For each of the last three years, I shared the hotel observations of a reader who each year racked up more than 240 elite nights on the road, mostly with Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG hotels.
By the end of last year, this anonymous correspondent had already started reducing their Marriott stays and concluded that Hyatt is the best chain if you can stick to full service properties not owned or managed by bad actors – but they don’t have a big enough footprint and too many of their hotels in the U.S. are limited service. So he kept earning Marriott Ambassador status, and looking elsewhere when he could.
He keeps expecting his travel to slow down. He’s tired of all the travel, and the mistreatment on the road. This year he cut it to ‘just’ 182 actual nights in hotels – half the nights of the year. He reports back after another year with his observations on where the chains stand.
I quit Marriott in 2025 after having top-tier Ambassador status since before Bonvoy
This is the expanded, unvarnished update to my analyses from 2024, 2023, and 2022.
2025 was the year I walked away from Marriott after holding top-tier ambassador status longer than the Bonvoy program has existed. It was the year I realized the relationship between traveler and hotel chain had fundamentally changed. And it was the year I began rebuilding my entire loyalty strategy for what comes next.
Leaving Marriott after 17 years and more than 2,700 nights and 14.5 million points was not emotional. It was rational. But it was also unmistakably the end of a long loyalty story.
I’ve been an ambassador elite every year since before Bonvoy existed. I survived the eroding of the Marriott family legacy under the former CEO, customer-service black holes, IT failures, numerous devaluations, and the gradual but unmistakable erosion of the guest experience. I stayed loyal long after many others had already declared Marriott a lost cause.
The elite benefits that franchisees ignore
Marriott’s loyalty program depends on one assumption: that properties will honor elite benefits.
One stay at the Grand Galvez Resort, Autograph Collection crystallized everything that is wrong with Marriott. The property refused to include coffee with the elite breakfast benefit.
If a hotel feels safe denying the most basic part of an elite benefit to an ambassador member, the problem is structural. This isn’t an isolated example of a cheating property. Rather, this has been happening for years. Marriott knows about it but does nothing to fix the breakfast benefit for guests with platinum, titanium, and ambassador statuses.
Unless you’re at a Marriott-managed Ritz-Carlton, Edition, or St. Regis — properties where corporate has real control — you are effectively staying at whatever level of cost-cutting the franchise owner decides is necessary that week.
The brand standards that once differentiated Marriott have evaporated.
Ambassador status is supposed to be the pinnacle of Marriott loyalty: dedicated support, reliable upgrades, personalized service, and recognition that you were among the chain’s highest-value customers.
But ambassador status has become a label without substance and a tier without tangible benefits over and above platinum and titanium statuses. It’s just not worth spending $23,000 and staying more than 100 nights.
After a series of consecutive bad stays, I ran the numbers and determined that I had already spent around $15,000 on Marriott stays and completed about 60 nights toward requalification. That was the moment I quit Bonvoy cold turkey.
I’ll still redeem points — I have accumulated several million — but I will not spend any money on cash stays or at properties with incidentals. My lifetime titanium status is enough moving forward.
What replaces Marriott
Leaving a giant like Marriott forces a complete strategic reset. You don’t just swap in a new chain and move on.
After several years of using Hyatt as a backup for Marriott, it’s now my first choice moving forward.
It’s not because Hyatt has the best hotels. It doesn’t. Hyatt Place is still an awful brand. There’s also no denying that Hyatt has, in recent years, neglected its traditional, full-service brands — think Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt — as it pursued shiny new objects ranging from all-inclusive resorts to niche boutiques. Hyatt is also doing more franchising, which it didn’t do before (at least when compared to Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham).
Still, Hyatt’s World of Hyatt program remains the spiritual successor to the old Starwood Preferred Guest. It’s reliable, elite-focused, and benefit-driven.
When Hyatt says breakfast is included, it is. When Hyatt says late checkout is guaranteed, it is. When Hyatt confirms a suite upgrade, it happens.
IHG: Imperfect but necessary supplement
IHG and One Rewards are neither a great chain nor a great program.
But it has a footprint large enough to fill in the map where Hyatt is absent. Realistically, it’s the only chain that can compete with Marriott on sheer geographic distribution, especially in rural markets, small cities, secondary airports, and flyover country.
But that scale comes with trade-offs.
Namely, the quality is wildly inconsistent. Intercontinental, Regent, and Kimpton can be excellent.
