Starwood Preferred Guest - Earning Starpoints @Sheraton Desert Oasis

I've got a 4-night stay there for the Thanksgiving holiday booked at SPG.com.

Questions:

1) Can I earn Starpoints for my room rate & incedentals? I saw nothing whilst booking that indicated that I wouldn't earn as usual, but I've read elsewhere on FT that some of these properties do, whilst others don't.

2) Along the same vein, will my stay/nights count towards current promotions/elite qualification?

3) Any input about this property? Been to AZ many times now, and to many of the PHX properties, but never to this one in particular. Had the pleasure of the Kierland a year ago, though.

(Kierland review at http://www.travelscholar.com/westinkierland - reviews of 5 other PHX Starwoods coming...eventually...)

Thanks in advance for your help.

1) Can I earn Starpoints for my room rate & incedentals? I saw nothing whilst booking that indicated that I wouldn't earn as usual, but I've read elsewhere on FT that some of these properties do, whilst others don't.

Nothing on incidentals. You can earn 1,000 Starpoints as a flat rate provided the rate you are paying is eligible.

2) Along the same vein, will my stay/nights count towards current promotions/elite qualification?

Since you will not receive stay credit for the stay, it will not count towards elite status requalification or towards any promotions we may be running that require a qualifying stay.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

The report at the travelscholar is very interesting. After reading the report, I realize how much I am "spoiled” by Starwood SPG for being a Platinum member. I get the suite upgrade often without asking or paying extra. Although it's not the official benefit, I get the free breakfast a few times if the hotels do not have a club room.

It really pays to be a SPG Platinum member.

Other Starwood Vacation Ownership-related threads, some embedded in this one:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/006318.html

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Starwood Lurker:
1) Can I earn Starpoints for my room rate & incedentals? I saw nothing whilst booking that indicated that I wouldn't earn as usual, but I've read elsewhere on FT that some of these properties do, whilst others don't.

Nothing on incidentals. You can earn 1,000 Starpoints as a flat rate provided the rate you are paying is eligible.

2) Along the same vein, will my stay/nights count towards current promotions/elite qualification?

Since you will not receive stay credit for the stay, it will not count towards elite status requalification or towards any promotions we may be running that require a qualifying stay.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com </font>


Thanks for the reply. Do you know if an "Internet Only Prepaid" rate would qualify for the 1000 points?

Thanks!

Bump...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TravelScholar:
Bump...</font>

The qualifying rates are in the threads provided above. The Internet only rate is not one of them.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Wow, glad I searched here. I see nothing on the website to indicate this to me. How would one know that stays don't count toward status?

travelscholar:

I would be interested in hearing how your stay was at Desert Oasis. Thinking about a stay here in March.

The terms and conditions of SPG spell out that SVO properties don't grant points except the 1,000 points for qualifying rates (basically rack rates). These Ts&Cs can be found on the website.

My wife and I stayed there last summer and found the "small side" comfortable and would stay there again. The place is not as luxurious as Westin SVO properties, but is certainly nicer than the original Vistana in Orlando.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zipual:
travelscholar:

I would be interested in hearing how your stay was at Desert Oasis. Thinking about a stay here in March.</font>

The stay there was just fine. My family came with me as well, so I got one room for me and another for my folks. The hotel's location is convenient to the 101--just about 1 minute off the exit--in the northeast corner of the loop (about 5 minutes from the Kierland). It was nothing special, but nice big rooms with balconies, water jet tubs, living room, and kitchen with full appliances (even a washer/dryer). And, for $120 or so, the price was right. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I would've paid twice that (at least) for the Kierland and would've probably ended up with a much smaller room. The Desert Oasis also had a very helpful concierge and fairly courteous desk staff. No restaurant on the premesis, but the pool bar has a menu, and you can order food along the lines of burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, etc. But, who needs a hotel restaurant when you're in Scottsdale.

As an aside, even though our rates didn't include a requirement for attending a sales pitch, my family wanted to see what SVO was all about. So, we went to the desk and they offered us each $100 to attend their spiel. At the end of the day, my family ended up buying a "preconstruction" phase 2 bedroom unit at the Westin Kierland.

Anyway, feel free to email me if you have any other questions... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif