Well, evidently the HOTELS are not reacting to that - need to be there next week, rates are high AND I am looking at hotel parking rates of $40per night! :mad:

thats to keep rln's buddies employed
isn't that our job according to rln

I agree w/ rln, too. It seems that a lot of FT'ers view travel as a zero-sum game.

Lord forbid if Marriott downsizes from a 16 oz bottle of H2O, to an 8 oz in order to save costs and increase -- or in this economy, maintain -- a profit.

Obviously, there is some secret capitalist conspiracy at work behind the scenes.

It seems we lose sight of the big picture that Marriott et al are trying to make a profit, and there is a human element that suffers (the employees) when they're not able to make a profit.

But, don't dare give me a smaller bottle of shampoo!

You mean like packaging up worthless mortgages and selling them as an unregulated thing called CDOs as if they had value. :eek:

1. most (can't say all LOL) of us might complain about the water, shampoo etc but I doubt we'd leave marriott for that.. at least that had no role in my reason.. its about the b/f.. the lounges etc.. those are much bigger reasons

2. you still need to address why SPG, hyatt, Hilton etc haven't had to go to the extremes marriott has.. its all fine and dandy to say what you are saying but its the same effing picture that SPG, Hyatt and Hilton have to look at as well and they aren't doing this.. please explain

Apparently you didn't feel the same when it came to airlines providing small bottles of water.

"That's good to hear, I flew F last fall when they first started the service, and they didn't offer even a small bottle of water, or take our coats.
Hopefully they caught on, or maybe it was just a diligent FA (or a non-diligent FA on my flight)?"

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...l#post11387371

Bingo! That's what rln & the others aren't addressing even though a # of us have asked the question. The other chains ARE facing the same economic situation but have chosen (right or wrong btw, but presumably they think it's right) to not decrease the bennies, yet Marriot does.

Cheers.

nice catch ohmark ^

I love it when these people are caught talking out of both sides of their mouth, this guys street cred is shot completely now :td:

Long time ago, way too many years than I'd care to admit to, but this discussion causes the rusty areas of my brain to function a little bit.

I seem to recall a lecture or reading something to the effect that some (certainly not all) business leaders, in the midst of the great depression, bucked the trend and actually took the chance to risk some cash in order to maintain their businesses and be ready when, invariably, conditions imporoved.

The one I'm thinking of in particular was TJ Watson, Sr. of IBM, who although he had to effect some economies managed to keep just about all his employeees on the (somewhat) reduced payroll while the company built (and stored) what I'd call early versions of what becae known as data processing equipment.

The result was that when the govertnment let out bids for equipment to be utilized in the 1940 census IBM was the only outfit that could meet required specs and timetables'

The rest was history (although much of the company's success was rightly, in later years attributed to his son who took had to wrest control of the company from the elder Watson).

I know there are "blanks" in this story but the discussion os of SPG's and others' rezction to the current crisis joggled my memory.

Anyone who wants to correct the above, add/delete/update, go right ahead, you're probably right.;

To Sharon (and others) who keep posing the Starwood comparisons: I keep answering the only way I can:

(1) It may be impossible to compare between companies. Threads on the Starwood site indicate that some full service properties offer nada - no lounge and no breakfast vouchers. Some posts here indicate that some Marriott properties are, in the opinion of posters, "bucking the trend."

(2) Lounge advocates have won a major victory! The Stanford Court is fixing to open a lounge! Don't think the offerings will include the raspberry lemon souffle pancakes, though. Would this also be considered a downgrade since, up till now, you were given a voucher which you could turn in for the property's signiture (and often copied throughout the Marriott universe) item?

(3) I have no idea what Starwood (and others) might be cutting to "enhance" their benefits. If they are cutting back on employee hours, I would not like it. Me having breakfast on the cuff isn't equal to a family hurting when the breadwinner's paycheck - not great to begin with - is diminished. We don't have perfect knowlege because we don't have access to the books. I prefer that Marriott properties, already cutting at the bone, not be forced to saw away some more in order to restore some of the "fat" to the lounges. Marriott is not the federal government and - to stimulate the legion of lounge fans - can't simply print more money.

as will I and no sense calling out just one FT'er when the vast majority of the posts (sans two others) keep rebutting you the same way each and every time and I'm no different; I will rebut your arguments each and every time

until we see where SPG is cutting back (and I don't doubt they are) then its almost impossible to say; but if their cutbacks are invisible to me;then I have no issues with them. ditto for Hyatt and for me a lesser extent hilton and priority club and goldpoints

good for them; are they going to be open on the weekend? I'd rather have the lounge if open on the weekends although I surmise not all would think that way

I hope you are driving a GM,Chrysler or Ford; I hope you are going to buy a house today, I hope you are going to go visit all your local stores and buy stuff just to keep families employed. I will argue again, that SPG, Hyatt and Hilton are keeping people employed with their lounges open on the weekend so your consistant rants in support of Marriott's bonehead customer service moves are costing more jobs than the others. Until you have evidence of the opposite; I will stand by this. In the end it doesn't matter, its not my job to keep them employed. the chain is not providing me a service that I desire, similar competitors are and therefore I will go there. I am not the federal govt either and I am not going to provide welfare or stimulus to the Marriott workers either by staying somewhere that does not want my biz nor does it provide services that I desire

what you call fat, I call a necessity if you want my business. to each his own.

now to check out of the SPG and to head to LAX to take my AA first class flight home and put some more marriott employees out of work. Oh my I must be putting WN employees out of work too by not flying them b/c they don't have F class. shame on me :rolleyes:

But I'm still getting a damn nice suite upgrade with Starwood.


The best thing you've posted on this thread.

To TrojanHorse: I didn't "call out" anyone - I was simply answering a question posed directly to me by someone else. Absolutely no offense was intended.

If you could care less about cuts Starwood might be making and there impact on others as long as you get your precious breakfast and whatever else you think you deserve, it tells me excactly where you are coming from and that you or I will never agree. In the "real world" (and I know you hate to have the "real world" intrude upon this thread, I believe you know how most people would see this debate and whose world view they would agree with.

GO HUSKIES

What do I want from SPG > 1. Lounge 2. Suite
I get both quite often (>75%)

yes I can see we will never agree

I'm sure SPG is making cuts; no question about that. What I can't really see is where those cuts are. IMHO, those are the kind of cuts that help SPG in turn get revenue. They get mine and a lot of others (even from Marriott patrons) which in turn should help SPG keep more of their employees working

but it really does come down to 1. what is the best return on my dollars spent and 2. I'm not the federal stimulus plan. I pay enough tax as it is to fund my share of the feds stimulus plan. I don't need to be hit up twice which is what you are asking a lot of us to do; i think these two points are much closer to the real world than anything you have said

your right...Bill Marriott personally held a gun to the buyers head and forced them to buy them