http://www.rewards-insiders.marriott.com/thread/15458

That story about the Lexington is a bit unsettling... especially when you have reservation for a 1 bedroom suite with 4 people. Cant imagine arriving there and then being told it's not available. I have another reservation at the Courtyard that I was going to cancel, but now I'm wondering if I should keep it (with the check-in date one day after from the check-in at the Lexington, so that I can still cancel 24 hours before)

I think you may have to take his account with a grain of salt. Sounds like a bit of a NYC whining prima donna. Especially his account of how a noise literally "made his partner's ear bleed". I don't doubt there were some issues there but it sounds like this clown only has a hammer as a tool and everything looks like a nail to him...

Is your ressie at the CY also a suite? How does having a ressie starting the day after the Lex help if the Lex drops the ball on the suite? If you get to the Lex & the suite isn't available, presumably they would put you in 2 rooms - hopefully adjoining ones. You'd also get the room type guarantee $$. If there's no room at the Lex at all, then the ultimate reservation would guarantee (they pay for your room elsewhere, give you 90,000 points - might be some $$ involved too).

While perhaps a bit, there's also a lot of things that went wrong on both stays. Mgmt didn't handle any of it properly & it sounds endemic. The Lex is not getting good reviews, and only last week on FT we had a FTer report re: a suite hassle.

Also, on the 2nd link of the guy who had issues, he mentions this (most of which makes sense):

"1) Hospitality - the management never seems to offer unless when pressed, and even then, they try to waffle.

a) The ball is in your court: The $100 Platinum Guarantee should have been offered immediately when the suite was not available - the guest should not have to ask or have to educate the management on policy.

b) Do not overpromise, then underdeliver: The management should not "pretend" to block off a suite for a guest and then later fail to deliver (or conveniently have it be on a day that they aren't working, and not inform anyone about it).

c) Platinum wait time: If too many guests are compensated free breakfast, there really ought to be a "Platinum line" for breakfast.

d) Take complaints or comments constructively and do not penalize the guest for being honest: There is a lot of room for improvement.


2) Safety and modernization - did the revitalization fund not help in this regard?

a) The elevators ought to be modernized. It's a lot more than a disgrace that guests would be stuck for an hour in an elevator, having no resort but to pull the fire alarm!

b) The standard room windows open 3 feet up in the air, where a child or an adult trying to open the window could easily fall out! (is this legal?)

c) Some rooms suffer from noise and vibration far above legal NYC levels


3) Finish - Unfinished rug corners and edges fixed in room. Turn on the lights. Inspect, please.


4) Cleaning - Policy enforcement for room walls and window sills being clean. Just because most standard rooms are dark does not mean that it has to be disgusting - or that guests are assumed to be blind. Dark brown stains can easily be rubbed off usually."

Cheers.

Well, hopefully, 2 rooms would be the case....but still not ideal as we'd prefer to have 3 beds. But they could also stick us into 1 double double room with 2 double beds which is WAY too small for 4 people (but it does accommodate 4 per their website). I may be paranoid though.

The Courtyard reservation is a standard room with 2 Queens and a sofa bed. While it's not a suite, it's a big room and would have 3 beds. Worst case if the suite falls through, we could manage for one night and then move to the Courtyard since it has a better bedding configuration. Don't know, like I said, this may be paranoid.