wizla

I booked a bunch of stays in London a couple of weeks ago for the weekend just gone......unfortunately I had to cancel them all due to my lady getting influenza and being too sick to travel .
My plan was Thursday- doubletree Greenwich. Friday- the Waldorf and Saturday- Hilton Paddington.
I left every hotel until around 11pm the night before to cancel before the midnight deadline ( in the faint hope she would be well enough to travel) , point is - none of these hotels had preupgraded me? , very rare in the U.K. For even one but 3 times in row?......anyone else had this?

ocprodigy

No that is pretty strange to be honest. I've generally found when I've woken up the day before that I'd been pre-upgraded (exception being The Waldorf this Sunday, where I booked 12pm on the day and turned up early but was given an exec room from basic anyway!).

Maybe some of the hotels are moving to on-the-day upgrades (although makes little sense for Diamonds who can check in the previous day). I've pretty much stayed exclusively in Bankside lately, and they've always been good with the day before arrival...

Hope the lady is feeling better!

TreehouseTravlR

Similar to ocprodigy I'm finding I've been pre-upgraded the day before.

I'm however finding that I haven't been upgraded when the app check-in opens. The upgrade appears later in the day/evening and sometimes on the day of arrival.

TreehouseTravlr

RAPC

Par for the course with my London experiences the past few months. The pre-upgrades still happen, but not until early on the morning of arrival.

Having spoken to staff at the Hilton Euston and Hilton Bankside, both mentioned that they moved to this to allow for late bookings to still get an upgrade, as well as to disincentivise people booking multiple hotels and waiting for the best upgrade before the cancellation deadline. Bankside will still upgrade the day prior, but it depends on occupancy and they are finding it is more on the day now.

Of my last 15 stays in the past few months, only the DT London West End has upgraded consistently the day prior. Every other hotel has been on the morning of arrival.

telabadmanwot

Wow. I really dont expect hotels to play Flyertalk travel 'tricks' on guests. Remind me not to book these hotels.

gav0106

Nothing too sinister going on

Having worked for hotels, especially in London, they will not upgrade till morning of arrivals, when they will go through final check ins and departures for day
Can be due to be extending, last minute bookings, groups, cancellations

Wizla, may have been when hotels are quiter, they pre-upgrade, when busy they hold off

Most of my ones have been on morning of arrival around 11:00

jeffandnicole

So travelers are allowed to try to cheat the system, and when the hotels catch on, you won't book them anymore?

chrism20

Definitely nothing sinister imo.

I'm noticing more and more though that the upgrades are being done through the night. Frequently I go to bed and the reservation hasn't been changed then by 6am it has.

I personally don't fall out with the hotels moving to this method and whilst quite a few on here will disagree with me I'm also not a fan of booking multiple rooms.

I understand why people do it but I personally feel that all it does is create virtual demand which in turn forces prices up. I've spoken to people on here who have reserved more than ten rooms for the one night in the same city with the intent of cancelling all but one just before the cancellation deadline. Then the price falls on the day and anyone with a genuine booking can't adjust theirs and benefit from the lower rate as the deadline has past.

stuart_f

I've got a stay booked for tomorrow and the pre-allocated room is just weird.

The hotel is pretty empty. There are at least 100 empty rooms across 5 floors that I could move to if I wanted. The strange thing is I booked a twin and have my preferences set to 'high floor' ticked, and 'near lift' un-ticked.

I was pre-allocated a double on the 1st floor right next to the lift.

Does anyone know how the pre-allocations are done? Do the settings in 'My Way' have any effect on the computer or are they only there for human check-in agents to look at?

I've decided not to continue with the online check-in and see if an upgrade might be offered later tonight.

RAPC

Completely agree, nothing sinister, especially in London where demand is pretty strong. Makes commercial sense when things are busy.

Barnaby100

I have already been pre-upgraded for Christmas on 1 booking in London but it is a hotel that I stay at all the time

TTL

Six stays in London so far this year, booked the cheapest cancelable rate:

Jan Bankside 1 night > One bedroom suite, the only upg showing beforehand =))
Jan Metropole 1 night > West Wing =)
Jan Bankside 1 night > No upgrade =/

Feb Paddington 1 night > Deluxe double =/
Feb Metropole 1 night > Tower Wing, very small nonrefurbished basic double =(
Feb Docklands 1 night > Basic double initially, after discussion by the front desk one bedroom suite with large windows facing CW =)

wizla

Thanks for the replies, interesting views........it appears the trend is to upgrade on morning of travel, shame in a way as its nice to go to bed knowing you have potentially been upgraded ( even though that's a little sad, I like it ).
I'm planning on a little mattress run next weekend, dunno where yet but will monitor and report back.

maxandclaude2000

I appear to extremely fortunate being preupgraded recently apart from the last Hilton Croydon stay but no biggie
Yes I stay at London Canary Wharf a lot so that I presume is responsible fir the preupgrades and now the Doubletree London Greenwich seems to upgrade well in advance
Hoping not to jinx my next stays at Conrad Hong Kong Friday and preupgraded from Superior Room to Executive Harbour View Suite and even the Hilton Garden Inn Mongkok preupgraded to High Floor for our stay from Sunday (!)
And I'm just an ordinary Diamond he he !

mingzie

I don't mind hotels that do this - it doesn't really make sense as its easy exploitable. One could simply book on multiple accounts, waiting for the best upgrade. One could also decide to cancel the room if no upgrade is given. If you're not in a rush (say you're staying close to where you live) you'd just keep rebooking and then stay on a day where the upgrade is good.

Morning where the reservation can not be cancelled and bookings have (mostly) been finalised makes most sense. If you want to book, then you should book and stay knowing that you might only get a basic or Exec room. However, at the same time, the hotel should also be honest and provide a decent amount of upgrades to elite or loyal members if they are available.