You used the word "taters", that made my day

Is that the one on 28/Waxpool by the Ferrari Dealer? If so I've never been at that one as it looks huge. Then again I dont' have much reason to stay there either since I live right by there LOL; its fairly new though. I would guess less than 3 years old. Just curious, how do you know its a corp vs franchise. I can never tell unless they have the franchise sign up near the FD.

which Hyatt were you referring to that charges that for parking?

Dulles > Free parking
Fair Lakes > Free parking
Reston > Free parking

those are the three that I know of near IAD

The Chicago Marriott Mag mile has closed the concierge on the weekend and like another poster said above at the SFO Marriott, body wash and mouth wash are gone. Bottled water is down to a tiny bottle.
The Renaisssance Northbrook in Northbrook, IL is only open for Breakfast....they have shut it down for evening appetizers and instead give appetizer coupons for the restaurant that are only good between 4-6! I dont know about you all but I am rarely back to the hotel by 6pm to use these things......

Ok folks, we've been whining and complaining about this for nearly 6 months now (remember that it took us a few month to catch on...).

This wasn't an announced "exciting new change" (meaning devaluation) but a sneaky "lets hope they don't notice" change to a routine that affects us all.

The lounge and its ancillary benefits attracted me to back to the FS model for the past 4 years when my own common sense told me that places like Homewood Suites and Residence Inns were a better fit at lower rates.

So I've spend 6 nights in a FS Marriott this year and the rest elsewhere (my travel has not diminished in this "poor" economy").

This is how I've chosen to react. I do hope the mouthwash and food savings will offset the 100 nights revenue formerly exclusive to Marriott FS/REN properties.

The Renaisssance Northbrook lounge had evening appetizers last week (4/6- 4/9). Is this new? It wouldn't be a surprise... I had heard a rumor that breakfast service was going to be cut back also...

I'm wondering if only US properties are affected by all of this?

I recently stayed in JW Marriott Grosvenor House, London and Marriott Cologne, Germany and their lounges were both open on the weekends (incl. breakfast, snacks, open bar etc.).

Next week I'm flying to Berlin, staying in the Marriott for 4 nights, inlcuding the weekend and according to the website the lounge there is also open Sat/Sun.

Lounge service at the Renaissance Shelbourne (Dublin) (which Marriott's website describes as a "5-star luxury hotel") has been eviscerated. According to posts in various threads, service has been eliminated on weekends, multiple daily food presentations have been reduced to the usual, and food and refreshments have been lowered to what one would expect at the Dayton Marriott (no disrespect to the property or to Dayton). Prior to this shortsighted decision, the Shelbourne maintained the finest concierge lounge service and presentations of any concierge/executive lounge I've experienced anywhere.

I stayed the 14-19th and the appetizers were back although I never got to eat....breakfast was available again but did not have extras for re-fills.

website stating they are open are totally useless

properties are not updating them

if its a good thing>they update quickly

if its a negative>they forget

I am at the Marriott San Jose. I have not visited this property in probably 3 mos. time. The Concierge Lounge hasn't been open on weekends for some time, but on check in last evening I learned no breakfast for Platinums now. Instead they are giving Platinums free internet. I felt sorry for the very professional check in staff who apologized.

I checked with the Marriott in Berlin and it has been confirmed to me that the lounge is open also on the weekends with no limitations in the service or food/beverage offerings. I'm there from Thursday - Sunday and it's my first time at the Marriott as I usually stayed either in the Hyatt or Ritz Carlton. I will report back with my experience.

Sorry to hear the Ren AMS stay didn't go well. DW and I spent one night there two weeks ago and were treated quite well. Got an early check-in (10 am) and caught a quick nap before going out. That evening the concierge even took us outside, through the alleyway to show us the route he recommended we take to get to the restaurant we were looking for.

We also spent a night at the AMS Renaissance a couple of weeks ago. We checked in fairly early ( around 10:00 am or so), the front desk person was very nice and we got a room right away. The next day they let us have a 3:00pm check out (may have been Plan benefit). They did not upgrade us to Executive Floor but we did have a nice room and Executive Lounge privileges (again, Plat benefit). Michael in the EL was terriffic, attentive and helped us get dinner reservations for that night.

We had just spent 4 nights at the AMS Marriott and if we went back we would choose to stay at the Marriott over the Renaissance because we prefer the location better. We were upgraded to a room on the Executive Floor at the Marriott.

I too recall that the MR Cologne CL was well stocked with the usual food items. No lack of alcoholic beverages in the evening.

This post is relevant to a number recent threads, but I guess I'll stick it here. I'm staying at what I used to consider an excellent f/s property. Occupancy is very low this weekend.

The sign in the C-lounge indicates appetizers 5-7 and desert 7-9 on Sunday evening. From 5-9, the only food in the lounge was a basket of granolas bars, and there was no attendant. On previous stays, they had an attendant and a typical evening spread.

I went looking for a newspaper this morning and came up empty. An associate said she'd hook me up and eventually handed me a newspaper that somebody else already read while eating b'fast. On previous stays, there was a large stack of papers near the front desk and in the restaurant on Sunday morning.

I just got back from the gym about an hour ago. They have lockerrooms with showers but no towels and no shampoo/soap, unless you count the used bar of soap in one of the showers. On previous stays, they had a shelf filled with towels and soap.

I worked out for about an hour. Most of that time, there were 3 children under the age of 6 playing with the equipment while a parent chatted with a friend and on the phone. No Marriott associate came anywhere near the gym (or the pool) during this hour. On previous stays, there was a gym attendant.

I guess I should also mention that housekeeping rather noticably failed to clean the toilet before I checked in.