Accused of Fraud at the Marriott, Basel

Accused of Fraud

At the Marriott, Basel

Let’s face it, we’ve all had odd hotel experiences at one time or another.

On a recent trip to Basel, Switzerland, however, my experience at the Marriott Basel really leapt to new levels in how not to treat any customer, let alone a Bonvoy Platinum member.

All seemed to be going ok, my payment went through fine, I was given the usual Platinum offer of a bar credit, 1000 points or something else.

Then, I was asked for proof of being a Marriott employee. For clarity, I have never worked for Marriott so I thought he was just joking. Turns out he wasn’t.

At some point during the hours before my arrival, somebody at either this hotel or Marriott had changed my reservation from a standard guest one to ‘explore’. Explore rates are those that Marriott gives to its staff as a perk, attracting discounts of up to 50%, so it’s lucrative and you can imagine why Marriott checks that the scheme isn’t being abused.

Fortunately, I was upgraded to a Junior Suite the night before so had taken a screenshot (see shots above, you can zoom in) from the Marriott app to share with some close friends. We’re often interested to see what upgrades we can bag and share our successes. Interestingly, if you look at the reservation details section, you can see that at some point that rate type has changed. I wouldn’t have noticed it, had it not been a real issue for the receptionist.

Anyway, as it turned out, after asking to speak to a manager and then suggesting I should take this up with Marriott, he backed right off and said “this isn’t even an Explore rate, so it may be a computer error.”

Quite what lead to this very bizarre experience, I simply don’t know. Could a hotel employee have done this, and if so, for what gain? Or was it simply a technical glitch? If you have any thoughts, drop them in the comments section below!

Now let’s take a look at the hotel..

Opened in 1984, this is an old hotel. Formerly the Swissotel for many years, it moved to Marriott in 2022 when it was given a thorough makeover, including room refurbishment.

With 239 rooms and suites, its main purpose is to accommodate guests at Basel’s main convention centre across the road.