Marriott Bonvoy held its “Member Day” yesterday at its Bethesda headquarters, where it often shares innovations coming to Marriott properties (or “enhancements,” as they may be?). Well, Marriott has also revealed plans to launch a new lounge concept, without sharing too many details. I suspect this is simply a rebranding of existing lounges, but it’s not entirely clear to me.
Marriott launching new lounge concept in Asia-Pacific
Marriott has revealed that it’s introducing a new lounge experience, named the “Marriott Bonvoy Lounge.” Here’s how the company describes it in a statement:
We are piloting Marriott Bonvoy Lounge, an elevated experience for qualifying lounges at select Premium hotels across Asia Pacific, including Greater China. Approximately 100 qualifying hotels in Asia Pacific excluding China are expected to transition by February 2027, followed by approximately 220 qualifying hotels in Greater China by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
Participating lounges will feature enhanced food and beverage, dedicated associates during peak service periods, and locally inspired offerings. Members will be able to find participating hotels using the lounge filter on the Marriott Bonvoy mobile app and Marriott.com, where lounge hours and property-specific details will also be available.
Marriott has a webpage about the new lounge concept, and it tells us almost nothing of substance.
Here’s the main content on the Marriott Bonvoy Lounge webpage:
Signature Experiences, Local Flavors
Coming Soon to Participating Properties in Asia Pacific and Greater China
From first light to last call, the Marriott Bonvoy Lounge is designed to elevate the rhythm of your day with inviting spaces, attentive service and thoughtfully curated food and beverage that connects you with flavors of your destination.
Whether you’re starting your day with breakfast or winding down with evening bites, our signature offerings make each lounge in our collection globally familiar, yet distinctly local.
Available to eligible Elite members at participating properties.
It’s not clear how any of this is different than the current lounge concept? Do lounges currently not have inviting spaces and attentive service? Are the food and beverage options currently not curated and thoughtful?
The page also promotes two signature concepts:
- The Coral Pour — “start your day refreshed with the Coral Pour, our wellness beverage made with locally-inspired ingredients”
- Marriott Bonvoy Bites — “get a taste of your destination with Marriott Bonvoy Bites, our featured dishes that celebrate regional flavors each evening, available exclusively in the Marriott Bonvoy Lounge”
Okay, but what are Marriott Bonvoy Lounges actually?
Am I the only one who is rather confused about what exactly this concept is? Keep in mind that many full service hotels in Asia-Pacific already have club lounges. With that in mind:
- Is the Marriott Bonvoy Lounge simply a rebranding of existing club lounges? This seems most likely to me, especially with this described as “an elevated experience for qualifying lounges”
- Are these hotels that don’t currently otherwise have lounges, but they’re getting them now? That seems unlikely to me, given the short timeframe in which a huge number of properties will open these
- Will the lounge concept be split off into two, with a lounge for elite members, and a lounge that’s only for paid access? Some Marriott properties in Japan already have this concept
Call me a skeptic, but I have to wonder if there’s a big catch here, but I’m not sure what it could be. Asia, and in particular China, suffers from massive inflation of elite ranks (much like we do here in the United States), so I can’t imagine this initiative is somehow intended to greatly improve the lounge experience for all these elite members, right, especially when hotel owners are already concerned about margins? After all, these kinds of lounges are a cost center.
I think the most logical explanation here is that existing lounges are simply being rebranded. I do find that concept to be sort of strange, though:
- Presumably it’ll still be possible to purchase access to these lounges, in which case it’s funny to name the lounges after the loyalty program
- Marriott lounges already have “M Club” branding, so it’s not clear if this branding would replace that, or what
- If lounges are going to be rebranded, why limit this to Asia-Pacific, rather than making it a global change?
Bottom line
Marriott has announced plans to launch the Marriott Bonvoy Lounge concept. The expectation is that by next year, hundreds of hotels in Asia-Pacific will have this concept. It sounds like this is likely a rebranding of existing lounges.
The thing is, Marriott is promising these lounges will be better, and I can’t help but just be skeptical of that, given how swelled elite ranks are. I don’t think hotel owners would be down for investing more in these spaces. That’s also what makes me wonder if there might be a catch.
What’s your guess as to what’s going on with this Marriott Bonvoy Lounge concept?
Is it possible that these new lounges will be limited to Titanium members and above? This would help with the crowd issue?
