Reader Joe shares details of his stay at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel and discovers a fascinating tactic for what seems like a miserable property to game its satisfaction scores with Marriott.
The hotel was running $322 for the night, including taxes. Marriott was charging 40,000 points for the night. It’s a Port Everglades property, frequented by guests transiting cruise ships. The hotel used to have a lounge, but it is closed.
Here were a few initial notes on the property,
Ice machines only on even numbered floors. Gross. See photos. Rooms okay, laminate flooring, small footprint bathrooms, sufficient, but that’s it. Cannot use the tub/shower spigot control without getting drenched. That’s a big thumbs down.
Guest rooms have different “colors” of interior lighting; daylight, soft white, warm white, etc. too.. Mis-matched carpet on guest room floor corridors.
Complimentary lobby coffee only had 20 oz paper cups and sugar in the raw (no white granulated, but pink/blue/yellow sweeteners). Carafe of cream.
Hotels frequently send out surveys after a stay. The results of those surveys matter between the property and the brand. For instance, Marriott might increase oversight of underperforming properties. This can include mandatory Quality Assurance or Brand Performance inspections that lead to required fixes.
Hotels that consistently score below benchmarks may have to make investments in their facilities, which owners often chafe against, and face financial penalties. The chain might also also withhold promotion of the property.
This property has figured out how to game the survey.
Nothing about this property deserves anything close to a positive review, EXCEPT MAYBE THE LOCATION. And maybe expect my evening meal. I only ate a room service meal here (penne Alfredo pasta, quite tasty).
…the Ren is currently advertising their extortion of a positive (nine or ten review). These 8×11’s are posted in each guest room level elevator lobby.
Anything below a 9 or 10 is negative. The hotel incentivizes giving 9s and 10s. A hotel that actually wants to be better would incentivize providing constructive feedback. Here they incentivize helping them skirt Marriott brand standards. That’s the most franchised Marriott thing ever.
If only Marriott corporate cared…..
Once again, why the Marriott loyalty? I’ve stayed here before too. Run down, humid conditions, blah experience.
@ Gary — And, how much you want to bet that they don’t actually have a monthly drawing for.l 30,000 points?
This is a franchised property owned and operated by the Wurzak Hotel Group.
Here are their other hotels:
https://www.wurzakhotels.com/our-hotel-management-portfolio
Someone should contact the local health department about the ice machines.
Lemme guess the franchisee’s last name is Patel
I’ve stayed in Marriott over 2000 nights over the course years f my career… since Covid everything went down hill. Disappointing to say the least… I’ve moved on to Hilton, at least they try to get it right!
Being the biggest doesn’t mean they are the best anymore and probably never again!
I’ve been dealing this this issue when checking out of several Indian Marriott properties. They ask to rate my stay on a scale of 1-10. I generously give an 8 (no problems necessarily, but I mean these are generic Marriott properties in India, not anything special). The front desk tries to guilt me into a 9 or 10, I refuse. They FOLLOW UP VIA EMAIL asking for more details the whole thing is terribly annoying and leaves a bad taste in a guests mouth when in reality, the stay was perfectly fine.
Oof. Stayed here back in 2007 on a family trip and had a similar experience (minus the 30,000-point drawing – if that was there, I don’t remember it). Sad to see not much has changed.
Looking back at my review of the property:
• Broken pool/hot tub (broken heater) with no notice given nor alternative arrangements made
• When my dad asked for a late checkout, they replied they’d “prefer that [he] didn’t” (what does that even mean?); later asked a different person and they said no problem and apologized for the earlier person’s rudeness
• Peephole on door completely covered by fire escape plan (safety issue?)
• Mold/scum in bathroom
• Broken closet door (off-track)
• Loud AC vent (squeaked all night)
• Charged for internet and allowed smoking in outdoor common areas (hopefully both relics of a bygone era, but still)
And I didn’t mention this in the review, but with only two elevators for a 12-story, 236-room hotel, I remember some pretty long wait times. Reading recent reviews, it seems one elevator is frequently out of service, leaving only one remaining. Terrible planning for a ‘premium’/’luxury’ hotel. More like a Fairfield Inn dressed up as a Renaissance.
No way the monthly drawing is real
That’s not unexpected : we live in the Trumpoverse where fraud, blackmail, dirty tricks, mendacity and calumny are the most valued character traits. I know — it disgusts me, too.
The Hilton FT Lauderdale Marina isn’t any better either. We stayed there before a cruise departure and it made my ongoing Never Stay Again list.
@Larry Hyatt — Naw. It’s Fort Lauderdale, FL, not Edison, NJ, but still, whoever is running the place needs to get their act together, regardless of their identity—clean up this place and treat your guests with dignity. Is anyone even trying anymore? Sheesh!
Admittedly, not a lot about Marriott surprises me, but I’m honestly surprised that there’s not a clause in the franchisee contract against trying to manipulate survey results like this. If nothing else, I would expect that /Marriott/ would want to know about issues so they could at least direct marketing accordingly.