The simple reality is that too many properties flagged under too many IHG brands hover around the barely adequate mark. When Holiday Inn, which was once a reliable full-service brand, eliminated à la carte breakfast, including cooked-to-order eggs, it signaled a systematic lowering of service expectations.
I can tolerate 25 nights a year in Holiday Inn Express. I can’t tolerate 100-plus nights, especially when IHG points are among the weakest currencies.
Thanks to repeated devaluations, an average traveler would need about 130 nights at $170 per night to earn enough points for five nights at a top-tier property (think the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand).
I ended my IHG pursuit after 40 nights, which was enough to earn the One Rewards lounge access membership. That will give me access to club lounges at Intercontinental properties, which, when good, are often better than club lounges at comparable Hyatt or Marriott properties. Since I only stay with Intercontinental a couple of times a year, that level of engagement with IHG seems sufficient.
Where I ended the year and what my 2026 looks like
As 2025 ends, I racked up 182 actual butt-in-bed nights between Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG. I had three or four random stays at Hilton, Royal Sonesta, and non-chain hotels.
2026 will be the first year I fully live out the implications of quitting Marriott. It will be the first year my travel plan looks like this:
- Hyatt is my primary hotel chain.
- IHG supplements markets where Hyatt has no presence.
- Marriott award stays are purely transactional.
- Elite status is no longer something I chase — it’s something I evaluate.
- The quality of the trip matters more than the accrual of points.
It is a fundamental shift in how I view loyalty. The emotional component has disappeared. Only the practical remains.
A loyalty program exists for one purpose: to retain high-value customers. The chains must now earn my business, not assume it.
Marriott not only failed at that — it stopped even pretending. The company let franchisees shape the guest experience with almost no enforcement.
When a customer who easily spends $200,000 walks away, it should set off alarm bells at Marriott headquarters. It should trigger someone from corporate to contact the customer to find out why they’ve stopped staying and spending money with Marriott.
Instead, it’s simply another sign of a company adrift. The truth is simple: Marriott left me long before I left Marriott.
$200K/year… on Marrott?! *vomits*
FHR, then Hyatt, and maybe Hilton and IHG, but only Marriott if it’s truly special and burning points for fifth night free. Otherwise, use the expiring 85K certificate and don’t bother. Bonvoy’d.
Interesting. Notice the one word that is not mentioned until the very end, and then only in passing: Hilton.
We live in the travel hospitality apocalypse.
That was the most complete hotel analysis I’ve ever read and with my much less stays over many years (but lifetime Titanium and Hilton Gold), I would agree with it all. What I have to question is why doesn’t Marriott management react? Even a little. Maybe, business travelers as a group are no longer the size they once were. Or, maybe the business market is not as aware/savy as they once were. Marriott management is obviously scared of the money folks who own the travel management companies that own the hotels. Somehow, that has to reverse. The franchisees need to fear for their branding license. I fear we have a long way to do before that happens.
@1990 – I think $200k is a total for recent years, not per year, though I suspect his long-run total is much higher than that
I am a SMALL potatoes player but I left Marriott I. 2017 when, as a long time Gold level member I arrived for checkin at a Marriott in Times Square.
The property had stanchions set up to a separate check-in for those with “Gold or above” status. I passed by a line of people at the regular check in, and as I entered the correct line for me, another clerk hollered across the area angrily, “This line is for guests with STATUS!”
Of course I continued along and quietly asserted my status and was checked in by the yeller. But received no apology or even any warmth.
That did it for me.
Gary,
This pretty much says it for all of us 150-200 night/year folks. 30 years and this year I’m traveling for fun. 80 or so Marriott nights and 15 Hilton.
LTE and Diamond.
I’m booking only full service hotels with a lounge. At times location will force a different choice.
The hotels I use regularly treat me well. Good suites and if they can’t, it comes with an apology and reason from the management team. That’s customer service.
Cheaping out on the breakfast especially when they have closed a lounge is stupid.
Asked about getting a suite in a recent hotel and was told we don’t upgrade to those. Another poster had recently gotten the same upgrade.
I’ve gotten great treatment at Conrad’s without a lounge, but they provided amazing breakfast and evening buffet and drinks.
One Marriott property we enjoy will hand you a menu and comp the breakfast. And the food is some of the best.
No soap bars, no tubs, no storage in rooms, renovations that make the rooms feel like IKEA minus with inadequate lighting. Marriott is messing up.
I moved three companies from Hilton focused to Marriott over the years. I couldn’t justify that today.
