If King is your standard request and king is on the reservation and there is a king in the system, what is the benefit to the hotel/front desk clerk of denying you a king initially upon check in? This seems to happen a lot (after reading through this thread). Who are they saving them for?

Glad to say that I have yet to invoke the guarantee-clause.

Some Courtyards have a limited number of rooms with King beds. One I was at recently had no King rooms period, but I knew this at the time of reservation. (Can't remember where, but it was a beach location and probably a CY.)

I stay at the same CY roughly every two weeks. My profile lists King preference, but I never get an upgrade to a King room. Should I complain? Technically, yes. Does it matter to me? No, since the hotel generally tries to take care of me otherwise.

Are you talking about getting an upgrade to a King suite room or just a room with a king bed in it? If the former, I have found that CYs don't normally upgrade me on their own. But I have had excellent results asking about getting an upgrade to a suite room when I check in. (Remember, a suite upgrade is not really part of the listed elite benefits.)

If your talking about getting a king bed, then I don't consider that an "upgrade" per se,. That is your room preference and as a Marriott Plat, you should always get your room preference. If not, then you might want to ask about that guarantee (and the cash in hand they would have to give you if they don't put you in a king room.) You do need to make sure that your reservation shows that you requested a king bed. Then just print out a copy of the reservation showing that request and you will be good to go.

My preference is listed as "king/queen" on Marriott's web page (how can you actually choose just king, anyway?). Bed preference is top priority in my profile. When my reservation is made by my agent, it usually comes up as 2 doubles, and hotel #1 (CY) usually just puts me in a room with two beds. They do have kings available, but I never push the issue. And, it's a hassle to try to change it online, as the local corporate rate I am given needs to be input by the hotel.

With the same profile, here are my experiences, at three CY's I visit frequently:

CY#1 - always given 2 doubles
CY#2 - always upgraded to king (and mentioned as an upgrade at check-in)
CY#3 - always upgraded to king suite (unless unavailable, which is rare)

I never push the issue about getting my room preference with hotel #1, as technically they are fulfilling what's in my profile. Like I said in my previous post, they generally try to take care of me otherwise.

It sounds to me like your Travel Agent may be asking for rooms with 2 beds rather than a king. When a reservation is made, your profile is the default, but if you or your TA ask for something different, that will over-ride your profile.

I have been traveling for years staying at most every Marriott chain and have never had any issues with getting a king bed. I would suggest that before your next trip, get online and check what your reservation shows. If it is a king bed, then as a Plat, the hotel must provide you with a king bedroom*, or provide you with cash in hand (the amount depends on the chain you are checking in for. It is $100 if you are at a FS hotel and I think it is $50 at a CY.) If your reservation shows 2 doubles, then you probably need to have a conversation with your TA.


*This assumes the hotel has rooms with king beds. Some RIs don't have any rooms with king beds. They have Queens as the largest bed type. In that case, they would have to provide you with a Queen room.

I've always been somewhat confused to the amount that the guarantee provides. I know it's $100.00 for both full service Marriott or a Renaissance Inn, $50.00 for the CY's and $25.00 for a Fairfield. But where do the Residence Inns, Springhill Suites and TownePlace Suites fall? I've assumed they were $25.00 because the arrival gift of 200 points is similar to the Fairfield but it's only a guess. Also, does the guarantee provide the same compensation whether it's a bed type not being honored verses a not receiving plat arrival ammenity?

Thanks in advance

The cash amounts for RIs and SHSs are $50. TPS has a $25 guarantee. These amounts also applies for room type guarantees.

I have only ever tried to invoke a platinum guarantee once, at a courtyard that didn't give me my arrival gift. The manager insisted it didn't apply because I booked the reservation on less than 24-hours notice. I checked the terms, found no such limitation, and called the plat line. They agreed, but were only able to get 50% of the compensation for me after calling the hotel. I've never bothered trying since, since the experience left a sour taste and I'd rather not be on bad terms with hotel management

I've always been curious about this since the guarantee terms say it needs to be noted on your reservation. Often when booking through a TA I'll end up with two double beds, since that is all the hotel is showing as available. Marriott.com shows in this case that the request is "noted, but not guaranteed" due to availability or something like that. I never could figure out if that was enough to satisfy the guarantee, since it seemed contradictory. I've had about a 50/50 rate of getting a King Bed anyway in those cases, and I've never cared enough to complain

I have invoked the guarantee four times at four different properties during the first year that I was platinum.

I actually let one property go because my status change occurred after I made my reservation. However, for the other ones, there was no excuse.

For one of them, it was with a CY, and the reservation was on short notice with points (about an hour before arrival). I told them at check-in that I would like them to place the gift in my room, and I would be back in about 13 hours. I came back, and the gift was not present. Later that morning, I went to invoke the guarantee. It took a while, but I got my $50.

Recently, there was one guy at the front desk who forgot to ask about my platinum welcome gift. After I got to the room, he called me and asked about my gift. I think good properties will train employees to take care of platinum guests.

There is a 24-hour clause for the room-type guarantee, so maybe the manager was confused (or possibly trying very hard to not have to pay out the guarantee.)


I don't think I have ever had any issues with my bed type. But one thing I do is even if a TA made the reservation, I go to marriott.com and access the reservation to make sure all the correct requests are noted. I have also seen a few times where the bedtype of listed as "requested" and not guaranteed. For those situations, I just call MR up and ask them about the bed-type guarantee, and every time they have modified my reservation to show it guaranteed.

Geez, after reading this thread I'm not sure if I should invoke the platinum amenity guarantee tomorrow morning. I did get a pretty nice suite upgrade (this time)...maybe I just talked myself out of asking.

Since I hit Premier staus last year, every property has offered both points & snacks/beverages. That's cool. I'd rather have more points than a sack of cookies, but I'm not complaining.

Upgrades to suites in CY are a lock, and nearly a slamdunk in most FS properties.

Maybe it's the properties I use, but it's like lights & sirens go off when I check-in because it's like they are waiting to throw goodies at me. I haven't scooped up any dough in lightyears. In those days, once I had left the FC or after the first night, if no ammenity was offered, I was counting 20 dollar bills.

I didn't write the rules, I just play by them.

Mike