danwhy
Jun 9, 06, 5:59 pm
I normally find calling the hotels or the gold line to be a great source of valuable information but seem to have run into a bit of a brick wall.
I'm planning a vacation to Honolulu this fall and was checking into what upgrades are available for either cash or points at the various properties. Starwood Lurker was kind enough to post about the point upgrades on a previous thread but as that info was almost a year old now I wanted to check on the current status so I phoned the hotels directly.
Sheraton Moana Surfrider told me to upgrade from an award reservation room to an ocean view room would cost $170.00 per night.
Royal told me to upgrade from an award reservation room to a Royal ocean would be $105.00 per night and to a Tower ocean would be $275.00 per night.
Here's where it got interesting. In speaking directly to the W Honolulu reservation line I was told I could upgrade to a higher category room either with points or by paying but that they did not have any information on just how many points or dollars that would be and that I would have to speak to corporate reservations. They transferred me through but after a few minutes on hold I had to leave to take another call. A few hours later I called my gold SPG number (which was answered very quickly) to inquire about the W Honolulu (this was yesterday). The first thing the agent told me was that the W Honolulu had left Starwood and I could no longer book there. Fortunately being an FT reader I let her know that it seemed the W was in fact staying in Starwood and I would appreciate if she could check for me. She did check and then she apologised as she indeed saw the W being available to book this October on points. Contrary to what the hotel told me directly though she said only the basic Diamond Head view room could be booked with points and there were no other room options available. She also said only the hotel could talk to me about cash upgrades.
So now I've gone in a circle. The W told me I could upgrade using points or cash and to call central reservations. The Gold SPG line tells me I can't upgrade using points at time of booking and that only the hotel can tell me about cash options.
Where do you suggest I go next to get this sorted out? Maybe I should just stay at the Moana or Royal!
I'm planning a vacation to Honolulu this fall and was checking into what upgrades are available for either cash or points at the various properties. Starwood Lurker was kind enough to post about the point upgrades on a previous thread but as that info was almost a year old now I wanted to check on the current status so I phoned the hotels directly.
Sheraton Moana Surfrider told me to upgrade from an award reservation room to an ocean view room would cost $170.00 per night.
Royal told me to upgrade from an award reservation room to a Royal ocean would be $105.00 per night and to a Tower ocean would be $275.00 per night.
Here's where it got interesting. In speaking directly to the W Honolulu reservation line I was told I could upgrade to a higher category room either with points or by paying but that they did not have any information on just how many points or dollars that would be and that I would have to speak to corporate reservations. They transferred me through but after a few minutes on hold I had to leave to take another call. A few hours later I called my gold SPG number (which was answered very quickly) to inquire about the W Honolulu (this was yesterday). The first thing the agent told me was that the W Honolulu had left Starwood and I could no longer book there. Fortunately being an FT reader I let her know that it seemed the W was in fact staying in Starwood and I would appreciate if she could check for me. She did check and then she apologised as she indeed saw the W being available to book this October on points. Contrary to what the hotel told me directly though she said only the basic Diamond Head view room could be booked with points and there were no other room options available. She also said only the hotel could talk to me about cash upgrades.
So now I've gone in a circle. The W told me I could upgrade using points or cash and to call central reservations. The Gold SPG line tells me I can't upgrade using points at time of booking and that only the hotel can tell me about cash options.
Where do you suggest I go next to get this sorted out? Maybe I should just stay at the Moana or Royal!