Starwood Preferred Guest - Award stay with a child

The search function is not working (tried multiple times over the last couple of days). I suspect this question has been answered by William at some point though it will perhaps not hurt if we know what the current situation is.

What is the current Starwood policy on an extra child on an award stay if an extra bed is not needed?

We need to stay in a couple of airport Starwood hotels (six hours or so for overnight connections) in Asia for which I made award reservations. The hotel wants $40 (or so) for a roll-away and given that we will be in the rooms for perhaps less than six hours, we may simply want to manage without an extra bed (we have rooms with two beds). It was unclear from what the hotel said whether we will be charged for the extra person irrespective of the roll-away. The room occupancy is clearly stated as 3 max on the spg site. I am wondering if there is an official Starwood policy in the matter and if it written anywhere so that we can print it and keep it just in case it is needed.

The search function is not working (tried multiple times over the last couple of days). I suspect this question has been answered by William at some point though it will perhaps not hurt if we know what the current situation is.

What is the current Starwood policy on an extra child on an award stay if an extra bed is not needed?

We need to stay in a couple of airport Starwood hotels (six hours or so for overnight connections) in Asia for which I made award reservations. The hotel wants $40 (or so) for a roll-away and given that we will be in the rooms for perhaps less than six hours, we may simply want to manage without an extra bed (we have rooms with two beds). It was unclear from what the hotel said whether we will be charged for the extra person irrespective of the roll-away. The room occupancy is clearly stated as 3 max on the spg site. I am wondering if there is an official Starwood policy in the matter and if it written anywhere so that we can print it and keep it just in case it is needed.

There are some rare exceptions to this rule of course, but the usual policy is that children, 17 and under, stay free in existing bedding when staying with a paying adult. Of course, if you ask to add a roll-away, there could be an extra charge for non-existing bedding.

To know if this is one of the rare exceptions, I'd have to know what property we are discussing.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

William:
Thanks for such a quick response. Here are three of the hotels we are using this winter (though we may go for an extra paid roll-away in one of these properties): Le Meridien Changi Village (Singapore), Le Meridien Singapore and Le Meridien Angkor (Cambodia). Are any of these hotels on the exception list? Thanks once again.


There are some rare exceptions to this rule of course, but the usual policy is that children, 17 and under, stay free in existing bedding when staying with a paying adult. Of course, if you ask to add a roll-away, there could be an extra charge for non-existing bedding.

To know if this is one of the rare exceptions, I'd have to know what property we are discussing.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

There are some rare exceptions to this rule of course, but the usual policy is that children, 17 and under, stay free in existing bedding when staying with a paying adult. Of course, if you ask to add a roll-away, there could be an extra charge for non-existing bedding.

To know if this is one of the rare exceptions, I'd have to know what property we are discussing.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Sorry to jump in here akm and William. Have the same question with reference to longer stay(s) on upcoming trip. Family of 4, children 6 and 9, award stays for two nights at Le Meridien Limassol, a week at the Westin Excelsior in Rome, and one night at Le Gallia Milan. Maximum occupancy is listed as 3 each. Will we have trouble at check-in? At Gallia there is 0.00 extra charge for child rollaway, but *0 Euro extra person charge. Want to avoid unexpected, large supplements or having to use double points for an extra room for small kids who really don't need it! Will using extra points to upgrade to a suite/jr suite have any bearing on the max 3 rule?? THANKS for the insight.

Sorry to jump in here akm and William. Have the same question with reference to longer stay(s) on upcoming trip. Family of 4, children 6 and 9, award stays for two nights at Le Meridien Limassol, a week at the Westin Excelsior in Rome, and one night at Le Gallia Milan. Maximum occupancy is listed as 3 each. Will we have trouble at check-in? At Gallia there is 0.00 extra charge for child rollaway, but *0 Euro extra person charge. Want to avoid unexpected, large supplements or having to use double points for an extra room for small kids who really don't need it! Will using extra points to upgrade to a suite/jr suite have any bearing on the max 3 rule?? THANKS for the insight.

Personally, I would try to work this out in advance with the properties involved. If you don't, you may find yourself paying for an extra room as a walk-in if the maximum room occupancy is three and you are really four.

I don't know if there are any rooms/suites at any of these properties that would allow more than 3 in a room - at least without making a possible exception before you arrive - but if you are Platinum, I would call Platinum Concierge and see if they can assist.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Personally, I would try to work this out in advance with the properties involved. If you don't, you may find yourself paying for an extra room as a walk-in if the maximum room occupancy is three and you are really four.

