i am also such a fan of Marriot Hotels and have been since I was a child. Thank you for such a great hotel chain.

mr. marriott: i'd LIKE TO COMPLIMENT THE WONDERFUL STAFF OF THE MARRIOTT CAMELBACK INN,SCOTTDALE. WHILE ENJOYING OUR FAVORITE IN OCTOBER OF 2008, I UNFORTUNATLEY I UNFORTUNATELY HAD AN ACCIDENT THAT REQUIRED EMERGENCY SURGERY WHICH INVOLVED STAYING AT THE RESORT LONGER THANI HAD PLANNED.THE SITUATION WAS SERIOUS NOT TO MENTION PHYSICALLY PAINFUL.THE RESORT'S STAFF MADE ME FEEL AS IF I WAS THEIR PRIORITY. THE ROOM WAS CHANGED TO ACCOMMODATE ME,MY CAST AND MY WHEELCHAIR.THE SATFF CALLED ON ME OFTEN TO ENSURE MY COMFORT AND MY CONVENIENCE. I CANNOT SAY THAT I WAS SURPRISED BY THIS KIND AND AMAZING BEHACIOR AND ATTITUDE.COURTESY,CONVENIENCE AND CARE ARE THE RESONS MY HUSBAND IS A PLATINUM MEMBER AND REASONS WHY HE STAYS PRIMARILY AT MARRIOTT PROPERTIES. I WOULD ESPECIALLY LIKE TO MENTION THE SPECIAL KINDNESS OF REED ********,RESIDENT MANAGER,BRAD **********,FRONT DESK SUPERVISOR AND JODY ******,BAR MANAGER. I WISH I HAD WRITTIN DOWN THE NAMES OF EVERYONE ELSE FROM THE MAID WHO TOOK CARE OF OUR ROOM TO THE WONDERFUL WAIT STAFF IN THE RESTAURANT.THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. CAMELBACK IS ONE OUR FAVJORITE PLACES,WE RETURN EVERY YEAR.I AM SORRY THIS LETTER TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO WRITE. I JUST GOT NOW OFF THE CRUTCHES AND WILL BEGIN THERAPY. GTATEFULLY AND SINCERELY BARBARA A. AICHINGER-JOAEPH M AICHINGER PLATINUM #*********

Recently we stayed for a week at the Residence Inn, Las Vegas.
We are Silver Reward members who have stayed for many years
at many Marriott hotels, but I feel that the service we
received at the Las Vegas Residence Inn, Hughes Center,
was some of the best. Many of the employees there helped
us feel as though we were their personal guests, and they made
a special effort to serve as our advocates and hosts.
Both Michelle and Karen, who have jobs in sales for other Marriott
properties, nevertheless took the time to call car rental companies
and work out the very best deals that they could for us, even providing
advice about how to get better deals yet when negotiating with the
rental managers onsite. They both appeared to have developed personal relationships
with rental car managers who gave them the best deals for their guests.
They were excellent salespeople as well, very thorough and persuasive,
but yet respectful. Michelle also brought in a tiny pink purse as a gift
for my two-year-old daughter. They both also took the time to chat
and help us to feel at home, as they took a personal interest in our trip.
Dawn at the front desk also made a special effort to see that we had a good stay.
After I communicated some housekeeping issues with our first suite, she found
a beautiful suite that more than accommodated our needs, and she asked about it
afterward to make sure that we were pleased.
Even the kitchen employees took a special interest in our daughter, presenting
her several times with balloons that they had blown up just for her. Apparently many employees
in the hotel have caught this spirit of quality customer service and personal attention,
which can be generally be attributed to management coaching and establishing a
warm atmosphere. My interpretation would be that the employees feel empowered to do what they think
is appropriate to please a guest, and they seem to enjoy taking an interest in their guests' experience.
One night, for another example, I needed some milk for my baby daughter, so I asked the desk staff where I could get some nearby. I was surprised when the manager on duty asked one of the kitchen staff to get a couple of cartons for me. I was so grateful not to have to go out searching for a convenience
store late at night. Instead, in seconds I was handed what I needed, with a gracious smile.
I would also like to say that I am VERY grateful that this hotel does not have a policy
of drenching rooms with deodorizer spray, to which I am allergic. It is tedious to have to go
from room to room in some hotels where spray is heavily used, trying to find a room in which
I can breathe, opening windows, turning on fans, and sometimes even having to move to a different
property. I never had a problem in any of the rooms in this hotel, never even caught a whiff of Febreeze, and yet
the rooms were odor-free. We discovered that the hotel had an excellent ventilation system
that seemed to deal with odor by bringing in fresh air. What a relief!
In summary, we had a very pleasant stay, and we would definitely return to this hotel.

