Starwood Lurker IV

What a year. We’re nominated for the top honor in frequent travel programs. Now, you can make it official and vote SPGŪ in the 2014 Freddie Awards.

Here’s some of the year’s vote-worthy highlights:

• 80 new unique hotels and resorts opened across the world including WŪ Guangzhou, China; The St. RegisŪ, Abu Dhabi; W Verbier, Switzerland and many more.
• Crossover RewardsTM with DeltaŪ SkyMilesŪ launched offering Starpoints when you fly and miles you stay.
• SPG doubled down on luxury with Caesars Entertainment. Now you can redeem Starpoints at Caesars Entertainment hotels and resorts in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and beyond.
• The SPG App for iPad joined our suite of mobile apps making it easier for you to explore, plan and discover where the #spglife will take you next.
• We added hundreds of new MomentsSM by SPG experiences with the launch of our partnerships with the Chicago Cubs and Madison Square Garden.

Vote SPG

Best regards,

Jesus Partal
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

tattikat2

I for one will wait for the outcome to the question asked in this thread:

"Hotels limiting Free Night Awards to single-occupancy rooms only (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page"

before deciding which program to vote for.

Herb687

In what category?

Most pervasive overpromise, underdeliver?

Largest gap between marketing materials and reality?

mahasamatman

I didn't think commercial advertisements were allowed on FT.

I feel it's really inappropriate for company representative to spend their time lobbying, particularly for a meaningless award. And I agree with tattikat2 - if one of the very foundations of SPG is redefined, it greatly affects the value of the program.

clublounger

WOW, tough crowd !!!!

(my biggest gripe is resort fees)

Herb687

^

For some of us, it's not so much the redefining, it's the fact that SPG has crafted program T&Cs in such a way that individual properties can define them for themselves in whatever customer-unfriendly ways they wish. Shady properties can take advantage of generously (to Starwood) drafted T&Cs to get away with all sorts of behavior that violates if not the spirit of the program then certainly the abundant marketing promises made in the glossy colorful adverts.

The gap between what SPG promises and what it delivers has been widening for years now.

ldsant

I agree with others.

Starwood just doesn't care/nor "get it" as to what customer service is about these days where before they were all about customer service (REAL)

I too thought that companies weren't allowed to post on FT asking for votes. Since there are such stringent rules for the FT Cares I would think that this is the equivalent i.e., company asking for votes.

Starwood will not be getting my vote due to the lack of customer service.

rooivalk

+1

I concur - here's an incentive for Starwood to get an answer ASAP.

cxn

I too am waiting to see about the increases. It seems to me Starwood is waiting longer to release info on cat increases.

Are there odds on when this thread will be deleated?

Flews

Why on earth wouldn't *wood lobby in their own favour? This forum is riddled with advertising & promotion, paid and otherwise. Every single one of us advocates in our own favour every single time we post - including this very thread. Why shouldn't the Lurkers?

Cheers,

mahasamatman

Because they are company representatives, thus making their lobbying a commercial activity and supposedly prohibited on FT.

Flews

So the Lurkers shouldn't be announcing promotions, offers or any program enhancements, all of which are designed to help *woods bottom line?

Cheers,

Mrtravel28

With 4 suites night upgrades with 86 nights in 2013 I could not vote for SPG, given that most of those properties had suites available for booking when I checked in. Had to argue for platinum benefits (like having platinum breakfast every day of the stay instead of just for one day) on multiple occasions. That infused by the other thread's possible major devaluation and more than sure coming up devaluation by category changes makes SPG just blah program. Used to be great, but nothing to be excited about nowadays.

Oh. yeah, I agree that resorts fees for platinums should be reduced or eliminated all together. As a platinum I feel robbed at resorts given I would receive most of the (resort fee benefits) for free with my status at a regular hotel.

mahasamatman

Providing information is not the same as lobbying. Though it's not like they're announcing anything we can't already see on the web site, so I'd be fine with that prohibition as well.

But the bottom line is that they should not be pandering and begging like lobbyists and politicians.

Keyser

not really....they normally announce it around the last week of feb so it should be any day now....