Marriott HQ is going to wait until the day I reach Lifetime Platinum before they pull the rug on Plats by revoking lounge access!
I love how that image with the smoked salmon crostinis looks like it includes a dollop of caviar. Lol. Sure Jan.
I sure have been bitten by Bonvoy many times, nothing new then.
"Bonvoy Bites", eh?
I think most of us have been saying that for years.
I can't imagine this will be an offering at loungers with normal entrance requirements. Buy-up only, imho.
The only thing we can say for certain is that this will a devaluation. Whether its an upfront devaluation or one hiding in wolfs clothing remains to be seen.
If anyone disagrees, lets engage on Kalshi
Accor ALL might be the last major hotel loyalty program to withstand the effects of the massive status inflation being generated in Asia by the loopholes available to people in China.
With Bonvoy if something isn't done soon we'll have a situation where elites get worse treatment than in Europe (though probably not worse than the US unless literally a billion Chinese all get made up to Platinum).
I expect Middle East/North Africa...
Accor ALL might be the last major hotel loyalty program to withstand the effects of the massive status inflation being generated in Asia by the loopholes available to people in China.
With Bonvoy if something isn't done soon we'll have a situation where elites get worse treatment than in Europe (though probably not worse than the US unless literally a billion Chinese all get made up to Platinum).
I expect Middle East/North Africa will be relatively unaffected by Chinese faux elites as they are increasingly seen as no-go areas for people from East Asia and elsewhere.
Although there is an Accor China program the ALL program itself seems relatively unaffected by the people who can buy top tier bonvoy etc for just a few RMB.
It also helps that Americans can't buy their way to Platinum simply by having the right credit card.
@Cirrus You forgot to mention the fake elites from America get massive subs, free night certificates, extra credit card bonus points to be used for those free nights, etc. and some of those FNCS come with low annual fees. Quite a lot of Chinese people actually prefer booking on OTAs instead and as Dave said you should blame the hotel chains for being greedy companies.
@Stanley C I specifically mentioned the issue of US 'fake elites' (and why Accor is relatively protected from them) at the end of my post.
It's not my fault if you can't' be bothered to click "Read more" before replying.
@Cirrus Of course, I did click read more and that is why I know you wrote several sentences bashing the Chinese hotel elite members while only writing one sentence about the fake American elite members and of course at the end of your writing. And look out now for more fake IHG lounge pass members from the U.S with those credit card stacking and even without it it is still easy (one credit card and you’re already halfway there for the 40 night milestone reward).
Accor already sells status via their own AccorPlus program. Calling out the Chinese while not calling out the US credit card statuses is a bit wild. The situation in the Middle East is affecting travel from all regions of the world, because insurance companies don't operate on vibes, which it seems your entire post is.
Accor effectively sells Gold (and gets you close to Platinum) but requires a /lot/ of business to then get to Diamond.
Well said grayanderson
Thanks for the reminder David about how Accor also sells elite status. Forgot about that one.
@Stanley C Accor Plus only gets you to Gold, and this brings little in the way of tangible benefits until you reach Platinum (and even that isn't worth much outside APAC).
@Cirrus Yeah but these hotel chains are just making it too easy and they are diluting the overall elite experience. They probably won’t stop there because IHG is now joining the bandwagon and it won’t be a surprise when Accor starts selling platinum elite status. I am waiting to see when Hyatt will start selling explorist and globalist elite status.
@David I specifically called out the issue of Americans being able to get status via having the right CC at the bottom of my post, so I don't understand your claim that I'm letting them off the hook.
I (perhaps wrongly) assumed that people here would already be well aware of the elite inflation issue caused by US CC holders, but I personally care less about that than someone who's US-based because all my travel is in Asia and EMEA.
Immediately, I can think of three Marriott properties whose lounges have been offering food in pre-plated small portions as opposed to a buffet. For years. Food quality is/was fine.
A few points:
1) The "M Club" branding only applies to legacy Marriott brand (the brand not the chain) lounges at some but not all properties.
2) Most club lounges in Asia are already staffed.
3) If you read between the lines, this seems to only apply to corporate-managed properties. The same for the airline-style upgrade lists. Marriott can really only test these things at properties it manages.
4) I think this is an expansion...
A few points:
1) The "M Club" branding only applies to legacy Marriott brand (the brand not the chain) lounges at some but not all properties.
2) Most club lounges in Asia are already staffed.
