Courtyard by Marriott in Pattaya

[Up2u]

Many years ago when staying at places like the Ambiance, Cafe Royal or later the Flamingo these New Year's Eve dinners were mandatory, required for me to complete my booking. Even a low end hotel like Welcome (opposite BT) had this policy.

[Gaybutton]

I think the "forced dinner reservation" is a victim of poor translation. When I stayed at the Marriott, nobody said anything about New Years dinner.

 

The larger issue is the fact that many resort hotels in Thailand do force a holiday dinner on their 'guests.'  Many of these hotels charge their guests for it whether they want to go or not.  You can eat somewhere else if you wish, but you'll still be charged for the mandatory dinner.

 

That's not necessarily all bad.  I stayed at such a hotel one time.  The dinner was mandatory, but it was also excellent and the price was very reasonable. But since I was not aware of the dinner until after I had checked in, because of it that was the last time I ever stayed in that hotel.

 

The problem is when you find yourself staying at such a hotel, but you were not informed in advance about the dinner.  Not many people appreciate that little surprise and knowing nothing about it until after they've checked in. 

 

How would you like to be someone who has friends in Thailand, had planned in advance to have your holiday dinner with them, and then discover you're in a forced dinner hotel?  What if it's a dinner you can't even eat?  Maybe you become ill and can't eat at all.  Maybe for religious reasons you can eat only kosher or halal food.  Maybe you're on a diet.  Maybe you simply don't want a big dinner. 

 

If the hotel informs you before you commit to a booking or offers a holiday dinner, but it isn't mandatory, then no problem.  But when a hotel fails to inform its guests in advance, only one word comes to my mind:  SCAM.

 

After all, who asked these hotels to put on such a dinner in the first place? 

[vinapu]

While I agree that idea of mandatory dinner is obnoxious , it  is easy to avoid - book somewhere else. I'm pretty sure Gurke Guesthouse in Sumee or Niagara Hotel in Silom , soi 9 don't have those. 

 

It seems to be established practice in better hotels in LOS so either bite the bullet or move on. Not that complaints are not valid but likely are leading to nowhere, I guess hotels know their business and are trying to squeeze water out of the stones. Farmers would call it harvest time.

 

One of my friends , straight  whoring in BKK last year was complaining about the same in one of those big Sukhumvit hotels  but it turned out that actually he was glad he was forced to attend just to get his money worth as food was fabulous, may be this is consolation for some.

 

I'm sure ChristianPFC does not have this kind of problems, me neither.  

[Gaybutton]

it  is easy to avoid - book somewhere else.

 

I agree about booking somewhere else, but it may not be easy to avoid.  All too often people don't know about these dinners until they arrive at the hotel.  Not everyone knows to ask and often the hotel doesn't volunteer the information.  I wonder how many people reading this topic didn't know about the existence of these dinners until we started posting about it.

 

Until I started coming to Thailand, I had never heard of this sort of thing.  These dinners are usually "offered" for Christmas and New Year's Eve.  I've never seen them at any other time of year.  Meanwhile, that's right in the middle of the highest part of high season.  Finding a room elsewhere may not be so easy.  And if you used a credit card to make a deposit for the room, if you go elsewhere you can kiss your deposit goodbye.

[Guest anonone]

We seemed to have wandered off the topic....

[Gaybutton]

We seemed to have wandered off the topic....

 

Seems to me we're precisely on topic.  Whether we're on or off topic, isn't that for the moderators to decide?

[Guest]

Going further off topic....

 

These dinners are usually "offered" for Christmas and New Year's Eve.

I have an extra reason for objecting to the christmas dinner. Why the hell should it be presumed people want to celebrate a christian festival? What about all the Athiests, Moslems, Bhuddists etc who have nothing to do with this?

This isn't even in a christian country, so the when in Rome argument doesn't apply.

How would the christian visitors to Thailand like it if they had to pay for a dinner for Diwali or if no breakfast & lunch was offered for the duration of Ramadam?

