jr1202sr

They are closing the lounge and are charging an Amenity Fee now which will soon be a Resort Fee. The quality of the lounge has dropped from one of the best to just the min. I agree with another poster the JW is a nice hotel and lounge however the prices of the room and location to the beach are prohibitive. The Rates Sometimes outpace the Ritz. Will be interesting now the Beaux arts is back online how that impacts prices.

In regards, to the orlando airport and business travellers. Yes it is about 25 minutes from UCF and some business, but not DT or the parks where most travellers go. Even UCF is 25 minutes away without any accidents which isn't close. There are exceptions to everything, but what I posted is accurate. The changes all over florida are not a one off.

Kacee

That, and Marriotts will make you pay the resort/amenity/facility fee on award stays. So that's revenue the properties would not get if the "fee" were included in the daily rate.

3Cforme

I suspect that gets very close to the relevant issue as Marriott and properties see it. Every MR amenity has a cost - even an 'empty' upgraded room has incremental cost for room wear and tear. Too many costs imposed on the properties and they go with another chain. Marriott has calculated that cost of breakfasts at resorts, and at other properties in resort areas, is more than its franchisees want to bear (given ability to fill rooms at satisfactory rates) - and is willing to forego some room revenue from people like the OP.

The MR benefit scheme across all brands/days of week/resorts is very complicated. I'm anxiously awaiting what the combined MR/SPG plan looks like. I do not presume it will be satisfactory to keep me at SPG/legacy Marriott brands 90+% of the time.

Kacee

Indeed. All the programs have their trade-offs.

But in this case it is only a limited handful of properties - the resorts - that escape the burden of providing MR benefits. Which at least according to OP is leading to gaming of the system by properties converting to "resorts" when they're not.

writerguyfl

I'm a little puzzled at your definition of a resort.

The Orlando World Center Marriott has 7 restaurants, a full-service spa, a golf club, a fitness center, child care facilities, multiples pools (including 3 water slides), and nightly laser shows.

jr1202sr

Marriott made it a resort (put it in the name first and stopped all benefits) and THEN did the renovations to make it a resort (added the slides, laser show, etc). It was just a convention hotel beforehand. I am sure you can search the board for more info when this went down.

Your point is excellent I would expect a resort to have a lot of items you listed. I would also expect to be able to read the name of the hotel and or description of the hotel on the website and know.

Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld doesn't even have resort in its name. Doesn't mention it is a resort in the description of the hotel on the website either.

So how is it possible that Casa Monica or Renaissance in st. augustine are resorts when they don't offer any of those amenities you listed? What is the Marriott Standard to be a considered a "resort"?

joshua362

Bottom line is that starting in 2008 Marriott began minting elites way too freely and the Franchisees who have to bear the cost of the "benefits" have figured out a way to revolt & fight back.

SkiAdcock

If the OP is thinking of switching from Marriott, he should probably check on the other chains to see how many resorts they have in FL/the Caribbean & what their policies are or if they are regular hotels that might or might not have an exec lounge.

Cheers.

Horace

By almost any definition, Orlando World Center Marriott has been a resort since it opened in the 1980s. For the longest time, its name was Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center.

On Marriott.com, there's an easy way to tell if a property is officially a hotel or resort. Near the top, normally below the logo, there'a line of links that with begin with "Our Hotel" or "Our Resort" and then continues "Photos" and "Rooms" and so on. It corresponds to how the resort is categorized on Marriott.com.

Filtering Marriott.com for only the 5 brands with the Elite lounge/breakfast benefit, Florida has 16 resorts across 4 of the 5 brands:
For Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld, Marriott.com shows "Our Resort."

I recall reading that the property removed "Resort" from its name because corporations were cracking down on business travelers staying at resorts on the company dime. The solution was to change the name, but nothing else.

For Casa Monica Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection, Marriott.com shows "Our Hotel." Technically, it's still a hotel. Shame on the property (and shame on its GM) if they've changed their Elite benefits without bothering to make sure their Marriott.com listing is accurate.

World Golf Village Renaissance St. Augustine Resort boasts "two exceptional championship golf courses."

I did a quick Google search looking for Marriott's general definition of "Resort" -- without success. Presumably, there's something a hotel has to do to qualify, but perhaps for one property it might be golf, tennis, and a spa; and for another it might be a beach, a spa, and multiple restaurants.

ohmark

Stayed at the Casa Monica about a year after it converted to Marriott Rewards program. It definitely was not noted as a resort. Breakfast was not a benefit then and, upon inquiring at the front desk, was told that was their policy and that was that. This was one of three reasons we haven't returned. Reason two: They fired a front desk clerk for wearing an American flag lapel pin. Reason three: it's a mediocre renovation of a historic property.

writerguyfl

This is incorrect.

From day one (March 24, 1986), the Orlando World Center Marriott has been a resort.
I think I understand the point you're trying to make. But, hyperbole and incorrect statements don't help your cause.

kennycrudup

Nah, it ain't just you. Even in the places I get it for free as a Plat, 80% of the time I'm either in too big a rush to get to it, or not awake/dressed before it's closed. I wish I could always have the option to exchange breakfast for points, instead of just when the CL is closed.

JBord

Yeah, I kind of think the same way. When traveling on business, why would I care about a free crummy lounge breakfast? I'll pay $20 to have a good breakfast and expense it. A lot of business travelers think that way.

Last time I stayed at one of the resorts was in San Juan. There was a Starbucks across the street and I could get a coffee and breakfast sandwich for about $7. Similar quality to what I get in a lounge, so I'd say I value the benefit at about $10/person. I also had the breakfast buffet one morning for about $25 IIRC, because I knew I'd be skipping lunch that day.

My one exception would be if there aren't other reasonably priced options. If my only reasonable choice is to pay $40 for a buffet when all I want is an egg mcmuffin, then I miss the free breakfast. It's like they know they can charge anything when they have you captive.

Kacee

I think the point of this thread is being lost.

The issue is not who pays for breakfast when you're traveling on business, but rather not getting a free breakfast when burning points for vacation at a Marriott resort.

SkiAdcock

Agree.

I would quibble a bit w/ the OP because it sounds like he wants to stay at a resort & have brekkie comped for him & all of the family, when most chains are not everyone in the room. Also he has options that are not resorts where he could get brekkie for free, but in fairness to him they're not resorts so if he wants resorts he's a bit out of luck. (Having said that we've had many reports of Plats redeeming for MCVI in FL/Caribbean who have had great stays; just not resorts.

Again though, if I were him, I'd do a lot of research on the other chains to see how many resort properties they offer & their policies.

Also, now that SPG/MAR have merged, he can check out the SPG resort properties, so may not need to jump ship.

Cheers.