A "Suite Coordinator"???
 

I need a suite for a res next weekend. I didn't want to deal with the "possible upgrade" situation, so was prepared to pay the additional cost.

Except...there were no suites listed. Not sure if it meant they were sold out, or just did not have suites, I called the plat res line. Who told me I would have to call the hotel directly & speak to the "suite coordinator". (who of course does not work on the weekend)

Not really wanting to have to deal with this on Monday, I asked about another FS - which is about 70 miles away. Same thing - sorry, no res possible, please call Mon and speak to the "suite coordinator."

Is this normal?

I have dealt with this before at various hotels, so yes, this is not out of the ordinary. A lot of hotels will only make reservations for suites through their own local reservation agents and you won't see the rooms listed with the online tool. I know that Hyatt does the same thing as well.

It happens all the time at all brands of hotels...basically, suites are often times held back at full-service hotel with a limited number of suites as they're sold to groups. Most transient customers don't book suites.

Often times presidential suites & larger conference room/sleeping room suites aren't even advertised.

I agree with the details posted by others here, but do find it frustrating that you can't book a suite on the weekend. Normally a front desk manager or similar person is empowered to handle these kinds of requests.

DJIceman - yes, perhaps I did not word my original post to reflect my actual thought process - which is more along the lines of " I don't understand why I cannot be told on the weekend whether a suite is available for the next weekend - and have to wait for a suite coordinator to return my phone call?"

Which has actually gotten worse as, although I left a message on Saturday, I have not yet received a call in return from the "suite coordinator." Perhaps the suite is booked, but still seems poor customer service; especially as I have 5 rooms booked at the hotel.:(

Or did have ....I cancelled them all and moved us to the hotel 70 miles away. Who had a manager who could give me an answer regarding availability, and so I did not have to wait for the "suite coordinator". :rolleyes:

Hi Sophie,

Did you send a letter to the first hotel letting them know why they lost your business? A letter like that might make them change their policy in the future.

I agree with you. God knows it's impossible to get a suite with an upgrade, but you should at least be able to PAY for one! :)

Safe Travels,
Matt

Matt - I did not send a letter. Instead, when I got my plat concierge welcome what can we do for you in advance email, I indicated in the comments "well, not too much because I have canceled this res, and 4 more, due to blah blah blah."

Who knows if that will get to anyone who matters - but I figured it had about as much chance as a letter does!

Even more interesting - I did not do that until this afternoon - when I still had not received a phone call from the suite cordinator. (more than 72 hours after leaving my message.)

I am the first person to stick up for Marriott with regards to service issues and errors - mistakes do happen. However, even I am coming up short on a possible explanation as to why it would take 72+ hours to return a phone call regarding a paid suite res! :rolleyes:

Nicely done, sophiegirl. As I repeatedly tell others (who never seem to listen, perhaps due to the rarified air up there in Pasadena), the only true way to speak and be heard is by voting with one's wallet.

As a fellow Marriott fan, however, who has also had occasion to actually pay for a suite, I do hope that you write a letter to Marriott corporate. The treatment you've received is inappropriate for any customer, let alone a platinum. They need to know that the process has broken down at that location.

I experienced a similar breakdown in customer service recently requiring me to make repeated phone calls to the hotel and leave multiple messages that were not returned, among other problems. Not the norm at Marriotts, but it does happen. So I asked for the email address of the manager, emailed him, and politely asked if he could make sure the matter was taken care of without me having to go through more rounds of attempted communication. He got right on top of it and the problem was solved and personnel were talked to about the breakdown in customer service. I was very impressed and this made up for the wasted time that I experienced. I always feel a bad experience is worth going thru if one can see some good for others will eventually come out of it.

Sophiegirl-this is rotten behaviour on the part of whomever is SUPPOSED to be handling "suite coordination"(whatever :rolleyes: )and you will be doing other customers-and MI a big favor by writing a letter to both the GM of the property and MI HQ.Of course you are not looking for compensation-but someone dropped the ball,and you were inconvenienced-and Marriott lost revenue because of an employees laziness.