Last year I wrote about a Marriott Autograph Collection property in Mexico requiring an Ambassador member to sign an NDA before providing them an available room upgrade. The implication was that the hotel honors elite benefits so rarely they didn’t want anyone to know they made an exception and actually honored their obligations.
Marriott Autograph Collection properties in Mexico seem to take the autograph part seriously, and love NDAs. The Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun reportedly required non-disclosure agreements by guests before “allowing medical assistance or letting them leave” the property over Christmas, after becoming ill over the holidays.
According to Yorkton resident Jesslyn Schigol, her husband fell ill twice during their stay, including Christmas morning when he couldn’t stop vomiting. Schigol says resort staff demanded she sign an NDA—preventing public discussion of their experience or pursuit of any claims—in order to send a doctor to see her husband. She refused, took photos of the NDA, and reports that the staff withheld medical help until she agreed to sign, which she did not.
Meanwhile, Saskatoon-based traveller Allison Field says her husband and four-year-old son also got sick, then relapsed days later. Worried about her son’s condition, she planned to check out early and take him to the hospital. Field says resort employees repeatedly tried to get her to sign an NDA before helping her move her luggage or book a taxi. She ultimately left for the hospital without signing.
Both families noticed poor food-handling practices at the resort and say they have since spoken to other guests who got sick around the same time and felt similarly pressured by staff.
Credit: Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun
According to Blue Diamond Resorts, which owns the Cancun property:
We are currently conducting an internal investigation into the reports, and while we cannot comment further at this time, please know we are committed to addressing this matter with the utmost care and attention.
Credit: Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun
Maybe the most striking this about the story is this: “Questions sent to Marriott were referred to Blue Diamond Resorts.” Customers think that when they book a Marriott brand through Marriott, that they’re dealing with Marriott and have Marriott as an advocate. That’s largely not true.
- In my experience, Marriott defers nearly all matters to hotel owners.
- Customer service finds reasons to back hotels, and say they’re right, even when they clearly aren’t.
Hotels are Marriott’s customers, and guests are the product that Marriott sells to properties.
Credit: Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun
And Marriotts in Mexico are especially frustrating. There’s Marriott’s Mexico foreign currency scam and in the past the redemption service charge scam and an outright refusal – to Marriott corporate – to honor the upgrade benefit. Not to mention asking guests to prepay their bookings via PayPal outside of Marriott channels. Marriott’s properties there seem to just run amok.
Add these to the stories of one of the many reasons my family and I will no longer visit Mexico.
The Blue Diamond properties in Mexico and the Caribbean are all-inclusives. It’s like the Las Vegas/casino portfolios. They’re using an existing brand (Autograph Collection), when they aren’t actually even a real Autograph Collection property. From a branding standpoint, Marriott shouldn’t have allowed them to use existing brands. They should just call the properties “Marriott All-Inclusive.”
Typical
Remember when Marriott actually cared?
Perhaps it is appropriate for Marriott to require NDAs for medical care? Reading about Marriott lately tends to make me sick!!
None of this surprises me at all. And, I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’d ever spend my money (or points) down in Cancun. Overrated, overcrowded, increasingly dangerous and with the worst of Mexico’s hygiene standards in play. Not to mention that it attracts the same tacky crowd that used to throng to Ft. Lauderdale for Spring Break 30-40 years ago.
@ Christian That was when they were called “Starwood”
@Christian
Honestly, no. ‘Too big to care,’ like all these other mega-corps.
@AngryFlier
Don’t worry, FLL still blows. But it does have a Four Seasons now, so it’s just more expensive.
Gary says: “Hotels are Marriott’s customers, and guests are the product that Marriott sells to properties.” and it’s so true.
2 truths to keep us sane:
1. If you don’t understand the business model, you’re the product.
2. It’s a corporation. It’s not going to love you back.
Marriott International is a publicly traded company (MAR) on the Nasdaq. It’s incredibly hard to believe they don’t realize that their reputation rests upon the performance of all properties (both wholly owned as well as franchise). Candidly, all complaints should be directed to the CEO (Mr. Anthony G. Capuano Jr.) as well as the other nine members of the Board of Directors. Turn up the volume, once they’re all getting over 100 complaints a week they’ll pay attention.