We love Marriott, but this hotel was such a disappointment. It had mold growing under the soap dishes and the room just wasn’t perfectly clean. The awkward breakfast set up was uncomfortable and I had the worst latte of my life. The worst part of our stay was definitely the billing. They charged us six times for our two rooms, and we eventually had to stop payment with our credit card company, because they hadn’t rectified it two weeks later. Marriott is amazing, but just not this Marriott. This one is a hard pass.
Nothing to see here. Bribery and lying is now the norm in the US, just look at those who lead the country.
But hey, trans people are witch-hunted, so that’s progress, right?
@Mary…is that satire?? How on earth did you bring politics and gender identity into this? Considering the current administration’s been in office less than 3 months, would you change your tune if you found out the hotel had been doing this in the Biden era too? (To be clear, I’m not blaming this on Biden, either; corporations have been greedy for a long time, and I don’t think it depends on who’s in power.)
People making everything about (identity) politics and blaming everything on Trump/the right is a big part of why he got reelected; normal people, including on the left (hi), saw how false and dangerous it was and got sick of it. (Not sure I should touch the ridiculous off-topic “witch-hunted” claim, but… to keep it brief, they’ve got the exact same human rights as everyone else, and that’s good! Forcing others to go along with one’s beliefs isn’t a right.)
…So how ’bout those ice machines, eh?
Just capitalism, but not at its best as I don’t waste my money/time on gambling/lotteries/drawings.
I wouldn’t hesitate to award a 9.5 or higher if they kickbacked a discount on my rate !… Now THATS’S the
way business works these days. Corporations have never given a rat’s ass about their customers, only the shareholders & C-Suite matter !
For Marriott, the customer is the property owner.
Whatever it takes to make the customer happy.
@bossa @Ralph — Preach! Both of y’all. Louder for the folks in the back! No notes! Woop woop!
Are people finally starting to wake up and recognize this has always been a class war, that corruption is rampant (and it ain’t the poor or the worker who are scamming, they’re getting scammed)? Sometimes I wonder, because wow, when the shills and bootlickers come out on here, bashing unions, and pitching their rugged individualism, oof, it’s a toxic sludge to swim through.
It’s easy to take a single moment in time and combine it with someone’s subjective experience to write a scathing review that can severely damage a business. I have no issue with someone sharing their opinions on platforms like TripAdvisor or brand surveys, but for it to be picked up and circulated nationwide in an article is incredibly damaging. As a hotel general manager for 11 years, I can say with confidence that we do the best we can with the resources available. This kind of exposure doesn’t just impact the business—it makes life miserable for the general manager, who will bear the brunt of the fallout. Even if they are actively working to turn things around, this can leave a lasting stain on their career.
I hope you are happy with the views your article receives at the expense of someone else’s career.
I hope that GM has an ownership group that knows he’s doing the best with what he has.
Happy St. Patrick’s day! Bad property! With so many hotel rooms and properties, Marriott can’t possibly keep them ALL up to standard. What few standards that the hotel company has these days.
@Rone Middler — Woah, now, doc. Hold on a second. Just because it’s an opinion, for better or worse, doesn’t make it true. However, photographs and multiple reports of the same problems by many guests repeatedly is more empirical evidence than merely a presumption, like yours, that all online reviews are thus unreliable. Sure, it would be best to get ‘verified’ reviews, but who regulates that for fairness and/or accuracy. If it’s by the company, they can remove ‘bad’ reviews at their discretion. So, on independent sites, yes, some may be unreliable, such as the random ‘zero’ or ‘five’ stars with no meaningful commentary, possible by a competitor or in-house. Yet, you can usually tell what is authentic and not–photos, details, history of the reviewer, etc. It’s not a witch hunt. This particular property is not doing well–and I, for one, thank Gary for reporting it.
@CRS- Top of the morning to you, sir! “They say there are only two kinds of people on St. Patrick’s Day: the Irish, and the people that drive them home.” And some, I assume, are good people.
I have stayed in this hotel numerous times and had an amazing experience. From the customer service, all amenities cleaned and my room was spotless. I highly recommend this hotel!
I stayed at this property a few times this summer and my experience was quite the opposite of this review. My room was renovated, very spacious and exceptionally clean . The service in the bar area.was prompt and the prices extremely fair for a South Florida property. I love the location of this property and would definitely stay here again.
Stayed here in February, this hotel was a dump. Room smelled strongly of dampness. And the lobby and each floor had large fans running. It seemed like they had a major water leak, but judging by the overall condition, it seemed like this hotel was in disrepair.
I am an Airline Crew Member and have stayed here a few times, their team has been great, rooms have anyways been clean and food on point. They even do an evening reception with free drinks and food! Every Hotel has a bad day it’s spring break in Florida, people are so quick to complain and slow with compliments so sad!