WFQT

recently booked two SPG award stays at the Sheraton Krabi and a few days after the booking (with NO conditions when I made the booking) I was told by the Hotel that there is a mandatory "New Years Eve Dinner" at a price exceeding normal paid nights. being a SPG Platinum for around 14 years I never experienced thst. Cheating and lying to so far loyal customers.

RogerD408

I recall posts about the "mandatory holiday dinners" in Asian properties (you might try a search). However, I would suggest looking at your confirmation to see if it is mentioned there. If not, try contacting SPG Customer Care (or one of the Lurkers) to see if the property is allowed to change the terms of a reservation after the fact (I hope the response is no). If they side with the property, they should allow you to cancel without any penalty.

nongsom

Multiple properties in thailand are force hotel guest to paid for New Years Eve Dinner
Not only starwood (mariott,hilton,hyatt,accor)
You can also check or email to each property about NYE dinner
Not all of Starwood properties force hotel guest to NYE Dinner

Hyperacusis

Check your stay confirmation. If it does not list the mandatory dinner, you have grounds to follow up. If it does, then your best bet is to cancel or do the dinner.

remymartin

It's been like that for years. And they even have a warning on their site:

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...ropertyID=1438

fdem

This is typical of most Asian resort hotels. You can try and talk to the management but they are normally strict on this, as most of the year particularly in Thailand guests tend to eat off site. Having said that they normally put on a good spread and as you are staying free, just enjoy it.

Lappe

I booked a 12 night paid stay over last Christmas and New Year in Dubai. The rate for Christmas Day was somewhat inflated and ridiculously so for NYE.
"Rate Plan Description: New Year Eve Package. Nightly price on Dec 31, includes gala dinner supplement."

Luckily Z6H was available at the time of booking and it really is 5th and 6th night free.. Saved over 50% with that code Not so surprisingly the availability disappeared soon after my booking.

Funny thing is, all the restaurants - there are plenty high end choices on property - had their own NYE/Chistmas dinner or party plan. We had a great party at the Embassy on top of the tower 2, but I don't think were any discounts for other guests due to gala dinner supplement in the room rate.

TerryK

A good number of threads about this. For example:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...ve-dinner.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...idding-me.html

It is listed under "Special Conditions", but I guess few actual bother to click on it. Yes, it is common for most resort properties in South Asia under any flag (Starwood, Hilton, Marriott etc) or locally flagged. I doubt they will waive it but I am sure you can cancel without penalty.

Dr. HFH

No cheating, no lying. As posted upthread, this is specifically disclosed on the hotel's website, and is common in SEAsia, particularly in Thailand.


Aren't all award stays cancellable without penalty?

TerryK

Many awards, especially for resorts, have cancellation time limit. You can only cancel before certain dates. IIRC, St Regis Deer Crest has one year cancellation time limit.

whimike

As others have said, this is a common practice in Thailand and clearly posted on their website.

Hardly. They notified you within days of your booking, a full 8 months prior to your stay. If there was no mention of this requirement on their website, and they notified you upon check-in, I could see you making such a statement. But, when it is disclosed and they notify you immediately, I think they are being very fair.

controller1

I assume you are referencing St. Regis Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. I've checked numerous dates and find the awards cancellation deadlines range from as few as seven days prior to arrival to at most six weeks prior to arrival but none with a deadline one year prior to arrival.

spgplat21

As recently as a couple years ago they had several dates that were completely non-refundable for points and most other winter dates had a 90 day cancellation period.

Now, it looks like most of the peak February and March dates are still 90 days and off-peak ski season is 6 weeks. I didn't check all of the dates but since no one should be redeeming here during the non-ski season I would change your statement to say most of the dates that people would want to book have a 90-day cancellation period and the other dates people would book have a 6 week cancellation period (which is still too long IMO).

RogerD408

So if there are conflicting terms between their website and your confirmation, which applies? The property is responsible for making sure all terms are consistent or they can lose out. If the confirmation has words to the effect "per terms stated on our website" then that would tie things up a bit.

Dr. HFH

I don't think that there are. "Conflicting terms" in this case would be if the confirmation says that the NYE dinner is not mandatory on this rezzie. If the confirmation doesn't mention the NYE dinner, then I don't see the conflict.