Dear Mr.Marriott and all your Associates.
We like to thank you and your associates,especially Rachel ***** who works in the Burlingtin,Mass.Hotel and is our Daughter.
During the terrible Icestorm here in New Hampshire,we where forced from our Home due to no Heat,Electricity or Phone service.For over 2 weeks we had to stay at several Marriotts in New England and our Daughter was able to get us the discounted rate.All Associates where we stayed were very accommadating and assisted us in anything we needed during this storm.We are finally back home and trying to clean up all the broken trees and branches that fell during the storm
I have never seen anything like this in 45 years here in NH .We are grateful to all at Marriott that helped us greatly during that time.
Thank you so much
Hans and Karen Chemello

Well Bob, grow up and pack your own special pillows next time. Quit expecting everyone else to turn your world for you.

Mr. Marriot,
I had the chance to meet you in Singapore in the late 90s, when we sat down for a one-on-one interview for a regional TV show I was hosting (In Conversation). I noticed that you sat perched on your chair for the whole interview, and that you mentioned my name in almost every response.
And when my TV crew and I ventured to New York for other interviews, your Head of Public Relations helped us to make bookings at the very popular Marriot Marquis --right on Broadway.
Thank you for paying attention not just to the details, but to my details.
Today, I am a Marriot Rewards Member.
Happy New Year Sir!
Sonny Lim

I have been staying at Marriott Hotels for many years (Life Time Platinum Elite)
I have met many of your great associates during that time. At my stay in October at the New York Marriott East
Side. I had the pleasure of meeting Concierge, Margaret ********. She is genuine, efficient and over and above the very best.

I spoke to Mary Anne ***** at your corporate office today, regarding my stay at the former Jerusalem Renaissance now a Ramada, she was extremly efficient and spoke very candily of this property that was "deflaged" by Marriott, for very valid reasons. Thank you very much for having wonderful people like Mary Anne represent your company.

Mr. Marriott, Bill
I just wanted to add our thanks for your concern about customer service. My wife and I are customer service advisors to several areas of both the public and private sectors. I would like to point out that one of the biggest problems in providing top notch customer service is to never ever promise something that you can not or will not provide. One other killer of service is to ask a question and then not do the necessary follow up to answer, or provide an answer to that question.
Case in point, we are platinum members and owners of two vacation club properties. Prior to our stay at any of your properties we recieve a nice e-mail asking if we have special needs or requests and we always ask that the feather pillows be replaced with foam pillows as we all are allergic to the feathers. Never, I repeat, never has any of the properties acknowledeged our request upon arrival and once checked into the room and finding this we call the desk and after a wait of at least 1 hour or more or never we finally receive the pillows from a staff person who is usually put out over having to bring four pillows to our room late at night. The simple things like this are so easy to take care of but so frustrating when no one takes the time to follow through. Simply put, don't ask the question if you do not intend to follow through with the remedy.
I would be happy to assist in training your corporate folks how to set up training and followup for several areas such as the one mentioned.
For now let me tell you that we are kooking into selling our vacation club properties and moving over to Hilton as our destination of choice if these areas of concern do not change quickly.
I believe that you are possibly not aware of these facts and the one instance I have listed is just the tip of the downfall in customer service we have found in your properties. I don't know if you personally have time to actually read these posts or if there are staff that take care of this for you but a personal response would be greatly appreciated.

Mr. Marriott, I was very impressed that you visited the Burbank Marriott in October. I had heard that hotels were inspected but I could not believe that you visited them personally. You walked right by me and smiled (I was actually standing in front of a photograph of you in the lobby!) as you continued to tour the entire hotel. It was so refreshing to see someone actually care about what is happening under them! I've always enjoyed Marriotts and your committment to them has caused me to feel completely confident in staying exclusively at your properties. Thank you for your dedication and personal attention to detail! It is nice to know that someone of your status is so willing to be involved in the day-to-day details of the business. This is such a rarity in today's fast-paced, just get it done now world. Keep up the good work!! :)

I failed to mention in my previous post that the workout room was the most spacious and clean with the most updated equipment of most facilities I have stayed in. Thank you again!

