Marriott Bonvoy: Book Hotels Reviews

by AggieM04

Terrible tricky UI/UX. This coming from a UI/UX designer. I had 2 nights booked at the JW. I decided to look into adding a 3rd night. MarriottBonvoy has a button that says ‘update’ after the date entry that you have to click just to see the new prices for the changed dates. The rooms show the updated price/night and also shows ‘total per room’ with another button next to each room type that also says ‘update’. So you would think, just like the first button that says ‘update’, that it would just lead to more info but NOPE - it actually just submits your change as final with no review. And worse yet, ‘total per room’ is not the final price. You don’t get to see that amount before your change is submitted unless you calculated resort fees on your own on the screen before. They’re tricky! They show ‘final TRIP total’ everywhere else in MarriottBonvoy but here apparently. In the end I’ll end up paying more than double for my trip for just trying to add 1 night. I tried to call customer service and the lady was SO rude and can’t change it back even though she said all the history is in the same confirmation number. So if you want to add nights, just start another new reservation for those dates instead of modifying an existing one and save a few hundred. If this stay weren’t for a birthday kid, I’d cancel on this terrible experience all around!

by Bimini Bill

This new App is almost useless. It is not user friendly or intuitive. It is also generating hordes of unnecessary paper if you want to print your reservation details; there are way too many advertisements to “partners” on it’s side bar links to “Get more Info” (or similar words), and fonts are overly large for what we need to see. However, when you click on any of the links, it just takes you to the overall Bonvoy site. You would think that if you want to see local dining options, it would link you to restaurants in that area, but it does NOT. Ditto for the other ads included - car rentals, things to do, etc. Total waste of time. MOST IMPORTANTLY, there is no where that I can find in MarriottBonvoy that I can submit my room/stay preferences (room location, view, housekeeping, etc.). Marriott needs to QUICKLY RESOLVE the functionality of MarriottBonvoy for it’s loyal members. I have had to call Owner Services, my home resort, and email the customer internet/web support numerous times and spent hordes of time about my upcoming reservations- most all were to no avail to resolve my requests. As a multiple week owner at a high demand resort in Vail, CO (Streamside) I find this to be an unacceptable level of service. The only folks I’ve found responsive are those at the resort, who assist as they can. Marriott, PLEASE FIX THIS!
Platinum Elite Member (Xxxxxx559)

by Goldhillmesagal

The Marriott has offered neighborhood pool memberships for several years. I have belonged for over 10 years. When the new General Manager took over he has had a very discriminatory and random policy for who he allows to join. My personal experience was that he allowed one family to join today and denied my request to join. I waited over an jour to speak with him in person. He justified his action by saying the other person was “Grandfathered” in Then he said she had personally called several times so he allowed her to join. Basically saying the squeaky heel gets the grease. I was told I was on a waiting list. I have been on his waiting list and he allowed another person to go to “the head of the line”. Another person came in while I was waiting and she was also told she would be on a waiting list. I consider it a privilege to be able to use the pool in the past. Now we have a manager playing God in who he allows to join. This is blatant discrimination. And poor management. When I asked for his supervisors information. He took my email and said he would get back with me. This manager “Patrick” needs to be held accountable for his actions

by BusterSEMM

Marriott Corp has tried to make a good app - but problem comes to the fact little to none of the hotels use the pre-order functionality to stock your room, they don’t use the chat function if you need something while at hotel, they do not honor the checking or late checkout out function (they don’t care and still need to use old school process to know if they can accept a late checkout). App does not notify you of a room ready early either - as the hotels don’t use the feature. App is good to book and change hotels if needed - to change a reservation you are better off cancelling and rebooking as app is not flexible on honoring changes. Basically MarriottBonvoy is good to track Marriott points and the progress each year to make Reward levels (not a perk for me as I’m lifetime Platinum member). So being lifetime Platinum you would think Marriott would listen to their customers and force their Marriott properties to use the features in MarriottBonvoy - or do away with the features all together. FYI - I’m also an Elite member with Hilton properties and guess what - their Hotel locations use MarriottBonvoy and it actually works really well...

by TeraPat

When booking a reservation there is no visual indication that there are different type of rates between standard and Pre-Pay which charges you up front for a lower rate. When booking, the default is pre-pay and it is not noticeable, it just looks like the normal way to book and I ended up prepaying when there was a possibility of cancellation. No warning, no color coding or alternate font to make it clear it is a pre-pay rate and no warning pop-up to inform you that your card will be charged. If it did I could have made the appropriate decision.

