Decided to use the Elite Offer: Buy 1 weekend night get the 2nd free this weekend at the Marina Del Ray property in LA to take the kids to the beach in Santa Monica. $249 a night was the rate.

Firstly, concierge lounge was closed all weekend.

Secondly, only the lobby bar was open, and service there was just poor. Forgetting orders, slow service etc. Don't understand service staff who don't get it that if they come round more often, they'll sell more, and their tips will get larger with each new sale.

Thirdly, at checkout they lost my Elite Offer voucher so had to do battle with them to comp the second night per the offer. Eventually they caved and let me have the 2nd free.

Fourthly, they charged $30 for two 1 minute and 1 two minute phone calls. I haggled with them on that because no one in the hotel could actually tell me the phone call rate and got that down too.


I guess there's a different view of weekend travellers versus weekday biz travellers.

Bummer. From my experience, it's true that weekend services are greatly diminished. I've learned, though, never to surrender elite offers, bonus bucks, or any other document that has value, until checkout. I've learned, too, to never, never, never, never use a room telephone.

at the oakland city center marriott, long distance and local calling is included with the $10/day you pay for internet... but I dont think this is offered at all properties..

I've noticed this on a lot of my recent Marriott stays, including my recent Renaissance Pere Marquette stay in New Orleans: they cut staff to the absolute bare-bones on the weekends. Restaurants and bars operate limited hours, and it's unpublished. I've noticed that lounges don't open on Sunday nights, even though the sign on the door typically says they do. (However, in those cases, I've usually been offered a comp appetizer in whatever restaurant is open.)

But the upside is this: every single one of my Marriott weekends in the past year or so has included Bonus Bucks, Premium Pounds, or an EEO. Basically, I end up paying below the Priceline rate to get service that is certainly better than that. Many Marriotts give me breakfast certs and, of course, a good room. (Although oddly enough, I rarely get a major upgrade even if the hotel is obviously very empty. Just a desirable hotel room, usually on the C-level.)

So my question becomes: what's the alternative? My weekend stays at Hiltons usually do include an open lounge, but they don't have anything comparable to EEO or Premium Pounds. Am I willing to pay 2x for a room just to get continental breakfast and a couple of Cokes? Not really...

At the end of the day, I won't complain about the bare-bones service as long as I'm paying bare-bones prices. If I were paying weekday rates, I'd probably be a lot less content about it, but so far that hasn't been the case for me...

Both of these are excellent pieces of advice.

Pretend that the hotel room telephone is a angry, venomous serpent. Stay away from it.

Usually the rate is usually a 40-50% surcharge on the AT&T operator assisted day-time calling rate.

Make that more like 400% surcharge or a $10 min.

Actually, it's kind of funny. As a rule I never use hotel phones either. This time, it was one of our children calling me and mrs iainarmstrong while we were downstairs having a drink in the poorly staffed bar. Mrs iainarmstrong had taken her cellphone instead of leaving it in the room.

But even so, $10 for a one minute call and the staff not knowing the rate really isn't on.

But, it won't stop me pushing for Gold again this year. And we have 4 days in the Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort at Christmas.

All the problems I have ever had occured on the weekend.

Just a couple of notes:
If you have to use the hotel phone...most offer Wired for Business for $9.99 which includes unlimited local and unlimited calls plus high speed internet. You can sign up after you've made the call...so use the TV to check your folio...IF you check the phone....most of the templates tell you that it is 40 or 50% ATT Operator Assisted Day Rate. They go on to explain how to get a rate quote by dialling a code plus the number.

Lounges are not required to be open on the weekend (per Marriotts T&C), wish they would...and get frustrated when they remove it if htey have been doing it...but.

It always seems I've had problem on the weekend with Desk Staff and more.

He he... I have literally had to explain to two weekend desk clerks - one in New Orleans and one in Orlando - how different countries, such as the United Kingdom, use currencies other than dollars. In the Orlando case, the front desk had a PC up with 'Net access, so I was able to use a foreign-exchange site as a teaching aid. But in New Orleans, I literally had to find a copy of the WSJ in the lobby and show the desk clerk the section about foreign exchange rates. It was kind of odd: especially in the Orlando case where hundreds of thousands of Brits vacation every year.

This is a good bit of advice for everyone. I've taken to making photocopies of every document I intend to surrender. Any problems I just produce the copy and tell them to check with the agent who was working the desk at 8:03 PM on Friday <G>.

I've done the same thing as 900at. I turn the in the original documents at check in (as per the T&C) and about 50% of the time I have issues at checkout. I then present the copies of the documents and the situation is quickly resolved.

Ok-I have just written a letter to Marriott HQ regarding my last two HORRID Rennaissance experiences.
So what gives here?Are the weekend staff really such ill trained know-nothings?Why does management leave them all alone on weekends without at least one more experienced person on staff?Does Marriott not send out "mystery guest"to evaluate the properties?
I would like to stay loyal to Marriott,and I have had very good stays at both Marriott and Renaissance properties,but two absolutly horrid stays(to the point of ruination of the trip)with F/U after F/U on so many levels-it has to make me question my brand loyalty.

Good advice. Should've thought of that.

Why do we have to work so hard?They are in the "service industry"let them provide proper training and supervision so that a weekend stay can be a break from work-rather than work in itself!

Weekend staff is 3rd string, dont expect them to do anything but take your credit card info and you should be all set.

Yes, stay away from the phone.

I stayed at a hotel that only offered wireless Internet access. I do not have a wireless card so I connected my PC to the phone line and dialed a 7 digit number. I let the PC run all night downloading a HUGE presentation. and when I checked out the next day I had a $450 telephone bill.

Their PBX was stuffing area code digits in front of the my 7 digit number. What I thought was a local number was in fact a long distance number.

How is that for service. I had to have the Marriott Customer Service people negotiate with the property manager to remove the phone charge from the bill.

My company would have laughed me off the face of the earth if I tried to submitt that expense.