stant

When wet 'n wild (the nations first water park) in orlando closed down I was there on the last day (newyears eve, at a waterpark!). I stayed till they closed and were kicking people out. When Emeril Lagasse's last resturaunt in orlando closed I was there the last day. All day long, I had two dinners actually. And I was the last guest out the door.

Even though I'm a fairly new poster here, and a pretty infrequent poster at that, I find myself coming to this SPG forum for the same sort of reasons. Am I the only one who is a bit sappy about the end of SPG?

Sabai

flying_geek

Like I wrote somewhere else, in terms of nights together, SPG was my 3rd longest relationship with a little over 3 years in nights ;-)

SPG - you will be missed

controller1

SPG will be missed. I would go out of my way and stay at an SPG property, even when it was more expensive, due to their Platinum benefits and loyalty program. I can't imagine that will continue as the benefits have been diminished somewhat and I believe that decrease will continue. It's a different management mindset.

kennycrudup

Luuuuke ...

frenchft

Very sad here... last night with SPG in a Sheraton and tomorrow is another day.
I want to be optimistic but the old good days are gone, even for plat 100... SPG was an amazing program and best CS in the industry... hope Marriott will not break everything !

colonius

Sad day, really - even though I have been mostly on the HHonors side of things for quite a while now. I have been with the program long enough to still have a 7-digit Sheraton number, at least until tomorrow. :-(

tfong007

Yeah, pretty sad day. Time sure flies.

etsmyers

I started this circus of business travel in 2005. Young and Naive, I was a Marriott guy. I earned MR Gold. Was treated like crap not once, but twice on reward stays (SanJuan and Aruba). Ironically, right after that, I earned Platinum when they still had the rolling calendar. My MRP was essentially going to be good for 18-20 months. I found our little slice of heaven and spread those 75-100 nights over HH, SPG and HGP. I was top tier in those 3 with SPG my preferred fav. Often was doing 120 night. Top tier mostly earned with stays not nights. SPG became my favorite. I felt they were proactive and CARED about us. I remember when ambassador was unofficial. If you liked the CSA, you asked their name and phone number and it worked. I made LTP 2 years ago thank god. Still love it. I am honestly not looking forward to Marriott cheapo behaviors. I have been in 3-5 properties this year, all FS, and really still not happy. Sure some may be nicer than most sheratons, but that sheraton upgraded me and gave me breakfast on weekends.

To say I am sad is an understatement

Points Scrounger

I came to the Starwood and Marriott game rather late, having gotten my Platinum American Express card not long before the merger.

​​​​One thing that was incredibly clear to me was that Starwood's problem resolution was much, much easier to deal with than Marriott.

pWei

SPG for sure will be missed by many. I'm already missing it. We'll likely enjoy the afterglow for a couple years before things start really falling apart as people leave; Marriott starts really destroying things even further. The next best mass chain is likely Hyatt, I always liked SPG, and I'd say Hyatt's at a similar level.

Marriott has a huge footprint if you just look at the numbers. In terms of properties you'd want to stay in, I'd say they are smaller than SPG. Particularly in their newer builds. Their CY/RI brands have the most obnoxious AC - I now refuse to stay in them, and my extended family agrees. Just leaves JW and Ren. Ritz - it's like an independent chain where they ignore your status - why bother? Would do better with FHR / Virtuoso.

The good, customer oriented people that work at Marriott are far and few between, and I reckon they'd leave for greener pastures. Good for them.

joakgarp

Spg will be remembered as the best hotel program ever existed. Will miss the program and the name for sure. Spg and Starwood are pretty cool names.
​​​​​​Marriott is not a cool name. Sounds like an old dusty vaccum cleaner. It's not sexy at all.

I'm sure Marriott will treat us good. But it won't be as good as it's been with spg. What if Spg would have gone down the road by themself and not had been purchased by Marriott? Would it really mean bankruptcy?
​​​​​​

MasterGeek

People say that SPG properties are "cooler", why ? Is there more drinking and mingling going on in them ?

UKTraveller4Fun

Starwood made one error in the end and that was to close rank as the recession hit and start growth again fair to late. It put it in a position that it was neither small enough to be able to change or big enough to survive on its own. Sheraton became it's biggest issue and it lost direction. Amazing SPG never really lost the focus in the same way and to be fair is probably the reason Starwood managed to be as good as it was for as long as it was.
It did something that non of the others managed to do and that was create genuine loyalty from both members and people who worked for SPG. I know many have already left from both sides since the merger and while I shall continue to stay in some these will generally be properties I have stayed at previously and know I enjoy. I have seen nothing in Marriott to make me believe the two way loyalty that existed with SPG will exist going forward, quite the contrary the evidence shows Marriott still doesn't understand the SPG loyalty and why people stuck with it so much. The irony is many people believe it is the fact Starwood was to generous with its SPG program that caused it's demise but that couldn't be farther from the truth, SPG made Starwood a much bigger player than that it's size actually was and punched above its weight for so long because of it. Hotels wanted to be branded with SPG because they knew people would actually search them out and pick them because of it.

It is a sad day, but I am fortunate enough to travel not because I have to but as I choose to and I am not finding there are amazing hotels outside the big chains that are far better than Marriott, Hilton or IHG. I now pick a hotel based on if I like it and not so much look at SPG new openings and pick to go there. Silver linings as they say...

UKTraveller4Fun

They were just different, but that day has passed now and they are being assimilated as we speak!