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.
