Bostom
Nov 12, 03, 9:28 am
Best available what? Room? Suite? Whatever we say?
Four stays in two weeks:
4P, Norwalk, CT: top floor room
Sheraton Intl, BWI: Club Level Room
Sheraton Gateway, LAX: Club Level Room
4P, Ventura, CA: Junior suite
Sounds OK except that there was nothing special - and some negatives - about each of them. In no case, by any stretch of the imagination, was the hotel full.
The "junior suite" was the only one I'd consider an upgrade, even as it faced the highway when there were plenty of similar (and better) rooms facing Ventura Harbor empty. A Sunday night one-night stay included two tickets for a drink at the bar except they were only good for a drink on Monday night. It took some firm insistence on my part to get them honored on Sunday night. Extraordinarily cheesy.
At LAX the night before I encountered a new (can I say it?) "trick" whereby my pre-blocked Junior Suite was still blocked when I arrived at 10pm, but hadn't been cleaned.
It's conceivable that might be the case at 3 in the afteronn, but seven hours later? So instead a "Club Level" double exactly like those on every other floor, even down to the $3.25 bottle of water for sale. The desk clerk assured me I could use the Club Lounge (which, of course, was closed) to have a continental breakfast Sunday morning even as I had a bed and breakfast rate and could, and did, eat in the dining room. But I had to drag the printed copy of my reservation out to prove it and which was not even acknowledged until after a long absence by the clerk to "speak to the manager" to see if it was OK.
Sheraton Intl BWI - again a "Club Level" room exactly like every other one I walked by with an open door BUT with a club that was technically open but not on time so as to be able to eat - or even have a cup of coffee - there pre-flight.
4P Norwalk: what can I say? Who cares? It's a place to sleep, not a resort but again, where's the benefit to Platinum status?
If said status meant - consistently - a better room or even courteous intelligent service it'd be worth something. Did I feel "special" even briefly, even once?
Nah.
It's wonderful to have William to solve problems. It would be more wonderful to have fewer problems, more adherance to SPG program policies, fewer zombies on the front desks and some commitment, even once in a while, to insuring Starwoods most frequent guests remain frequent guests.
Four stays in two weeks:
4P, Norwalk, CT: top floor room
Sheraton Intl, BWI: Club Level Room
Sheraton Gateway, LAX: Club Level Room
4P, Ventura, CA: Junior suite
Sounds OK except that there was nothing special - and some negatives - about each of them. In no case, by any stretch of the imagination, was the hotel full.
The "junior suite" was the only one I'd consider an upgrade, even as it faced the highway when there were plenty of similar (and better) rooms facing Ventura Harbor empty. A Sunday night one-night stay included two tickets for a drink at the bar except they were only good for a drink on Monday night. It took some firm insistence on my part to get them honored on Sunday night. Extraordinarily cheesy.
At LAX the night before I encountered a new (can I say it?) "trick" whereby my pre-blocked Junior Suite was still blocked when I arrived at 10pm, but hadn't been cleaned.
It's conceivable that might be the case at 3 in the afteronn, but seven hours later? So instead a "Club Level" double exactly like those on every other floor, even down to the $3.25 bottle of water for sale. The desk clerk assured me I could use the Club Lounge (which, of course, was closed) to have a continental breakfast Sunday morning even as I had a bed and breakfast rate and could, and did, eat in the dining room. But I had to drag the printed copy of my reservation out to prove it and which was not even acknowledged until after a long absence by the clerk to "speak to the manager" to see if it was OK.
Sheraton Intl BWI - again a "Club Level" room exactly like every other one I walked by with an open door BUT with a club that was technically open but not on time so as to be able to eat - or even have a cup of coffee - there pre-flight.
4P Norwalk: what can I say? Who cares? It's a place to sleep, not a resort but again, where's the benefit to Platinum status?
If said status meant - consistently - a better room or even courteous intelligent service it'd be worth something. Did I feel "special" even briefly, even once?
Nah.
It's wonderful to have William to solve problems. It would be more wonderful to have fewer problems, more adherance to SPG program policies, fewer zombies on the front desks and some commitment, even once in a while, to insuring Starwoods most frequent guests remain frequent guests.