Between late check-out rules and housekeeping costs, some Marriott employees cop to lying to guests and saying there are no suite upgrades available – since it’s costly and operationally difficult to honor the benefit.
Late Check-Out Benefits Are Difficult For Some Hotels To Honor
When Marriott bought Starwood, one of the first changes they made to the Marriott Rewards loyalty program was to introduce guaranteed late check-out for elite members. Gold members are entitled to 2 p.m. late check-out, and Platinum members and above are guaranteed 4 p.m. late check-out, although there are exceptions such as convention and resort properties where late check-out is subject to availability rather than guaranteed.
One Marriott general manager told me at the time that he wouldn’t do this, despite the edict from Marriott, because it was too difficult to turn rooms this way.
- Guests wouldn’t be checking out until 4 p.m.
- But other guests were entitled to check in at 3 p.m.
- And rooms take time to clean between guests
As another Marriott GM explains it,
When you have a high number of 4pm checkouts, and a 3pm check in, it also means that the arriving guest is going to be prevented from checking in until well after 3:30pm at best.
This general manager doesn’t seem to like elite members more broadly:
Last year alone, my property lost a hair over $50,000 in revenue from rewards members disputing cancellation fees, demanding refunds on prepaid non refundable stays and displacement of revenue from upgrades based on tier… and that’s not even addressing revenue losses due to abuse of rewards accounts (those are individual accounts, not shared spouse/friends/family accounts.
It’s Easier Not To Upgrade Members And Risk Late Check-out Complications
Another Marriott hotel employee explains that late check-out is also why they don’t honor their obligation to upgrade customers to suites. (Emphasis mine)
[T]his is why I don’t like upgrading plat and above into suites when it’s booked the next day. We have only one of each kind and if we upgrade you complimentary and then you ask for a 4pm checkout it [creates problems] the next day. I always just say it’s unavailable for an upgrade.
Offering An Empty Suite Isn’t Free – Since It’s More Expensive To Clean
Another hotel general manager explained to me last summer the reason that he forbid his team from honoring mandatory upgrades to available suites was housekeeping expense. They aren’t generating more revenue from the room, but it’s twice as expensive to clean.
Put another way, the hotel views offering upgrades into suites they haven’t sold as expensive rather than free. And the general manager views his job as limiting costs and that this trumps honoring his chain-level elite obligations.
Marriott Risks Its Business Letting Hotels Get Away With Degrading Its Brand
None of this should be the guest’s problem. Marriott offers a benefit to its customers in exchange for their business, and then the hotels operating under their brand don’t honor the benefit. Customers complain to Marriott, and nearly every time Marriott sides with the hotel.
- Hotels have an incentive to trade on Marriott’s name and reputation, not deliver on its promises
- It’s a game theory problem that stems from Marriott’s structure as a marketing company, in some cases managing hotels but in almost all cases someone else owns them. Franchises want the business Marriott brings them, but not the cost or hassle that comes with it.
- Those hotels defecting from the model diminishes Marriott’s brand reputation and value.
- But if Marriott were to enforce its promises and costs too aggressively, they’d chase away owners and therefore cut the fees they earn.
We see some culling of bad franchises every now and then, but overall Marriott (and also Hilton) cashes in on its reputation today for current business, seeing hotels as their customers and guests as marketing leads but this isn’t good business because it erodes their future ability to earn deliver guests to hotels. When properties don’t deliver on the brand promise, the value of the brand falls. And as an asset light business, the brand is all they have.
Just want to address @farnorthtrader’s point:
“If the “length of stay” extends to 4 pm, then it is not available for the “length of stay” if the next check in is 3 pm. It is unavailable from 3 pm to 4 pm.”
The thing is, while check-out times are guaranteed (including 4pm late checkout for Hyatt Globalist or Marriott Platinum+) , check-in times are never guaranteed. Just because a hotel says their check-in time is at, say, 3 pm, doesn’t mean you are *guaranteed* to be able to check in by 3 (or even 4 or 5), especially if you booked a room type that there aren’t very many of. Hotels will usually give you something like a free drink/food item or some reward points as an apology for the room not being ready, but they don’t technically owe you anything for it, as long as they’re working to get it ready as soon as possible. (If it’s *still* not ready by 6 or so, I might argue it should be different, but there’s nothing set in stone about that.)