It says it is non-refundable if cancelled after 24 hours, and I didn’t notice the mistake until the charge hit my card 2 days later. I had to get a case number and now waiting to see if I can cancel and get a refund or if Marriott will just take my money as if to say “Sorry sucker!”. It is so frustrating to be guided through what looks like the usual method of reserving a room like any other hotel only to find out it is not. MarriottBonvoy needs to be redesigned from being bait and switch to being honest and informative.

by Ndick

We came home exhausted from our get-away(supposed to be)relaxing weekend. The room was clean and had a lovely design but was so poorly thought out…sofa too hard/uncomfortable to sit on for any length of time…Frosted windows for doors/separators(that wouldn’t move/separate) defeating the purpose of the extra space as any light spread, keeping anyone from staying up later or using a night light… toilet leaked to an empty tank, so had to be flushed twice every time…thermostat would not work/set for longer than several hours, dropping back to 82 degrees and therefore, had to be reset every few hours all night long. Consequently, duvets probably sweat filled, but the only cover…clock was not correct and had no mechanism to set…shower head not adjustable to direct dribble of water and only two lonely bath towels…whatever is used to clean made both of us too stuffy to breath by morning. The ONLY saving grace was the lovely little lady in charge of the breakfast room, and we don’t eat breakfast, just joined our group. Seriously doubt you will see any of us again.

by PDall

After reading about 20 reviews I would have to agree with the following issues; 1. I too don’t see how much money I have spent in 2018 to hit ambassador level. I have 154 nights so far but have NO CLUE how much money I am away from Ambassador. This feature was on my app but it quickly went away. 2. The chat feature is conceptually great but practically awful. I have confirmed with multiple hotels (especially the Marriott Irvine Spectrum) that all my requests have been fulfilled. Unfortunately none of them were in my room at check in. 3. Inconsistency of the mobile key function. I select the mobile key function during the mobile check in process but rarely get the mobile key once I check in at the hotel. Even at hotels that offer the mobile key (Marriott Irvine Spectrum), I don’t have the mobile key on my app. 4. Marriott has consistently reduced their promotions throughout the years. What were once industry leading promotions are now significant behind other properties.

by DM8397

MarriottBonvoy is not as user friendly as it could be, and it has poor functionality. There are way too many arrows and clicks to have to go through in order to get basic reservation information. I’m a Platinum Elite member who is about to hit Titanium Elite. There is such a difference between the Marriott App and the Hilton App when it comes to ease of use and feature functions available. For one, the Hilton App allows me to pick out my specific hotel room on a hotel map when I check in. Why can’t Marriott add this as a feature??? It’s an amazing feature!

In addition, I hate that you cannot add filters for pricing and ratings to filter down results. This is so basic, and yet Marriott doesn’t offer it. When I am traveling on business and I want to filter out hotel brands that are way out of my company budget range for a particular trip, there is no ability to do so. I am forced to scroll through results of hotels that are $400+ per night and out of my company budget range for particular trips.

by Mikey1492

MarriottBonvoy is good, but could definitely be better. I completely agree with the other reviews that any function in MarriottBonvoy that was designed for interaction with the hotel staff (chat, special requests, etc) is useless. I’ve tried it several times and then called the front desk to ask if they’d received the request. None of them ever had. And more times than not, the person who answered the phone didn’t even have a clue as to what I was talking about. Marriott needs to focus on training and ensuring that their hotels are 100% on-board with MarriottBonvoy communication features. Another HUGE improvement that could be made to MarriottBonvoy is a floor plan map (per property) that allows guests to choose their room at check in (right now the check in function is essentially useless). Hilton has this feature and I LOVE it...to the point where I choose Hilton sometimes over Marriott because I get to choose my room and see exactly where I’ll be staying. Many Hilton properties also use keyless entry that is built right in to their app. I really like Marriott and I have bounced between all 3 statuses for over 20 years. But they need to keep up with the times and the competition.

by Mdub1987

1. Why does MarriottBonvoy not show me past non-point earning stays? I can add a non-point earning stay when its upcoming or current but when the stay ends, it just disappears from MarriottBonvoy and does not even show on the website. The customer service reps can see it on their end but MarriottBonvoy just filters them out.

