I observed this at the Renaissance Suites ORD this past week - I was definitely disappointed to find it closed when I got there.. even though the sign said it was open on Sunday nights, it was locked up and the front desk confirmed that it was closed on Sunday nights.

Trim costs..fine, but does it have to be so obvious????? And whatever happened to consistency?? Oh that's right...there isn't any!!!

Sounds precisely the same as a Days Inn or Econolodge breakfast.

I figured I'd check out the afternoon offerings at the Atlanta Marroitt Marquis. IMO, they cut back much more on the afternoon offering than the morning offering

For those who have never been to the Marquis, there are usually 4 countertops in use for the CL at the Marquis. The far one contains coffee, tea, and a refrigerator for cold drinks. The counter across from that has two hot plates and a large cold plate. Then there are two additional counter tops: one with another two hot plates and another cold plate, and then one, closest to the entrance, used to just hold room temperature items.

For the past year, the lounge always used all 4 countertops and contained:
coffee, tea, soda, water
4 different hot options
2-3 cold options (salad, pita & hummus etc)
Fresh mozzerella and tomato with Garlic Crostini
Fruit
selection of rolls, crackers, cheese and meats.

Last night:
coffee, tea, soda, water
1 hot item on two different hot plates
crackers and 2 large Blocks of Cheese

Two of the countertops were not in use for items, and the honor bar was set up on one of them instead of being on a separate cart

Just a report, but there is definitely cost cutting in progress at the lounges.

I noticed this at the Houston Marriott last week. They only offered cheese, crackers and veggies and dip in the evening. The dessert only consisted of oatmeal raisin cookies (they used to have some type of cake and two or three different types of cookies). The breakfast in the morning did not include eggs or the usual deli meats and cheeses, just hot oatmeal, cereal, a few bagels, but no muffins or pastries. They also did not have any OJ. When I asked the attendant if they had any orange juice she said they were no longer offering it in the concierge lounge , but she would be happy to call room service and have them bring some up (I assumed I would have to pay so I declined). I spoke to the front desk manager and he said they were cutting back on freebies in the CL lounge to help reduce overall costs at the hotel, so they eliminated the most expensive items served there. When I asked what other changes would be made, he said free soft drinks may be eliminated as well and the hours the CL is open would be reduced. When I asked if this was just his hotel, he said, "We all take our directions from Mr. Marriott in Washington, so you should see similar cuts at other Marriotts. "

Marriott made similar changes to the Residence Inn breakfast and evening offerings earlier this year which they said was to improve consistency, but they also cut the quality and quantity of items offered and reduced the hours food was available.

One of the main reasons I give my business to Marriott is for access to the concierge lounge so I can grab a soft drink or something to munch on when I am too busy working. If Marriott takes away or reduces this benefit, I will stay else where.

RIP...

FWIW, me too.

Definitely seeing the cutbacks. Its hard to justify paying and staying at a FS if this continues. I've even seen access to the refrigerator holding the waters and sodas go behind the scenes and you have to (usually) ask for a one.

Just penny wise and pound foolish IMO.

Thanks for the responses. I understand that cuts will need to be made, and even that I won't like some of them. This wouldn't be the one that I chose, as it is a major differentiator (but I wouldn't have made the rewards program changes either). For some reason, it is better from my angle if local hotels are making the decisions instead of a corporate directive.

Greg

Oh, and it was the Santa Clara Marriott.

So, it appears now that Marriott and Ren concierge lounge breakfasts = Fairfield Inn breakfasts (except that at Fairfield you can make waffles and sometimes you get Jimmy Dean sandwiches).

Thanks. If you don't mind me asking, which Houston Marriott is this? When you look at all of the cutbacks here in total - its a pretty significant amount. I want to be sure to avoid thisproperty. Also, I find it hard to believe that orange juice has now been eliminated from morning service in CL - this may come as a shock to someone at that hotel, yet many drink oj instead of coffee.

This really is becoming a bit much.

Very well stated. I totally agree. As a Platinum Premier, I really don't appreciate all of these cutbacks.

...RI changes. This year was my first year experiencing the Marriott properties. I had been very used to the Homewood Suites as that was the property that I stayed at most w/the Hilton chain. So when I walked into my first RI, I couldn't believe how much it had resembled Homewood Suites. I thought if I had blindfolders on, I wouldn't know the difference. Well, that was not true. The "spread" was night/day. Then on top of that, the new policy came down that a light meal would only be served Monday through Wednesday (no more Thursdays) and some RIs even had one of those 3 nights as a "Sports Night." What this meant was pretzels, fake cheese and nachos. Not every property, I'm sure. One night we went in and there was this crockpot and it had Chef Boyardee Ravioli in it.....that's it. Nothing else, no cheese, no crackers, nodda.

I learned EARLY on that there is a HUGE difference between the Homewood Suites and the RI, even if the rooms are basically identical. There is a world of difference in the food they serve. Homewood Suites goes above and beyond in that category in most cases.

Dawn

Wow, that is a major difference from what the Marriott Atlanta Marquis CL used to serve. Major downgrade, IMO.

Downtown Hartford marriott is not offering oatmeal. Nor eggs, for that matter. This is the first Marriott CL in years I've come across that did not have oatmeal.

I have made it to lifetime platinum - achieved (with the exception of two nights at a Spokane Fairfield) on short "pleasure trips" almost exclusively at full service Marriotts and Renaissances. I'm fairly low maintenance - to the point of sometimes passing offered suites to unsuspecting golds or silvers (always figured it was good PR for Marriott to do so). I concluded that the recent changes weren't that bad in light of the ease of earning tons of bonus and promotion points. Marriott might have simply chosen to keep the redemption rates current and base points simply on actual revenue spent. I am, however, a little bit distressed by this change. I do try to dine at most of the properties I stay in. Still, I have always had my day considerably brightened to stumble across a lounge that goes above and beyond the norm. It is the occasional offering of crab cakes, eggs benedict or the like which I make a point of telling my friends about (even though I don't eat eggs, its kinda nice to see them offered gratis.) If this is a new corporate directive, I guess its a matter of lowering expectations. The Courtyards and Fairfield Inns I've stayed at recently always seem to offer freshly baked cookies in the evening. This trumps cold oatmeal raisin cookies sometimes found in the lounges. It just seems that the full service property offerings should be better than what you find at a Fairfield - and from the discussion above, nothing now available at a full service Marriott matches the sausage in a pancake found at the Tuscaloosa Fairfield.