The Dearborn Inn, in Dearborn Michigan, was the first airport hotel in the world. My wife and I spent a one night “staycation” there this past weekend because the hotel recently reopened after being closed for two years for renovations. We were eager to check it out.
Dearborn Inn Bottom Line Review
At check-in we were told that they didn’t offer free breakfast to Platinum Elites and higher (I have Titanium Elite status). When I later brought this up to a manager, he immediately offered to comp our breakfast (and no, I didn’t tell him who I was). Despite the negative first impression when checking in, we loved our stay. The renovations are gorgeous and subsequent staff interactions were wonderful. The hotel is located across the street from the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village; and it’s within easy driving distance to downtown Detroit and many excellent area restaurants (we went to the Ladder 4 Wine Bar, which was amazing). At the hotel, we loved the cocktail lounge; and we enjoyed many of their customer-friendly features such as filtered water stations at the end of every hallway, free parking, and free electric car charging. We will return.
Excellent Point Value… For Now
It’s common when Marriott adds a new hotel to find that point prices are really good for a while. That doesn’t usually last for more than a year or so. Even though The Dearborn Inn isn’t new to Marriott, it has been closed for two years and so maybe it is being treated as if it’s new. I’m seeing great point prices (over 1 cent per point) compared to the cash rates every day:
July Point Prices
July Cash Rates (Pre-Tax)
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Gorgeous design
- Excellent value for points (at least for now)
- No resort or destination fees
- Filtered water stations at the end of every hallway
- Free parking
- Free electric car charging
- Cocktail lounge is gorgeous and has terrific drinks
- Great location especially for visiting the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
- Many fun touches all around the hotel including a photo booth where you can get a souvenir flight ticket with your face on it, and myriad mementos about the history of the hotel.
Cons
- No elite breakfast benefit: Autograph Collection hotels without a lounge are required to offer the guest their choice of daily continental breakfast in restaurant for two OR 750 points. During my stay, they were only offering 750 points. The manager did comp our breakfast, but if they hadn’t I would have been eligible to claim $100 from the hotel.
- Breakfast wasn’t great: This is good news if you don’t get free breakfast — you’re probably not missing much. I didn’t like the Eggs Benedict I ordered (it was way too heavy with sauce) and my wife didn’t care much for her oatmeal. On the other hand, service was fantastic.
The Elite Breakfast Problem
When I checked in, the desk agent thanked me for my loyalty as a Titanium Elite member and then asked me if I wanted 750 points or a $10 food & beverage credit as a welcome gift. I noticed, of course, that “daily breakfast for two” wasn’t listed as an option so I asked about it. The Dearborn Inn is a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel and, according to my own guide to Marriott’s complex breakfast rules, they should offer free breakfast to anyone with Platinum Elite status or higher. She said no to free breakfast. When I asserted that breakfast should be included, she said that the 750 points was in lieu of breakfast. I was about to argue more, but then realized that she probably didn’t have authority to do anything about it. I really needed to speak with a manager. I decided to return later to do that (we had tickets to go to the Ford Rouge Factory Tour — which was terrific).
Before asking to speak with a manager, I dug into the Marriott Bonvoy Terms & Conditions to make sure that I was right about breakfast. Maybe things had changed since I last looked. I found that I was right, but I also was reminded how easily people could be confused about the rules…
If you look only at the section about Elite Welcome Gifts, the terms say this for Autograph Collection Hotels:
United States, Canada, Europe: 1,000 Points per Stay or U.S. $10 food and beverage (“F&B”) credit per Stay
There’s no mention there about free breakfast. However, in the Guaranteed Lounge Access section, the terms state this:
United States and Canada: If Lounge is closed or property does not have a Lounge or approved alternative, property to offer daily continental breakfast in restaurant for Member +1 or Member can choose 750 Points per night of Stay
This hotel doesn’t have a lounge and so, I was right — I should have been offered free continental breakfast. In fact, I should have also been offered a welcome gift of 1,000 points or $10 food & beverage credit.
Marriott has elite benefit guarantees where guests are entitled to cash compensation when a hotel doesn’t honor certain elite benefits. If I was a complete jerk, I could have demanded $200 from this hotel because they failed at two of the guarantees, each of which are worth $100:
- Elite Welcome Gift: 1,000 Points per Stay or U.S. $10 food and beverage (“F&B”) credit per Stay. I was offered the choice of 750 points or $10 F&B credit. Since I wasn’t offered the full 1,000 points as an option, I could have claimed the $100 guarantee.
