[MartynSinclair]

Since the merger of SPG and Marriott, how have you been finding the new combined website. I know the flyertalk SPG moderator and he was telling me our American cousins are as up in arms about Marriott IT as us BT’ers are up in arms about BA IT.

I currently can not access Marriott website and still have to request manual additions for hotels that were formerly SPG. I am also seeing some bookings drop once confirmed.

I accept combining SPG and Marriott continues to be a massive exercise, but the fall out continues.

One other fallout are the exec lounges are still full to the rafters as there are now far too many eligible guests able to access. I know of a couple of hotels who are having to extend the size of their lounges to accommodate more guests.

Has anyone got any positive experiences of the new Marriott.

[FaroFlyer]

Hi Martyn, I have been a beneficiary of the merger as I was only Marriott LTG, but am now also equivalent status in both Sheraton & Westin as a result. It has made me lean more towards Marriott group, especially as they seem to be slowly increasing the number of hotels that have lounges.

Yes, there were some awful delays when they combined the programmes about 6 months ago, and Sheraton had also experienced a BA style credit card fiasco. I don’t often look at FlyerTalk but do get the daily LoyaltyLobby.com newsletter and they have been banging on about the Marriott / SPG IT situation for many months.

Like all hotel groups there is no consistency between so called “brands”, so I don’t have much loyalty unless it will give me something today, and tomorrow, for yesterday’s loyalty. Time the hotel groups did what AF are finally trying, and achieve consistency among trade names.

[AlanOrton1]

Hi Martyn, your email reminded me to check my Marriott Reward balance as I stayed in a former SPG property late last month. Points etc all posted correctly, so a positive experience thus far.
That said this is the first and only stay in a former SPG hotel since the programmes merged.

I had SPG gold courtesy of Amex Plat, though I’ve stayed with them very infrequently. I increased my Marriott stays once the merger was announced as SPG gold (no lounge access) gave me Marriott platinum (lounge access). A perk worth shifting some business from Hyatt to Marriott.
However, around Aug / Sep time when the merger was fully complete my status was dropped back to what is now called gold elite and no more lounge access.

No real complaints as I have what I had pre-merger status wise. However, I will continue to stay more in Marriott hotels as it is hard to fault the breadth and range of options in the places I travel to.

[Tom Otley]

I’ve found that stays in Marriott brands are credited immediately, but a recent stay in a Design Hotel (so SPG of old days) just can’t seem to be credited.

I submitted a claim for it as a Missing Stay a few weeks ago but have yet to hear back (although I got an email apologising and saying they would look into it).

[Fair2380]

I’ve had issues week after week with former SPG branded hotels. Culminated in me getting cross on the phone and – tbf – they credited 25,000 points as a result of inconvenience. The last lady I spoke to said that the system integration issues had now been resolved and I haven’t had issues since (though they’ve all been either RC or Marriott brands thus far). Back into an SPG property next week so let’s see if. Of course, the introduction of Bonvoy might lead to further problems…

[Tom Otley]

Marriott CEO says those responsible for data hack ‘will never be known’

[NorskSaint]

Have to say I’ve had nothing but positive experiences. All nights and points have been added across all hotels both Marriott and SPG each time I stay. I travel back and forth to Miami a lot so made Platinum with Ambasssdor which helps if there are any misses.

Managed to use my points and suite night awards for the Westin in Mauritius for 10 nights – kept the SO from complaining too much about the travel schedule!

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