Starwood Preferred Guest - Elite treatment during conference stay?

I am going to be attending a conference at a Sheraton this summer (hopefully by then I will have made Platinum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) at the Harbor Island Sheraton in SAN.

My question is what type of elite treatment can I expect from the hotel. As a Platinum can I still get a Platinum room/suite upgrade (if available) and goodie basket in spite of being part of the conference and not just a "regular guest" because of the conference? The company has booked a huge block of rooms in order to get a preferred rate and so we must reserve our rooms with our event planner who then relays/confirms our reservation with the hotel. Even though we are sending a large amount of guests (couple/three hundred + ), I can't imagine that there are more SPG elites in our group than in the general population overall (By coincidence, I prefer SPG, whereas some of our group are Marriott or Hilton elite etc.) and so I shouldn't be competing with too many SPG elites for the nicer rooms?

Should I confirm my SPG number and status with the hotel and/or SPG? Will SPG still include me in their nightly Elite/VIP "watchlist" they send to the hotel?

Hints and/or tips are appreciated.

Thanks for the help.

Depends on the hotel, and how the group was negotiated. Some previous posters have said that they hotels have refused to upgrade them because of a contract term specifying that all the rooms be blocked together.

Other than that, try to put your SPG number when you make the reservation. This may be hard if you have to go through the outside source. In that case, if you are Platinum, call your concierge and they can help you. If not, call the hotel directly.

As long as your number is in the reservation, you will be on the fax that the hotel recieves. The problem is getting your number on the reservation.

I agree with StacyCat -

Do your reservation through the required channels for the show. Once you have a confirmed reservation, call the hotel directly and ask them to look up your reservation and tack on your SPG number to it. I've done this numerous times on conference rates and still got the SPG treatment I'm entitled to. It's still room revenue for the hotel, and I'm still a guest so the rules shouldn't be any different.

PHL is exactly correct. Your elite status still counts even for conference stays. I do this many time a year. The main disadvantage is the possibility of limited upgrades because so many suites and club rooms are sold out. But that is perhaps because my conferences involve attorneys, who tend to live high on the proverbial hog.

As a former Incentive/meeting planner, my experience has been that when an event planner is involved in a conference, he/she is resposible for the room block and for paying the room charges. If this is the case,they will usually determine upgrades within the group and they usually will go to a politically significant individual (president,ceo,conference decision maker or sometimes themselves). Unfortunately, the hotel, in this circumstance,does not usually consider you their "real" customer and won't allow you to upgrade or obtain points for the stay.

This is not usually the case with the type of conference where you book directly but get a conference rate with the hotel.