Programs: Affiliated with all, participate in some
Posts: 2,064
April Fool's Day was probably not the best day to publish a promotion that sounds too good to be true.
I wonder if the promotion entry time starts on Monday, April 5 based on the time zone for the local hotel. I'll want to stay up until midnight Sunday night to get Las Vegas.
__________________ Loyalty Traveler blog analyzes hotel loyalty programs and promotions for the frequent guest.
I think you will be disappointed with the hotel in Las Vegas. We stayed there as well as at the Westin. The rates were about the same and the Westin is ahead by a country mile in anything thing I can compare.
e.g. The Elements is on the outskirts of Vegas... the Westin is a block off the main drag. The Emenents only does a room cleaning every 3 days (some sort of tidy up on the other days though no one could explain to me what the differeces were). The Elements only gives you 1 small bar of soap by the sink. In the shower there is a dispenser (which could be tampered with!) - for the price, provide a bar of soap! The Elements room looks sterile and cold (doesn't give you a warm a cozy feeling). Part of the floor in the Elements room is dark wood (or maybe a synthetic) - shows every piece of lint as well as is cold and uninviting to walk on (e.g. getting out of bed to go shower). When we were there last month there were lots of school kids so it was noisy all the time (I am guessing that because of the bigger rooms it is cheaper as more kids can be put into a room). The Holiday Inn Express breakfast is way superior to the one at the Elements and the Holiday Inn Express is a lower level I would think. Summing it up - we stayed once, and will never again. If I want something cheap re room and facilities then I will book at a hotel which is cheap (the Elements isn't). When I am travelling I don't need the little annoyances (yes they are little but after a while they build up) and especially at this price point.
Am I the only one that things this promo is probably not in the best interest of "earth day". Plastic bottles should not be used in the first place if you ask me and encouraging people to go buy some cheapo water in plastic and dump it out for the fee room is just crazy.
I know I dont see things like other people but just sems like we could have come up with a better promo.
Programs: AA Plat/MM, DL Gold, SPG Plat/LT Gold, Hyatt Plat, HH Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 750
So much for Starwood following their own rules. I called Element reservations at exactly midnight to book a room at the Element Lexington under this promotion and the agent fiddled around for seven minutes before saying there were no rooms available and to try calling the property directly. I just called the property directly and was advised that there are no more rooms available and they've been taking reservations under the promotion for several days.
Starwood's press release says:
Quote:
The "I Am Not a Plastic Package" is limited to the first one hundred guests who book by calling 1.877.ELEMENT and referencing promotion code "GOGREEN" starting April 5.
So the hotel shouldn't have been accepting reservations for several days.
Ditto. Called the general line 1.877.ELEMENT (apparently based in California) at 12:05 am in Boston and Rep had no idea what I was talking about. He suggested that I call the property directly. So at 12:20 am on April 5 I called Element Lexington and spoke to Kate who told me that they opened the reservations on April 1st and therefore could not accept any more reservations because they are already fully booked.
I was actually going to reserve 4 nights, hoping to get one night free during the weekend of April 22-25, and pay for the other 3 nights. I am now going to give my business to Hyatt for a mattress run for that weekend. Thanks for nothing, SPG and Element. Way to go to piss off a Platinum member.
What a disastrous promo!
Last edited by Boston_Nomad2k7; Apr 4, 10 at 10:32 pm..
Programs: AA Plat/MM, DL Gold, SPG Plat/LT Gold, Hyatt Plat, HH Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 750
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boston_Nomad2k7
Ditto. Called the general line in California and Rep had no idea what I was talking about. He suggested that I call the property directly. So at 12:20 am on April 5 I called Element Lexington and spoke to Kate who told me that they opened the reservations on April 1st and therefore could not accept any more reservations because they are already fully booked.
I was actually going to reserve 4 nights, hoping to get one night free during the weekend of April 22-25, and pay for the other 3 nights. I am now going to give my business to Hyatt for a mattress run for that weekend. Thanks for nothing, SPG and Element. Way to go to piss off a Platinum member.
What a disastrous promo!
I just spoke with the Platinum concierge who said the promo had opened on April 1st. The starwoodhotels.com website still says rooms are bookable beginning April 5th. She and her supervisor looked at the website and agreed that there's a discrepancy, but said the issue has already been communicated to the marketing department. She suggested I keep an eye on the Starwood site for a follow-up message. I'm not holding my breath.
A bit frustrating when I did learn about the promo April 1st and could have easily called in April 1st, but instead followed the Starwood instructions.
The 1877 element referred me to called the Element Las Vegas where they gave me two stories of 1. they are not aware of this promotion 2. they are not particiating at this promotion.
I called the Element lexington, they confirmed to me that the rooms were bookable on 4/1 and its long gone now. If its bookable at 4/1..why don't they just publish it instead of giving a errorous date?
Programs: Starwood Gold, AA Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold, VA red, Amtrak basic, Loews First
Posts: 328
Same
I just called to book a room and the agent wasn't sure how to book it, so she was reading her info she had been given on it aloud, and read that the booking opened April 1 and all stays must be Apr 22-25. No wonder they're all booked. I, too, found out about this April 1 and had the info I read on it says April 5, I would have booked on the 1st, not waited until the 5th.
