Time to put pen to paper!
 

I am noticing more and more disatisfaction with both Marriott International and Marriott Rewards on flyertalk.com
While it is all good and well to have discussions here on flyertalk,and it has been rumoured that Marriott execs checkin now and then(only to moniter-never actually contributing as representing Marriott)this reaches few people at Marriott who might be able to give us the answers we are looking for-or even clarification of current Marriott policy.

I encourage all readers of this forum to put pen(or ink cartidge) to paper and write letters to both Marriott Rewards and to Bill Marriotts office(Marriott International)As there seems to be a disconnect between the two.

J.Willard Marriott, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
Corporate Headquarters Marriott International
One Marriott Drive
Washington, DC 20058

Marriott Rewards
Marriott Guest Services
310 Bearcat Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84115-2544 USA



If you,like I,are disheartned by the quick decline in cutomer service and respect for the membership of the Marriott Rewards program let those who are in power to stop the degradation of a once fine program.
Thank you.

I have been a Marriott rewards member for over 15 years. In that time, I have had some experiences at Marriott that were less than perfect, as should be expected since I stay between 75-100 nights most years. Overall, my level of satisfaction with Marriott is very high. When I have had a problem, I contact the manager and it is usually taken care of immediately. When it is not handled well, I send a letter to the headquarters, and generally within 2 weeks, I get a response.

Each year I get roughly 150,000 Marriott reward points, whereby I cash them in on a vacation somewhere. My family and I have been to Florida more times than I can count, Hawaii, London, Paris, Rome, Germany, the Carribean, and a host of other cities in the United States.

I plan ahead so I have never had a problem getting rooms. I have stayed at numerous category 7 hotels on these vacations, along with Residence Inns, Courtyards, Renaissance Hotels, etc.

My point for this rambling is that maybe Marriott has flexed their program a little and maybe it's not as good as it once was, but overall, it's still the best program in the industry with the greatest number of hotels (in great locations) to choose from.

If you're having a problem with them, then by all means send a letter to Bill, but as for me, I'll continue to thank them and stay with them, because overall, they do a fine job.

I am with Fripp; I have been a member for 12 years and I am very satisfied with Marriott overall. I have had the occassional hiccup as well but once the property has been notified of my problem it is usually quickly corrected.

That along with the fact they have the most property choices in the areas I visit as well as the awesome MVCI properties. I feel Marriott is the best choice for my business travel and family vacations.

I am sorry you are disappointed but I am not.

I agree with the OP but I think that it would be a waste of time writing as I wrote but was ignored! :( :td:

Despite some issues, Marriott has really come through for me lately. In the past few days I was able to extend a stay at the last minute at a sold out hotel and get a room during a blizzard at a sold out hotel after the interstate closed.

Marriott v Hilton
 

I split my hotel stays between Hilton, Marriott and Intercontinental. I have long been a Hilton Diamond, PC Gold and Marriott Silver. This year, I became Marriott Gold.

I stay mostly at lower and mid-priced hotels, ocassionally at higher end. I am HH Diamond for many years to come and PC I generally don;t worry about - but I do stay there when there are bonuses and there are limited options thanks to the location where I am.

I have contemplated moving up to Marriott Platinum - I am on the road enough that I could do this rather easily. However, the service I receive from Marriott just isn't close to what I receive at Hilton.

If I'm staying at a high-end property, it's usually excellent treatment with either. However, I think that the training of employees at Mariott's low to mid-priced hotels is just lacking.

Example - Tonight, I'm in Anaheim Hills at a Fairfield. My Marriott profile clearly indicates I prefer a high floor and I usually note in comments that I prefer a unit at the end of the hall. This particular Fairfield is a motel-type, with outside corriders. I checked in and received a room on the first floor, on the side of the hotel facing the freeway (noisy side obviously). At a Hampton, I would have been placed on the quiet side and on a high floor, no doubt in my mind. Now, I'm sure if I would have said something, they would have moved me. But you know what? That's where profiles and training come in - as a frequent guest/Gold, I absolutely shouldn't have to ask for these things - they should be automatic.

This type of thing happens frequently to me at Marriott properties, and I often ask myself why I even bother staying at them or why I would even want to aspire to Platinum - maybe I'm hoping that somehow service gets better. I come to realize the only reason I stay at Marriotts is to spread out my points, maximizing my options for when I go on vacation with the wife. Heck, I've even noticed lately that many HI Express has begun offering better breakfasts than Fairfield's - with hot items like Omelets and such. IMO, Marriott is losing the battle at the low and mid-tier properties. Maybe they don;t care, but I do.

I agree with Fripp...7 years into this program as a Platinum each year...it is the best program around for my needs. I have received exceptional service in places like Victoria, British Columbia and Nashville more than the poor service I rarely received. I earn about 200,000 points each year and I use all of them on excellent vacations. I favor the Ritz Carlton properties and this year I was able to secure Christmas week at the Ritz in Cayman on points which is my biggest win yet...Marriott is not perfect but it ideally suits my needs and frankly exceeds it most times.

mdaecher wrote"Example - Tonight, I'm in Anaheim Hills at a Fairfield."
Having stayed at that dump I really feel for you!It went on my never again list.

While it's a common mistake, your letter might reach Bill Marriott faster if it's not addressed to William. Bill's full name is J.Willard Marriott Jr. "Bill" comes from Willard, not William.

A "cleaned up" address would be:

J.Willard Marriott, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
Marriott International, Inc.
One Marriott Drive
Washington, DC 20058

(Corporate HQ is actually in Bethesda, MD, but the Wash DC address is "official" for correspondence.)

I'd be interested in hearing response times to letters from the two sources. In this day and age of blogs (Bill has one now), the web, email, etc., sometimes a good old fashioned letter is the best way to get a response.

I totally, totally agree with Fripp. His experiences are roughly similar to mine and I couldn't have said it better myself.

Mdaecher, however, brings up an interesting point about the limited service properties.

Sometimes, (but certainly not always), there's a dropoff in the level of personal attention that can't be explained away simply by the inherent differences between "full service" and "limited service". I agree that this appears to be an employee training issue.

I don't think you should judge all of Marriott based on Fairfield Inns. FI strikes me as more like a separate chain that happens to offer MR points (at 10 per dollar!) than a true part of the Marriott family. I've never stayed at an FI that I felt upheld Marriott's brand for rooms, amenities, or service. Would I abandon Marriott altogether because of that? No, because Marriott's a great brand outside of FI. I simply accept Marriott cheaped out a bit too much in creating FI, and I shift that part of my business over to Hamptons and Holiday Inns (except for those times when I want the MR points more than I want a nicer motel). If I were going to write a letter of complaint to Marriott I would word it in the fashion I have here, stressing that I'm a regular customer who would bring them even more business if they could improve their budget offering relative to the competition.

Well I guess it should be much cheaper to stay in a RI since it is considered to be"outside"of Marriotts regular family-but the ones that are anywhere near a place you would want to be(big cities-near attractions)rarely are cheap,and IMO poor value for the money.
I see them as being a prime example of how Marriott is not upholding anything like real standards for properties-just sitting back and greedily accepting franchise fees.
Not a true part of the Marriott family?Then why does it say"By Marriott"on the sign?

thanks Denver Brian for the correction,That is indeed correct-as listed in my word pro saved adresses(been writing a lot of letters to Mr. Marriotts office lately :mad: )

how is it outside of the MI Family?

Paraphrasing darthbimmer's post.In my post above I did state that is Residence Inn BY Marriott.