Marriott International, Inc. Reviews

I've been using Marriott's homes and villas for over a decade and generally they were solid. But this last booking in Puerto Vallarta turned into an absolute catastrophe. Less than 12 hours before we were heading to the airport, they cancelled. Eight of us were traveling from all over North America and suddenly our place was supposedly unavailable, even though we'd booked it three months prior. I didn't even know until I called to confirm check-in details. Nobody would return my calls. When I finally reached the property owner, he had zero recollection of our reservation. Coordinating a trip for eight people is stressful enough without this kind of disaster. I'm pretty sure I'm done with them. Whatever reservation you think you have means nothing to these people. They'll drop you in a heartbeat if it benefits them more.

I was going to book a Marriott Hotel in Malta but their ads made me think an apartment was better. It looked great in the pictures and I trusted the Marriott name. But the text about being welcomed at the apartment and airport transfers? Completely made up. We got confusing instructions with two key code doors, one broken so we had to use an emergency key from a lock box, which was a security issue. The apartment wasn't even in an all-rental building like they said. The biggest problem was the pictures were way old. Everything was broken and falling apart. Chairs looked like they'd been chewed, broken shower tray that was resealed, missing door pieces, shower not attached to the wall, curtains peeling off, a fridge that wouldn't shut and was icing up, and a toaster with the wrong outlet plug. We mostly stayed out and just slept there. Really disappointing.

This whole service feels like a ripoff. They're charging 25-30% more than the actual property management companies for properties they don't even run. When you call them out, they claim it's worth it for the loyalty points and elite credits. That's bogus because you're paying extra to get those rewards in the first place. The markup is 4-7 times more than the value of what you get back. It's dishonest to pretend you're giving people a benefit when you're really just overcharging them. Look, none of these places are managed by Marriott anyway. If you find a property you like, go straight to the property manager like Vacasa and book there instead. You'd get more value buying Bonvoy points outright than what they charge you through this platform.

We had a wonderful stay at a property in Noto Sicily, but do not use Marriott's service to book your travels with points. It was incredibly aggravating to book using over 800K points plus $560 and then learn that when I called within 24 hours, 63 days before arrival, to change how long we'd stay, I'd lose half my points. No discussion. They have tons of cancellation policies that seem designed to confuse you on purpose. I called at least 12 times over two months asking to move our dates around and got robotic responses every single time. It was infuriating. I didn't even realize Homes and Villas and Marriott Bonvoy are separate companies. My Titanium status meant nothing. I got nowhere. Will never do this again.

The marketing for Marriott's Homes and Villas is misleading. The property I booked through Marriott Bonvoy turned out to be way different than promised. We walked in and saw stains in the toilet, filthy floors, only three towels for three people staying four days, a disgusting fridge, and a broken trash can. I complained through every channel they have but never got full compensation. This is fraud, plain and simple.

I booked a property months ahead of time and the day before arriving, only because we called to confirm details, they told us the reservation was cancelled. We never cancelled it ourselves. Marriott never told us about any cancellation. Here's what made it worse. No alternative places were offered. We had to scramble last minute during peak season and wound up paying way more for a different place. Marriott wouldn't refund my $7,000 initial payment either, even though they're the ones who cancelled. This wasn't just bad service, it was refusing to take any responsibility. This is a global brand that sells itself on being reliable and trustworthy. I won't book with them again and I'm telling everyone I know what happened.

Terrible customer service and very unresponsive. If you're outside the US or Canada you might be calling expensive numbers. Since they just rent from other companies and add their 20-30% markup, they can't even help with problems. They pass issues to the local company which gets messy. There's no consistency across properties. You'll find any listing significantly cheaper somewhere else. You're just paying extra for the name. And elite night promotions you're promised might not show up at all.

This particular property in Cleveland shouldn't be on any rental site. It's a thrown together mess with an extension cord powering the bedroom, which means it can't pass a real inspection. I grew up near this place which is why I picked it. We got there late at night, tried the front door code and it wouldn't work. After trying multiple times the door opened and there was the actual resident. Thank God he wasn't dangerous or my brother and I could have been shot. A neighbor had to tell us which door to use. We tried the code for that door and the backup code and neither worked. Called for the right code. When we got inside, immediate strong dog urine smell. Found dirty bedding. This place shouldn't be available to rent.

As a Marriott Gold Elite member, I expect a certain level of service and honesty. Not even close to what I got. I booked what was supposed to be a premium place in downtown Dubai through their platform, and when I arrived it was nothing like what they showed. The condition was terrible, promised services weren't there, and Marriott literally said at first that they didn't even have the property in their system. I raised the issue immediately and tried multiple times to get help from both the property manager and Marriott. All I got were hollow apologies and excuses. Eventually Marriott offered me a tiny refund and some points that didn't even cover the cleaning fee I was charged, and I barely spent any time there. This shows zero respect for loyal customers and says nothing about how they handle problems. It's about being treated right, and I wasn't.

I tried booking a flat in Rome and never got a confirmation. I didn't see any trip in my Bonvoy account so I thought nothing went through. Then my bank called me. Turns out they charged close to $400 and when I called to get my money back they refused, claiming I should have known I had a reservation. I'm newer to Bonvoy and trying to get points, but this isn't worth it. Just reached silver status too but they don't care one bit. They lost a customer forever with this. It's crazy bad business that they don't understand the value of keeping customers. So much for customer service. They tell you to try something new but when it breaks, that's your problem. It's insane how far things have fallen. I'm done with Bonvoy.