Changes to Residence Inn "social hour"
 

It seems Marriott's Residence Inns have changed the social hour from four days a week to three days a week and it is just snacks. Just another cut back. I don't think they are going to up the rewards point for the cut back.

what location(s) are you referring too? can you be more specific?

Do you have a memo or something stating that ALL RIs are going to this, or is it perhaps just certain locations?

Cheers.

well, that totally sucks....

I'm at the RI Mission Valley San Diego tonight and they have the same "reception" they've had for a while. Beer, wine, light supper, salad, dessert. Nothing much has changed here...

actually it's not a cut..the total number of hours for the social each week remains the same but the difference is the social will last longer on the remaining nights allowing more guests to take advantage of it; in addition the food is now standardized - I believe most of you will agree this is a good thing (some hotels did a great job at the social while others left some room for improvement).....there is also an option for "upgraded" foods.....overall I do believe this is a plus for the brand which will have a minimal negative impact on a handful of guests but a significant improvement for a larger group of guests (this change has been in the works for sometime now and I'm sure MI has looked at it from all angles)

All

So, what is the "standardized" spread?

Personally, I always hated the light supper. I'm usually heading out to dinner later, so I'd much rather have the cheese & cracker / veggie tray sort of choices that the FS lounges offer. I know that RI's are popular with families, and eating supper at the social hour could save a full family $$$, but it still never made sense, since the spread is offered only during the week, not weekends when families are most likely to be travelling. (My $0.02).

Oh, and if it's 3 nights now, is that Mon-Wed, or Tue-Thu?

But how is this an improvement or even ststus quo if you are there the night that is "cut"? Iz he "cut" night always the same, i.e. Mondays?

M-W

It is suppose to be heavier

Of course there will always be different points of view but the thought process behind the change were that most people would see a benefit from the changes

I don't know about that. This sounds a lot like my benefits package at work each year. Each year at re-up time, they tell us they are "enhancing" the package with many new offerings and that these offerings are for our benefit. But what I see is that the costs go up, coverage goes down. :eek:

While I haven't seen the actual details, I'm wondering if there isn't a bit of "cost cutting" for Marriott involved. They will have one less night to cover the evening meals which means less cost in personnel, and will have "standard" offerings which means volume food deals and thus probably less cost.

I'm staying at a RI right now and it's 4 nights/week - the usual Mon-Thu, although Mondays it's just 2-3 varieties of chips.

I have stayed at this RI several times over the past 2 years and I've noticed things get worse and worse in terms of the social hour food. 2 years ago there would be lasagna, pizza,... you know, actual food. Now it's either some nasty canned soup (e.g. corn chowder - yuck!), inedible tuna or chicken salad... stuff like that. And now, chips on Mondays?!? And did I mention their rates went up ~25%?

:td: :td: :td: