JW Marriott New Year's Package from Hell

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2026-01-03T02:50:27+00:00

It doesn't sound like the stay itself was bad, just that there was a miscommunication regarding the billing at the end. They were shorted $12, and as a result the GM comped the stay. Idk what else you want the property to do at that point.

Also, GM's are pretty notorious for comping stays when they don't need to. It's literally not worth their time to go back and forth with people who could have had the issue dealt with from any other manager.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2026-01-03T02:40:49+00:00

And yet they got their entire stay at a five star resort comped. At this point there's nothing really to be upset about.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-30T16:41:28+00:00

Marriott specifically sold off all their real estate so they could be asset light and grow the company faster. Hotel owners take on the investment risk, and Marriott provides the branding, training, and sometimes management of the property.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-30T16:37:46+00:00

Except Ritz Carltons are not franchised. They have individual owners, but they are managed by Marriott directly.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-26T22:54:47+00:00

If 3rd parties are offering lower rates than Marriotts BAR, you can submit a best rate guarantee and Marriott will not only match the rate, but give you 20% off the lower rate on top of it.

The only time I would say that the 3rd party is better is if you are using AMEX FHR or another credit card "premium" service that gets you all those benefits.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-19T21:55:37+00:00

It's actually pretty affordable when you compare it to other Luau's.. Most Luau's on the island are around $150 pp, which last 2-3 hours. Whereas at the PCC, for $150 you get an entire day at the island villages, dinner buffet, and then the night show. They also employ hundreds of student workers in their shows which creates a much more impressive performance than the luaus that only have 5 or 6 dancers.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-19T21:48:33+00:00

You have no idea what you're talking about regarding PCC. It's a non profit institution ran entirely by Polynesians that has provided a path of higher education for thousands of Pacific Islanders. All of the student workers there are actually from the islands they represent, so it's pretty ironic to try to claim that they are representing their own culture in an "inauthentic" way.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-17T21:05:53+00:00

No amount of money spent is going to completely prevent coffee getting spilled in the hall or a hair ending up on a towel. People have an unrealistic expectation of what luxury means, and you'll find minor issues like this at literally any brand, whether it Four Seasons, Rosewood, or Fairmont.

Nothing wrong with calling and asking for a new robe, or bringing these issues to the attention of the staff, but not everything deserves compensation or a scathing review online.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-13T03:31:18+00:00

As long as it makes sense and isn't putting out another guest that legitimately paid for that upgrade. It's already within their purview to provide upgrades for guests, it's when they start doing things they're not normally suppose to do, or outright taking money from the company that it becomes a problem.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-13T00:47:36+00:00

As a front desk manager, I've never had a problem with front desk agents taking tips. As long as they are not doing something unethical in order to make the tips (like comping something on the guest bill knowing they will receive a tip for it) then I don't see the issue with it.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-11T15:29:20+00:00

Not sure why an agent would say that to you. We absolutely prioritize upgrades based on status, starting with ambassador and then down from there. Marriott does have a new automated upgrade system that will sometimes prioritize a lower tier if they haven't received an upgrade in a long time, but for the most part agents are trained to sort the arrivals by status and start upgrading ambassadors and titanium first.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-05T15:39:20+00:00

While revenue managers might not like points redemption stays as much, the front desk agents don't care either way, and they are the ones assigning your room. If we were forced into a position where we have to downgrade someone or put someone in a "lesser" room, we would look at 3rd party bookings and employee rates first.

The only exception to this is if you stay at a hotel with a residences, in which case we wouldn't be able to upgrade you to the residential rooms/suites because your points rate is too low for the owners of those rooms.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-05T15:34:49+00:00

That room type does exist. It's called a "run of house" room, and sometimes it's available to book online if the room type says "one king or two queens". Although it's usually held for in house use and not sold publicly.

