Tag Archives for marriott.
This G.M. simply has the wrong mental model, it’s the customer’s fault and the customer needs to adjust their expectations – pay more, get less – and customers shouldn’t go along with that.
Marriott wants you to think that they’re in the homesharing business, and that Homes & Villas By Marriott is an Airbnb competitor. Despite the tag line, “Private Homes With The Assurances Of Marriott,” that’s not at all what it is.
Did you know that Wyndham points can be redeemed for many properties listed on the Marriott site, and this offers a better deal than Bonvoy much of the time?
A conference of Uyghurs living in exhile, who advocate for the rights of the persecuted minority in the Xinjiang region of China where over a million have been held in internment camps, was rejected by Marriott in Prague out of a desire ‘to remain neutral’ on the issue.
The Marriott Bonvoy program is, on paper at least, head and shoulders above the Hilton Honors and IHG Rewards offerings. Those other two don’t even guarantee late check-out, let alone promise that suite upgrades will be provided when a standard suite is available.
In practice, though, Bonvoy doesn’t live up to its promises.
Marriott has their own homesharing platform to compete directly with Airbnb, but Marriott hotels list at Airbnb and not Marriott Homes & Villas, and in some cases pull their room inventory from Marriott entirely to sell suites through Airbnb.
What I find perhaps most striking is nobody at Marriott corporate thought to Google “airbnb+[Marriott brand]” to suss this stuff out?
Given the threat that Airbnb poses to the traditional lodging model, I was surprised to read a review of the Moxy Portland Downtown that included the discovery that they sell their suite on Airbnb – and not Marriott.com.
With Marriott extending everyone’s elite status for next year, there are plenty of members getting a status gift – recognizing that once-loyal guests haven’t had their business travel start back up, and especially those whose travels normally taken them abroad including to Asia.
On the other hand there are members who have spent countless nights with their head in beds in 2021. They’ve given Marriott their stays and it turns out they didn’t need to do this in order to keep their elite tier for 2022.
Marriott is extending elite status again, extending free night and suite upgrade certificates, and making free night certificates easier to use. And they’re getting rid of award charts, moving to a more revenue-based redemption system starting in March.
Marriott has brought back its “Week of Wonders” offers for October 7 – 14. There’s some decent room rates, 2000 bonus points for some, a discount on mattresses and robes, and bonuses for points purchases.
The major item here would be lower free night award pricing, with over half of Marriott’s properties committed at ‘off-peak’ redemption rates when you use your points over the next week… but you’ve got to stay quick to benefit.
A guest showed up at a Marriott Hotel in DC to check in. It was the Residence Inn Courtyard by Marriott. Yes, there are two different Marriott brands at the same address in downtown Washington DC at the Convention Center.
The problem is that the man wanted early check-in. And it wasn’t available. At 1 a.m. So the guest, Armin Zeyafatzadeh, went to sleep in the lobby to wait for a room to be ready. He was going to be waiting awhile.
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 »