I once stayed at a Hyatt Regency where I’d reserved a premium suite. They sent a polite email letting me know that the previous guest, an elite member, had a 4 pm checkout, so it wouldn’t be ready for us until around 6 pm. It ended up being ready considerably earlier, but I wasn’t mad about the prospect of not being able to check into the suite until 6; if anything, I appreciated that they let me know in advance, and that it ended up being ready earlier.
As to someone else’s point about conditioning an upgrade on not using your late checkout: that’s fine if it’s an upgrade to a room/suite that’s outside the usual bounds of the upgrade policy. So a Hyatt might say to a Globalist, “we can upgrade you to this standard suite and give you your 4 pm checkout, OR we can give you this premium suite, but you have to be out by 2 because it’s booked tomorrow.” But they can’t say, “we’ll give you this standard suite but only if you’re out by 2.” It’s an AND (as it should be), not an OR. People just need to understand that their room might not be ready right at check-in time – and that they, too, can take advantage of that guaranteed late checkout if they achieve the same elite status.
Not to beat a dead horse, but to further illustrate why the above-mentioned point (“not available for the length of stay…unavailable from 3 pm to 4 pm”) can’t be true:
Imagine if rather than being upgraded, an elite guest booked the suite outright. And then the next day, a different guest had it reserved. Assume there is only one suite of this type in the hotel. Is the first guest not entitled to their guaranteed 4 pm checkout? Of course they are. The guest the following day just won’t be able to check in until the previous one checks out and the suite is cleaned. But as mentioned, if *that* guest has the right status, then they, too, can use their guaranteed 4 pm checkout, and so on.
Would like to know that GM’s hotel. Always best to know which ones to avoid. The attitude varies so much depending on the GM. I loved the Overland Park Marriott because the GM did everything he could get away with to make his guests – especially the frequent ones – have a pleasant stay.
And there’s a Marriott Suites Dallas that is just awful. It’s clean enough but that’s about all you can say. A plethora of little things say, “we resent having to give you any benefits at all.” From the tiny bottles of water in the club to no cash for change at the front desk and half a dozen others I noticed last stay.
And right across the highway is Renaissance that goes out of their way to make you feel welcome.
OtherDave what is the name of the Marriott property in Dallas you are referring to. I go to Dallas pretty often and I want to avoid it.
This story is a perfect example of why I’ve avoided Marriott for years. The individual hotels don’t seem to grasp the concept of rewarding loyal guests. The hotels’ management take their own operating issues into consideration far above the guests’ wishes or needs. A most myopic view. Hiltons, I’ve learned, will make every effort to show their loyal guests how much they are valued. Most all properties under the Hilton banner will be sure that I know how much my business is valued. In the long run, it’s thousands of my dollars that Marriott is missing … because they all go to Hilton. If an arriving guest’s room isn’t available at 4pm, good hotel management figures out how to reward the incoming guests for their wait. Marriott doesn’t seem to prioritize proper guest services. It’s not rocket science … offer me a cocktail, tea, coffee or a comp meal and I’m content to wait until my room is ready.
Long ago when Starwood was acquired by Marriott I started to notice the immediate value and change in loyalty perks. Being a road warrior and staying in expensive markets most of the time , I expect that my time on the road is as good as it can be being some years I am more on the road than at home. While not perfect, my switch to Hyatt several years back was one of the best choices I could have made. I am a Lifetime Globalist and nearly hit the threshold a second time around. While upgrades aren’t always available, I feel that the hotel aims to make me feel welcomed and known.
Franchise properties rarely make their own rules outside of the program but if they do, I am usually informed shortly after I book so that there are no missed expectations.
I feel my choice to lean in on Hyatt was great and with all the newer brand choices I feel my options are now quite vast.
Bottom line, like any other service hospitality venue, the local management sets the tone, what the associates are able to or not do, and ultimately how the guests and the associates are treated. Those who don’t follow SOP, eventually life will catch up to them and it won’t be a worry any longer. I’ve fortunately not experienced the negative with Marriott, but then I don’t go out of my way to inquire about upgrades. If they happen, all the better. I have utilized the late-check out and have never had a refusal when inquiring.
Local management, keep the good, lose the bad.