ExCrew

I suppose this could be generalized as to any hotel chain, but since I am pretty exclusive to Marriotts, I will post mine here. I have three pet peeves that stick out. First and foremost, those little metal door stoppers that people use to block their doors so they don't close all the way. Usually used when someone goes down the hall to get a soda or some ice. What always (ALWAYS) happens when someone puts it on? They let the door slam. B-A-N-G...BANG...bang! Maids at Fairfields are notorious for doing this. In the morning, starting at roughly 8:00 a.m., they will go from room to room, tapping on doors of rooms that need to be reset. They will prop open the rooms with the stoppers, and as they go in and out of the room...BANG...BANG...BANG!!!! Drives me NUTS when I am trying to sleep in after a long night.

Second on the list, Do Not Distrub. How many of us have used this sign on our doors, but then at some point during that day, received a PHONE CALL from someone in housekeeping asking us if we want our rooms serviced? HELLO??? DO NOT DISTRUB!!! Could not be more clear than that?!?!

Lastly, after a long drive or particularly long day, there is nothing more relaxing to me than a new Marriott bed. You're exhausted, you relax, you lay your head down on the pillow and you are gently slipping away into a much deserved nap...then, 10 minutes later...BBBBRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!!!! 'Hello, this is Suzy at the front desk. I just wanted to make sure everything was o.k. with your room?' I HATE that! Darnit, if everything was not o.k. with my room, I would call you!!! Don't you know that? No, everything is horrible with the room, I am just going to sit here in a filthy, un-airconditioned room that smells of smoke. I can't figure it out why they find it necessary to bother guests like that. I know many of you will say 'good guest service', but I fail to agree. Anyone who wouldn't speak up about a cruddy room pretty much deserves to stay in it.
Ok...rant overwith. What are your gripes? (Jeez, that felt good!!!)

schriste

I’m new to Marriott this year and will make platinum in a few weeks. In the past I have stayed primarily at Hilton and Starwood. My pet peeves are:

• Poor soundproofing of rooms in suburban 3 or 4 story rectangular bed barns (Courtyards in particular as this is what I have stayed in mostly). I can clearly hear conversations, TVs, and bathroom noises. I’m not too happy with door slamming either.
• Sameness of the hotel room. I have done a lot of business travel this year, but in many years most of my stays are leisure. While sameness is less of an issue when on business, I find it thoroughly annoying while on a leisure trip to find my hotel room looks just like the last one. I can understand this somewhat in the low end hotels, but when a newly renovated FS Marriott has the exact same pictures on the wall in three different cities (and even tries to sell them too me in the Revive catalog) I’m just not getting it.
• I always seem to get rooms with connecting doors.
• Properties on Marriott.com where the only guest room photos are of the pillows on the bed.
• Poor selection of cable TV stations.
• No free breakfast on weekends or at resorts (or Courtyard).
• From what I have seen promotions (free nights, bonus points) are pretty weak at MR.
• Fluorescent lighting in the rooms. How many people have a florescent light next to their bed at home?
• No HD programming when a hotel has an HDTV. Worse… no way to take picture out of stretch mode.
• Last week the Courtyard in Medford, OR told me that they would not upgrade me on an award stay (actually it was one of the certs from the MR Visa card). I’m not sure if this is MR policy or not (is it???), but if it is this is a real killer. If I am going to put up with noisy Courtyards on my business stays… when I finally cash in those points for an award with my wife I do not want a room with a view of the HVAC duct work (BTW, try to get room 322 at the Marriott in Fremont, CA if you like to look at ducts).


For the record I have been impressed with Marriott customer service at all levels.

aaupgrade

Well actually yes, it cold be a bit more clear than that. You may wish to put a sign on your door that says DO NOT DISTURB instead of DO NOT DISTRUB.

baglady

Towels above the toilet. Drives me insane.

gardener

My biggest pet peeve is frequent (circa 50%) improper posting of points after stays in the UK and Europe. Needless to say, they always err on the low side.

keeton

If you don't want to receive calls, simply taking the phone off the hook would alleviate both situations.

rahmanbar

A property not providing the Virtual Concierge link on its "reservation reminder" email and also not heeding the preferences beyond bed type as posted in MR's "preferences" web page.

dlwalt

No Comedy Central on cable.