Marriott and Hilton have diluted the brand standards. Marriott has just fallen farther faster.
If I was still a 200 day a year traveler, I would absolutely hate it between airlines and hotels.it is so much worse than pre covid.
Happy Holidays from FRA
Doug
Thanks for sharing a Very interesting perspective from a road warrior.
With that history, you would have lifetime Platinum with Marriott, so that would soften the blow if you changed your mind later, but imagine running off a top-tier customer over the price of one cup of coffee. That is also surprising since the staff the the Hotel Galvez is very good.
Also, notice the lack of Hilton in this plan, as they have devalued themselves so much.
I mostly stay at IHG and am forced to stay at some Hiltons on business due to contracts and meetings, etc. Hilton is fine, but it’s like flying Delta…you don’t do it to earn free travel.
@1990 I assume $200,000 is his spend since first getting ambassador status.
I’ve been Ambassador since 2019. This is also my last year. The ridiculousness has worn me down.
I am in total agreement with the author and a lifetime Marriott member it saddens me to see it. I hope someone at Marriott would realize that if we want cheap and dirty we can go to the local motel **.
of course, I can attest travel from rental cars to airlines it has become a burden instead of an event.
Here’s the thing: All big-name chain hotels suck, at least in the USA. It doesn’t matter whether you’re at a Hyatt or Marriott. Maybe the Hyatt is less sucky but it still sucks. The worst owners have properties under different chains. The worst management companies operate franchised properties across multiple brands and within multiple chains. The only USA hotels that don’t suck are the ones that have guest-facing staff from foreign countries, like the Philippines, as they (1) likely have some training or education in hospitality and (2) come from a culture that values and appreciates service.
Burning Marriott points and switching to Hyatt/Hilton for me. Marriott devalued to rewards and the onsite experience concurrently while giving everyone my SPG earned Platinum status.
If only Hyatt bought Starwood 🙁
Perfect timing for making decisions about 2026. After reaching Hyatt globalist and Hilton diamond in the same year giving me a year to compare, I’ve focused on Hyatt ever since . Despite being in nearly all the loyalty programs, I’ve had a hard time deciding my 1st choice when no Hyatt is available. I’ve chosen to reject a couple brands based on experience. Otherwise it comes down to the best reviews for each location. I really appreciated this post from someone with so many hotel nights.
@Gary Leff, @Nick Thomas — Phew! Good clarification. Was gonna say, unless you’re living aboard the Ritz-Carlton yacht, might be a challenge to spend that much.
@Thing 1 — Apocalypse… now?
I have been Ambassador this year and can confirm it has become completely worthless. The properties truly don’t care. And the more popular the property (Hawaii especially), the worse it gets. Even the East Asian hotels that previously treated me like a deity under Starwood barely give a nod to my status these days. While anecdotal, my own experiences this year have been such that suite upgrades simply do NOT happen absent a SNA (or whatever new acronym they have these days). And long gone are the days when I’d get a specialty suite just for having status. It’s gotten to the point that I really just don’t care about loyalty to Marriott at all anymore. I generally get better and more reliable benefits booking with Amex Platinum at their Fine portfolio.
I have also noticed that the very best hotels and hotel chains (e.g. Four Seasons) don’t even have loyalty programs. Just being good is good enough for them. Now that Marriott has utterly trashed its loyalty program, I am starting to agree with this philosophy.
I think we’ve reached the point where those who can afford legitimate five-star hotels and business- or first-class airfare should simply skip loyalty programs and miles or points. It’s just not worth it.
It’s not going to get better until there’s another COVID-style global pandemic or a major recession.
What I really want to know is what the mediocre hotels are going to do when AI eliminates white-collar road-warrior jobs altogether, or reduces travel to perhaps 50 nights a year.
I had a similar breakfast thing happen to me this past Thanksgiving at the NY Marriott Downtown as a Lifetime Titanium Member. The lounge was closed so brekkie was served in Bill’s Bar. Thanksgiving OJ was included,the Friday we were told it wasn’t and we would be charged. Besides the fact that the brekkie was abysmal (I can’t believe they charge for it), the inconsistency is ridiculous! Either something is always included or it isn’t. Not at the whim of the server or manager.
I would love to see Marriott respond to this post. But my guess is even if they did it would be a bunch of mea culpa and nothing such as a commitment to instituting real changes and guaranteed benefits.
@Donald J Ramsell: Are you the Donald J Ramsell that’s an Illinois attorney? If so, how about you file a nationwide, class-action lawsuit against Marriott for violating its terms with customers and not providing what’s required of them?