2. Your check in feature doesn’t always work. I checked into a hotel when I was prompted, added a credit card for incidentals, and opted for the digital key. When I got to the hotel (when I was informed my room was ready), I went up to my room without going to the front desk (because that is the whole point of MarriottBonvoy check in) but the key was not available in MarriottBonvoy . I had to go to the front desk to get it sent to my phone. Then I ordered something and attempted to charge it to the room when I was informed that there was no card on my room. No where in MarriottBonvoy did it tell me any sort of failure or error happened. Just didn’t work. It did check me in but that is all. Not really much of a point of doing it via MarriottBonvoy though if I still have to go to the front desk.

by La Vida Vira

First I’d like to say that their customer support for MarriottBonvoy is amazing! It felt like a team was on the case for troubleshooting and my problem was resolved in about a week.

I tend to go through Ebates when booking with Marriott. The Marriott mobile site accessed through the Ebates app had a filtering issue (after choosing the airport shuttle filter, it would refresh back to the search page saying no hotels could be found). So I decided to use the Marriott app to look at different properties close to the airport I’m flying out of. I realized that I couldn’t filter which properties had an airport shuttle on MarriottBonvoy .

I find this troublesome because I usually travel with a pet. So if I can’t use MarriottBonvoy to filter results, I either have to use the mobile site, or wait to get access to a desktop. I’m fine using the mobile site, especially since I access it through Ebates, but the point of an app is convenience. If I needed an idea of what’s available for my travel needs, I prefer to use the Marriott app. But I won’t be able to do that if I can’t filter the results.

by Carndog242

For a fact the people that work for Marriott give more information than the application details of MarriottBonvoy . It’s nice to have all bases covered, so when I can, I prefer to talk to the people in-depth. But sometimes I end up using MarriottBonvoy .

I am a very reserved to use only MarriottBonvoy , because I am always unsure that what I am booking matches my travel needs. I live in Europe, sometimes when I book it is not always correct for the rules of the country/establishment. I travel with a family of four, and my golden retriever. A lot of the time, when I check-in at the Marriott using MarriottBonvoy , friction happens. MarriottBonvoy is not intuitive while projecting Marriott’s Mission because it does not capture the detailed needs of the end user. It turns into a waste of time on travel v, time for riot planning.

To enhance the lives of our customers by creating and enabling unsurpassed vacation and leisure experience.

by Oogaboolooga

I’ve NEVER had any issues with MarriottBonvoy or the hotel. MarriottBonvoy has basically anything & everything you would need. If the actual function isn’t on MarriottBonvoy , there’s more than enough info to find/figure out what you’re needing/wanting to find out in MarriottBonvoy .

The staff is MORE than accommodating with almost everything! As a nurse who works 12+ hr shifts - the staff was extremely easy to work with & absolutely understood if I needed to add another night’s stay to my reservation, due to inclement weather conditions, & me not being able to message them via MarriottBonvoy or call them until the late afternoon. Their check out time is 11:00 am, but they’d keep my room on hold when I asked if that was possible. HIGHLY RECOMMEND STAYING HERE!!!

by Rmj0572

I reserve rooms or “getaways” almost every weekend and I’ve never had an issue with the desktop site or the cell phone app.
The information is always accurate. The detail really provides everything you need to know about the hotel you select, the amenities & the service.
The photos are extremely attractive & represent the exact description of the hotels. I have been using MarriottBonvoy since it was SPG for several years now & I will continue because of the great point plan in place for members.
I strongly suggest you sign up because after a certain number of stays, you get such great deals as free nights, early check-in & late check-out & you build points to move up to higher tiers of membership, which gives you even more perks.
Best app & most frequent app I use. Definitely the best benefits!

by Bootstrap Pickup

As a Marriott associate, I have opportunity to see the best and worst of the companies benefits. By that I mean, things like the Bonvoy program and the Elite program. Often times, I hear about the ability or lack of ability to utilize SNA or other benefits. All members need to realize that Elite membership is not a guarantee of lounge access at most resorts or utilization of SNA or upgrades. Instead, it’s the ability to get prioritization. If you are an Ambassador Elite, you clearly have the top billing. But below that, it can be difficult to get the ultimate priority, particularly at resort. Keep in mind that large conferences generate exponential revenue for resorts and as a for profit company, your $25,000 a year spend is nothing compared to a group that will do millions in catering in rooms revenue. My best advice is to start your own company and generate enough capital to buy out a resort to reap the greatest benefits. If you can’t do that.....well, that’s capitalism baby :)

by Laughy_taffy;)

App is a great step forward. I use it extensively; however, it often seems app communication and the check in procedure don’t match. Recently checked in with very friendly professional service but there was no connection (it seemed) between the reservation and front desk. They asked about my preferences which had been selected already. This is really not a problem especially when they are so friendly it just seems they need to marry up better.

