All-

I am Marriott Gold (Platinum in 3 weeks) and thought I would check with the experts. My primary hotels are Marriott Louisville Downtown and Marriott Amherst, NY (I know not exactly on the top of anyones vacation list)

It seems when I check in (especially in Louisville) they are set on giving me one of the worst rooms in the place. It seems I am always offered adjoining rooms or rooms right next to the elevator (profile requests far from elevator). Plus, out of 20+ stays as gold I can count on two fingers the number of times I have been on the CL. Tonight I declined the adjoining room and asked for a room on the CL level and voila got it- hotel is almost empty. Question is this- does Marriott factor status at all in room assignments? Or am I just staying in hotels that do not care? Or am I expecting too much out of Gold?

I have 50,000 points to go to reach my target and am considering switching to Hyatt or Hilton. I just do not feel like the two properties care about my business.

I would say I searched for an answer to this, but don't even know where to begin.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

PS. To the oatmeal poster- I am addicted to it too.

Seems odd, but I'd blame it on the property. Gold should get you CL without asking. Lots of stays in a given hotel usually more so.

If you have the bookable nights and are interested, Hyatt is running a double-stay credit deal (not double-night credit) till the end of March. 13 stays is now worth 26 and gets you Diamond. I would have said Marriott was more consistent, but Hyatt has better resort deals and the FFN thing is the mother of all promos.

You should always have CL access, regardless of where your room is, as a gold or platinum member. If you are denied CL access, you should be able to invoke the elite guarantee for access to CL by demanding the $100 cash behind the guarantee. This guarantee applies at all FS properties, excluding resorts, on weekdays.

I am surprised that you have been treated so poorly, given your frequent stays at those properties. You should ask to speak to the GM or find alternative properties to stay. In my personal experience, I have gotten better treatment at the properties where I stay most often.

I rarely get on the CL floor - usually because there is a nicer room somewhere else or there are no Conceriege Level rooms available - but I always get lounge access on that floor.

If they forget (amost never happens to me) just remind them of your status.

Billy

As a silver, I can't speak about gold status, but 90% of properties I visit completely ignore my profile requests beyond "bed type." It makes me wonder why they bother creating these electronic "features" in the first place.

As a gold (and now plat) I 100% get the room type and bedding that is in my profile. Usually get the high floor, too. Usually.

Except for bed type-which is sometimes used as an anti upgrade lie(a Marriott specialty)the other preferences are never noted-pure BS.
If you do switch(which I urge you to do)make sure MI knows why you are taking your buisness elswhere.
Betcha Hyatt would love a shot at your 75 nights a year=see the Hyatt forum about getting a status Match.

My experience also with Louisville (although I don't frequent the property as you do.). When I saw my room assignment, I asked about being put on the concierge floor. The clerk told me that she couldn't at the rate I was on. When I asked why the plat upgrade wouldn't apply, she suddenly found another excuse.

I'm platinum, and obviously, YMMV, but it seems to me that when I return to a property, i get a "welcome back" from the check in person and find that they have pre-assigned a nice(r) room to me.

If they aren't doing that for you in either place, you should speak with the GM and ask about it...

I had this same issue at a Marriott and a Renaissance that I spent all of my nights at to reach Gold, and finally, Platinum. As a Gold member, I received a CL room only once, and never knew to request the CL. It wasn't until I became Platinum and started researching what the benefits of status were that I started pushing back on unsatisfactory rooms. At some point I concluded that my corporate rate influenced the room I was given more than my room preferences (Note: no need to challenge my conclusion; chalk it up as my opinion, researched or not and let's move on). When I became Platinum, I started receiving CL rooms, automatically, and the elevator or adjoining rooms have been few and far between.

Status means more at IC's and Starwood properties where RA's and Platinums actually get meaningful upgrades. I would encourage you to switch chains.

Marriott requires the most nights but doles out the least benefits.

Yes, but I'll happily choose a "standard" room in a reliably clean, safe property with consistently good customer service than a big, upgraded room at a chain where I never know what I'm going to get from one property to the next.

To be honest, I'm a marriott platinum and i don't notice any preferential treatment or anything. I might not stay at a marriott enough this year to keep my status, and i'm really not losing any sleep over it...

although, cool story... ONE time I did get upgraded to the presidential suite at the marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert, CA - one of the nicest marriott properties i've ever been to (if not the nicest!)

I checked in, and they were like, oh i see we have you staying in our presidential suite this weekend. I was like, um, yes... that's correct... Haha they later explained to me that they overbooked the hotel and that I was the only platinum there that weekend so they had to bump me. Darn!

Other than that, the platinum benefits aren't very... um... beneficial?

My repeat properties always take care of me, welcome me back, upgrade me to suites quite a bit, etc.

True - i get that experience as well- but i find that to be a bit more related to personal relationships than actual status - probably a combo of both.