Does Marriott ever refund non-refundable reservations?
 

Short version of long story, my GF booked a non-refundable room in Wash DC area to spend President's Day weekend with her daughter who would be there interviewing for a government job. Government agency then decided to send the interviewers to the daughter's location instead, leaving my GF with the pre-paid room and her daughter won't be there.

She knew it was pre-paid, and isn't blaming Marriott at all (it was apparently significantly cheaper because it was pre-paid), and may go anyway since it's paid for, but she's having to use some vacation time, and so due to this trip we put off our normal spring vacation (and it's tough for me to go to DC then, so my loss too sort of :().

It's not like someone died, and not the end of the world, but still annoying. I told her to at least try calling Marriott to ask. It appears that the rates now are quite a bit higher than what she paid, so they could probably re-rent the room but I have no idea how iron-clad these are, and I'm just wondering whether anyone has had any success in getting them undone.

Does she have any status with Marriott?

Depends on individual hotels. Some are nice about it, but some stick to the policy. Like you advised her, I would suggest calling the hotel directly and asking about it. If they say no, they are within the terms of the reservation and at least she tried. I hope they are nice!

Maybe ask if you could postpone the stay to a different weekend? I have no idea if it will work but the hotel might be inclined so they keep the revenue, make a customer happy and also get to rent out the room at a higher rate.

Also, if they won't work with you you may want to check Marriott's policy of getting points (and night credit) in a no-show situation. I know another chain (SPG) will give you the points but no stay or night credit.

Ah, good question. No, she doesn't. I'm Platinum, our stays have been in my name. She has rarely gone anywhere that I haven't recently :).

I figured this, but was wondering if and how often people have been let out of their reservation. Do you have any experience with it you can share?

It's certainly worth calling the hotel. I had a reservation at a Hilton in San Francisco the night of a work party last spring, 2 day cancellation IIRC, and when my daughter got sick we couldn't go -- I expected to be charged anyway, but called at 2pm that day and explained, and the clerk didn't hesitate to cancel it for me with no penalty. I'm sure it depends on a lot of factors (I've never done that before), and a prepaid reservation may be different (since they have to actually refund the charge, instead of just eliminating the booking), but it can't hurt to ask nicely.

Many times to be honest. I had to cancel a stay at a Marriott in Orlando due to a last minute project and the reservation agent cancelled my reservation and she said that since I would stay with them in the future, she would be happy to refund the stay and I saw the credit on my account, so I confirmed it. I politely asked for it, and got it. Amazing what you get when you are just nice. :) I live in DC so I have never stayed at a hotel as to know which ones are nice about it and which ones aren't. But, again, it never hurts to ask.

If the hotel refuses to refund your reservation, you could ask them if they would allow you to switch the stay to another date in the future.

It's not out of the question. I've had pre-paid stays at the JW in SFO and EWR Ren cancelled in the past year by just calling and asking nicely.

way back in the day (before I retired) I'd make a decision on each case....weather related issues - absolutely no issues, plans changed - honestly it would depend on how loyal of a guest you were, afterall it is an non-refundable reservation

Might you, the PM, be able to add yourself to the reservation before asking for the refund? That might get you a little more leverage.

I was able to cancel a non refundable booking just a month ago. I called the hotel directly and explained that I had a change in schedule and would not be making the trip. I was going to ask to move the date out by a few months if they refused to cancel but she was very gracious and canceled with no hassle. Additonal data points - this was at a Courtyard in NJ and I have only silver status.

Fully agree - it never hurts to ask nicely. And it may be that no "refund" would be necessary.

I've done the "pre-paid" reservation with Marriott a few times, and in at least one instance (if I remember correctly, in all) they did not actually put the charge through until I checked in (or maybe sometime during the day the stay was to have begun, I'm not sure of the actual sequence). It may be that they can cancel her reservation and simply not process the charge.

Call the hotel and speak with the front desk manager. I've had success with this in the past; especially if I planned to return to the hotel at a later date. YMMV

As others have reported, I've also had good luck with canceling non refundable reservations at both Hilton and Marriott just by speaking with the front desk manager. In all cases I was switching to another date.

Bobette