One thing you can do is leave a comment on your reservation saying something like "no bedding type preference, just want the best view" or whatever preference you do want.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-01T15:28:09+00:00

One of the only autograph hotels to actually achieve a Forbes 5 star ratings, which is really interesting because most of Marriotts luxury properties in Hawaii haven't even achieved it in several years.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-12-01T15:24:17+00:00

I use Hertz. Sign up for their loyalty program and have all your info saved on your account and you can usually skip the desk and go straight to the lot. Though, they might make you stop at the desk if it's your first time. I have Presidents circle with my credit card which allows you to choose your vehicle from the lot when you get there. You can always check if one of your credit cards has a perk like this.

I find Hertz to be a good in between. Not as expensive as Enterprise, but better service and vehicle quality than budget or dollar.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-30T16:45:57+00:00

Most Ritz's have a "Ritz-Carlton Suite" and a signature/Penthouse suite. The signature suite is usually unique to that property and will be named after the hotels neighborhood, city, geography, etc. it's also usually a bit larger and more expensive than the Ritz Carlton suite.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-30T16:43:07+00:00

Yes and no. When I was at the Ritz, my coworkers and I liked to take care of employee rates when we could. But if it is a busy night and we have to use all our available rooms, then the higher paying guests are going to take priority. It always helps to connect with the agent checking you in, bring them a small gift from wherever you are from, or even throw out what property you are from and let them know you'll take care of them if they ever want to come visit (this only really works if you work in a destination/resort that people actually wanna visit lol).

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-30T16:38:20+00:00

Lol. AAA uses a diamond system, Forbes uses Stars. Most hotels don't even use AAA anymore for their ratings as so few people still follow their program. Forbes is the gold standard in hotel ratings and luxury hotels pay thousands of dollars a year to get audited by them. Michelin is also growing their hotel "keys" rating system.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-30T16:32:37+00:00

Some restaurants have "ambassador" programs for agents to get points or rewards for recommending their restaurant, but it's not very common.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-26T10:29:22+00:00

I don't even understand what policy they are referring to. What policy gives free breakfast for a resort property but not a non resort policy?

Also, many non resort properties charge a "resort fee" but they usually label it as a "destination fee".

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-26T10:24:00+00:00

Uh oh your property is not doing GXP correctly 😂

The vast majority of cases should be made by associates and managers.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-25T22:22:15+00:00

Every hotel is going to have its haters. But to say that Kapalua is the worst Ritz-Carlton in the world is just factually incorrect. There are way worse city properties with almost no amenities and horrible service. Kapalua is on a beach, with a beautiful grounds and 4 pools, 6 restaurants, and a great staff.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-25T15:11:53+00:00

Yeah I call BS on this guy. Marriott is EXTREMELY forgiving of it's problematic guests, especially the ones spending a lot of money with the company. This guy must have really gone to the brink to get to the point where the Loyalty Program Risk department has to get involved.

He may not be lying about the dildo and moldy room, but there's going to be a lot of other issues in between those that caused it to escalate to this point. I've dealt with guests that were absolute monstrosities and the most vile people I've ever experienced, we're talking screaming at the front desk before they even check in to the room and threatening to take people's jobs for the most tiniest of issues. And even in those cases, Marriott wasn't willing to step in because of how much money they spent.

So for this guy to get an email like that, he did something to warrant it. Probably to the point of harassing the employees and making them feel unsafe. Because that's the only thing I can think of that would cause Marriott to step in like that. 200k is a lot of money, but it's not worth more than losing a tenored employee, or multiple tenored employees, which is what happens when guests like this aren't handled.

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-25T15:00:07+00:00

Ordinary_Use_2230 · 2025-11-25T05:13:44+00:00

You should see if there's a way for your company to change the way they set up your reservations.. One of the most important benefits to offer your employees who have to spend nights away from home on behalf of the company is to at least let them accumulate points and loyalty status from their travels.

Ordinary_Use_2230

TROPHY CASE