and doesn't fill out the chit.
2. Most of the alcohol in the CL (with the exception of beer) is self pour. Meaning you can take as little or as much as you want. Even in cases where the CL attendant is pouring the drinks, they are usually quite generous. Take a the glass of wine for example. At the honor bar, you are free to fill the glass to the top. Downstairs its a 3oz - 5oz pour.

So I am sure its quite a chore to figure out drink pricing taking the above into consideration

Regards,

RIP...

In fairness I haven't seen it often, but I have occasionally. I truly can't remember the property name(s) though or I'd post them.

I think the above probably plays a role.

Cheers.

The other thing to take into consideration is the booze itself. I was recently at a JW Marriott, where I could get a vodka & 7 for $5 in the bar, or I think it was $7 in the lounge. However, at the bar I would get Barton's vodka or whatever their rail stuff was, and in the lounge I could get Grey Goose. Glad to pay the upcharge on that one!

Better watch out, guys. Sharon **WILL** have the last word. :rolleyes:

We just spent 2 nights in the FS Marriott in Savannah. We were a bit taken back by the cost of a glass of wine in the Lounge - $7.00. Don't recall ever being charged that much before.

Off topic: Uncalled for, pointless and unproductive post. Especially when you actually read the post that you are commenting on (thoughtful responses with actual content) and how much she contributes to Flyertalk (I don't post much, but that Executive Lounge sticky is a godsend that I would not want to have responsibility for :D)

On topic: agreed that the "self-service" aspect definitely factors into CL booze pricing decisions. But the situation described by the OP is too bad- crowded lounge with limited offerings and drink prices higher than the lobby - definitely not what the concierge lounge was designed to be. +1 on thanks for naming the hotel, always good to know which properties to avoid

It seems like the CL is not as exclusive as it used to be. Could just be my perception, but it feels like they are a lot more crowded and not as nice as years past. One theory I have is that, with all the ways to get "cheap" elite status, we have a lot of non-frequent travelers getting upgrades and access to the lounge, who want to suck every drop of the experience they possibly can.

To them, going to a lounge with key-card access is like being a red carpet VIP, and by golly they're going to go there because they're entitled to it! From that perspective, the hotel in question is actually smart to do the pricing the way they are--it's simple supply and demand. If the lounge is so crowded that people are being turned away at the door, what possible incentive do they have to LOWER drink prices? And to the OP and those other plats who went to the lobby bar to buy drinks for a few bucks less, the hotel is happy to have kept their business, too. From an accountant's perspective, these are brilliant business decisions.

Of course to those of us who travel enough to come to a message board like this, we want the CL to be a place to relax and unwind, generally surrounded by fellow travelers who understand that. Hence all the threads about screaming kids, boorish sports team parties, etc. If one really wants that experience, though, then it seems we have to stay (and pay) at the RC, which maintains high service levels and an upscale atmosphere specifically through not allowing access to just anyone.

I don't know if I really have a point, except to say that the hotel in question is unlikely to change their pricing or policies as long as they seem to be raking in the dough with their current setup.

Well, I've now found a more expensive lounge glass of wine. Spent 5 days at the Anaheim Marriott last week and it was $10 per glass.

Otherwise, this is a very nice property and the lounge offerings were excellent.

What kind of wine did they have in the lounge for $10/glass? Or was the glass a pint? :p

The DoubleTree in Cleveland East/Beachwood only charge $1 for all the beers, wines, and liquor (maybe $2 for liquor) in the lounge. On Tuesday night before 7:30pm, it is free. That's the lowest price I've ever seen.

[duplicate post. couldn't see a delete button]

Some brands have free alcohol in the lounge, such as Ritz Carlton. Others have free alcohol for all such as Embassy Suites, Residence Inn, etc. This depends on local laws, of course.