FlyerTalk Forums

FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)
-   Marriott | Marriott Bonvoy (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-marriott-bonvoy-766/)
-   -   The Idiots who Design Marriott Rooms (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-marriott-bonvoy/1680274-idiots-who-design-marriott-rooms.html)

DL-Don May 15, 2015 3:41 pm

The Idiots who Design Marriott Rooms
 
Do the people who are redesigning the Marriott rooms ever try to work in them?

I have been staying at the SFO Airport Marriott for nearly 20 years. I arrive today to discover that
  • There is no desk in the room
  • No desk means only the phone by the bed
  • No closets
  • No luggage stands
  • Door to the bathroom is glass and not well frosted
What idiots! I'm in my fifties... I don't work on my computer cross legged in the bed. The bathroom door is not a problem when I'm travelling with my wife but what are unrelated guests who have to share a room supposed to do?

So what do I do? I throw the coffee pot, coffee/tea box, ice buckets, etc.. on the floor with all the usual Marriott waste of paper and turn the TV stand into a desk. I like the huge TV but not at the expense of a place to work.

Wake up people, not everyone stays at a hotel, especially an airport property, with no intention to work. Why don't you talk to your real customers and not some Gen Y twerp?

dayone May 15, 2015 3:56 pm

Is someone having a bad day?

I agree that no desk is dumb, but your other complaints are quite minor, IMHO.

Did you share your tantrum with the hotel's management?

And to be clear, Gen Y are the cool kids and it's the millennials who are twerps. Baby boomers just complain a lot.

flyerfmaz May 15, 2015 3:57 pm

The newest CY designs are almost amusing -- where does Marriott get that over-the-top "modern" furniture? The sofas are curved and not terribly comfortable to sit on, and the lamps look like a bad rendition of R2-D2. :-) Not a complaint, just an observation.

To the OP: I'm also in my 50s and would be pretty unhappy with no desk in the room -- that's unusual to say the least. The rest of the stuff -- meh -- I've dealt with worse. If you're there for any length of time you might want to look at relocating. Try going to the front desk and asking them if they can provide you with a room with a desk so you can work. You're Platinum, they'll try to do what they can. Good luck!

DL-Don May 15, 2015 4:05 pm


Originally Posted by dayone (Post 24822160)
Is someone having a bad day?

I agree that no desk is dumb, but your other complaints are quite minor, IMHO.

Did you share your tantrum with the hotel's management?

And to be clear, Gen Y are the cool kids and it's the millennials who are twerps. Baby boomers just complain a lot.

Tantrum? I didn't use Da&%, F*$@, or Sh$@ one time. Yes, I calmly told the manager what I thought of their new "design" and he agreed my issues were problems. Since the original post, I found out they are contracting out a change to put desks back in the rooms.

This isn't the first property where I've seen some of these changes but it is the first where I've seen them all.

DL-Don May 15, 2015 4:08 pm


Originally Posted by flyerfmaz (Post 24822163)
The newest CY designs are almost amusing -- where does Marriott get that over-the-top "modern" furniture? The sofas are curved and not terribly comfortable to sit on, and the lamps look like a bad rendition of R2-D2. :-) Not a complaint, just an observation.

To the OP: I'm also in my 50s and would be pretty unhappy with no desk in the room -- that's unusual to say the least. The rest of the stuff -- meh -- I've dealt with worse. If you're there for any length of time you might want to look at relocating. Try going to the front desk and asking them if they can provide you with a room with a desk so you can work. You're Platinum, they'll try to do what they can. Good luck!

At this point, all the rooms have be "redesigned" to remove the desk, the luggage stands and the second phones. All the bathroom doors are now peek-a-boo.

flyerfmaz May 15, 2015 4:17 pm


Originally Posted by DL-Don (Post 24822222)
At this point, all the rooms have be "redesigned" to remove the desk, the luggage stands and the second phones. All the bathroom doors are now peek-a-boo.

Well, I gotta agree with you on this -- it was a bad decision by Marriott on the design. Especially the lack of a desk. Seriously? What do they think us road warriors are gonna do, hang from the ceiling? Sounds like they're going to fix it, but unfortunately you may have to find another hotel to frequent until they do.

Jon Maiman May 15, 2015 5:24 pm

Recently I stayed at a Residence Inn that had just been fully remodeled. Same issue there wasn't a desk in the room. There was a tiny ledge with the phone on it on the back side of the couch that had to pass for a desk. There was some kind of contraption next to the arm chair that looked like you could pull it over while sitting to use as a pseudo desk while watching TV. I am all for new design but I still want a real desk with a real office chair to work at. I am also in my fifties. End of rant...

--Jon

P.S. Unrelated rant, the last few properties I have stayed at that had recent "full" remodels still had the old warn out tub (and sometimes the toilet too). Why go to the expense of fully remodeling a room to make it fresh but still leave the bathroom tired and old? I have seen this at a CY and a RI recently.