As a Chairman member and titanium elite that spends min 25k per year. Completely agree with all the above. Marriott has lost their way and their value. Better off paying cash then using points 95% of time. They think they have us at No viable options. Silly company by the time they realize they ffed up 40% of their properties will be in foreclosure. Good luck.
Bring on the new players
Marriott used to be dependable in a good way.
Now Marriott is dependable in a bad way.
I am Plat Elite for 10 years and just stayed at a Marriott property for 6 nights. My final bill was for an amount greater than the hard quotation I had on the reservation. I objected and was told that there was an increase in the taxes and there was nothing that could be done about it. I got it elevated to the property manager who said the same thing. Basically they are saying we don’t honor our quotes. We will charge you whatever we want and you won’t know what the price is until you check out. WTF. It was a surreal conversation to say the least. And, BTW, there was a tax increase but that only accounted for around 20% of the increase they hit me with. Atleast Marriott Concierge service took care of it but this is a hassle I should not have tools deal with.
On a different subject, Marriott now appears within the last year to have devalued their points to a Hilton level or about $0.003 per point. For the longest time they were worth about a penny per point.
Good article. Maybe, we are missing the obvious. Loyalty to one brand gets you nothing but bragging rights. Went to Hong Kong recently and stayed ( for the 50th night) at the Regent, was Intercontinental for 20+ years. I didn’t need or want points. A moth ago I stayed at the Mandarin, Munich and it was wonderful on the FHR program. Went to the King George in Athens, a luxury collection (cough) and at $800/ night could not get a room that did not have the elevator sounds all night long. Luxury Collection nor Fine Hotels Program could/would not do anything but offer to change rooms, again and offer 10,000 points. Give me. Break with the points.
A few years ago I learned that gold medallion on Delta meant nothing. Since then I have flown on the airline of my choice (if price was similar) at the time of my choice regardless of the brand.
Bottom line, you don’t needs the points or the silver/gold/platinum mentality….you need the best place/airline/car for you. The loyalty means nothing when you can’t sleep.
I’ve been looking at Chase recently and I have been an Amex Plat/gold member since 1973…..the grass is not always greener on the other side. Choose which one satisfies the trip you are going on and enjoy.
I to have a long Marriott relationship, more than 30 years, and more than 6,000 nights. I re-evaluated my relationship 2 years ago, from more than 200 nights to 6 or 8 a year. The item that broke my relationship? Being told when I arrived at the forecast 11:30 PM and was told they charged my card and gave the room to someone else. The desk clerk told me it was not her job to help me find a room. I did and ended up stopping back to see if they would honor the other 5 nights in the morning and the manager told me, not at your old price and quoted me double the price. Marriott said they could not help me.
@Doug — Have fun in Deutschland!
@Mike Hunt — I think your anecdotal evidence is as good as it gets for us. You’re onto something about no ‘official’ loyalty programs for the ‘great’ brands, FS included. There are ‘unofficial’ statuses, like, after you visit a bunch of Amans sometimes they’ll gift you an ‘Amanjunkie’ t-shirt. LOL.
@Nick Thomas — Looks like we got a ‘big-shot’ on here… @Donald J Ramsell (fellas, my bet is that Marriott doesn’t care much about VFTW, or any of the Boarding Area sites, like, at all.)
I’ve noted that shift as well. Hospitality has taken a nose dive at Marriotts. I’m a titanium elite, who travels 8 – 10 months out of the year, and in the last two years i question why i retain loyalty to a company who doesn’t wish to honor it. I’ve been denied upgrades at properties because i was staying more than 2 nights and the manager has a policy that doesn’t allow that. I’ve ended up at hotels that had a member lounge, closed it down during covid and created a paid lounge instead – leaving the member lounge dormant (yet, they keep the executive lounge suite pricing). I can’t count how many marriotts haven’t given me a welcome bag or just given me two waters. Breakfasts have shifted to paid with 12.00 vouchers (if lucky). Late check out is usually pretty good, but not guaranteed. More often than not, Instant Redemption doesn’t exist because no one is taught how to use it, and the rest, instead of learning it, just say their hotel doesnt offer it. Free night awards are 35k, which is hardly enough to get an average hotel. All in all – marriott has been a major disappointment.
I, too, find that hyatt is better. They seem to be a chain who actually values their loyal customers. Their rewards are frequent and fun their points are great value. The only drawback is that they lack presence, otherwise thet’d be my go-to everytime.
