Resort Marriott’s Grand Chateau
Damage to Marriott Values
I am a Marriott Gold Member and received an offer from Marriott Vacation Club to spend 3 nights at this hotel for $199. We agreed to attend the 90 minute sales presentation. We booked an additional (4th) night at regular rates. We also paid additional money on top of the three night “sales promotion” rate to upgrade our room.
The hotel was very good, clean and with good service. However, the sales presentation was a terrible reflection on Marriott as it was totally unprofessional and damaged the Marriott reputation.
We arrived for the presentation on time but the sales rep was, at least, 10 minutes late. He didn’t introduce himself and immediately went into a 10 minute monologue of his medical issues. He asked no questions to understand what I was interested in, or my level of interest ( I was quite interested and was actually a decent sales prospect). He somehow thought I would scratch out a check for $50,000 if he just wrote some numbers on a sheet of paper. I asked for a brochure or some written information. He didn’t have any but if I wrote a check for $50,000, apparently I could meet Celine Dion (Really).
There was no information that would enable a reasonably prudent individual to even do a rudimentary cost-benefit analysis. His value proposition was to try and show me that I would realize big savings because if I tried to book a room at certain Marriott properties, (eg Aruba) I would have to pay in excess of $700/night (unless I was a member). Really? I have never paid over $700 for a Marriott Hotel Room.
When I said I couldn’t write a check for $50,000 without some form of written information, sample agreement etc., he asked me and my wife to stay put while he left the room. A few minutes later another person walked in (the closer?) to work me over. Maybe $30,000 would be more in line with my budget? I repeated that I, at least, needed something in writing to explain what I was buying. The “closer” couldn’t provide anything but asked my wife and I to stay while the closer left the room. We were then ushered in to meet someone who tried to sell us on another 3-night package deal. Sorry!
My wife and I left feeling in need of a shower. Totally unprofessional, high pressure sales, reminiscent of the old used car sales days.
To rub salt in the wound, despite paying $199 and an additional amount for a room upgrade, the stay is not eligible for a 3 night credit (because “I booked through a third party like Expedia, Travelocity…” . Not true I booked through Marriott).
The silver lining was that it was probably good to learn about the unprofessionalism of the Marriott Vacation Club product, before we got too far into the process. Lesson learned!