Interesting Compensation for Room Type Guarantee...
 

I checked into the Boston Marriott Long Wharf today for a one night stay. At check-in they mentioned that the hotel was sold out and I would not be able to get a room on the concierge level. (Which really doesn't matter to me).

When I got to the room however, it had two double beds instead of a King, as is my preference listed in my profile. I didn't think much about it and then went out for some shopping and sightseeing. After getting back tonight, I remembered that the room type guarantee applies to this situation and decided to call down to the front desk and inquire about the $100.

The front desk person stated that my reservation didn't have any preferences listed for bed type or smoking preference. I told her that I booked this on Marriott.com while logged in with my Rewards number. My preferences had always applied before. I also logged in while speaking with her to make sure they hadn't disappeared somehow, and they hadn't.

After explaining this to her, she said: "can I offer to deposit some points into your account for the inconvenience?". I was hesitant, assuming it would be some negligible amount. When I asked her what she meant, she said that she would deposit 35,000 points into my account, as that is equal to one free night at a Cat 7 hotel such as this one!!! :D

I gladly accepted her offer. Seems like a much better deal than the $100 imho! Kudos to the Long Wharf Marriott for their excellent customer service. ^ ^ ^

That was incredibly generous of her to give you that many points. I wonder if the hotel has to buy the points at the same rate that Marriott sells to customers who need extra points for reward redemptions.

Doubtful indeed. I'm sure the 35K points costs the hotel much less than the $100. Still, a very nice gesture.

Charles

LAX UA 1K, I think you are half right if this article is correct in how Marriott treats its reward program.

www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2004/0510/066_4.html

A quote from the article, "If a rewards-program member's check comes to $244, then $11 goes to Marriott to feed into the rewards pool, now totaling $784 million. Marriott books it as a liability, one that costs just 2.5% to service."

Assuming that the $244 bill does not include hotel tax and not including elite bonuses, Marriott is charging about $0.0045 for each point to the hotel ($11/2440). At that rate, 35000 points would cost the hotel $157.50. This is much less than the $350 a member would pay for the same amount of points but still greater than the normal $100 cash compensation.

Also, it would appear from this quote that Marriott only pays the hotel $.0025 for each point redeemed for a reward stay. (.025*$244 = $6.10; $6.10/2440 = $0.0025) I interpret the quote to mean that Marriott does not allow hotels to use points received from award stays to cover points earned from paid stays because that would reduce the opportunity for Marriott to earn money on the spread between its purchase and sale price of Marriott points. The article notes the ability of Marriott to demand higher royalty rates than Hilton and Starwood, and Marriott's willingness to drive a hard bargain with hotel owners.

1) I'm impressed

2) You're close but alittle low

3) The points are costing the hotel over twice what the cash benefit was ($100)