I didn't get the initial email, but did receive a call and email this afternoon from my personal concierge. She also used the phrase "charter member."

This is my third year as platinum (not premier). I've been a member for more than 10 years, but only a frequent traveler for a little over three.

Last year I had 156 paid nights, 208 including rollover. Probably in the neighborhood of 30k in revenue. My stats so far this year:

Nights Detail
0 nights needed to renew Platinum level
Nights
stayed 59
Paid:59
Redeemed:0
Bonus nights 86
Promotional:0
Rewards Credit Card:17
Rewarding Events:0
2015 rollover:69
2016 total 145
Silver Lifetime Status
Nights 520
Points 1,512,056

Will be interesting to see if they let you be in the pilot. We don't have enough data and responses yet to get a feel of how they are selecting. I'm sure it's probably a small set of individuals but hoping to see some clear trends as to who got it and who didn't.

I'm a bit more than curious, having spent around $44,000 at Marriott properties last year.

SPG Platinum 100+ night Ambassador member here, averaging 130-140 nights per year and (due to SPG Pro business group bookings in addition to my personal bookings) probably $100K in annual spend towards SPG. I'm only SPG Lifetime Gold but would have been Lifetime Platinum in 3 years. (So close, and yet so far.)

I'm at 85 nights already on 42 stays for 2016, mostly at W, Westin, Le Meridien, and Sheraton...with several StR and Luxury Collection, plus a few Four Points thrown in. By the end of June, I'll be over 100 nights.

I just stayed 6 nights in late April at the StR Bora Bora--where I was upgraded from a deluxe overwater villa on a 3rd party auction booking at 50% discount to the Royal Overwater Villa with private pool. That upgrade was all about my Ambassador.

I can tell you that I (and likely all Ambassador level SPG Platinum members) are looking on with extreme interest as to what Marriott offers for its Elite Concierge members. There seems to be some diversity as to how impressed people can be with their SPG Ambassador--ranging from people like me, who think my Ambasaador is phenomenal and provides me outstanding Aman/Four Seasons levels of service and benefits at even the best SPG StR and LC and W properties...to others who seem to barely notice that they have an Ambasaador (based on comments here on FT in our respective threads).

My impression for Ambasaadors is that those guests staying at more full service to luxury properties ultimately will benefit most--since those are the properties that can offer the most. I believe that SPG members who most often stay at cheaper upscale-midscale brands like Sheraton, Four Points, Aloft, and Element are least likely to experience massive improvements in hotel experience. Considering those are the lowest thresholds of SPG hotels, it might make Marriott elites cautious who stay at comparable brands like Courtyard, Residence, SprongHill, and AC hotels or even lower brand categories such as
Protea, Fairfield, TownePlace, and Moxy.

That is no guarantee that Marriott wil operate Elite Concierge as SPG operates Ambasadors, of course. But with SPG having higher brand categories overall and having higher revenue customers than Marriott, it would stand to reason that Marriott ultimately will have Elite Concierge provide more benefit and value to those staying in the luxury and upper upscale brands. For Marriott, that includes Ritz Carlton, JW Marriott, Edition, and Bulgari in luxury and Autograph, Marriott, Marriott Executive Apartment, Renaissance, and Gaylord in upper upscale.

I'll be curious to hear what experiences you get with Elite Concierge. I can say that we SPG Ambassador members are hopeful, since Marriott obviously is trying to demonstrate a comparable benefit for us in order to keep us loyal when the programs finally merge in 2018.

Here is the blurb that was included in an email today - "See Your New Member Benefits"

Seems Intl travel may be a criteria...or it is ambiguously worded to mean the program is worldwide.

To me, it's just that the program is worldwide.

I disagree. Do you have a source for these assertions?

I don't see the point of Marriott sending the announcement/advertisement for Elite Concierge services to those who aren't being invited to participate, given that the criteria for inclusion are unpublished.