Hilton seems second best when it comes to loyalty. While their franchise owners can completely disrupt the experience, customer service has been more than kind in rectifying the situation.
After spending 45k points on a hotel that offered a lounge, free breakfast and a spa – I arrived to find out the lounge was closed on weekends, there was no spa, and breakfast allowed for a free coffee (not a breakfast) UNLESS you paid for an Club Suite (the paid-for version of Diamond). The front desk snuck me and my guest some breakfast vouchers, but the true shining momwnt was when customer service gave me about 2/3rds of the points back. They also fixed an extra night charge that the hotel refused to refund, and was their fault for erroneously charging.
All in all, i wish Hyatt was more prevelant, or that loyalty was actually respected.
I used to be a road warrior regularly qualifying for top tier status. Mostly Marriott stays due to location where I needed to be. Things were good.
At the end of covid I took a non road job. Dropped from Ambassador to life time plat. Burned all of my points. Things were still fine for European vacation hotels.
Last year went back on the road for a year. Experienced the drop (or complete lack of) in service at US hotels. Now back off the road. Plan to burn off the points on a upcoming trip to Italy.
No for personal stays we are choosing based on location and reviews. We like to use Hyatt when it makes sense but we pick the hotel that makes the best sense to us.
I emailed the appropriate executive re a ridiculous interpretation that I had not achieved Platinum status because, when I realized I was one night short, I added it to an end of year stay. Somehow “adding” a night didn’t count. Even though it was the hotel property itself provided the guidance and congratulating me. All I received were “that’s the policy” responses. I went back and forth about how they were alienating a long-time devotee with something they could fix with a keystroke. They refused to budge. I have been avoiding Marriott since.
This is a reminder that there are other brands and chains that deserve another look. Drury Inns and Hotels are a solid and consistent option. Also, Omni Hotels are another upscale chain worth consideration in lieu of Marriott or Hilton when looking for options.
Marriott decided years ago that it’s a franchisor, not an operator. Its revenue comes from the franchisees, not from the customers. It bought SPG to acquire the massive goodwill of that customer base, and has been spending it down ever since. Franchisees pay for the name, the marketing, the reservation system, and the guests. When a franchisee screws a guest, it doesn’t change what Marriott charges its other franchisees, so it doesn’t affect Marriott’s bottom line.
In the long run, as medium-level elites switch their loyalty (they have less to walk away from than high-level elites), the falling goodwill will begin to reduce the desirability of a Marriott franchise and thus Marriott’s revenue. But in the meantime, the company reports good income. There’s no Generally Accepted Accounting Principles that expose the devaluation of Marriott’s elite program and customer base.
Bro got old.
“Quality of trip matters more than accumulation of point.”
Bro DEF got old.
@Joe D – Drury Inns and Hotels is a Hampton Inn or Fairfield but with “free” food. It’s hardly at the level of even the worst Marriott. Omni, on the other handle, could rival some JW Marriotts and maybe Grand Hyatts. I wouldn’t put at the level of Park Hyatt or St. Regis.
Fact still remains Marriott has the most properties across the world. Anyone that travels internationally on the reg knows to save their point redemptions for international locations because they provide a better breakfast. As for the US, I’d love to switch to Hyatt but they don’t have enough properties as I’m still working for a living and need accessibility to whatever conference I may be attending.
I am a Lifetime Titanium Bonvoy member and have experienced problems with handicapped parking and accommodations at various Marriott properties. When I have raised the issue directly with Marriott, I have been assured that my concerns will be addressed. While I have received some apologetic emails from managers at specific properties, nothing changes; which tells me that at the corporate level Marriott simply does not care. Maybe when enough loyal customers abandon the brand and it affects their bottom line, they will wake up and reevaluate their position!
J Bomb919: Oyo and Jin Jiang are actually the largest and second-largest chain worldwide by number of properties. H Hotels is number three. Marriott is number four. Wyndham and Marriott are actually basically tied for fourth. Hilton and Marriott are also almost tied at 1.68 million rooms for Marriott and 1.43 million rooms.
I spent this summer staying at Marriott hotels a total of 78 nights in 4 months. I’d never been so loyal to a brand. In the end I don’t really know what I got for it. Some lounge access at two different hotels. One hotel might have upgraded my room, I don’t really know. What is it all for? Late check out is just about the only benefit I feel I got. Doesn’t seem worth it.