I don't know if there are any rooms/suites at any of these properties that would allow more than 3 in a room - at least without making a possible exception before you arrive - but if you are Platinum, I would call Platinum Concierge and see if they can assist.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thanks. We're trying to make the best use of our points at particularly nice properties, so a suite upgrade on points is appealing. If we need to do the 2 rooms to accommodate a 6 year old, even though she would/could sleep in existing bedding, then so be it. Another quick question, if you'll indulge me. Is a European twin equivalent to a US double? The 2 twins make a king thing puzzles me.

William:
Thanks for such a quick response. Here are three of the hotels we are using this winter (though we may go for an extra paid roll-away in one of these properties): Le Meridien Changi Village (Singapore), Le Meridien Singapore and Le Meridien Angkor (Cambodia). Are any of these hotels on the exception list? Thanks once again.

No, none of this properties have been granted an exception to the Starwood Family Plan.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

...Another quick question, if you'll indulge me. Is a European twin equivalent to a US double? The 2 twins make a king thing puzzles me.

Well, I've never personally encountered one, but my understanding (when I was taking reservation sales calls before the U. S. Civil War) was that a twin was a twin was a twin, regardless of where it is in the world. ;) Pushing (and locking, by the way) the two twins together makes a bed roughly the size of a regular king bed in the U. S. From what I understand, they put some kind of strip where the beds meet to do away with the crevice and make it relatively unnoticeable. But, it's been a very long time since I've taken a reservation sales call. :)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Great! Thanks William.

No, none of this properties have been granted an exception to the Starwood Family Plan.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

You could also practice the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in a pinch. I had a free night coupon for the JW Marriott in Shanghai and, despite their large rooms, occupancy was limited to 3 (I had 2 adults, 2 kids). I emailed the hotel and they said, "sorry, limit 3." I replied with a "c'mon, can't you do something for me here?" They said "no."

I made the reservation, didn't trot all the kids to the reception desk, wasn't asked, and everything was fine (we had tons of room).

So, in a pinch, I'd suggest this strategy, even though it obviously is not without some risk.

akm, depending on your child's age, a crib is free, whereas a rollaway bed is chargeable. LM Orchard Road, was going to charge me $40 Singaporean for a rollaway bed, but since I requested a crib, they took away the rollaway put in a crib. . . no extra charges.

akm, depending on your child's age, a crib is free, whereas a rollaway bed is chargeable. LM Orchard Road, was going to charge me $40 Singaporean for a rollaway bed, but since I requested a crib, they took away the rollaway put in a crib. . . no extra charges.

I don't think Starwood ever heard of the word free. I've have been charged for breakfasts on award stays when the hotel notebooks states to enjoy your complimentary breakfast, but failed to mentioned that award stay don't enjoy a complimentary breakfast. Other times I find a nice hefty charge for using the pool. Now, I never take anything like water, coffee or anything else because it may be charged and I don't know what the charge will be-but I can be sure it will be a high. C'mon, a free crib? I can expect a $40 per night charge on the hotel bill.

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akm, depending on your child's age, a crib is free, whereas a rollaway bed is chargeable. LM Orchard Road, was going to charge me $40 Singaporean for a rollaway bed, but since I requested a crib, they took away the rollaway put in a crib. . . no extra charges.

Thanks Lulu,
(Un)fortunately the child has outgrown the crib! However, this is useful info if this is a consistent Starwood policy. Perhaps, William can confirm/disconfirm this (as general Starwood policy) for the benefit of other members.

I have had some very pleasant experiences with Starwood in the past. For example, on a previous foreign trip (to Asia) when we had booked a suite, they even allowed us to have an overnight unplanned guest (a niece who was a student in the town we were visiting). We asked at the desk, willing to pay for the guest, and they said that the suite was set up for up to four people and therefore they had no problem with this (unplanned) guest. They even brought up extra linen and blankets to set up the sofa bed to set the guest up comfortably. The student niece guest was under 17 but she joined us after we had been at that hotel for a couple of days and the hotel could have treated her as an additional guest and charged for it.

...
I don't know if there are any rooms/suites at any of these properties that would allow more than 3 in a room - at least without making a possible exception before you arrive - but if you are Platinum, I would call Platinum Concierge and see if they can assist.


I'm in a somewhat similar boat with an upcoming award stay at the Sheraton Taipei that might need to include three adults (married couple and one parent). [The rate description for the presently-reserved room certainly seems to allow three people, with an extra person charge a little north of 30 dollars per night.]

At the SPG Gold level, I've read that Sheraton Taipei doesn't make it a practice to award free upgrades; however... is it possible to "buy" an upgrade with points? Would SPG or the property be the decision-maker on something like this?

