Here’s a quick tip for you that I just learned today. As someone who spends a good chunk of the year in hotels, I’ve long championed the benefits of reaching out to your hotel via email in advance of your stay to establish a good rapport, make special requests, and set yourself up for a memorable hotel stay.
The trouble is that it can sometimes be difficult to locate the hotel’s email address, especially as my preferred hotel chain, Marriott, has recently moved to only listing hotels’ phone numbers on the website rather than any email addresses.
Usually I end up searching something like “ email address” on Google, which sometimes gives me an easy answer and sometimes results in trawling through endless pages of TripAdvisor reviews only to come out empty-handed.
How to Find Marriott Hotels’ Facts Sheet
I’m therefore very happy to have stumbled upon an easy and reliable method for finding Marriott hotels’ email addresses, along with a treasure trove of useful information about each hotel. This is known as the “Hotel Facts Sheet”, which isn’t available publicly, but can be accessed through the following steps:
Step 1: Open the hotel’s page on the Marriott website.
Step 2: Look in the URL for the hotel’s “MARSHA code”, which is the five-character sequence immediately after “/travel/“, and usually consists of three characters representing the hotel’s location followed by two characters specific to the property or brand.
For example, the MARSHA code for the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver is “yvrjw”:
The Sheraton Buenos Aires is “buesc”:
And the code for the St. Regis Bali is “dpsxr”:
Step 3: Open the following URL in a separate tab, append the five-character code at the end of the URL after “marshaCode=“, and click Enter.
marriott.com/hotels/hotelFactSheet.mi?marshaCode=
Boom, you’ve accessed the Hotel Facts Sheet!
Going Through the Facts Sheet
The hotel’s email address will be displayed under the “Essentials” collapsible section.
You’ll be able to reach the hotel’s front desk for any general questions related to your reservation, potential suite upgrades, or the hotel’s facilities. You’ll also be able to contact the hotel’s concierge to inquire about local attractions or restaurants or ask for their help in making plans for your time in town. It’s that easy!
In addition to the email address, there’s also a wealth of information contained in the Facts Sheet that can answer questions you might have about the hotel that aren’t obvious from looking from the photos. For example, you can tell whether a particular hotel offers a lounge for premium guests or not…
You can scope out how many rooms and suites the hotel has, to gauge your chances of receiving a suite upgrade…
You can examine any the hotel’s accessibility, kid-friendly, or pet-friendly features so you know what to ask for…
You can check whether the hotel has pool, gym, or spa facilities…
And you can research the airport transfer or nearby public transportation options…
Conclusion
I’ve just tracked down the MARSHA codes and gone through the Facts Sheets of all my upcoming hotel stays over the next few months to grab their contact information and send out a few quick email introductions. It’s a game changer from sleuthing the web for hotels’ email addresses, and I’ll definitely be taking advantage of this easy shortcut into Marriott’s hidden Hotel Facts Sheet on a regular basis.
Don’t forget, though, if you’re after suite upgrades as a Platinum Elite member (or even if you’re feeling lucky as a Gold Elite member), your requests over email will likely be most often be met with a standard response along the lines of “your request has been noted and will be subject to availability”. It’s really via the chat feature on the Marriott app a few days before your stay that you must work your suite-talking magic!