3) If you read between the lines, this seems to only apply to corporate-managed properties. The same for the airline-style upgrade lists. Marriott can really only test these things at properties it manages.
4) I think this is an expansion of the lounges that we've seen pop up at the Sheraton Toronto Airport and elsewhere. They have a basic selection. It's not a buffet. You get what they have. That reduces costs. Maybe they serve it to you with some presentation. They also have a premium drinks menu, etc. where they make additional money. The goal is to segregate the freeloaders from the food and beverage outlets and then nudge them toward buying premium food or drinks.
5) Of course, it could just be a re-naming of all the lounges across all the brands. It's really a mix right now between club lounges, executive lounges, concierge lounges, M Clubs, Sheraton Clubs, etc. I guess if they had a consistent name across brands it might make it less confusing as to benefits, etc.
6) I suppose it's also possible we could see a separate "club lounge" for guests who pay for lounge access -- like Fairmont, InterContinental and Ritz-Carlton -- and then a "Bonvoy lounge" with reduced options for elites. I'm not sure this would go over well in Asia and the Pacific since there is a strong club lounge culture and expectation there.
But, as they say, more than one thing can be true at the same time.
Ben, I think your third option is very likely and easy for hotels to implement.
Just keep the old lounge for paying customers and open a new "elevated" Marriott Bonvoy Lounge.
If you see the numbers of status members in China and elsewhere in Asia, I can understand the hotel owners.
Especially with most hotel chains not carrying about the status sell on the black market.
And those fake credit card elites from the States.
I just wish they'd do something about hours of operation. It's increasingly common for hotel lounges to close right after happy hours end, which is completely absurd at the self service lounges which don't see any staff for hours even during the day, so it's not like there's any hourly cost to keeping them open longer.
This is definitely a big downgrade! Lounges in Asia-Pacific typically provide food that would qualify for dinner. Bites implies (and the picture shows it) just some small hors d'oeuvres. And the attentive service could be they serve you a little plate with a few hors d'oeuvres at your table or place of seating. And eliminate the buffet style service.
If this happens I will be looking more to stay at a Hilton or IHG...
This is definitely a big downgrade! Lounges in Asia-Pacific typically provide food that would qualify for dinner. Bites implies (and the picture shows it) just some small hors d'oeuvres. And the attentive service could be they serve you a little plate with a few hors d'oeuvres at your table or place of seating. And eliminate the buffet style service.
If this happens I will be looking more to stay at a Hilton or IHG property. I am not a fan of Hyatt. Hyatt Regency Tokyo already does the small plate served at your table (no refills).
There are already several Marriott properties in Europe that limit guests to a small plate with two or three options. No choice. You get what you get. No self-service buffet.
That totally sucks @FNT and @Randy but those hotels are just too cheap as I would rather eat elsewhere or go for another hotel. So, even for those who pay for a lounge access room only gets limited food options as well?
It is not like there is a host of Marriott properties in Japan that has one lounge for status and one lounge for guests that pay as part of the room rate. To the best of my knowledge, there is one. The Marriott Associa in Nagoya, and it is not new. It has been like that for ages.
The Sheraton Miyako in Tokyo has sometimes added lounge capacity by using one of the ballrooms as...
It is not like there is a host of Marriott properties in Japan that has one lounge for status and one lounge for guests that pay as part of the room rate. To the best of my knowledge, there is one. The Marriott Associa in Nagoya, and it is not new. It has been like that for ages.
The Sheraton Miyako in Tokyo has sometimes added lounge capacity by using one of the ballrooms as extra space. I can't say I have noticed a logic to who got sent down, based on when the actual lounge was full? Though I have not seen this in a good while.
There were a few European hotel that were "infamous" for having a less good lounge for status, on one for club level bookings. Renaissance St Pancras in London and (I believe) a Sheraton in Germany were some of the prime examples. Though I believe The Ren has stopped this again. I am sure there are a good chunk of other examples spread across the world.
The Renaissance has been rebranded and the Chambers Club has been closed as far as I understand. But yes, that lounge only allowed access to Titanium and higher previously.
Alliteration. Niccce.
Definitely feels like a shrinkflation style downgrade - all the references to “signature” and “light bites” reads like a way to reduce portion sizes and options while sounding fancy and curated.
Especially since it’s starting in Asia where the lounges have traditionally been much more generous.
As any former Starwood Hotels & Resorts loyalist can tell you, Bonvoy Bites.