srodr

I'd like some advice on how to handle the following situation. Actually this is for my GF who just checked in to the Hyatt Jacksonville last night...

My GF was diamond for the past 3 years, but cut back on travel last year and dropped to plat. When her last suite upgrade was about to expire last February, she booked it for a conference that she expected to attend in Jacksonville this week (6 nts). It was confirmed and emailed to her, and then she called a few weeks ago to double check and confirm it again.

Last night she flew in from SAN and arrived at the hotel around 9pm. Of course they had no record of the suite upgrade. She got the manager involved, and he told her that there was no way that they would have confirmed an upgrade for that many nts so far in advance. Additionally he said, all the suites were booked for the week, so there was nothing he could do. For some reason my GF didn't have a printout of the reservation, but she insisted that he call CS to confirm it. He refused to call saying that it wouldn't matter what they said anyway because there are no suites available to give her.

At that point she was upset so walked away to call me for advice. Since it was getting late and she had flown all day I told her to just get some sleep and handle it today when the day staff gets there. When she went back to the desk the mgr had called and discovered that she was correct and did have a confirmed upgrade, but again there was nothing that could be done because they were all booked for the week. Instead he gave her a room on the club floor and handed her a few appetizer vouchers for the bar.

...So my question from the experts here is what to advise her to do about this? This was her last upgrade and obviously she won't get it back. I'm actually pretty surprised at the hotel's nonchalant attitude, but I can only assume it is because she is no longer diamond and is paying a very low government rate. Nontheless, she did nothing wrong in the way she used the upgrade and the hotel did a major screw up and should try harder to make it better.

One last point... he did mention to her that they could move her to a suite today, but then she'd have to move out after 2 nts because it isn't available after that. When she told me this I got really pissed because it shows that there is a suite available to move into that in my view is now 'double booked' and they're telling here that the other customer that obviously booked it after she did gets precedence. I'd think the customer that had it booked first would get precedence despite the rate being paid.

Anyway, she's at her conference today and will be dealing with the 'real' manager as soon as she gets a break and I'm not sure how to advise her. A week of a lost suite is a significant value that they took from her with very little remorse and I think she deserves significant compensation if they really are going to give precedence to whoever booked all their suites after she had.

(GP Concierge, please feel free to intervene if you think this deserves your efforts)

Gold Passport Concierge

Could you please PM the confirmation number or her name to us so we can look into this? Thank you.

I_Can_Fly_US_Airways

Since your GF is obviously a Road Warroir given the facts that you have shared in this post, and didn't bother to have the written confirmation with her, then it's her bad!!!

NoStressHere

No matter what, even if she was ready to PAY for a suite, they can not give it to her. They are full. Maybe over booked. Maybe somebody did not leave.

suite2suite

A Suite Upgrade that was confirmed but not honored by the hotel due to an error/mishandling is put back in the account regardless of the expiration date and can be used at a later date.

Jeeves

Stuff happens. I read of other instances where confirmed suite upgrades weren't available at check-in. Seems to happen more at hotels that cater to conferences or conventions. She should get her suite upgrade put back into her account, even if it expired.

MSPeconomist

Suppose she could get the suite starting today throough the end of her stay? It would be inconvenient to move but it might be possible to pressure the hotel to give her the suite instead of the person arriving in two days. Would this be better than having the suite cert returned for later use? My own attitude would probably be that I would enjoy the suite more later, at a different property that treats me better, but YMMV.

austin_modern

Do you actually get a written confirmation of suite upgrade confirmations? Seems like I get little more than a "yup - its confirmed" on the phone. Occasionally, I'll see something weird with the reservation in the case where a suite is actually 2 rooms.

skj

Not trying to excuse the hotel, but during conferences/conventions/etc, suites are often allocated to VIPs of some sort as part of the overall meeting arrangements. This is usually handled by a "group sales" department and it sounds like communications with other departments wasn't the best ... I'd be surprised if they bumped someone from a suite if it was covered by such an agreement.

That said, if I was a non-Diamond traveling by myself, club access would be more valuable than a suite upgrade. Assuming the room offered in lieu of the suite included the RC, that, the food vouchers and the return of a usable suite upgrade would seem to me to be reasonable compensation. Maybe a few points would also be fair, but I'm not sure any more "significant" comp is deserved in this case, regardless of the "value" of the rooms.

aviator4512

If she can provide some sort of proof (ie. a printout of the res) after the stay, I would assume either the hotel management or GP would rectify the situation. I have also stayed at that property and was taken good care of by their management team, who gave me the best room available - NOT A SUITE. Quite frankly, they do not advertise having any suites so i'm a little confused as i'm pretty sure that the best room is what they call a "Premier". These are corner rooms which are a little bigger, but still just a normal room. Regardless, you're girlfriend is blowing it a little out of proportion because i'm sure the staff would have taken care of her if they had a "suite" available. If she was so concerned, like I am on many of my trips, I shoot a followup e-mail closer to my stay to ensure what I ask for is what I am receiving. Overall, I have cut back my Hyatt travel quite a bit and have been doing business with Hilton and SPG as they tend to take much better care of me by way of elite benefits/treatment than Hyatt does. Platinum with Hyatt is worthless - I mean free internet is a lame excuse for a reward. GP needs to review their loyalty program.

Jaimito Cartero

I would expect some sort of compensation for each night that she's not in a suite. I would press for what they charge per night for an award, for each night she's not in a suite. I normally would not accept a suite for two nights, and then expect to move back into a normal room, either.

neo_781

so, whats your point? ... if they confirmed something and they can't honor it some alternate arrangement should be made.

I understand mistakes happen and its not the end of the world on this one but it sounds like the hotel probably messed up and should try to make it right. We can always discuss what that entails or if they have done enough already.

Often1

Now that it's the next day, I presume that OP's GF has forwarded to OP the email containing the confirmation.

OP - What exactly does that email confirmation say?

jayer

On the conference rate out of the conference block? I'm going to guess not upgradeable and somebody tried to bury their mistake. Or even the meeting planner took it for themselves.

Jaimito Cartero

Diamond upgrades are usable on most rates, including corporate.