Unless it's President's Day weekend in Daytona Beach (Daytona 500) which may well be an authorized exception. A bit OT considering OP situation is in NJ.

yes (as they should to effectively manage their inventory) but the platinum availability overrides the minimum stay requirements

yes if the hotel has given control to someone else for either event they will be granted an exception...however not even the Indy hotels are given an exception over 500 without giving up control of their inventory....that is the only reason an exception is granted (the MIA hotels also would not be granted an exception for the current weekend if they hadn't also done so)

dave-b is right. You left out paragraph #5 of the T&C in your quote. Only the smoking preference is guaranteed at a Courtyard (and all US Marriott properties are non-smoking, so the point is moot):

5. The Room Type Guarantee covers bed type preferences at Marriott Hotels, Resorts & Suites and Renaissance Hotels, Resorts & Suites and smoking/non-smoking preferences at Marriott Hotels, Resorts & Suites, Renaissance Hotels, Resorts & Suites, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites and TownePlace Suites properties (pillow, room location, extra bed, crib requests, etc. are not included in the Guarantee). Exact bed sizes may vary at International hotels.

Which as you allude to, means a lot given that all NA hotels are now non-smoking. So basicially the Room-type guarantee only applies for to FS hotels. :td:

So, if a hotel has a minimum stay requirement that never applies to plats? That's how I intrepret Scorates response. If so, that is good to know.

Well according to the world defined by Marriott, NA only includes Canada and the US:

http://www.marriott.com/news/detail....Article=137410

FWIW, Mexico which is in NA still has plenty of smoking rooms.

And this rule still means a lot for those of us who are Plat and travel internationally. It is nice to know we are guaranteed a non-smoking room and there is recourse should we not be given one.

Actually the T&Cs say bed type aspect of the room type guarantee only applies for to FS hotels.

The problem is just how many non-FS hotels does Marriott have outside of the US/Canada? There aren't all that many. So the end result is that having no bed-type guarantee at non-FS hotels is primarily an issue/problem in the US/Canada.

that is correct, but remember a platinum override only guarantees you the hotel's standard corporate rate, not a specific company's negotiated rate

80 Courtyards. I didn't check the other non-FS brands.

Keep in mind that the no smoking guarantee also applies to FS hotels, so it is an important benefit. Also regardless of how many there are outside US/Canada, the non-smoking room type guarantee would still be an important benefit even if it only applied to one hotel if that happens to be the hotel one frequents.

BTW, the issue and this discussion is that the non-smoking room type benefit was pointless since all rooms are non-smoking in US/Canada. Having no bed-type guarantee at non-FS hotels is not an issue for contention, since the bed type rule as stated in the aforementioned rule #5 specifically does not apply to non-FS hotels.

From the 2010 Elite Membership Guide.....

As long as your Platinum Elite level and preferences are noted on you reservations for a particular stay, we will always honor your request for bed type at the Marriott family of brands throughout North America. In the rare case we fail to meet the room request listed on your reservation, you'll receive the following compensation.

$100 - Marriott, JW, Ren
$50 - Courtyard, SpringHill, RI
$25 - FI, TP.

where is the link for this? i had a guaranteed 2 bed in my last SH stay and was denied because they were sold out. I didn't get $50

No link that I have seen. It's in the elite guide received in the mail a couple of weeks ago and in the same guide that came with the Lifetime Plat card last week. Not that it helps if you don't have one, but it is a direct quote from page 5.

The key here (and their out maybe) is that it has to be listed in the reservation. With that said, I have on a couple of occasions forced the room switch by bringing up the policy as my request it is in my profile and requested at the time of the reservation. I didn't take the money as they changed the rooms and one night I was one of the last ones to check in and the property was sold out. In that case I was offered a different room the next night.

I will write them a letter. What happened to me was weird. I had my reservation for 2 double beds, but then it magically got cancelled that day by the hotel. They reinstated my reservation but gave me a king room and said no doubles available. Very fishy. But I definitely did not enjoy sharing a bed!

Plat override Q?
 

I am using my plat override for the first time and have a question.

I am traveling with colleagues to an unnamed city next week, staying three nights (Mon-Wed.). All downtown hotels appear to be sold out. I was able to book a plat override for myself at one Marriott property, and then I also booked two other plat overrides at two other properties, and those reservations are in my colleague's names.

During one call to set up these bookings, one Marriott rep told me that my colleagues also need to be plats. I said, "Well, if they were, then they would just call and do there own overrides, they wouldn't need me to book it."

So my concern is that my colleagues will be turned away on arrival, and stuck schlepping bank out to the airport (where the hotels have plenty of room).

Is the rep correct, do my colleagues need to be plat, or will they be OK since the reservations were made in directly in their names?