Last year, it happened to me twice. I left Marriott properties when I was not upgraded. Why stay there when there are closer and nicer hotels to my job site?

I try my best last year to stay with Marriott but they are not very accommodating to Elites to upgrade. This year, I decided to share my hotel business with several hotels.

IMHO, I just don't think Marriott treat their elites well. As a Marriott member, I try to stay in Marriott but the property owners just don't seem to follow their upgrade rules. So far this year, staying at different hotels has been pleasantly refreshing and good.

depends on the hotel but if you only note it in the survey it will take longer - if you'd like a faster response and you have already contacted the GM I'd then speak with Customer Service who has a 48 hour turn around

My guess is that it has more to do with a property's plat/suite ratio than any GM's stinginess. Maybe in Toronto they just don't get that many plats, or maybe they have an unusally large number of suites.

I RARELY get upgraded....and frankly, I don't think being Plat Premier is any different or gets me an ounce more respect or appreciation!

Yes, I should just go stay someplace else, but not all the other chains have as many brands....and, as a former Marriott associate, and current stockholder, I guess I have loyalties!

I will say, that after walking out of 4 hotels of various m-brands outside of Boston, a desk clerk in a Courtyard wanted to upgrade me to a double double suite...but they were all dirty. Needed 2 beds...so, she asked the manager and they gave me TWO connecting rooms...for ONE price......

THAT was wonderful!

Compaining to GMs, Customer Care and Mr. M himself rarely gets you anything!

OK...stepping off the soapbox.....

and i thought i was the only one annoyed with marriott!

i have lost count.....lets see, in the last month i have walked out of 5 hotels...and i would have been happy just getting 2 beds without being charged the extra 10 bucks!!!

I get upgrades from time to time without asking for them. (Usually, I don't spend enough time in the room to care.) I can't imagine elite Marriott customers who never get them.

Bruce

:(. That right there sums up what I really dislike about the state of things in the travel industry today. It makes employees' jobs more difficult having to learn to say "no" so often, and when the behavior is rewarded it just encourages it more. When employees just reflexively say "no" the next time you need something, just think about how jaded they've become being pummeled with stuff like this. No one likes to tell people no (at least no one who you want working in a hospitality industry), it's an unpleasant part of the job.

I always try to respect employees, never asking for stuff like this. I consider it rude to do so. Unfortunately, as a result of my considerate behavior, I get the short end of the stick because some of the above tactics succeed. Shame.

That's why I generally don't ask......there have been times when I've gotten upgraded....more often than not, though it is due to other issues, such as dirty room, noisy, smoke smelling, etc. I had a number of issues at the Chateau Champlain a few years back (pre strike......and funny, I visitied during the strike, but was not staying)...wound up in a HUGE suite..my mom and I had been nice throughout, but told the manager we were going to leave...she said please look at one more room!

I just wish that marriott would actually respect their repeat guests! (And stop charging for internet in FS!!!!)

I would very, very much argue the reverse of this statement, but we will have to agree to leave it at that point lest we take this thread somewhere it doesn't need to go.

Absolutely nothing wrong with complaining about a problem!

I get concierge floors at FS Marriotts & Rens at least 80% of the time (without asking), and that is an acceptable percentage to me. Suites are rare - maybe twice a year. At CY's it's not gonna be anything more than the water & cookies! And granted, SPG is substantially better in upgrades.

But in the end, that is the slate I receive from Marriott, and I make my purchase decisions based on that basic expectaion of how they deliver on their product, as it should be. If a particular property has a bad track record over time, I simply do whatever I can to avoid it.

Also nothing wrong with asking questions if you think something is wrong with the reservation -- i.e., you show up and they act like they don't have your information and ask you to fill out a registration card w/ your name, address etc. That is a point where I start asking if they have all my info, reservation, MR status, etc.

USirritated and HeadInTheClouds - what you are both missing in this (although US alluded to it) is not whether asking is rude or not rude - it is that there should be no reason to have to ask.

For whatever reasons, it does seem as if the front desk staff are not well trained on the various aspects of the check in procedures that are even slightly out of the norm. If you read FT, a consistent theme across the threads include improper posting of PP's or BB's, improperly processed BOGO's, forgotten plat gifts, and (I guess, after reading this thread) upgrades.

I have never asked for an upgrade, figuring if they had one, I would get it. Obviously, based on reading these posts, I am naive in that beleif. But I don't agree that it is makes it hard on the staff if I were to ask- they are NOT telling me I can't have it, they are saying there isn't one available for me to have. Big difference in my book.

You hear few of these complaints with Ren - so I think they occur far less in that part of the chain. Is their training program so superior? Do they have less turnover? Is their scheduling budget for training higher? SOMETHING is different, and if Marriott could capture that and carry it over to the FS, a lot of these issues would disappear.