UALOneKPlus

I noticed this year, when staying at Courtyards, Towneplace Suites, etc., the pillows are extremely thin and unsupportive. I have been forced to fold towels under the pillows to avoid getting a migraine when sleeping on those thin pillows.

I was at a Courtyard recently, and upon getting on an elevator, noticed the couple in the elevator were checking out and had their own pillows on the luggage cart. They went to the local store and bought pillows to use while staying at the hotel because the hotel pillows were so awful.

Is this a general trend amongst some Marriott brands now, to use the flimsiest pillows possible? I have never had this issue traveling in the last 20 years until this year, and it's happened repeatedly at several Marriott brands. I switched to a Hampton Inn during a recent trip and the Hampton Inn pillows were so much better than Marriott. Despite being Marriott lifetime elite, I may have to switch to Hilton if this is a trend with Marriott.

KingCanute

Did you ask reception / housekeeping for some extra pillows? You may already be aware that you can also request these before arriving in the "choose room features" section of the reservation. That’s a "request only" but I have it set up to request extra feather pillows for all reservations and always find there are extra pillows in the room when I arrive (and some of them are usually feather).

sfozrhfco

It seems to be more hotel specific than the chain. There does seem to be a downward trend on pillow quality at some hotels. The Sheraton Boston is one that has terrible pillows but I have had perfectly fine pillows at other Sheratons.

UALOneKPlus

Yes I did ask for extra pillows and they provided several of the same flimsy pillows, even though I asked for a foam pillow or something more substantial.

nequine

I'd love thin or at least harder pillows! The ones I seem to encounter in the UK Marriott hotels mean you either get a crooked neck because the pillow height is too high (I usually use 2 pillows) or I'm reduced to using 1 and it means I feel my head is too low.

stuartpig

I agree. Marriott pillows used to be excellent. Now they are puffs of air and flatten when your head is on them. Then they slide about if you have two. I have to fold over the long ones and yes I have put cushions and towels under them.

Dr. HFH

Not all Marriott properties. I haven't experienced this at LC or StR properties.

I would think that this is more a function of the material that the pillowcase is made from than the loft of the pillow.

stvr

In my experience Fairfield, courtyard, residence inn, and towneplace all use the same bedding and it just isn’t in the same league (much worse) relative to other brands in the comp set like Hyatt Place or even Holiday Inn Express. I know it’s a big weakness for Marriott but scale scale scale

ElevatorEnthusiast

I rarely have issues at full-service Marriott properties with pillow quality - at a similar level, I find Hyatt Regency pillows to be more problematic as they can sometimes be far too firm.

The Road Goes On Forever

More and more limited service brands across all chains are moving away from feather pillows (cost and guest allergy concerns) towards polyester fiber/poly-synth blend pillows. Back in the day, most pillows on a bed at those types of properties were all feather. Now the "official" company guidance for what should be on a bed at check in is at best 2:2 or 3:1 in favor of the poly blend but quite often no one is checking things, so it'll be a random hodge-podge of whatever the housekeeper grabs.