In the past couple of days, Marriott has contacted select Bonvoy members who have redeemed their points or award certificates at three resorts in Latin America.
These hotels have collected service charges included on award reservations (they should have called them resort fees or destination charges that are OK by Marriott) that the hotel chain is now refunding.
You can access Marriott Bonvoy here.
READ MORE: Marriott Bonvoy Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
The affected hotels are:
- JW Marriott Los Cabos
- Courtyard Nassau Downtown
- Westin Cozumel
Here’s the email from Marriott:
Once you have done the review:
Marriott promises to send you a gift card for the value of the service charges.
Conclusion
Hilton and Hyatt cover resort and destination fees on awards issued on their points, but Marriott does not and never has. It seems that these three hotels had mistakenly called them “service charges” that are not allowed per the Marriott Bonvoy T&Cs.
Marriott is not refunding these charges in cash but instead issues an electronic gift card that can be used towards any non-prepaid expenses at most Marriott affiliated hotels (there are very few that don’t accept them like Design Hotels).
BUSTED…………..
Load of crap. Marriott is the clear front-runner in the race to the bottom. They care not for customers, but only care about their franchises. “Resort Fees” are an insult just like baggage on airlines… it’s a money grab. These three properties have learned just to rename their extortion and they aren’t even paying for it. A customer gets a “gift card” to spend on future business. In other words, Marriott has their money and is not giving it back unless they spend more to stay in their properties. They have lost my business.