After reading your story about the fry-machine incident, I was reminded of my own experience that lead me to pay attention to detail in my own life and job. I am a craftsman, and early on in my career I used to speed through my work to focus on what I thought was most important in my life; partying. Unfortunately, after a few years of completing work with questionable quailty, I had lost many of my clients to my more detail-oriented competition. One incident that clearly stands out in my memory, is the coffee table that I had constructed for a Mr. Harrison; I will never forget the day that I got the phone call when he told me that he placed a heavy vase on the table and it collapsed under the weight. I was so embarassed that I thought my career was over. For me, that was my turn-around point, it all clicked that I needed to focus on the details of my trade, or I would likely not be able to find any more clients, and would not be able to fund my future. After this revelation, I became much more serious about my work and professional life, and became the successful craftsman I had invisioned myself to become. Had I continued my ways, I would have never been able to make my living from this trade. Learning that lesson- of paying attention to detail will help you go far- early on, like yourself, helped my to have a successful career.

Dear Mr. Marriott -
Hello and Merry Christmas! Just wanted to say thank you for your quality hotels. I used to travel almost every week on business and was always very happy with my stays at your hotels. I mainly stayed at regular Marriott hotels and Courtyard Inns. I, too, notice details -- especially when I am staying in an hotel. For example, I was glad when you changed your Kleenex tissues from the scratchy peach-colored tissues to the softer type. I would always use the toilet paper instead of the peach tissues. Also, I was glad when Courtyard changed the bathroom configuration from the strangely large and dimly lit toilet-bathroom area. It was always clean neat, but just a little weird. Although your facilities have always met my high standards of cleanliness and comfort, I am REALLY happy with your latest beds, linens, pillows, etc. I have always been able to use my rewards easily, so thank you for that, as well. I don't want to necessarily make this a lovefest, but I do believe in giving credit where it is due. I have found your staff to be friendly and efficient. You could probably use more hotels in the northern Philadelphia area -- whenever we tried to stay in the Abington/Willow Grove area, the Courtyard there was almost always booked! You can be proud of your hotels and company.

Thank you for the holiday greeting. I think it is nice to say Happy Holidays because it acknowledges Jewish people and does not assume that everyone is a Christian. I am making this point because I see that some people wanted the message to say Merry Christmas. They felt that as a Christian you should say this instead. I think that you can still be true to your Christian religion and wish everyone happy holidays. It is not just being politically correct;it is being inclusive and respectful.

Mr. Marriott, I enjoyed your blog comments on attention to detail. I would like to add my 2 cents on this topic, which is that as consumers of a product such as yours (a home away from home) it is nice to be able to put together a profile on your likes/dislikes/and requirements (i.e. noting of allergies to feathers). My only concern with your properties that I have been staying at extensively this past year for business travel is that they don't pay attention to the big detail items like allergies to feathers. Despite staying at one of your properties many times over the past few months and discussing at length why this is a problem for me (breathing issues), I have yet to experience a stress free visit into the key basics (no feathers). Even after contacting your customer care line the only resolution seems to be making multiple booking calls including to an ADA line to get this resolved. My question, if you have an elite profile and the computer states at the hotel property that you have an allergy why do we as consumers still encounter problems repeatedly on the details??

Hi Mr. Marriott, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope the holiday season finds you in good health. We met briefly this summer at the Peabody Marriott when you were in your car. Remember, I am the lady with 500,000 points and you said bless you! Something to think about.... Is it possible to supply diet caffine free cola (pepsi) Caffine keeps us up at night and is not good for the blood pressure. Also, if possible in the lounge, salads are healthy and as we are on the road all the time cutting down on the saturated fat is very difficult. Salads will help keep the colesteral down. Thank you and it is a pleasure staying at your hotels. Beth Stewart RN

I'm a pretty dedicated Marriott customer logging between 60 and 100 nights/year. I have been very disappointed with Townplace Suites though. My first sty at one of these was in Everret, WA and it was great. Subsequent stays at in Anaheim (twice) and the Denver Tech area (also twice) have been unsatisfactory. The primary reason is cleanliness. Second would be comfort of the furniture and third is that the Everett location had a light breakfast and light food again at 5PM. Neither of the other lcoations offered any of this, which was a surprise the first time I stayed at either.
I still like Marriott, still my first choice, however I won't be booking at a Towneplace Suites anymore.
I'm not complaining, but thought you'd like to know when a customer is not happy and why.

As you mention that attention to details is important to you it is also to me, this annoys me when I notice the sign that states that Marriot Hotel recomend we hang towels on the rack if we want to utilise again instead of getting new ones and that whenever I do this, the maids still change them. I have made the comments to the front desk but I find this seems to never quite make it back to the maids. In one site (Billerica) I have made the coments on 3 separate occasions, and still the towels get changed. I really would appreciate if the staff actually followed your lead and did something to help the environment.

Mr Marriott Thanks you for sharing your story,lessons well learned help everyone. You currently stayed at one of your hotels in the Denver,Co area and like the lighting in the rooms. Well I am the one who worked with the hotel to make it happen and when I was told how much you like the results it made me proud of my accomplishment. Thanks for noticing it made the staff of the hotels day and mine when I was told about it.Respectfully John Taylor.