The whole concept sucks. Hotels should not be promoting christianity, rather they should respect the diversity of their client base.

 

Particularly so in a Buddhist country.

[vinapu]

Going further off topic....

 

 Hotels should not be promoting christianity, rather they should respect the diversity of their client base.

 

Particularly so in a Buddhist country.

This is exactly what they do, respect diversity of their client base and cashing in on visitors from with fond memories of Christmas festivities and bringing them to open wallets, just the same like they would do at home.

 

Hence all those dinners, Christmas trees in the malls e.t.c. to soothe homesickness typical to that time for some.

 

Christmas became Commercemas good while ago in the West , why it should be ignored by Buddhist business? 

 

I'm not defending idea of forced Christmas dinner though, just don't see much Christianity left in that holiday, just shopping before and tons of wrappings in garbage after.

[Guest anonone]

Seems to me we're precisely on topic.  Whether we're on or off topic, isn't that for the moderators to decide?

 

I don't believe Courtyard by Marriott has a compulsory dinner nor charges for anything similar.  At least I have not noticed anything while looking at their booking details on the website.

 

Did I miss something?

[Up2u]

I don't believe Courtyard by Marriott has a compulsory dinner nor charges for anything similar.  At least I have not noticed anything while looking at their booking details on the website.

 

Did I miss something?

What you missed was the OP's post #8 which mentioned the Marriott's in Pattaya holiday dinner surcharge which expanded the discussion.

[Gaybutton]

The Marriott in Pattaya for New Year's Eve requires a 9,000 baht per person dinner reservation.

 

"I don't believe Courtyard by Marriott has a compulsory dinner nor charges for anything similar."

 

In that post Michael didn't say anything about it being optional.  He said it is required.  That comes across as  compulsory to me. If it isn't, that line still generates and justifies discussion of hotels forcing dinners on people, doesn't it?  I'd say we're right on topic.

 

I also see no point in a discussion as to whether we're on topic or not.  As I said, if the moderators say we're not on topic, then we're not on topic.  I think it's ridiculous for us to be arguing about it.  That, for sure, is not on topic. 

[Guest]

As the original Marriot "requires" Michael to book a dinner  (ie it is compulsory), then in my view that should justify a boycott of both Marriot hotels for the duration of the stay. The Marriot need to be punished for their behaviour and moving from one Marriot to another just doesn't suffice.

[Alexx]

The Marriot need to be punished for their behaviour and moving from one Marriot to another just doesn't suffice.

 

At the contrary, if everyone did exactly that and they'd find that one of their hotels is fully booked while the other one is empty, they'd have to be very dumb not to get the message. Also, what's the point in "punishing" a company? Just choose whatever is most suitable for you, end of the story.

[Guest abang1961]

Actually not just the Marriot, there are scores of other (even the lesser ones) hotels that demands a compulsory dinner on Christmas and New Year's Eve.  I booked into one of those in Pattaya 2nd Road ones and was "forced" to include a THB 500 dinner.. imagine the room was only THB700...that was really "black-mailing".

[vinapu]

Actually not just the Marriot, there are scores of other (even the lesser ones) hotels that demands a compulsory dinner on Christmas and New Year's Eve.  I booked into one of those in Pattaya 2nd Road ones and was "forced" to include a THB 500 dinner.. imagine the room was only THB700...that was really "black-mailing".

did they mention that when you were booking or actually checking in ? just curious

 

when making bookings for my incoming trip I noticed that some places are jacking up prices considerably just for Christmas period  Dec 24-27  without even offering force-feeding by way of Christmas dinner so I'd say I rather be forced to pay extra for dinner on 25th than   be forced to pay much more just for room for that date.

[Guest]

Also, what's the point in "punishing" a company?

 

The purpose of a hotel is to provide overnight accommodation for guests.   The moment they start telling there guests what to do and coercing their guests to join events, they deserve to be punished.

