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All true, but I’m not comparing a business-class hotel to a B&B, I’m comparing one kind of hotel to another. All the major chains have offerings in both markets

by a4isms 5y ago

All true, but I’m not comparing a business-class hotel to a B&B, I’m comparing one kind of hotel to another. All the major chains have offerings in both markets I describe: 1. Hotels that appeal to guests who pay their own way, and; 2. Hotels that appeal to companies with business travel needs. The second type of hotel has the massive machine hidden from guests.

ghaff 5y ago
Certainly all the business class hotels have the ability to reserve room blocks, cater events, pre-book rooms, etc. But those are essentially additional profit centers. I'm just saying that many/most of us essentially deal with hotels 1:1 even for business travel. But, yes, there are some brands of e.g. Marriott that are in part oriented to corporate events and the like and other that are mostly for individual travelers whether on vacation or business.
- a4isms 5y ago
  Of course we do. I’m just explaining why such a place might have many, many more programmers and other employees than we would guess are needed judging by our experience out at the periphery of their business.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    Absolutely, and I'm usually perfectly cool with some nice B&B having some janky third-party website or even, gasp, having to call them on the phone to make changes etc. I'm not fine with Marriott not having a streamlined mobile app, a loyalty program, 24-hour customer service, etc.There are certainly economies of scale with companies generally but there are also costs.
- cduzz 5y ago
  My wife and I were recently escorted from a Ritz (a sub-brand of Marriot); We were paying in points (a lot of points), they checked us in but still couldn't figure out their back-office payment processing or something because they confronted us at 9:00pm and asked us to swipe a card because "they couldn't verify the certificate" After much back and forth between us and the front office and a customer support rep on the phone (who repeatedly suggested that the "certificate" was there and valid), we decided we didn't really want to deal with the hassle of staying where we were being treated like criminals. I went up to get our stuff from our room and my card had been deactivated; I had be escorted to the room by a member of the Ritz security staff to get our luggage. So, you're not really assured a good experience no matter where you stay.

by a4isms 5y ago

ghaff 5y ago

Certainly all the business class hotels have the ability to reserve room blocks, cater events, pre-book rooms, etc. But those are essentially additional profit centers. I'm just saying that many/most of us essentially deal with hotels 1:1 even for business travel. But, yes, there are some brands of e.g. Marriott that are in part oriented to corporate events and the like and other that are mostly for individual travelers whether on vacation or business.

a4isms 5y ago
Of course we do. I’m just explaining why such a place might have many, many more programmers and other employees than we would guess are needed judging by our experience out at the periphery of their business.
- ghaff 5y ago
  Absolutely, and I'm usually perfectly cool with some nice B&B having some janky third-party website or even, gasp, having to call them on the phone to make changes etc. I'm not fine with Marriott not having a streamlined mobile app, a loyalty program, 24-hour customer service, etc.There are certainly economies of scale with companies generally but there are also costs.
cduzz 5y ago
My wife and I were recently escorted from a Ritz (a sub-brand of Marriot); We were paying in points (a lot of points), they checked us in but still couldn't figure out their back-office payment processing or something because they confronted us at 9:00pm and asked us to swipe a card because "they couldn't verify the certificate" After much back and forth between us and the front office and a customer support rep on the phone (who repeatedly suggested that the "certificate" was there and valid), we decided we didn't really want to deal with the hassle of staying where we were being treated like criminals. I went up to get our stuff from our room and my card had been deactivated; I had be escorted to the room by a member of the Ritz security staff to get our luggage. So, you're not really assured a good experience no matter where you stay.