It is always good to read your views on the website Blog and please keep them coming. I would like to request that Marriott management relook at the smoking policy at ALL sites and allow for the individual hotels to make the rules that fit their client needs more specifically. Over all, there is not ample space for casual smokers and many times we have gone to Hilton brand which allows the customers to choose. That said, I remain a Marriot customer although not exclusively as before. Welcome me back soon please. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Tampa in June of 2007. It was the best experience I have ever had in any hotel. The ataff was wonderful, the rooms were very clean nad I had the best night's sleep on that mattress. Any chance I could find out the brand? When we have occasion to stay in a hotel again you can be sure it will be a Marriott.

Thanks for providing a place to call home for 114 nights this year! Not all have been great, some of the problems were just plain stupid but I could always count on a reasonably quick solution. A special thanks to the ever-changing crews in Ocala, FL. While I always think UF Gator gear would be more appropriate than Mr. Steinbrenner's Yankees stuff, he does own the hotels, so what the heck? A very special thanks to the crew at the Residence Inn in Delray Beach.

I wanted to take the opportunity to share a story of my stay at your hotel in Tempe AZ from 11-20-08 thru 11-24-08.
First of all I am not a new business/pleasure traveler by any means. I have traveled for work for pretty much the past 10 years and stayed in many different hotels around the globe.
I have to say that though your hotel in and of itself is not a 5 star palace, the staff there is. Especially Leilani *******. She must be a leader of the entire crew there because their staff's eyes light up when they talk about her and so do mine.
She is truly the shining star you have at that hotel. I am sure she is the person you go to show exactly how all of your locations should treat their guests each and everyday.
As the President of my company I have made a decision that when we travel we will use the Marriot brand as our preferred hotel of choice for me and my partners. This is directly because of how Leilani and the staff there at the hotel treated us and the other guests during the Ironman event. In fact I have stayed there for each time I have done Ironman Arizona (3 times) and have had the same experience each time only it has gotten better and better. That's a testament to the entire staff of the hotel. Some other names I recall are Erin, Danielle, Stephanie & Tyler. The fact that I recall their names is another testament to all of them. I just stayed at a Courtyard in Minnesota at Mendota Heights and it was nice and clean but I don't recall anyone's names because they didn't make that type of impression that the staff in Tempe made on me. Leilani and her staff have that X Factor we all strive for in our business which makes success and helps people feel good. That's more of what all of us should be doing each and everyday.
In addition to satisfying your guests during this very important event to many individuals and their families, Leilani also volunteered her time at the Ironman event as a Registration person on Friday before the big Sunday event and then on Sunday morning she woke up bright and early to be there to do Body marking at 4:30 AM. I specifically sought her out as did my work partner Keith Kober and she did our body marking. Trust me as an Ironman Athlete that meant allot to me. My wife kids me that I tried not to wash off my markings for as long as possible.
I hope you will take this opportunity to reply back to me with your sentiments and also to recognize these folks in some way as I believe they are the reason you have success at this hotel. Someone there knew when they hired her knew what they were getting and I hope you will support her along her path to success.
Warmest Regards
Kevin Brown ;)
President
www.IronNutz.com
www.whatrunutz.com
508-269-3200
Be What You Are

Thank you for thanking us! We've been spending a lot of time at the Marriott in Provo because our son is in school there. North Tower is great, South Tower could use some updating in the Executive Suites (that's what I reserved and received in the south building). We booked a room for our daughter who was flying in from Florida and the hotel was very booked. She had reservations for a regular room but she arrived late so she ended up on the concierge level in a totally awesome room!! Meanwhile we were in the south tower in a somewhat outdated room overlooking a very noisy courtyard.
I was wondering if perhaps, when any Marriott Hotel is NOT totally 100% booked to capacity, would you consider giving your long time rewards members free upgrades perhaps to the concierge level? Either way I will continue to frequent Marriott properties when traveling because of Marriotts great consistency and cleanliness - but it sure would be a nice perk.
Thanks!

Bill I wanted to thank you for having the insight to have your own blog. Feedback on service is critical in todays hotel industry. We are in the business of servicing highend hotels with contract security personel. We currently provide this service to many hotels both in the states as well as overseas. Our program is built on customer service. I would be happy to share our successes with you and your staff. Todays world has requried security to evolve to the concierge level which is the foundation of our programs success. I look forward to future dialogue with you and your team at Marriott. I can be reached anytime through our website or my email address. Happy Holidays.