An enforced New Years eve dinner is bad.

An enforced Christmas Eve dinner amounts to religious discrimination and should be illegal.  (Whilst recognising even The Marriot are not asking for this).

[Gaybutton]

The purpose of a hotel is to provide overnight accommodation for guests.   The moment they start telling there guests what to do and coercing their guests to join events, they deserve to be punished.

 

I agree.  When I check into a hotel, I'm not there to be forced to pay for a dinner or anything else I don't want.  I can't imagine that the hotels doing this don't get a lot of complaints, especially if they are deceptive about it or don't tell their 'guests' until they're checking in.  In my opinion, that is sheer fraud.  And they're doing it during the season when their room prices are inflated to start with.

 

I think one of the worst jobs at these hotels must be the desk clerks.  They're the ones stuck with dealing with the complaints and telling the 'guest' you're going to pay for the dinner whether you eat it or not and whether you like it or not.

 

Do these hotels think this practice pleases their 'guests'?  Does it please anyone reading this topic?  My message to these hotels:  Don't do me any favors.

 

I repeat my rhetorical question:  Who asked them to put on these mandatory dinners in the first place?

 

There are some aspects of the holiday season where I think Scrooge had a good point.

 

Many hotels do things for the 'convenience' of their guests, most of which to me is nothing more than a disguised rip-off.  Room refrigerators come to mind.  Many hotels stock the refrigerator with snack items, and if you take any of them you'll pay around ten times the price you would pay if you walk across the street and buy the same thing at a 7-Eleven.

 

Tiz the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la - especially if you're a hotel owner raking in the seasonal price profits and most likely pocketing all of it without giving the staff a single extra baht. 

[vinapu]

Gaybutton,

 

while you are 125 % right it needs to be noted that those compulsory dinners are easily avoided by booking somewhere else.

 

And if other choices are booked up already traveler has no option but to fork out money, gnash and brush a teeth and force himself either to attend such a dinner or waste money.

 

As I mentioned before , Niagara Hotel in Silom soi 9 will not have  a forced dinner  and likely will have space, speaking from personal experience as few year ago I arrive unannounced late afternoon on New Year's Eve and they still had a free room.

 

Nobody will be forced to pay for dinner at BBB Inn as they don't have dining facilities, so there are options at least in BKK

[Gaybutton]

 it needs to be noted that those compulsory dinners are easily avoided by booking somewhere else.

 

The trick is to do your "this time of year" booking early, months in advance if you can, both with accommodations and flights.  At the time of booking, unless you know with certainty your accommodation doesn't put on these kinds of dinners, I'd ask about it.  If they say they don't do these dinners, I'd try to get that response in writing.

 

While I realize it's not possible for everyone to make bookings far in advance, the sooner you can the better your chances are of not ending up stuck in an accommodation you don't want.  The closer you get to Christmas, the more difficult it becomes to find vacancies where you want to stay, sometimes difficult to find vacancies at all,  and more difficult to find flights.

 

If you can't find hotel space, one idea is to try to book a condo for a month.  Most condos require a minimum of one month.  You might not be able to stay for a full month and would have to pay for a full month, but depending on how long you're going to stay, that can still be less expensive than staying in a hotel and a lot better than ending up in some dump far away from where you want to be.

 

If you're going to stay for more than two or three weeks, renting a condo might be a better "first choice" than a hotel.  You'll usually pay half the price, or even less, than you would pay in a hotel and you for sure wouldn't have to worry about mandatory dinners or bringing a 'guest' to your room.  Some have maid service and some don't, but it's not very expensive to hire a maid to come in a couple days a week. Of course, perhaps a good alternative to a maid might be hiring a, shall we say - less than modestly clad young gentleman to do the room cleaning . . .

 

By the way, despite the collapse of the ruble, Pattaya is already starting to fill up with Russians anyway.

