Last year Marriott’s The Laylow, Autograph Collection hotel in Waikiki refused to honor elite breakfast benefits. It wasn’t a pandemic restriction keeping them from serving breakfast. In fact the hotel was offering breakfast to Platinum members and above – for sale – just like the rest of their guests.
Now if you go to the hotel’s page on the Marriott website they advertise that they will honor 2 p.m. late check-out subject to availability, not the 4 p.m. check-out which is the benefit for Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador members. This property says Gold elites and above are all treated the same:
Gold Elite and above receive 2pm Late Check based on availability
This hotel, it seems, does what it wants (or doesn’t do, as the case may be) with impunity.
But neither of these things is the hotel’s most egregious anti-consumer move. Despite a legal settlement over misleading resort fees between Marriott and Pennsylvania, this Marriott property:
- Lists one resort fee
- But charges another
They advertise a $29 destination fee, and since this is Marriott the fee is also charged on award stays (a deplorable practice, which neither Hilton or Hyatt follow).
But they price the fee at $35:
Advertise one thing, charge something else, is the very problem with resort fees to begin with – but charging a different resort fee than what’s published on the hotel website seems next level.
