Starwood Preferred Guest - best way to request room upgrades?

I'm a gold member, but have never tried getting room upgrades before. What's the best way to go about doing this? Should I call SPG and ask them about it or call the hotel directly and ask them?

Also, how far in advance should I call about it? Month? Week? Day? Same day?

One more thing. Is the hotel required to give an upgrade if an upgraded room is available, or is it at their discretion?

Thanks,
K

Just stayed at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA on Sunday night. An upgrade to a suite was waiting for me. My advice: make sure your SPG number is in your reservation. If an upgrade is available, you'll get it. Every time, they treat me like a King! Love those "Heavenly Beds"!!!

I've found the most effective way to get upgraded is to ask for a specific room (by room number). I've been given the suite I've requested 9/9 times. This assumes you know the hotel and which rooms to ask for.

As an aside, I find it entertaining to see the faces of the desk staff when I ask for a specific room. They've never said no, in fact, they become much more hospitable. They must assume only important people know which room they want—it also removes from them, the onus of having to actually look for an upgradeable room—which from what I’ve seen, in terms of the number of keystrokes, looks like they are trying to give directions to the Mars Lander.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SLC2002:
I've found the most effective way to get upgraded is to ask for a specific room (by room number). I've been given the suite I've requested 9/9 times. This assumes you know the hotel and which rooms to ask for.
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Based on SLC2002's suggestion, I have an upcoming stay at the W Union Square. What's a good room # to ask for? Keep in mind I'm only SPG Gold and do NOT expect a suite. Thanks in advance.

As a Gold, or even Platinum, you can't confirm an upgrade in advance unless you want to pay for it or use points.

Some people here have been able to call a hotel days or even weeks in advance and confirm an upgrade just based on status. While that's great for them, it goes completely against the program and is unfair to the rest of us.

Otherwise, on the day of check-in, the hotel will go through their reservations and see what they have available to upgrade you to. Sometimes, but not always, you can check the SPG.COM website and view your reservation to see if the room description has changed.

Are upgrades possible on a room that you've reserved using award points?

Kevin

I thought I read somewhere that you can upgrade for about $50-100 per night on an awards stay. Don't know if accurate.

As an aside, I was looking to cash in some points at the Manale Bay in Hawaii. They have a room there for $350 a night with NO VIEW. No garden, lagoon, ocean, nothing. I assume you don't even get a window. (At a Hilton once I did get upgraded to roof level and had a great view of the h/ac units.)

I would think that staying at a Luxury Collection Hotel like Manale Bay would get you some view.