We live about an hour from NYC. I thought I would treat my family to a "tourist" day/night and spend some time in the City. We had a wonderful dinner and went to the Philharmonic. Then we went to the hotel. I am a lifetime Titanium Marriott member, meaning that I've staying more than a thousand nights and accumulated more than 2 million points with Marriott. Any my numbers are much higher. I say this just so it's clear that, usually, when I register, I'm treated, well, like a lifetime Titanium member. Not this time. When I approached the Rewards Members desk, I was told to go to the regular desk, despite no other customer being at the Rewards desk. I was affirmatively taken to the other desk. She was not interested in whether I was a Marriott member. All she wanted was ID. My Marriott ID wasn't good, and she was quite rude about it. So when I gave her my license, she studied it for what my wife thought was a full minute. Satisfied I was who I said I was, she checked us in without speaking to me or even looking at us. After handing me the keys (and almost forgetting to return my credit card and license), we went to our room. There are more than 30 floors in this hotel. Our room was on 11, which is important only because my Marriott status always -- always -- upgrades us to the high floors. When we got to our room, it looked like it had last been cleaned in the late '70s. And it was the size of a large shoe box. I went downstairs and, this time, went to the Rewards desk. The man behind the desk informed me that my room was in fact an upgraded room. In disbelief, I asked what their regular rooms looked like and if those rooms actually had bathrooms, because anything smaller could not fit one. He repeated that I had been upgraded and was done speaking with me. When I asked a final time, he said to step aside, although there were no other customers on the line. Please keep in mind that Marriott classifies this hotel as a resort, so there is a $25 resort fee added to the bill. Anyway, the room was gloomy. The noise from outside was so bad that we were able to get to sleep only by passing out. There was no food in the concierge lounge. They were even out of water. The messages and wake up call buttons did not work (though the front desk finally handled the wake up call request). The room also smelled. Finally, the two beds are doubles, not queens (if that makes a difference). Anyway, the breakfast in the lounge was standard scrambled eggs and bacon and some yogurt and fruit. Fine. When we checked out, though, unfortunately we had to deal with the front staff. Apparently, as a "resort," you are entitled to a $25 food/beverage credit, $20 in dry cleaning and one Local NYC Experience. That "experience" is one of four things, including a bus ride, a ticket (per room) to Ripley's Believe It or Not or a ticket (per room) to Madame Tussaud's, We found this out by reading the back of our key. After returning the room key, I asked about the tickets to Madame Tussaud's and was told to pick them up at the Concierge desk. But when I went to pick them up, I was told that, despite being good for 30 days, their "protocols" prevented them from giving the ticket on the day of the checkout. But then, it was time to leave this tired, run down place. I couldn't leave fast enough. Since the mega merger a year ago, Marriott has plunged in my opinion and doesn't seem to honor its loyal customers. Ironically, after we left the hotel, we passed the DoubleTree a block away. Hilton is looking good now.
