writerguyfl

I agree 100%. This sort of situation is disgraceful and shouldn't happen in the hospitality industry.

I probably shouldn't have written "most hotel chains don't have specific guidelines to handle these situations", as I don't have knowledge of the official policy for most chains.

It comes down to leadership at the hotel. A good GM will always strive to act with integrity. A bad GM will create a culture that tell employees it's okay to lie to guests and say it was a "computer error".

linzie

I did email the hotel today, putting my understanding of what I had been told in writing and indicating that I was stressing out over not knowing what would happen. I did get a nice reply back, apologizing for the stress they were causing, and indicating they are planning on keeping me at the original property. (I am certain because I raised a fuss, and I told her we were celebrating my birthday, and this trip is a birthday present for me, which it is.) They indicated that if they had to move me, I would receive "$100 and 2 comped night vouchers".

She did say they fixed the problem in the computer. (I told her of it in my email.) She also apologized for taking so long to get back to me, but it has been "crazy" at the hotel.

I'm sure it has been!

apodo77

Glad to hear it worked out.

Just tried to book a room and it is no longer available so seems it was corrected.

dayone

Check in as early in the afternoon as you can.

socrates

1) hotels can only apply for 1 PLT Override per stay date (ie the max they can be granted in a given year is 365 unless it's leap year then it increases by 1)

2) a good hotel will manage their inventory and know the high demand events an plan accordingly....this isn't a new problem, IMO this was a case of bad execution by the hotel....the 48 hour guarantee isn't really difficult to honor for hotels, you just have to apply some common sense to it (ie mid-week has more plt demand than say a Sunday...so ok you take the proper steps to ensure the inventory is there and PLT Overrides don't cause an issue...in a sense hotels are holding some rooms for plats until 2 days before)

socrates

I'm glad you agree I was crabby from being up at 3am yesterday (just kidding-I know my humor isn't much better at 3am either)

The 2 excuses that make me cringe at the front desk are 1) central reservations did it (umm..they don't have the same authority in the system as the hotel does) 2) computer error.....ah consultants in the industry love to hear both (and many others like it) as it keeps the business flowing in

socrates

Just a reminder to all - the $ amount varies by brand and the 2 comped night vouchers are not ones for that specific hotel - they are called "ultimate night certificates" and are good globally (and they are not cheap...I looked up the cost hotel's pay for them few weeks ago - the price hadn't increased but they are still extremely expensive...when I'd give them out I'd always tell the person receiving them to be sure to use them somewhere they'd get maximum value out of them...Rome, Paris etc not the local Fairfield Inn)

PS Glad the hotel came through for you

rthib

I am not sure I understand this.

Does that mean they can block Platinum overrides every day or that they can only block 365 rooms total or something else?

CPRich

I have a similar question.

Does this mean that only 1 PLT can get an override on a given night? That would mean the PLT member benefit is "guaranteed availability, unless one other person already has"

Or if it's 365 for the year, "guaranteed availability, unless we gave out a bunch earlier in the year so even though you're the first one, nothing for you".

This doesn't align with my understanding of the benefit. I thought it was guaranteed availability unless Corporate Marriott granted and event-/date-specific waiver.

superpilot21

Maybe they were having computer problems? It is showing "rooms not available" on the flexible night search through August.

hhoope01

I think socrates meant Platinums can only apply for 1 PLT Overide per stay day...

joshua362

I think so too, my question was poorly worded. I was wondering from a Hotel's perspective, how many Corporate Marriott granted and event-/date-specific waiver can be given in a year or how frequently granted.

I could see problems if a gaggle of PLT's decided to descend on a smaller property for some odd reason - (I imagine its a far stretch that most Berkshire Hathaway shareholders are wealthy traveling PLT's). I guess that's why overrides pay rack rate....

hhoope01

I don't know that there is a "hard" limit to the number or how frequently they will be granted. From earlier posts, I do believe that the hotel has to show Marriott Corp that all the hotel inventory (rooms) have been contracted by a group or individual. When that happens, the hotel doesn't have any rooms for anyone, even Plats, as the group/individual has contracted for them.

So if a hotel (i.e. possibly a conference hotel) has a lot of "events" that contract for its rooms inventory, then I suspect it may happen a lot.

socrates

it means a hotel can apply for up to 365 blackouts in a given year (ie there is no limit)...but the requests MUST meet the conditions set by MI HQ

socrates

A recent change to the system (I can't recall exactly how long about but it was within the last 2-3 year I believe) the system will automatically keep track of the number of Plat Overrides a member has on each specific day, there is a hard limit of 1 Plat Override per day per member

Your understanding is correct...hotels can't control turning the Plat Overrides off, only MI HQ can