I stayed at the Marriott Toronto Markham a couple of weeks ago while attending the Gilmore Girls Fan Festival in Unionville Ontario. As you may recall, I confessed my obsession with the show Gilmore Girls a few years ago when writing about my brief visit to the town where Gilmore […]
When American Express implemented a new policy to stop issuing points on gift card purchases (mainly at Simon and possibly GiftCardMall), a lot of people tossed out their Marriott Bonvoy cards. Thee new Marriott Bonvoy program has had its issues, leading once-loyal members to coin the term Bonvoyed. These two […]
The Marriott-Starwood merger has been an epic diaster, spawning a new verb: Bonvoyed. I don’t think a day goes by when my Twitter feed isn’t littered with complaints about issues with reservations or point balances. It’s really amazing that Marriott hasn’t addressed these widespread problems and has instead focused on lobbying […]
Last week, a blogger leaked an email from Marriott Bonvoy about an upcoming “Influencer” press trip to Hong Kong. After the disastrous transition to Marriott Bonvoy, the company appears to be trying to buy some good press. Is there anything wrong with that? After all, in the last year JetBlue, […]
The decision of where to stay in Yogyakarta isn’t as easy as one first might think. During my week in the city, I tried three distinctly, different properties. Sheraton (2 separate nights) a Hyatt and a Marriott. Each has their own merits. This review will cover my experience at the […]
Last week, Marriott and SPG announced a new unified award chart that would go into effect in 2019. I’ve been out of the loop lately, but the general sense on Twitter was that the upcoming changes were worse than the Hilton Honors apocalypse of 2012. I don’t want to get […]
Ritz Carlton recently announced that they will be unveiling a cruise line consisting of three ships that will begin sailing in 2019. Tailored to those who want a luxury cruise experience with a trusted hotel brand, The Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection will offer itineraries in Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Eastern Canada, New […]
There was a time when most of us thought top-tier hotel elite status was out of reach. After all, who stays 25-50 nights at hotels every year? Mostly business travelers. Thanks to rewards credit cards, that’s no longer the case. Most hotel credit cards offer low or mid-tier status with […]
The first steps in the Starwood-Marriott merger were taken last week, when reciprocal benefits were announced for members for both programs. This was a positive step, with generous elite status matches and a 1:3 transfer ratio for SPG: Marriott transfers. Marriott is trying to win over Starwood members, while allowing […]
Remember when the Marriott-Ritz Carlton takeover of Starwood hotels was announced last year and I wrote about how the news wasn’t so bad? Well, my point of view has been validated today, because all three programs have taken the first step in merging and it’s actually working out in our favor. […]