Consumers used to having the ability to make hotel cancellations the day of arrival for free had better get their wallets out next time they try to do so at Hilton or Marriott hotels. The two chains are apparently taking a lesson from the airline industry and implementing a fee for last-minute reservation cancellations. [More]
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Marriott, Hilton Revise Policies To Add Penalty Fee For Last-Minute Reservation Cancellations
By 11.18.14
Marriott Fined $600K Because It’s Illegal To Block WiFi Hotspots
By 10.3.14
When a major hotel chain makes money by charging a fee for in-room Internet service, it might be tempted to do something that makes it difficult for visitors to use their own WiFi hotspots so that they have little choice but to pay up for the hotel’s Web access. Thing is, that’s against the law. [More]
Forget Mints On The Pillow: Marriott Leaves Envelopes So You Can Tip The Maid
By 9.15.14
If you’re staying at a Marriott-branded hotel this week you may notice a new addition to your guest room: An envelope encouraging you to tip the housekeeper. The gesture is part of a new initiative at the hotels to recognize the work that housekeepers often do behind the scenes. [More]
Marriott Launches New App That Creepily Connects Guests With Each Other
By 6.16.14
After a long day at an out-of-town work conference, it might be nice to enjoy a drink and casual conversation at the hotel bar. Now, instead of taking the chance that your fellow guest will drone on and on about their love for all things animal print, consumers can find like-minded guests they actually want to talk to connect with, but not in the “let’s take this to your room” context. [More]
Marriott Makes Big Push To Get LGBT Business
By 6.2.14
With the Supreme Court and a growing number of states giving the OK to same-sex marriages, the hospitality industry is quickly realizing there is money to be made from a segment of the population that had long been underserved. Not to be outdone by smaller hotel chains that openly welcome business from the LGBT community, the folks at Marriott are spending a lot of money to try to win over these consumers. [More]
Court Throws Out Online Price-Fixing Lawsuit Against Major Hotel Chains, Booking Sites
By 2.19.14
For years, some have accused America’s largest hotel chains of colluding with travel booking sites like Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, and Priceline to make sure that the room rates offered to consumers on these sites are the same. This practice, claimed plaintiffs in various lawsuits, effectively allowed the hotel chains to determine their own prices and kept the booking sites from competing against each other; meaning consumers could be paying more than they should. But a U.S. District Court judge feels differently. [More]
Today In Major Credit Card Breaches: Hotels, Hotel Restaurants
By 2.3.14
Major credit card hacks: they’re not just for big box retailers or upscale department stores anymore. The newest place your credit card info is being stolen from? Hotels. [More]
Beware, Hoarders Of Hotel Rewards Points: Book Now Before It’s Too Late
By 3.18.13
Hey, you. Yes, you, the guy with the piles and piles of hotel rewards points stacked up nice and neat. Might want to think about booking a vacation and using up those points soon, as most of the major hotel chains have either already devalued their points or will do so pretty darn soon. [More]
IKEA Enlists Marriott’s Help In Assembling European Budget Hotels Using Only An Allen Key
By 3.5.13
IKEA announced last year that it wanted to build a bunch of hotels across Europe, right around the time it unveiled plans for its own district in Hamburg, Germany. And now the company is one step closer to its dream but it needs Marriott’s help. Ostensibly even it can’t decipher those wordless instructions sheets. [More]
Owners Kick Marriott Out Of Waikiki Hotel
By 8.30.11
Hotel chain Marriott is no longer taking reservations for the Waikiki Edition hotel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a room. In a late-night raid last weekend, the chain was kicked out by the hotel’s owners, who changed the locks and brought in new management without even calling to say goodbye first. [More]
Marriott Drops "It's Your Fault" Claim In Rape Case
By 8.17.09
After it broke last week that Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa was claiming it was the fault of the victim and her two toddlers that she was raped in their parking garage, the hotel has decided to withdraw the claim. They also apologized for the rape in a general sort of way—but not for subpoenaing her friends and professional acquaintances who otherwise would not have known about the crime.
Marriott Says Woman Is Responsible For Her Rape
By 8.14.09
[Update: Marriott has dropped the appeal.] If you want to live dangerously, why not try an unrelaxing visit to the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa? It features a game room, a BBQ/picnic area, $10 a day Internet access, and the occasional mentally unhealthy transient wandering for days around the parking garage waiting to attack you. Best of all, if you are attacked Marriott will let you take all the credit for it, and then subpoena your friends and professional contacts, thereby permanently ruining any anonymity you hoped to maintain. Because at Stamford Marriott, if you’re raped in our parking garage by a guy our security should have noticed and kicked out, don’t come crying to us!
Marriott Is Nice To You When Jerks Charge Food To Your Room
By 7.28.09
Reader Stephen writes in to let us know that the Marriott Residence Inn in Boulder, CO was nice to him when some random jerks charged food to his room.
Marriott Emails You To Let You Know That You Did Not Give Permission For Them To Email You
By 10.6.08
Marriott really wants to know what you think of their hotels. Unfortunately, they don’t have permission to solicit your participation in surveys. The solution? They email you to let you know that you asked them not to email you.
Crowne Plaza Hotel Blindsides You With A $235.13 Hold For Incidental Charges
By 8.4.08
Much like that nasty little gas station problem we talked about awhile back, hotels just love to slap holds on your debit or credit card accounts for “incidental charges.” There’s nothing wrong or uncommon about the practice, but its difficult or impossible to tell exactly how much the hold might be — and for some consumers who aren’t expecting it, the holds can cause big problems. Reader Eric recently got slapped with a $253.13 hold from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kansas City, and he’s a little irked because they didn’t disclose the hold when he was checking in, and they only refunded $160 of it when he checked out.
Violating A Hotel's No Smoking Policy Could Cost You $250
By 2.23.08
Hotels are starting to to hit smokers with hefty fines for violating their no smoking policies. Take Dan Cole. He didn’t light up in his non-smoking Marriott room, honest. Those butts in his garbage can? Um, he smoked them somewhere else and threw them out in the room?
Marriott Fails: Hotel Still Under Construction, Leaves Your Door Wide Open, No Hot Water
By 1.10.08
Reader Allan stays at Marriott hotels a lot. He has platinum status, meaning that he stays at Marriott hotels for more than 75 days a year. One might think this level of loyalty would mean that he’d get a response to his complaint letter.
Marriott Ruined My Wedding Night!
By 9.8.07
“I got married over Labor Day weekend in North Chicago, Illinois. We did a lot of advance legwork to set up a hotel for our guests that was close to the venue and convenient. Our wedding venue recommended the Marriott Courtyard in Waukegan/Gurnee. It was more expensive then the other hotels in the area and a bit further away, but they offered something irresistible– a free shuttle to and from the wedding venue for all of our guests staying there. Since we had been contemplating hiring vans to shuttle our guests around so no one would drive drunk, this was a no-brainer. Plus, the Marriott has a good brand name and we felt confident things would go smoothly.