BONVOY in my opinion is not a classy, professional name presentation for such an outstanding organization. Value and elegance in varying levels, have always been your mantra from the Fairfield Inn to the Ritz-Carlton. I am older and perhaps this name and marketing plan is designed to target the younger more stylish generation. Apologies as I only wanted to share and perhaps this is not the right venue.

by Costco Paris

I booked several rooms for an upcoming stay and wanted to guarantee that at least two rooms were connecting. I tried to call the hotel directly which somehow got rerouted to Marriott Reservations and 30 minutes later with many prompts ( you can’t really look up your Bonvoy Number on one screen and type it in on another while sitting in an airport) still didn’t have a human.
I hung up and started the process again trying to call the Westin Annapolis directly and got Sondra!!!! A REAL LIVE person with a wonderful demeanor who promised to do her best!!! That’s all I wanted - to just make sure the request was in the system!! I can’t wait to meet her in person!!!
With a person like Sondra representing Marriott you can not go wrong!!!!!!
What JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It really is the little things. Thank YOU

by D&H Travels

We enjoyed an exceptional stay at the Inn providing us with a quiet sleep, black out curtains, providing a microwave, frig, Keurig coffee pot, ice machine on floor with ice bucket in room, comfortable bed and bedding, love the shampoo, conditioner and bath wash dispensers in shower, great shower head and hot water in a large shower, and all lighting works in the suite. Kiddos to the cleaning crew as the room looked and smelled like the Inn was newly built. Last, but not least, to Carly, the Inn’s Wonder woman. Not only was she a trainee working alone, she facilitated the entire breakfast singlehandedly doing a suburb job, while answering all incoming calls and taking reservations, ringing up sell items the Inn offers, waiting on customers at the counter, checking people in and out, and staying kind, pleasant and efficient during it all! Totally amazing asset to the Fairfield.
We will definitely be staying there again on our return trip home.
D&H Travels 😀
TEXAS BASED

by RTW747

I used to love MarriottBonvoy and when it’s working it’s a great experience. But in the last days, maybe corresponding to an app update?? none of my upcoming or canceled trips are visible at all! Problems get worse cause when I log in online I can’t see them either. After 2 lengthy calls to Marriott they politely reassure me that my upcoming trip reservations are all still ok, but had no interest to hear about the technical probs of the interface. Other problems persist online too with hotels shown as available then disappear once u want to make a booking. Or crazy stuff like the member rate being higher than regular rate for some hotels and some stays. Yes it did happen and verified it multiple times. I did all the regular stuff like log out and log in again, clear the cache, delete and reinstall MarriottBonvoy on multiple occasions with no fix. As a titanium member and regular traveler this is frustrating to say the least. It’s enough for me to go back to Hilton! Please Marriott fix it soon and I will stick with you.

by Mch From RVA

I enjoy using MarriottBonvoy to make reservations for me and my husband. We usually use his member number. It would be nice to be able to add my name as the additional guest to the reservation from MarriottBonvoy . We often travel separately and I arrive first and cannot access the room because my name is not on the reservation. Even if I have a mobile key because the mobile key has never worked. Which is another issue. It always tells me I have to connect to Bluetooth which I am. My other hotel app allows us to enter my name as the additional guest. For our next trip my husband called the hotel to add my name, which was a twenty five minute ordeal waiting to speak to someone, they stated they added it. But there is no way to confirm. Hopefully I won’t have as problem checking in as I did in Baltimore. Thank you in advance if you could make this change.

