As a platinum member I always take the 500 points. Some of the other choices that I've been offered at check in are just plain silly. Like two bottles of water instead of the 500 points. Or, a couple of bags of chips.
At Marriott's four brands of full-service hotels in the U.S., Platinum guests were supposed to be given a card at check-in with a choice of foods AND a choice of beverages. The foods included such things as snack bags, cheese & crackers, and fancy ice cream. The beverages included red wine, white wine, beer, soda, and bottled water.
An attendant would bring the selected items up to the room on a room service tray with white linens. Wine came with real wine glasses. I would sometimes choose the cheese & crackers and wine. The wine was typically a 375 ml bottle of Meridian Merlot or Chardonnay. The cheese serving was inconsistent; last weekend I received a single, tiny wedge of soft cheese and a small box of crackers. One time I received a whole tray with an incredibly elaborate assortment of of various cheeses, crackers, and fresh fruit.
It was a VIP "welcome gift." It all was about being treated like a VIP, not about saving a few dollars. Sometimes it would be in addition to the 500 points.
Or Platinum guests could choose 500 points and no actual food and beverage. More often than not, that's what I did. Valuing points with the rule-of-thumb of a penny each, it was only worth $5. But if I had dinner plans, I really didn't need the wine and cheese before dinner.
The new rules call for 500 points OR a $10 food & beverage credit. That credit is a good deal — twice as valuable as the points — for Platinum guests who plan to eat or drink in the hotel. But it doesn't feel like VIP treatment. And it doesn't even come close to paying for wine and cheese from room service.
Individual hotels can still give their best customers VIP treatment, but chances are that most Platinum guests will simply be offered the points or credit.
Unfortunately, the desk clerks are not aware of the rules. When checking into a full service Marriott a few months ago I was told that the breakfast in the dining room was free because the concierge floor was closed on weekends. When I received the $10 credit instead of the free breakfast I was told that "we used to give a free breakfast but that was changed". I then objected to being told after the fact and finally did receive a complimentary breakfast. The lesson that I learned here is to take the 500 points. If Marriott wants to de-value their brand to their best customers that their business.
Apparently, kjd was at a property with a badly trained front desk.
Under the old rules, Marriott's Gold/Platinum member breakfast benefit at full-service properties in the U.S. was officially only Monday through Friday morning. Many properties chose to go extend the benefit to weekends too. How this was implemented was inconsistent because it was specific to the hotel, not company-wide. Sometimes the lounge would be open. Sometimes there were two paper coupons for each morning. And sometimes the restaurant would allow everyone in the room to have free breakfast just by providing the room number when the bill came.
Now, as of June 22, there's a simplified, more consistent set of rules for Platinum welcome gifts and Gold/Platinum breakfasts. Because many of my full-service hotel nights are on weekends, I'll probably gain more from the weekend breakfasts than what I lose from the change to the welcome gift. So, for me, Marriott has not de-valued their four full-service brands.
It remains to be seen what individual properties do to recognize loyal guests beyond the nationwide rules. The hotels need to stay competitive with other full-service brands and even with other Marriott properties in the same market.
This is an end of an era for Marriott.