DL-Don May 15, 2015 5:29 pm


Originally Posted by Jon Maiman (Post 24822459)
Recently I stayed at a Residence Inn that had just been fully remodeled. Same issue there wasn't a desk in the room. There was a tiny ledge with the phone on it on the back side of the couch that had to pass for a desk. There was some kind of contraption next to the arm chair that looked like you could pull it over while sitting to use as a pseudo desk while watching TV. I am all for new design but I still want a real desk with a real office chair to work at. I am also in my fifties. End of rant...

--Jon

P.S. Unrelated rant, the last few properties I have stayed at that had recent "full" remodels still had the old warn out tub (and sometimes the toilet too). While go to the expense of fully remodeling a room to make it fresh but still leave the bathroom tired and old? I have seen this at a CY and a RI recently.

They appear to have pulled out the tubs here and replaced them with walk-in showers. One positive in a sea of negative.

flyerfmaz May 15, 2015 5:41 pm


Originally Posted by Jon Maiman (Post 24822459)
P.S. Unrelated rant, the last few properties I have stayed at that had recent "full" remodels still had the old warn out tub (and sometimes the toilet too). While go to the expense of fully remodeling a room to make it fresh but still leave the bathroom tired and old? I have seen this at a CY and a RI recently.

Possibly, the weird inconsistencies we're experiencing are due to many Marriott properties being franchise operations. The franchisees may have some leeway in determining what constitutes a "remodel" as long as they meet other certain criteria. A good example is a CY I stay at frequently in Phoenix -- it's freshly remodeled but the air conditioners are hold-overs and pretty cranky. A couple of weeks ago I had to change rooms because the A/C wasn't working right and they couldn't readily fix it. What's especially annoying is that these are the older air conditioners that don't have a constant fan option in cool mode. Which means they spend all night turning ON and OFF and ON and OFF loudly.

DL-Don May 15, 2015 5:55 pm


Originally Posted by flyerfmaz (Post 24822502)
Possibly, the weird inconsistencies we're experiencing are due to many Marriott properties being franchise operations. The franchisees may have some leeway in determining what constitutes a "remodel" as long as they meet other certain criteria. A good example is a CY I stay at frequently in Phoenix -- it's freshly remodeled but the air conditioners are hold-overs and pretty cranky. A couple of weeks ago I had to change rooms because the A/C wasn't working right and they couldn't readily fix it. What's especially annoying is that these are the older air conditioners that don't have a constant fan option in cool mode. Which means they spend all night turning ON and OFF and ON and OFF loudly.

Those old wall units are a real pain. Not only for their constant cycling but also because they are almost always pointed at the person sitting at the desk. I know, if they get rid of the desk then there can't be a person sitting there suffering from the air conditioning blowing right on them. :D

Jon Maiman May 15, 2015 6:29 pm


Originally Posted by DL-Don (Post 24822545)
Those old wall units are a real pain. Not only for their constant cycling but also because they are almost always pointed at the person sitting at the desk. I know, if they get rid of the desk then there can't be a person sitting there suffering from the air conditioning blowing right on them. :D

Too funny... I'll deal with the A/C blowing on me while I am sitting at the desk...


--Jon

justforfun May 15, 2015 6:33 pm

No desk?! That's a deal breaker.

flyerfmaz May 15, 2015 6:39 pm


Originally Posted by DL-Don (Post 24822545)
Those old wall units are a real pain.

Unfortunately, those old wall units are commonplace. I now travel with a portable fan and use it as a noisemaker on the nightstand to maintain a relatively constant level of sound in the room at night, so my sleep isn't disturbed by the A/C constantly turning on and off. The transition between running A/C and dead silence otherwise wakes me up all night long.

pdsales May 15, 2015 7:21 pm

Amazing that they would design hundreds of rooms with no mock up
 
It is really amazing that not only remodels but even brand new hotels sometimes have rooms with serious traffic pattern issues, closet doors that interfere with bathroom doors, toilet paper rolls that are nearly impossible to reach from the toilet etc.

Too much reliance on Autocad. Before you build or remodel hundreds of rooms, build out one mock up in a warehouse and spend the there.

DL-Don May 15, 2015 8:02 pm


Originally Posted by pdsales (Post 24822761)
It is really amazing that not only remodels but even brand new hotels sometimes have rooms with serious traffic pattern issues, closet doors that interfere with bathroom doors, toilet paper rolls that are nearly impossible to reach from the toilet etc..

Oh so true. As an engineer, I have solved many of those problems ... at least in my head :cool:

I remember a few years ago many Residence Inns used to have a desk that faced the wall just inside the door. I used to turn those desks 90 degrees so I could sit at the desk and still see the TV. Lately, I've walked into Residence Inns and found the desk has already been positioned just like I did it. I have to wonder if someone in charge saw the re-positioning I had done, figured out why and changed the default furniture position. Of course, maybe there are hundreds of us on FlyerTalk that all did the same thing.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 2:47 am.


This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.