[chaotou]

Like Michael I was looking at the Marriott's website and was surprised to see the Courtyard Pattaya pop up as a choice for Pattaya in December.  The photo on Marriott's website looks like a file photo of some suburban U.S. property. Anyway, I called the phone number listed for the Marriott Courtyard Pattaya to get more info as there was none otherwise available.

 

The phone was answered "Signature Hotel."  Upon questioning,  the employee informed me that next month, December, their property was becoming a Marriott Courtyard.  I don't know what if any changes Marriott has in store for the property short of sign and uniform changes.  Apparently the phone number will stay the same.  I was informed reservations were being accepted and was offered to be transferred to reservations for a booking.

 

Armed with this new information i Googled the Signature property. It gave me an idea of what the actual property looks like unlike the file photo from Marriott's website. 

 

It looks quite nice, and as the Signature gets good reviews, although somewhat varied.  

 

In the end I decided to book the regular Marriott, however, I am interested in taking a look at the property when I am in town for future reference, as well as, seeing some reviews once Marriott takes over.

[Guest anonone]

Ah, a post about Courtyard. 

 

The pictures posted on the website show the newest version of Courtyard rooms.  They are primarily gray in color.  They also show the new lobby setup.  I assumed they were remodeling the rooms with this new standard, but interesting that they are still operating as Signature Hotel as of this late date.  Maybe they will be remodeling the rooms on a rotating basis while remaining open?

 

I am also curious to know about any dining / lounge options.  With my Marriott status, there should be free breakfast and lounge access, if it is operated the same way as Bangkok Courtyard.  I wonder if the two Courtyards have the same ownership?  I have always enjoyed the Bangkok Courtyard.

 

Like you, I will try and scope things out during my next visit.  With the property starting out as a category 3 for redemptions, it could be a great value for burning up some Marriott points...assuming the location is OK for noise and baht bus access, etc.

[Alexx]

An enforced Christmas Eve dinner amounts to religious discrimination and should be illegal.

 

I'm really tired of all that "should be illegal" nonsense. What's next, outlawing the Roman Catholic Church because they don't provide religious ceremonies for Muslims (or even Protestants, lol)?

 

It's a hotel, for crying out loud, not a government agency. If you've got the feeling that they discriminate against you, for whatever reason, simply take your business elsewhere and be done with it. Discrimination should be outlawed where evading it isn't that easy or outright impossible.

[TotallyOz]

The Marriott has had these policies for years.  Back in 2004, I was staying at the hotel for 4 months and with a long stay rate.  They told me that on Dec 24th my rates would increase for over the holidays. I thought absurd as I had been a long term customer and so I planned to check out and go to Phuket for a month.  I made the reservations in Phuket and was going there but found a good Delta deal back to the states on the 24th to surprise my family for Xmas.  I am lucky I did as that was the year of the Tsunami.

 

But, the fact that the Marriott wanted to raise the rates on someone staying so long was crazy.  But, they pull this every year.

 

Look at the hotel rates for Phuket for the nice brand hotels and see those rates on 24 - first week of Jan. Insane.

[Guest]

I'm really tired of all that "should be illegal" nonsense. What's next, outlawing the Roman Catholic Church because they don't provide religious ceremonies for Muslims (or even Protestants, lol)?

 

The purpose of a Church, Mosque or whatever else is clear.  

Hotels are different.  They should respect diversity and they should have no place forcing guests to attend a dinner held in honour of 1 specific religion.   Where do you draw the line?   After hotels have forced guests to attend a religious dinner for a few years, would they then adopt a "christians only" policy, or introduce compulsory mass?

[Gaybutton]

they should have no place forcing guests to attend a dinner held in honour of 1 specific religion.

 

Next logical question:  In Thailand, if they put on these mandatory dinners for Christmas, why don't they do that for any Buddhist holidays?  In a predominately Buddhist country wouldn't that make more sense if they were concerning themselves about honoring religion?  I believe the only thing they are really honoring is profit.