- Guaranteed Lounge Access: If Lounge is closed or property does not have a Lounge or approved alternative, property to offer daily continental breakfast in restaurant for Member +1 or Member can choose 750 Points per night of Stay. Guest compensation: U.S. $100 If no continental breakfast or continental breakfast alternative was offered to Member
There was no situation where I would have asked for compensation for the first issue, above. However, if the manager hadn’t offered to cover our breakfast, I would have been tempted to demand the $100 compensation for the Guaranteed Lounge Access benefit. My goal wouldn’t have been to profit myself, but to try to force the issue. I want this hotel to comply with the rules for all guests, not just me.
Without telling him who I was, I talked to the manager about the benefit and showed him the relevant terms and conditions. Ultimately, I think he believed me but said that it was up to his bosses to decide what to do. He promised to raise this issue up to them. I really hope he does. I’ve seen other hotels get publicly shamed for this same breakfast problem and I’d hate for this otherwise wonderful hotel to get a bad reputation due to this one issue.
Image Gallery
Common Areas
Clara’s Table Restaurant
Four Vagabonds Cocktail Lounge
Bedroom
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
That Ford factory tour is fascinating! If you’ve not been to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, they are worth another visit to Dearborn.
Marriott needs to drop the breakfast benefit if they are not going to enforce it
But that’s not how the game is played these days. Like try staying at a Sonesta with status. You’re entitled to breakfast, unless the hotel doesn’t feel like it. Really!
I always tell them who I am and let me say, it carries some weight! They actually address me by my name and give me a room!
My frustration with Marriott’s breakfast/F&B situation and corporate’s ongoing refusal to apply brand standards is the reason why Bonvoy remains a second class program behind Hyatt, Hilton and even IHG. At least you generally know what you’re getting with those; Marriott is a crapshoot.
Thank you for this review! I just booked a stay here and had questions but the phone number listed for the hotel on Marriott’s website isn’t in service and they didn’t reply to my email. Were you able to walk to the Ford Museum and Village or do you need to drive? The hotel website doesn’t say anything about the house car anymore.
Hi Jennifer, I live in the area. I think you could walk if you wanted to, but right now Oakwood Blvd is under construction so it wouldn’t be a very pleasant walk. The hotel isn’t directly across from the museum but it’s a fairly short distance up there road. If they do offer a shuttle, I’d take it if only to avoid the dirt and noise right now.
We drove because we were in a hurry but I looked carefully at the walking situation. Even with the construction they’ve maintained a clear and easy sidewalk path (on the hotel side) and what appeared to be an easy way to cross the road at a light. As long as you’re there on a weekend when they’re not actively doing construction I think walking would be fine. It’s .4 miles to Henry Ford or .7 to the Greenfield village entrance. I didn’t ask about a shuttle.
You’re not a jerk for asking for compensation. Dozens, if not hundreds, of guests have probably been cheated out of their benefits thus far and likely also haven’t received the compensation.
As I said in another post …
Marriott never had the best hotels, but Marriott used to be consistently good. They didn’t promise much, but they delivered on what they promised. When there was a significant issue you knew that Mr. Marriott would make things right.
Then, everything started to change when Mr. Marriott retired and his replacement as CEO, Arne Sorenson, wasn’t a hotelier but a corporate lawyer. Marriott shifted big time under Sorenson. No longer was the customer the guest. The customer became the owners, who are primarily franchisees and licensees since Marriott now operates less than 30% of its properties across all brands.
Under Sorenson is when customer service stopped serving guests. They found every excuse in the book to defend bad properties. Customer service became about serving the owners. If you had an issue, it was just kicked back to the property and not resolved by corporate. Gone were the days when you could get a hold of Mr. Marriott’s office to make things right.
Then after Sorenson died, his replacement accelerated the shift. He only cares about adding “keys” (rooms). Who cares about guests or even current properties — lots of longtime owners are mad as new brands are acquired and old brands are neglected. I remember when someone pulled up his Instagram and Facebook before it was scrubbed. The Marriott CEO didn’t even stay at Marriott hotels. When he traveled with his family he went to Four Seasons and other non-Marriott hotels.
Apple isn’t Steve company any longer. And, Marriott isn’t Bill’s company any longer.
Except Apple has gotten better. Marriott has gotten worse.
Interesting that the front desk clerk wouldn”t budge on breakfast. Over the years, I have had success getting clerks to comp me breakfast as compensation for various material service failures (I don’t do it often — something major has to have gone wrong)..The front desks often seem empowered to do this. Ironic that you couldn’t easily get it comped even though you were entitled to it! You just never know, but it was wise to escalate this. A lot of hotel clerks are also new at their jobs, and therefore unfamiliar with elite rules..