Starwood Preferred Guest - Starwood, I like your rate-quiz!! Free breakfast or not?




JR-Flyer
Jun 18, 03, 4:53 pm
William, would you mind helping me as quizmaster?

Included breakfast is for many of us an important point of the rate (sometimes up to 40% of the rate). Than it should be handled more carefully.

SPG gives a lot of details / pages of a booked rate, which could be given and found in:

- E-mail confirmation
- online: "check your reservations" / "get complete details"
- online: "check your reservations" / "View details"

- online booking: rate plane name
- online booking: room features
- online booking: rate details

All might be a bit different!

I often experienced differences in the rate names or more often in the E-mail confirmation (of that what I booked - incl.bfast) and the details of the "your online reservations" (there was no bfast mentioned)

That meens I always have to bring a printed confirmation for proof.
It is a kind of insulting to do that to avoid beeing taken as a liar.
(for William: Cancelation No.813018630 is an example, only the confirmation E-mail would be a proof of bfast. I cancelled because I forgot about the E-mail and thought the rate is without bfast as shown in "my reservations")

"Buffet bfast" is often listed in the room features during online booking. Is bfast than included or only the possibility to have a morning meal?

One example:
Try to book for Lenggries (city), Germany
(Four Points Hotel) for 8.July 2003 1 night,
no preferences for bed and smoking.
They offer 25 different rates, all show in "room features" buffet bfast. Is it included? The rate plan names and the details makes differences.
If I book the cheapest (77€, and I guess this is without bfast) - how can I check later in "my reservation" if I have to pay or not, if under "room features" just the buffet bfast it listed.
(BTW is the rate 77€ with bfast or not?)

Could SPG limit all that different possibilities of room description and online pages to one clear one?

If bfast is not included, write the price for additional charges like with the extra rollaway!
(this would be a real benefit not only for avoiding confusion, but also to avoid bad or to good surprises)


Who has the right answers?

Thank you indeed.


Starwood Lurker
Jun 18, 03, 5:24 pm
So how long do I get to take this quiz?

I just want to know what kind of pressure I'm under to get a passing grade? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

As for the cancelled reservation above, this was booked on an Endless Weekend Rate with Breakfast. Call me optimistic, if you will, but I would fully expect to receive 2 adult breakfasts on this rate plan (per room per night) along with anyone in the room that is 12 and under to also receive the same benefit for free, provided they ordered from the kids' menu.

Nothing is said anywhere about this being from the breakfast buffet. It mentions ordering off the menu quite prominently.

So, did I pass?

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 06-18-2003).]

JR-Flyer
Jun 18, 03, 5:55 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Starwood Lurker:
So how long do I get to take this quiz?

</font>

Hmmm, time is running. OK, time for reading above was excluded. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


Still thinking about your first written answer you completed (corrected) it! Surprise!

Unfortunately I wrote about two exampels, one with the cancelation E-mail and one with the buffet breakfast for the hotel in Germany/Lenggries.

So not yet passed.

The example with cancelation should show the difference between E-mail (bfast included, as you described) and "your reservations / details" (here the bfast was not mentioned).

The other question about the morning-stomache-filling rates (bfast included or not) in the mentioned hotel in Lenggries still waits an answer.


Please don`t feel rushed!


Starwood Lurker
Jun 18, 03, 6:36 pm
Ah, a two-parter. Didn't catch that, so I guess I get an INC.

My understanding is that if the breakfast is included in the room type description, then you get it. All the room types at the Four Points by Sheraton Brauneck look to include buffet breakfast, so I guess I'm a little confused as to what the issue is here. Did they refuse to give you a buffet breakfast on a recent stay? If so, that is a Hotel Customer Service issue.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

JR-Flyer
Jun 19, 03, 4:16 pm
Thank you William for your quick response!

As always you passed!!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">so I guess I'm a little confused as to what the issue is here. [/B]</font>

Sorry for writing to complicated.
So once again.

1.
The information-flow via spg website and confirmation e-mails to *wood-customer is not so perfect.
Informations are not bundled and sometimes different per issue.

Could you relay to the web-gurus that they make the site more simple and clear?
When I check my reservation online, there are different pages to be visited (1. "Your reservations", 2. "get complete details" 3. "View details"), Why?
These pages contain sometimes different points, but moreover a confirmation e-mail might have given even other details!
(For that I gave the example with the cancelation-No.)

2.
It would be fine, if description of the rates use more standard phraseologie.
My second example with the buffet breakfast shows how it can confuse the customer.
Personally I didn`t think that the included bfast was intended by the hotel in Lenggries (see their different rate plan names - what a mess)
Room feature, rate plan name and details should more go together.

So for me, I will change my reservation in Lenggries to the cheaper rate, since all rates includes bfast.

Thank you for your patience!

JR-Flyer
Jun 19, 03, 4:36 pm
Made the new reservation.(Lenggries,8.Juli)

E-mail shows: special for all rooms for 8.Juli - included bfast per person!

This is a fun! This detail was not shown like this before on web.

Why *wood makes secrets of promotions?

ralfkrippner
Jun 20, 03, 3:21 am
I have the same issue with starwood bookings. Maybe this is especially true for germany or europe, but I really would like to see if breakfast is included in a rate on the first glimpse. Maybe this wish could be submitted to the web-gurus for the next version of the web booking engine?

Have a look at germanys most frequented hotel booking engine www.hrs.de (http://www.hrs.de) . In the list of bookable hotels you have as details: hotel name, star-rating, rate, cost for breakfast, pictogram-details. This is how I would want it if I could decide... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

tinkybelle
Jun 20, 03, 7:07 am
William.
2 yrs with us at flyertalk and STILL a sense of humour!!!
Very impressive.
Most LURKERS fold under the pressure!
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif


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