Free Marriott Courtyard Nights Giveaway to Celebrate Their Redesigned Lobbies

by Gary Leff

Marriott Courtyard is rolling out new re-designed lobbies to appeal especially to business travelers, and they reached out to me to see if I’d be willing to share it with my readers. The offer? I could give away 2 free nights at any Marriott Courtyard in the Continental U.S., and they’d give me free nights for myself as well.

As regular visitors to View from the Wing know, when I get offers like these my first question is, “Do you mind if I just give away those nights to my readers as well?” And the answer is almost universally yes. I’ll wind up checking out the new lobbies in the normal course of my travels, I don’t need the free nights, I much enjoy giving them away to readers instead.

So that’s the offer — I have 2 sets of 2 free nights at any Marriott Courtyard in the Continental U.S. to give away! (With apologies to my international readers with no plans to visit the United States.)

I’m not a Marriott Rewards elite member, but Marriott more than anything else is known for its consistency. They’re everywhere. Many towns, a Marriott Courtyard or similar is the top option in town which makes it really useful and sometimes you just need a reliable place to sleep near a meeting. It’s great to see them being thoughtful about how to be more than just a room while maintaining a mid-level price point (though indeed, in some cities like New York one could hardly consider the price point mid-level, but then it ought to be compared to most other options!).

Here’s Marriott’s 30 second spot promoting their new lobby:

They’re holding events through December 16 at BWI, Houston Intercontinental, and Phoenix airports to promote the lobbies… couches for relaxation, luggage tags to give away.

They’ve renovated about 500 properties with better lobbies to allow groups to congregate, prepare for meetings, etc. Here’s the list of properties that have the new lobbies They have more stations with powerports, and a touch screen information TV. They’ve adopted a standard Bistro coffee/sandwhich place that’s apparently doing well with double digit percentage gains in sales.

Here’s how to enter to win:

  • Leave a comment in this post naming something you especially value in a hotel when on business travel.
  • Normally I say “one entry per person” and more than one will disqualify you. This time we’ll try something new. You may enter as many times as you like, however you may not enter twice in a row meaning that you have to have at least one other person comment after you before adding another comment/entry.
  • The contest will last until 12pm Eastern on December 12. I will draw two winners who will each receive the two free nights with the help of Random.org. Winners will be put in touch with Marriott’s representative to claim their prize.

All interpretations are mine and final and I have no liability in this, all rules imposed by Marriott and their representatives will apply. I’m passing along an opportunity and making this available to my readers, I’ve not taken any compensation for doing so, let’s all treat this in this spirit with which it’s intended. By entering you indicate your agreement. Thanks!

Any questions, ask away!

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Male business travelers need to be able to obtain certain personal items — collar stays, basic shirt buttons, needle/thread, dress shoelaces — quickly at times. If the front desk doesn’t offer them at no cost, these things need to be for sale (easily located & at non-extortionate prices) in the hotel gift shop.

    I’m sure women business travelers have their own list of such items, but I can only guess what they are. (Bobby pins? Safety pins?)

  7. Small gym with either a treadmill, elliptical or a bike. It makes my meetings so much better to workout ahead of time, especially if I have changed time zones.

  17. Gary–thanks once again for your very generous offer to your readers. I especially appreciate two things when traveling on business. The free breakfast and a fridge/microwave/stove option. I’m currently Marriott Platinum however my status expires in February 2012. Because I don’t travel extensively for business I will not attempt to re-qualify–I’ll accept Gold status for the next year. Marriott top elite status is terrific for Sunday-Thursday stays. For many this is on the company dime. I actually tend to have more weekend stays for courses/classes/seminars/conferences in my field at my expense.I check your blog daily and enjoy reading about your adventures and truly appreciate your generosity in sharing gifts/perks that you could use for your own travel. Best of luck.

  20. Some hotels now offer online check-in. I like that it allows me to pick my room before I get there… Upgrade if available to me, side of the hotel with a better view, far enough away from the elevator, etc. It let’s me really customize my room selection.

  31. hot breakfast buffet, which most Courtyards do have for a price. But my recent stay in Seattle’s Courtyard didn’t have that! Bummer!!!!

  46. Phones with volume. Often they’re old and completely unusable for guests with moderate hearing impairment.

  48. Love getting a full breakfast. Not just a bad continental offering with ego waffles and white bread toast!

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