As reported in Marriott Insiders, Marriott has published the list of welcome gifts, by brand, that Platinum Elites can expect when the Marriott and SPG programs merge in August. The list is re-published below, along with my reactions. For much more detail about the upcoming program merger, please see: Marriott SPG Ritz Transition Guide.
Analysis
The 1,000 point per stay option is a devaluation for SPG elites since it is equivalent to only 333 SPG points. For Marriott elites the list is pretty much as expected, but there are a few surprises. In particular, there are several hotel brands where breakfast is not a guaranteed option when there is no lounge or when the lounge is closed:
- JW Marriott Hotels do not offer a non-lounge breakfast option (but JW Marriott Resorts do).
- Marriott Hotels do not offer a non-lounge breakfast option (but Marriott Resorts do).
- Delta Hotels do not offer a non-lounge breakfast option (but Delta Resorts do).
- Autograph Collection Hotels do not offer a non-lounge breakfast option (but Autograph Collection Resorts do).
- Renaissance Hotels do not offer a non-lounge breakfast option (but Renaissance Resorts do).
In each of the above cases, as long as a lounge is open and available, this isn’t a problem, but it could be an issue on weekends when some lounges close. See this Flyertalk thread for a list of lounges that close on weekends.
One surprise is with Courtyard hotels. We were expecting free breakfast, but this chart shows that Courtyards without lounges (which I expect is most of them?) offer $10 food & beverage credit for member plus 1 guest daily. That’s probably enough for free breakfast at many Courtyards but I doubt it would cover the full bill in expensive cities.
Moxy Hotels, like Courtyards without lounges, offers $10 food & beverage credit for member plus 1 guest daily.
Not surprisingly, brands that always offer free breakfast (like Fairfield, Springhill Suites, etc.) don’t include a breakfast welcome gift.
As expected, Ritz, Edition, Design Hotels, Gaylord Hotels, and Marriott Vacation Club do not offer a breakfast or lounge option.
The List
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Wow, how am I just seeing this now?
For all this time, even as a Marriott Gold (in Asia), we’ve always had the options of breakfast in the lounge or at the restaurant. 1 exception was JW Marriott Hanoi, where it was only offered in the lounge, and they let us 1 morning go to the restaurant just to experience it.
Is this confirmed that definitely, even being Marriott Platinum come August 18th, that these hotels will no longer offer the option to have breakfast at the restaurants? You’ll be forced to eat breakfast at the lounge?
This is definitely a huge devaluation if true. I wonder if the hotels will all do that hard switch? I am reading correctly though that now the W will be offering free breakfasts in their restaurants for Platinum? That almost seems like a better deal in some instances as I’ve always had over the top breakfasts at the W Hotels.
Some brands will offer breakfast in the restaurant as a welcome gift choice.
[…] Elites would get free breakfast when Marriott and SPG merge in August. But, in my post “Marriott Platinum Elite Welcome Gift List Published,” I pointed out that you might not get free breakfast at a number of hotels when they […]
[…] Free breakfast and/or lounge access will be available at all resorts and most hotels (see this post for details). […]
I seriously hope this is an error in the sheet. For business travelers it makes sense but for those weekend getaways this is terrible. I only continue to stay on weekends because I know I’ll continue to get breakfast. This is a huge devaluation, I have to switch to a resort to get a free meal then possibly pay more since they’ll hit me with resort fees.
Also $10 F&B per stay is a slap in the face. That’s enough for 2 sodas and a bottle of water or maybe 1 egg and 1.5 pancakes.
White man speak with forked tongue Tonto….
I’m really starting to what other nasty little surprises are awaiting us as they trickle out these details. There are still a lot of questions out there and unreleased details….and very little new information has come out since the initial announcement.
I knew all this hype of how much better this was going to be than we thought was too good to be true.
As a mostly weekend stay person, this is a major blow to the program. The hotel breakfasts are not typically worth paying for but when complimentary are a great convenience that pulls me to Marriott hotels over others. $10 isn’t going to cover most charges, so it will make me less brand loyal. I’m sure others will act the same, but perhaps with current occupancy rates Marriott doesn’t need our money.
Those this mean jw (non resort properties) and Marriott (non resort) will not offer free breakfast at the restaurant if the lounge its closed?
It appears Lucky has already confirmed it – free breakfast is not being rolled out for plats. This is a definite devaluation of the situation pre-merger. BIg thumbs down. How did they think they could spin a $10 F&B amenity per stay as being equivalent to free breakfast????
Marriott’s customer service mission is to confuse their employees and customers….
We need a flowchart for this.
Greg;
Thanks for giood info.
Does Delta now offers free breakfast? but are changing after August?
Also, does Marriott offer soft landing? I am currently 100 night SPG plat. Wonder if they will offer me soft landing?
Thanks
Danny
This is why I have never trusted Marriott. They play games with their definitions so they can get away with making a blanket marketing statement that sounds good in brochures like “free breakfast” but then start layering on the exceptions…lounge and non-lounge, resort and non-resort, weekend and non-weekend, brand carve-outs, continental breakfast…etc. Any words they can make up to wiggle out of the thing that is very easy to ascertain. Do I get breakfast or not as an elite member?
Hilton Diamond via AMEX Aspire is looking better and better.
Unless Marriott changes their elite breakfast benefit, it sounds like a lot of Marriott Platinum members are about to get screwed.
They’ve made it too complicated. Even hotel and resort of the same brand have different policy. And of course weekday and weekend are different due to lounge access. I wont be able to memorize such complicated rule. I’d rather call the specific hotel and ask for their breakfast policy. Hyatt, on the other side, has way more consistent breakfast policy