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Hotel not open by reservation date; moved to Hampton Inn

Hotel not open by reservation date; moved to Hampton Inn

Old Sep 17, 2018, 6:39 pm
  #1  
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Hotel not open by reservation date; moved to Hampton Inn

Has anyone ever had a Marriott property cancel your reservation and move you to a Hilton property? I had booked a room at the Renaissance Des Moines, but 5 days before I was set to check in, I received an email from the hotel saying they were moving me to a Hampton Inn. The email said the hotel was under construction and wouldnt be ready in 5 days.

Ive been trading email with the hotel about booking me at one of the other Marriott properties in downtown Des Moines, but theyve been slow to respond and havent made any changes after 4 days (scheduled to check in tomorrow). Im lifetime platinum premier and when I called the Platinum line, the guy seemed lost in trying to help me.

Has anyone else had Marriott move them to a Hilton property? Ive been pretty frustrated with Marriotts lack of a response with this. Do you think it is out of line to ask Marriott to give me the points and night stayed credits for the 2 nights?
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 7:10 pm
  #2  
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Going from a Renaissance to a Hampton Inn is a serious downgrade. You should invoke the ultimate reservation guarantee. They should move you to an equivalent property. What they're doing is basically like sticking you in a Fairfield Inn.
Is the Ren paying for your stay at the Hampton, or are they expecting you to pay the same (probably higher) rate that you would've if at the Ren?

Try calling Marriott customer service again... even though its gone down the crapper. Maybe you'll get a better agent. Or if not ask to get escalated.

Fyi the ultimate reservation guarantee is:
"If for some reason we’re unable to honor your reservation, we’ll pay for your accommodations that night at a nearby hotel and compensate you for the inconvenience. To be eligible, you must provide your Marriott Rewards membership number when making a reservation."

For a Renaissance, that is $200 and 90k points.
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 7:13 pm
  #3  
 
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I am impressed you managed to reach someone in customer service... I don't think it is unreasonable to ask for the points and credit, certainly airlines do that if they move you to a different airline.

Of course I have an incredibly low opinion of Marriott these days and it feels to me like anyone in customer service is overworked, underinformed and powerless to do anything. But it's certainly not unreasonable to ask for this.

On a side note. check the Hampton in rates and how they compare to yours.
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 8:46 pm
  #4  
 
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Originally Posted by Eric_sean
Has anyone ever had a Marriott property cancel your reservation and move you to a Hilton property? I had booked a room at the Renaissance Des Moines, but 5 days before I was set to check in, I received an email from the hotel saying they were moving me to a Hampton Inn. The email said the hotel was under construction and wouldn’t be ready in 5 days.
The Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel closed more than two years ago for a one-year renovation. Its reopening has been postponed several times.

I had a 2-night reservation at the Renaissance Savery a few months ago (June). The Renaissance moved my reservation to the new Hilton Des Moines Downtown, two or three blocks north of the Renaissance. The Des Moines Marriott Downtown was sold out, so that was not an option.

The Ultimate Reservation Guarantee did not apply. According to the current Loyalty Program Terms & Conditions, "A Participating Property must be open and operational for the Ultimate Reservation Guarantee benefit/compensation to apply." (The rules were similar or the same back in June.) The Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel was neither open nor operational — and still isn't.

I paid the same amount to the Hilton as I would have paid for the Renaissance — except that the Hilton has an additional mandatory charge because it's attached to the Iowa Events Center, so I think I paid an additional $10 or $20 compared to the Renaissance. The Renaissance picked up an additional $100 or so per night because the rate at the Hilton was higher.

Before my stay, I asked the Renaissance to (1) provide Rewards points as though I had stayed at the Renaissance, (2) arrange lounge access at Hilton because I would have had it at the Renaissance, and (3) provide Elite qualifying nights as though I had stayed at the Renaissance. The Renaissance was able to provide 1 and 2, but not 3.

I joined Hilton Honors so that would have free Internet.

I liked the Hilton very much. On the minus side, with no Hilton Honors status, I had the most basic room type at the Hilton, compared to the nice Platinum upgrades that I've always received at the Renaissance Savery in the past. On the plus side, the Hilton lounge breakfast was better than the Renaissance Savery lounge breakfast that I've had in the past.

Overall, I was happy. The Renaissance Savery handled it well.

I doubt I would have been as happy if I had been booked at the Hampton Inn & Suites Des Moines Downtown, even though it seems like a very nice Hampton Inn. It's a longer walk to Downtown, although it's close to Court Avenue and El Bait Shop.

The new opening date fro the Renaissance Savery is October 22, 2018. We'll see!

Last edited by Horace; Sep 18, 2018 at 3:25 pm
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Old Sep 17, 2018, 9:06 pm
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Heck, depending on the specific Hampton, I might prefer that to the Renaissance. But I guess if you have all those elite benefits you crave . . . .
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Old Sep 18, 2018, 12:13 am
  #6  
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If there's no space in a downtown full service property, ask to be booked into the Hyatt Place. It's downtown, roughly between the Marriott and the Renaissance/Hilton, and is located in a renovated historic building, with heated indoor pool, valet parking, etc. There are some suites (with full kitchens too) in the building, as well as some higher category rooms, so it's not at all like a typical HP.
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Old Sep 18, 2018, 6:00 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by Horace
The Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel closed more than two years ago for a one-year renovation. Its reopening has been postponed several times.

...

The new opening date fro the Renaissance Savery is October 22, 2018. We'll see!
So, the title of the thread should actually be "Hotel Not Open Yet After Renovations - Proactively Moves Me to Another Nearby Hotel ^"
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Old Sep 18, 2018, 10:59 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
So, the title of the thread should actually be "Hotel Not Open Yet After Renovations - Proactively Moves Me to Another Nearby Hotel ^"
+1^. Pretty misleading existing thread title. Of course, the correct thread title won't be as eye-catching.

Last edited by TerryK; Sep 18, 2018 at 11:11 am
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Old Sep 18, 2018, 11:12 am
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
So, the title of the thread should actually be "Hotel Not Open Yet After Renovations - Proactively Moves Me to Another Nearby Hotel ^"
This is probably more accurate: "Hotel Not Open Yet After Renovations - Proactively Moves Me to Another Nearby CRAPPIER Hotel"

While I'm much higher statused at Hilton than Marriott, I do not equate Hampton Inns with a Renaissance. Hamptons don't have a restaurant or room service - things that I would likely want if I choose a full-service hotel in the first place. OP should probably request to be relocated to another full service hotel in the area.
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Old Sep 18, 2018, 12:32 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by AtomicLush
This is probably more accurate: "Hotel Not Open Yet After Renovations - Proactively Moves Me to Another Nearby CRAPPIER Hotel"

While I'm much higher statused at Hilton than Marriott, I do not equate Hampton Inns with a Renaissance. Hamptons don't have a restaurant or room service - things that I would likely want if I choose a full-service hotel in the first place. OP should probably request to be relocated to another full service hotel in the area.
The problem is that there aren't many "full service" hotels in the area. AFAIK in addition to the Ren, downtown has a Marriott (which doesn't look very good to me, but I've never been inside) and the new Hilton convention hotel. [I think the Marriott is a convention hotel too.]

As I suggested above, given the lack of choice, my pick would be the HP.

There are also some suburban hotels in West Des Moines, IIRC including an atrium style Sheraton which IMO isn't very good. It's a long way from downtown and really has nothing walkable nearby.
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