There are many but none that I can find off the cuff. But anyone who knows anything about hotels knows already that Starwood was the leading luxury and upper upscale hotel group with the most properties in those rate determining brand spaces. See http://www.investopedia.com/articles...rts-marhot.asp for some stats that relate much of that information.

As the article also notes, Marriott's Courtyard, Fairfield, SpringHill, and Residence Inn brands--all of which are below the upper upscale and luxury spaces--account for over 3,000 of the total Marriott hotel portfolio--compared to just over 1,000 on the upper upscale and luxury space. Starwood's entire portfolio almost is in the upper upscale and luxury spaces, in stark contrast.

As those brand categories are defined by the average room rates commanded by properties, it should be obvious that Starwood therefore commanded higher average room revenues at its hotels than Marriott ever possibly could. Over 3/4 of Marriott's properties are in brands commanding less than upper upscale hotel rates.

No invite for me.

I hit Lifetime Platinum a few years ago, staying at Marriotts pretty exclusively for the past 15 years. PP for several years, then dropped to P, then back up to PP last year. Current stats:

139 nights so far in 2016 (with 4/week booked through the end of the year).
579,425 points (just blew through 720k with 4 x 4-nt stays in Times Square).

I don't see where I can find my lifetime stats, but by my records I've got over 1,400 nights. In 2015 I've spent $700-$800/week with Marriott pretty consistently, and am on track for the same or higher this year.

A coworker with very similar spend/stay pattern & history was invited, I was not. He also mentioned a new promo that sounded similar to a megabonus, but it must be targeted as I didn't qualify for that either.

The only difference between us that I can see is that I pre-book 6+ months worth of stays in advance, and he rolls with only a couple weeks out at a time, booking as he goes. I guess they figured with that many bookings, they don't need to incentivize me.

You can find your lifetime nights by clicking on the work nights from your account.

My understanding is that they are selecting platinums only based upon a mix of spend, nights, and type of rates/hotels. I heard that they will expand in another 5 months with more, but unlikely to move to Gold members anytime soon. But people who get platinum from cheap stays or low negotiated rates will likely not see the benefit.

Thanks samosa! 1,604 lifetime nights, 3,708,425 lifetime points. 58 nights stayed this year so far (50 paid + 8 redeemed). 81 bonus nights (4 from Chase Visa, 77 from 2015 rollover). 113 nights total in 2016.

Most of the last ~10 years I've paid $100-120/night for a courtyard in Ohio. The last ~16 months it's been $220-$240/night at a full service Marriott in New Jersey. We normally redeem at cheaper "family friendly" properties like Spring Hill Suites where we can get a couple rooms for the family, but lately I've burned over 700K points staying at a FS marriot on Times Square.

Maybe my corporate rates are too cheap to qualify.... my coworker is using equally cheaper (or less) rates though, and did. I guess there's some randomness or other element to their selection process we're not aware of.

I just got the basic email today touting the upcoming service despite being LTP and PP in prior years. Does anyone really think this will have any real value or use, especially to FT members? Likely contracted out to a 3rd party travel agency who'll only be too glad find you sold out Broadway shows and concerts on Stubhub then mark them up another 100%. I guess a mix of the rich and ignorant will keep them in business...

So it depends--what would you want from them? For me, when I travel with family for a special occasion (usually wife's bday or our anniversary) I e-mail the hotel concierge or guest services in advance and ask for anything they can do and usually organize one hotel activity that brings them revenue. Almost always they acknowledge status and say an upgrade will be provided, sometimes they do it in advance so it shows up on the reservation. I expect that from these folks--but without me having to find an e-mail or call the hotel.

Keep in mind that the Starwood CEO before all this started was focused on upscale properties because of the profitability but became under a lot of pressure by the board to grow the midscale business because of growth. Ultimately, he was pushed out and we ended up here.

As to the ECS ... just received an email from my concierge. Wondering if she is in the US based on hours availability. And ... still not sure what I would use a concierge for ... I just want consistent upgrades and an understanding of the program.