I’m not sure what’s worse — that a Marriott manager feels this way, or that she feels comfortable enough writing this online using her real name…
Perhaps what surprises me most is the brashness of literally posting this publicly, using your real name, while essentially identifying as a Marriott employee (by using the term “we”). Like, this is beyond disrespectful in any line of work, especially when speaking about one of your best customers.
Like, how much does this person hate elite guests? She’s literally choosing to read a Facebook group where Marriott Bonvoy elite members share their experience, and she thinks the right thing to do is to tell guests that they really don’t matter, and she doesn’t care?
Now, I actually think her perception of elite members isn’t that far off from how many other Marriott employees feel:
- Marriott corporate really only cares about room count growth, and isn’t that invested in actually delivering on elite promises, unlike hotel groups like Hyatt, which still care
- Part of the issue is also that on a corporate level, Marriott profits off of handing out elite status like candy (like with credit cards), and then it’s up to individual hotels to deliver on those benefits, which is challenging, given the volume of guests we’re talking about
- The absurd thing is that *literally* the one thing Marriott has going for is its loyalty program, since that’s the only thing that would get someone to specifically seek out a Marriott over a competing property
- The truth is that we’re all the chumps for staying on the hamster wheel of elite status despite the clear indifference that Marriott has toward its guests (and I’m calling myself a chump here, because I’m an Ambassador as well!)
- In fairness, I do think this perspective is largely United States centric, and outside of the country, you’ll find that there are still plenty of places that care about elite members, and where hospitality is a thing (in my defense, I rarely stay at Bonvoy properties in the United States) 😉
Bottom line
A Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador member shared a negative experience staying at a property while spending $19K on the stay, to which an assistant general manager of another property responded by saying that Ambassador members are just a number at every property, that managers don’t care, you’re not royalty, and “gross.” Nice!!!
What do you make of this Marriott manager’s Facebook post?