Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

Marriott Guests Are Getting Refunds If They Spent Points At 3 Resorts

by Gary Leff on July 29, 2021

Jul 29 2021

Back in March I wrote about the JW Marriott Los Cabos charging award guests an extra $30 per night fee to stay, calling it “the most Marriott Bonvoy thing ever.”

This flat fee was described as a ‘service charge’. Paid rate guests pay a service charge of 10% of their room rate, and with paid rates under $300 service charges are lower for guests paying cash than those paying with points. Marriott is refunding everyone who was charged this fee for a points stay at this property and two others.

Marriott Looking To Eliminate Alarm Clocks, Reduce Breakfast Costs

by Gary Leff on July 26, 2021

Jul 26 2021

Marriott’s top executives have shared that they are considering eliminating alarm clocks from rooms. They’re also looking to ‘simplify’ and reduce the cost of breakfast at brands where that’s included in the room rate for all guests.

Free Hyatt Mid-Tier Elite Status And Fast Track To Globalist Open To Everyone

by Gary Leff on July 26, 2021

Jul 26 2021

It turns out though that anyone can register for free Hyatt status and a fast track, and the broader offer is even better because instead of free 90 days of status, the free Explorist mid-tier status lasts through end of 2021 whether you stay enough with Hyatt to keep status or not.

What’s more, instead of having just 90 days to stay enough to keep status you’ve got until the end of the year so it’s far more generous.

Marriott Eliminates Discount For Federal Government Employees

by Gary Leff on July 25, 2021

Jul 25 2021

R.I.P. Federal Leisure Rate. Marriott no longer needs to incentivize federal workers to stay the weekend with discounts.

2022 Is The Perfect Opportunity For Hyatt To Impove Its Concierge Program

by Gary Leff on July 25, 2021

Jul 25 2021

Hyatt’s dedicated concierge program is much easier to qualify for than Marriott’s. Yet there will likely be far fewer members qualifying for a concierge in 2022. That’s the perfect time to amp up the service in ways it was originally envisioned, and the current Hyatt leadership is well-positioned to drive this.

Review: Eliza Jane Hotel, Hyatt Unbound Collection

by Gary Leff on July 24, 2021

Jul 24 2021

The Eliza Jane hotel in downtown New Orleans on Magazine Street was a great base for a four night stay, using category 1-4 free nights. I was upgraded to a Publisher’s Suite.

Why Marriott Rewards Is Better Than It Was Before The Starwood Merger

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2021

Jul 23 2021

I dunk on Marriott a lot for its failure to deliver on promised benefits, for its clueless customer service agents, and its broken IT. And Starwood members are generally unhappy with the Marriott Bonvoy program. To be fair, benefits aren’t received as consistently as they used to be for Starwood members. The credit card’s earning isn’t as rich. And top status is harder to earn, with a minimum spend requirement at the 100-night level to receive ‘Ambassador’ service that no longer includes an individual assigned Ambassador.

However, for Marriott Rewards program members the Starwood merger has surprisingly been a blessing and that’s really easy to forget.

This Marriott Tacks On An Undisclosed 4% Extra Fee For The Lightbulbs In Your Room

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2021

Jul 23 2021

The Fort Wayne, Indiana Fairfield Inn by Marriott is billing guests a surprise “energy surcharge” that appears to be 4% of the room rate. This surcharge isn’t disclosed to customers when booking their room.

Marriott CEO: Bonvoy and Breakfast, It’s All About Hotel Owner Costs

by Gary Leff on July 20, 2021

Jul 20 2021

Marriott’s new CEO admits that Bonvoy isn’t as generous as Starwood Preferred Guest was. He dismisses guest desires for hotel services as customers having a “short memory.” And he explains lack of service and generous benefits as a need to hold down hotel owner costs.

Revealing: Marriott CEO Says Workers Make Too Much Money, Don’t Trust Us

by Gary Leff on July 16, 2021

Jul 16 2021

Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano makes two points about low wage workers in a recent interview. Amazon pays entry level workers too much, and that’s making it hard for hotels to hire cheap ‘in some markets’. And after mass layoffs in 2020, workers don’t trust hotels as a place to build a long-term career.