What constitutes a 'Full Service' hotel?
Feb 27, 2013, 5:28 pm
#16
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Too bad they don't as I would use it to thin out the hotels listed during a search. The closest I have come is using room service amenity as a filter, but there are still SHS, CY, RI and FFI that come up with that amenity. Yes, FFI with room service (Fairfield Inn & Suites Chicago Midway Airport for example). Using the brand filter only allows one brand to be selected unless you go to the advanced search menu to begin with which is a PIA.
Feb 28, 2013, 8:15 pm
#17
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Too bad they don't as I would use it to thin out the hotels listed during a search. The closest I have come is using room service amenity as a filter, but there are still SHS, CY, RI and FFI that come up with that amenity. Yes, FFI with room service (Fairfield Inn & Suites Chicago Midway Airport for example). Using the brand filter only allows one brand to be selected unless you go to the advanced search menu to begin with which is a PIA.
(And I don't mean just pizza. The ones I've seen typically seem to be an aggregator of several kinds of take-out restaurants, because they'll have a mix of several menus from different cuisines, but just one number to call.)
But I can't clearly remember whether the Fairfields, Springhills, or TownePlaces that I've stayed at (which were breakfast-only hotels) had this kind of "outsourced" room service. (I never use this kind of service, so I'm not "looking for" it. So whether I notice it may depend on how prominently it's displayed or where it's placed. At some hotels that have it, I might never notice it, while at other hotels that have it, I can't help but notice it.)
Mar 1, 2013, 4:30 am
#18
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
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Well, you're the one who used the FS term here (to classify the hotel you're talking about), so why don't you define it?
"FS Marriott" is a term I see here frequently in this forum, but I never see it on marriott.com. I don't think it's defined by Marriott itself, I think it's just a classification that FTers (or perhaps a wider range of the traveling audience) have come up with.
My impression is it's brands, not specific hotels, that are classified as "full service", and it depends on a list of amenities. It doesn't depend on whether those amenities are good or bad, or on whether they're available 24 hours or only certain hours or whether they're available 7 days a week or only 5; it depends on whether they're listed or not. I'm not quite sure which amenties those are (I assume a restaurant that goes beyond breakfast is one, maybe a gift shop?, etc). It's more that I can "tell an FS brand when I see one".
The Marriott brand is FS to me in the Marriott family, like Crowne Plaza is in the Priority Club family, like Hilton is in the HHonors family, and Shertaon is in the SPG family. (That's not to say that there''s necessarily only one brand that's FS in each program; I'm listing an FS brand in each program.) Fairfield Inn and Springhill Suites and TownePlace Inn are definitely not considered FS brands.
But if Marriott itself doesn't define FS, then you can't hold them to a particular standard of FS! What Marriott does define is what each of their brands should have, and you can hold them to the standard that they define and publish for each brand.
And btw don't confuse "FS" with a level of quality. It has nothing to do with that. It is a set of amenities/hotel features, and the quality at which they're implemented is a completely separate metric. I've seen plenty of cases where an area has an "FS" hotel that stinks and a breakfast-only miscale hotel (in the same family) that's wonderful nearby.
"FS Marriott" is a term I see here frequently in this forum, but I never see it on marriott.com. I don't think it's defined by Marriott itself, I think it's just a classification that FTers (or perhaps a wider range of the traveling audience) have come up with.
My impression is it's brands, not specific hotels, that are classified as "full service", and it depends on a list of amenities. It doesn't depend on whether those amenities are good or bad, or on whether they're available 24 hours or only certain hours or whether they're available 7 days a week or only 5; it depends on whether they're listed or not. I'm not quite sure which amenties those are (I assume a restaurant that goes beyond breakfast is one, maybe a gift shop?, etc). It's more that I can "tell an FS brand when I see one".
The Marriott brand is FS to me in the Marriott family, like Crowne Plaza is in the Priority Club family, like Hilton is in the HHonors family, and Shertaon is in the SPG family. (That's not to say that there''s necessarily only one brand that's FS in each program; I'm listing an FS brand in each program.) Fairfield Inn and Springhill Suites and TownePlace Inn are definitely not considered FS brands.
But if Marriott itself doesn't define FS, then you can't hold them to a particular standard of FS! What Marriott does define is what each of their brands should have, and you can hold them to the standard that they define and publish for each brand.
And btw don't confuse "FS" with a level of quality. It has nothing to do with that. It is a set of amenities/hotel features, and the quality at which they're implemented is a completely separate metric. I've seen plenty of cases where an area has an "FS" hotel that stinks and a breakfast-only miscale hotel (in the same family) that's wonderful nearby.
Anyway - I tried again last night, and there is now a sign saying it's only open Friday and Saturday evenings
So, they'll never get my custom (I'm there M-F)
Mar 1, 2013, 7:01 pm
#19
Join Date: Oct 2001
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My definition of Full Service (FS) is that everything costs extra at a price which is higher than normal and that you would normally balk at paying unless someone else is paying the tab. 
Mar 2, 2013, 7:28 am
#20
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DYKWIA, which property are you referring to? Would be good for others to know the restaurant isn't open during the week as well. Sounds strange they'd only be open on a weekend.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Mar 3, 2013, 8:15 am
#21
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
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Location: Manchester, UK
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I'd guess that they're now looking to get 'local' people in, rather than hotel residents. They Friday/Saturday curry trade in the UK is booming
Mar 3, 2013, 9:47 am
#22
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Cheers.