by Ryan Sleevi

With the SPG/Marriott merger unifying the apps, a number of the great features of the SPG app are gone. Traveling a country where you don’t speak the language and they don’t use the Latin alphabet? SPG App had your back with “Show Address in Local Language” right from the reservation. That functionality is gone now, as is almost hope of finding the address through the Marriott website (hint: maps apps help, so long as they aren’t blocked in the country you’re visiting). Want to take advantage of Your24? Not a problem, there’s an app for that! Or at least, there way, until MarriottBonvoy unification - masked by policy changes that now require your Ambassador to request it. Want to make sure your SNA is being processed? Worry no more, because now you can’t see what reservations have pending SNAs. MarriottBonvoy is a big step down from the functionality that used to be available, and as others have pointed out, most “functionality” there is requires contacting the hotel or Marriott directly. The one upside is you can view your reservations, so it’s got that going for it, I guess.

by Apples813

My wife and I have used Bonvoy to book vacations and business travel. We enjoyed using the service due to its ease of booking and for the perks of obtaining points towards future bookings.

After our last two bookings through MarriottBonvoy , we noticed we didn’t receive points from booking through this service. After calling customer service, in which the representative was extremely rude and talking over my wife, it was determined (via the representative) that the booking through MarriottBonvoy was through a “third party”. I intervened after listening to the representative talk over my wife, and asked for clarification to how booking through a third party on their own app was possible. After stating this was deceitful and while talking mid sentence, the representative hung up on us. I’m sure this will be placed as a “dropped call”, however assuming the reliability of land lines, I find that doubtful.

My wife and I both own businesses and if this were acceptable practice for our customer service, the individuals would be fired.

by KLS2222

My advice to the developers would be threefold. First is to make the overall design more intuitive. It is trying so hard to be sleek that it is hard to navigate to anything. Second, it does not sync up with my actual travel well at all. I travel for work and move from property to property. I checked out of one hotel this morning and into another this afternoon, and hours later it is still displaying me as being at the first hotel, so I can’t access any services for the property where I actually am. Finally, I miss the old SPG app/site ability to book multiple rooms but put each room under a different name/Bonvoy number. When booking travel for myself and my colleagues, my only option on MarriottBonvoy is to book everyone under my name/account and then at check in we have to split the reservation up. SPG used to let me make a single reservation but have each room assigned to a unique guest name/SPG - would be lovely to have that feature back instead of jumping through hoops at check-in.

by Not Billy Beane

Marriott forced a password change. I used the website instead of MarriottBonvoy to manage the change (which was its own headache, but that’s another review). When returning to MarriottBonvoy , it could not recognize my account and password combination. Neither by account number or email.

Worried I had misspelled my intended password on the website, I reset it on the website. I tried MarriottBonvoy again using my account number, and it couldn’t manage the new password, again. I tried my email, and now I’m on an account lockout for 30 minutes.

Why am I being punished because MarriottBonvoy doesn’t recognize the password I was forced to change? Marriott could have managed this forced password change so much better than this, instead of springing it on a user when trying to use MarriottBonvoy . Use two-factor means to authenticate it is actually me on my phone, and make me change the password on a computer the next time I use the website. This isn’t hard.

by Schnitz44

Overall I love MarriottBonvoy. When trying to book some hotel stays on points I occasionally get random information and error messages. Example - I tried to book a “stay 4 nights get the 5th night free” at the st Regis in Punta Mita on points in early January 2020. It’s a busy time of year and hard to find spots available for stays on points at this time - but that said, When I attempted to check availability - I would see that the stay was available, and I would then click on the stay to try to book, at which point in time I was told that it actually was unavailable! Stuff like this drives me nuts in apps. I know this is some complicated stuff between the hotel management locally and the Marriott system etc, but cmon - it’s a Marriott/SPG power house. These glitches should be a thing of the past. Overall tho I do love this a and it works well about 90% or more of the time for me.

by Jph387

Have been an avid Marriott supporter for 8+ years now. While we have many options, and I stay at many group’s locations due to work, I always enjoy my experience much more at Marriott properties. They also continue to improve everything they do as time goes on, ie. recently upgrading to the Bonvoy programs, location amenities, accommodating valued customers - not mention any guests, and the overall experience at most properties.

While some could talk about complimentary food and bev offered at other corporation’s properties, while mentioning the Marriott properties that don’t include, it’s irrelevant. I’d pay for an exceptional meal at a Marriott property before acting like a complimentary garbage breakfast included somewhere else is an incentive.

Marriott or bust