Thanks very much for any advice.

You could also practice the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in a pinch. I had a free night coupon for the JW Marriott in Shanghai and, despite their large rooms, occupancy was limited to 3 (I had 2 adults, 2 kids). I emailed the hotel and they said, "sorry, limit 3." I replied with a "c'mon, can't you do something for me here?" They said "no."

I made the reservation, didn't trot all the kids to the reception desk, wasn't asked, and everything was fine (we had tons of room).

So, in a pinch, I'd suggest this strategy, even though it obviously is not without some risk.

...At the SPG Gold level, I've read that Sheraton Taipei doesn't make it a practice to award free upgrades; however... is it possible to "buy" an upgrade with points? Would SPG or the property be the decision-maker on something like this?

Thanks very much for any advice.

Personally, I think the Gold upgrade thing is something that is much misunderstood, not only on the guest end, but the hotel end as well. And, we (SPG) are probably mostly to blame for that because the benefit description is written so vaguely as to cover a multitude of room types that could be used. So, they are called Preferred Rooms and each property/brand is given a guideline to follow when selecting these room types. Where the hotel fails on its delivery is in the message given at check-in, but then, turnover at the front desk is very high in this industry, which leads to unfortunate lapses in training, not to mention harried employees trying to do the best they can with what they have. Those are not excuses, mind you, just a view from the other side. ;) We can and should do better in that respect, and initiatives are under way to try and improve it.

As for the Sheraton Taipei specifically concerning purchasing upgrades using Starpoints, I'm pretty sure that the hotel would be able to do this on a paid rate at check-in using an Instant Upgrade Award because they have both the SPG3S and SPG3SS rate plans. Of course, the upgrade possibility would be subject to availability of a room to upgrade to. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thanks Lulu,
(Un)fortunately the child has outgrown the crib! However, this is useful info if this is a consistent Starwood policy. Perhaps, William can confirm/disconfirm this (as general Starwood policy) for the benefit of other members...

The Le Meridien Singapore does not appear to charge for a crib; however, they only have six on the premises, so it would be critical to make the request for one in advance of check-in.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

...
As for the Sheraton Taipei specifically concerning purchasing upgrades using Starpoints, I'm pretty sure that the hotel would be able to do this on a paid rate at check-in using an Instant Upgrade Award because they have both the SPG3S and SPG3SS rate plans. ...

Thanks much for the background and advice.

Since I'm guessing others are also unfamiliar, what do the codes SPG3S and SPG3SS stand for?

I checked the terms and conditions, and noticed that Advance Upgrades are available for purchasing with Starpoints if paying eligible rates (within 5 days of a stay), which I'm guessing means that that's not the option for someone on an Award stay. Any correction or confirmation of this would be welcome.

In terms of the Instant Award option for an upgrade (maybe using one of the two codes?)... approximately how many points might one be (usually) looking to spend?

Thanks again in advance for clarification....

Thanks much for the background and advice.

No problem. Glad to help where I am able.

Since I'm guessing others are also unfamiliar, what do the codes SPG3S and SPG3SS stand for?

SPGS = Specialty upgrade award
SPG[insert category of hotel here]SS = Specialty Select upgrade award

So, SPG3S is the rate plan id for a specialty upgrade award and SPG3SS is the rate pan id for a specialty select upgrade award, respectively, at a Category 3 property.

I checked the terms and conditions, and noticed that Advance Upgrades are available for purchasing with Starpoints if paying eligible rates (within 5 days of a stay), which I'm guessing means that that's not the option for someone on an Award stay. Any correction or confirmation of this would be welcome.

Actually, if you are wanting to use Starpoints for the whole thing, you can book one of the two the Upgrade Awards already mentioned and confirm it in advance - [i]as long as the property in question allows upgraded room types to be booked using Starpoints and these room types are available at the time you call. You would have to call the Customer Contact Center to get this done.

In terms of the Instant Award option for an upgrade (maybe using one of the two codes?)... approximately how many points might one be (usually) looking to spend?

Usually they are the same, and it depends upon the category of the property as to how much extra, but at a Category 3 property I believe the Specialty Upgrade Award is 1,000 Starpoints more and the Specialty Select Upgrade Award is 1,500 Starpoints more than the Standard Preferred (free) Night Award per room per night. Note: I might have to come back and adjust this if I'm wrong. ;)

A couple of caveats about the Instant Upgrade Awards: These are only done at the hotel and if the hotel is not IPS-converted, then they can't process them. These days there are relatively few non-IPS properties, but there are some.

Thanks again in advance for clarification....

No problem. Glad to help where I can. :)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com