The other week, I stayed for a night at the JW Marriott hotel in Cusco (or some may prefer the Cuzco version of the city’s name).
There were quite a few small issues with the stay starting that they completely forgot the status I have with Marriott Rewards and didn’t even offer the Platinum amenity choice.
You can access JW Marriott Cusco’s website here.
Platinum Amenity ($100)
If hotel forgets to offer the Platinum amenity, the guest is eligible for $100 compensation at the time of check out. This is part of Marriott’s Elite Benefits Guarantees that you can learn more here.
I invoked the guarantee at the time of check out and the hotel paid the $100. I was told that the person checking me in was new and that this would have been the first time someone had exercised the guarantee. Not sure if I buy this explanation.
After Stay Survey (10,000 Marriott Rewards Points)
There were quite a few small things wrong with my stay that I listed on the after stay survey that I received. I also gave less than stellar remarks on the survey for the staff.
Here are the issues that I mentioned on the survey:
1. Check in was unorganized and I was assigned probably the worst room of the hotel on the -2 floor + the missing Platinum arrival gift. I had view of a wall.
2. Couldn’t log into the internet using room number and last name. Was told that they were looking into this and I could use the internet in the lobby that was not really an option (this hotel has an open lobby to the outside). I asked why they couldn’t issue me a code so that we could bypass the last name and the room number requirement. The operator gave a generic elite internet code that worked just fine.
3. Went to a meeting the following morning and came back few minutes past 11AM only to find out that my key card was no longer working. Went to the front desk where they reactivated the key and I told that I would be leaving around 1PM.
I subsequently received a phone call at noon about what time I would be checking out. I told that I had spoken with the front desk regarding a 1PM check out and was told that not possible due to hotel being full.
(Note that even Platinum members with Marriott don’t have guaranteed late check out benefit).
4. Checkout took half an hour due to the Platinum arrival gift issue.
5. I also noted that I would believe that Renaissance or Autograph Collection brands would have been better fit for this property than JW Marriott.
I received an email from the property the same day I filed the survey offering 10,000 points. They requested that I had to get back to them if I find this acceptable. I didn’t respond to the email and couple of days later the points had been deposited to my account nevertheless.
Conclusion
I expected to get the $100 due to the Platinum Arrival Gift, but did not request anything for the few other issues that I had during the stay and which I mentioned on the after stay survey. If the property wants to throw some points at me, I am more than happy to take them.
This was just the 3rd time that I have been able to claim the cash for the missed Platinum Arrival Gift having stayed around 600 nights with Marriott affiliated hotels.
good job, without you keeping these idiots on their toes the rest of us are just gonna experience more nonsense..
Congrats ! I always pay a particular attention to whether they offer this platinum arrival gift or not, unforuatnely they usually mention this briefly at the “last” minute of check-in… alas….hehe…
I forgot to mention above that the hotel didn’t have the usual key package and papers done that they should have for elite members. Usually this package also includes the Platinum arrival gift choice card.
A little OT but how particular should you be with specifying you would like points in form of compensation when making a compliant. I recently stayed in the Hilton Opera in Paris which is undergoing renovation and for some reason breakfast just wasn’t available before we checked out at 7.30 (should have started at 6) No explanation or apology at check out. How many points are reasonable?
You should email Hilton and ask them to forward the file to Hilton Guest Assistance that deal with these. 20K?
John, why don’t you mention this at checking, & give the hotel a chance to correct
the mistake? You always wait until checkout . I’m surprised these hotels don’t have
you on a no-stay list! LOL
Why mention it at checkin? I have claimed the checkout reward multiple times. Its not our job to keep tabs on whether the hotel fulfills their own guarantees or not. They offer the cash guarantee for a reason, so that amenities get offered. I “gurantee” that that new person will not make that mistake again. So it cost the hotel $100 for that and that person will be more attentive to other things too.
Had John done the employees job for them, the employee would have thought nothing of it and may have made the same mistake with someone else and also make other mistakes that could cost the hotel way more then $100. So John got $100, the hotel had an opportunity to teach the employee that this is important, and the employee will likely be more attentive to not only this but other things.
While I certainly enjoy getting $100, as a business owner I see the other side of it too, and its a valuable learning experience for everyone at the hotel.
For example, try claiming one of these at a non full service hotel, such as a residence inn (which I have claimed the $50 at twice), they won’t even know about the policy most likely and will (in both cases) have to call their managers or customer care to confirm. How could they give the best service regarding a policy they don’t even know about?
Bottom line is, Marriot has made it a policy, so its the hotels job to enforce it, regardless of how that impacts them, or if someone was new, or whatever else.
is this just for platinum? what exactly does it qualify for?
I have linked the various guarantees that Marriott has. This Platinum gift one only applies to Platinum members.
I stayed at the Marriott Riyadh recently where I was not offered a platinum arrival gift. I reported this to the manager during my stay and claimed the $100. I was advised that I could have 5k points, or the $100 USD, but that the $100 would come from the staff member’s own pocket. I complained about this and the manager eventually promised the $100 and that it would not be taken from the staff member. Meet the manager at the front desk to claim the next day and the employee was there – the manager had him open his wallet and take out the equivalent of $100 USD in local currency. I refused to accept this and begrudgingly took the points because I’m not going to take what is probably a week’s wages out of someone’s pocket. Was disgusted and can only imagine this isn’t standard practice and that the hotel should be wearing this themselves, but food for thought when you’re chasing the $100 USD.
That is really horrible. I would contact the Marriott CEO’s office and open a complaint how the hotel treats its employees.
I had considered that, but I’ll have to stay there again quite frequently, so didn’t want to make too much of an issue of it and risk losing out in other ways in future. I don’t really care about the points or money that much, more so the way the employee was treated.