No matter what you eat at Marriott, it all taste the same.

speby

Bathrobes:
Many of the FS Marriotts have bathrobes already in the room for all rooms. Some have them only in rooms on the concierge level (it is then not advertised but complimentary "upon request"). In the latter case (and sometimes in the former case), housekeeping just seems to forget to put it in the room. This happens a lot with the latter case and also you are a Gold or Plat end up in a room not on the concerge level. In that case, they are supposed to put the bathrobe in your room prior to your arrival. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Sure, I can always call and bug them and then wait some period of time for them to deliver it (or just leave after calling and they'll just do it at some point after I've left). That is annoying, though. Just be consistent about the bathrobes, please.

Sameness
Someone already mentioned "sameness" and I would agree that that definitely is somewhat of annoying problem. I realize that they're trying to achieve two things: 1. Economies of scale to keep costs down and 2. To attempt to maintain levels of consistency of service and offerings across many hotels.

The problem is that they are achieving consistency in the wrong places. We don't want the same food ... How many of you have seen the Salmon Nicioise on the menu more than once (more than twice?, more than three times?). I know I've seen it at least 3 times personally at hotels around the country. Annoying.... at least make it ahi tuna or some other seafood offering. And yes, the pictures on the wall that you sometimes see in other Marriott's is also just slap in the face. I barely look at them but when I do and I recognize it from the Courtyard blah-blah in Hodunk, USA when I'm staying the Renaissance blah-blah New York, that's kind of chincy. Other chincy things are selling the pictures/art. C'mon, first you have them in tons of hotels, next you want to sell them to me? I don't even think they should be selling them. Pushing grade-B art on me in my hotel room and charge me an arm and a leg? It just feels like a slap in the face, and frankly, it really is. That annoys me.

"Old Man Marriott"
Another factor that is annoying is the "Old Man Marriott" theme of many Marriott's and many Renaissance's. Guys I work with often make fun of me for being a Marriott point whore (they are Starwood usually) because of the "Old Man Marriott" syndrome of many of their hotels. You walk into the lobby and you kind of have a sense that its like your grandfather's hotel. Now, sure, I'm a younger aged person so maybe the oomph-oomph music in the lobby of the W hotel by Starwood is a better option (I'm kidding, it sounds like you're in a nightclub 24/7 at the W). But hear me out, don't you sense that "old man" feel at many Marriotts? I really think they should re-theme it a bit, just make it a bit more unique, maybe a tad trendy here and there, and modern.

VA1379

Actually, that is not a good idea since some properties have an internal alarm that goes off when a phone is off the hook. Once, I had inadvertently moved a phone off its receiver while setting up my laptop at the Fairview Park Marriott. I received a visit from a security officer 20 minutes later after I had failed to notice that the phone was off the hook.

PhlyingRPh

I hate that so few of the Marriott properties have wireless in the rooms and that the network cables are usually like 3 feet long.

splash

Havng to pay for internet at the full service properties. So what if I am cheap I pay my own way and find it hard to justify paying for internet when their other properties give it away.

Rewards_Guy

That's one of my pet peeves as well, from the MR representative point of view.

bl4666

I would like to see Marriott having more luxurious brands like the Luxury Collection and St. Regis offered by Starwood, the only brand comparable now is JW Marriott, but that does not even measure up. Ritz really does not count as a Marriott since there is no recognition for MR.

Also, I would like to see Marriott have better hotels and in better locations in European cities. I have often resort to Starwood hotels in Europe because their location and class of service. Marriott has good coverage in London and Paris, but that is it.

whirledtraveler

My peeves are only about Courtyards since I tend to stay in them..

1) I don't like having the A/C next to the desk because I have to make a choice between having it off and being hot or working with a blast of cold air in my face.

2) Whenever they clean my room, they adjust the desk chair downward and I have to readjust it up again.

3) In some remodeled Courtyards they put the TV close to a large vertical closet that sticks out further than the TV. To see the TV in bed, you have to sit lie on the far side, and even then you often have an inch of the side of the screen out of view.

4) The pay per view movie service is broken as often as it works.