travelista

Earlier this morning, the SPG app showed that I was upgraded to a 2-room suite.

I figured that would be a very nice way to ring in the Starwood-Marriott merger... but nope. Apparently i was downgraded to a traditional guest room at check-in 20min ago.

They did have a nice welcome bag with some candies, bottle of cold water, and a welcome note in the room. When I called the front desk, they stated that they're sold out tonight. And "sorry".

This has never happened to me before, and was curious if that's "how it is"?

BTW - I did not apply any SNA's to this 2-night stay, as it's a work trip. So was just looking for the normal Platinum upgrade.

Starwood Lurker

My apologies for the disappointment, but that is just "how it is". Complimentary upgrades are granted at check-in, despite however much advance preparation that they try to make and gets noticed.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

travelista

Okay, thanks so much for the update William!
I've never experienced being "downgraded" at check-in before. Fortunately not too much disappointment, as it's a work trip and I don't intend to spend too much time at the hotel anyways.

Thanks again!

tjk1976

Sorry, but what is the point of indicating an upgrade in the app if there is only a possibility that the guest will actually receive it? It sounds like that needs some refining.

SkiAdcock

I'm going to defend William (and most hotel chains) on this one. It sucks, but upgrades are based upon availability - and that usually means at check-in (which is spelled out in hotel chains' T&Cs). A lot of times we all get upgraded in advance, but if they have someone who's actually willing to pay for the upgrade vs. wanting a freebie, I don't blame some properties for going for the paid upgrade & dropping the free upgrade.

Note I say this when it comes to regular upgrades (aka, not secured in advance through a guaranteed upgrade cert, points taken out, etc). Not sure how the properties handle secured upgrades, but even then if it came to paid vs. trying to make it right w/ other bennies or extra points deposited in one's account, it wouldn't surprise me if the property went for hard cash.

We had a similar experience on the Marriott forum at a Cat 9. Elite was assigned a suite upgrade in advance but was downgraded to a superior room at check-in. The reason was that a NFL team was in town, had booked all the suites (in addition to regular rooms), & extended their stay by a night, thus bumping the elite. The property did offer to make it up to the elite on a future stay, but hard cold cash trumped the free upgrade on that one.

Cheers.

Starwood Lurker

Well, the systems are totally integrated for most properties, so when a hotel prepares for your arrival - like pre-upgrading you - any actions they take in that direction are going to show up in the app or online.

If there is a way of masking this activity, I have no idea how it would get done.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Kagehitokiri

they tried to preblock you, but something may have happened, as mentioned

tjk1976

Personally, I would sooner not know than receive a message that effectively says "here's the upgrade that we might not give you."

travelswithmyself

Well, one way around that is to not check the "Room Features" tab in the app. The app doesn't push a notification out stating the upgrade, so finding out if there is an upgrade prior to check-in does take an extra effort on the user's part. If one is easily disappointed, best to avoid putting oneself in that situation.

I personally love checking 10 times a day prior to my stay to see what I may be getting. So I vote that they don't mask it, if there is a way to do so.

Anyway, this has always been how it is, and how it should be, as of course you are aware. As it is, pre-blocking upgrades are not quite true to the spirit of the T&Cs which state subject to availability on arrival. Though of course hotels do it all the time as part of room management, and I've certainly benefited from it countless times.

UA-NYC

This is what screen shots are for :-:

meraki1990

I actually experienced this.. at St. Regis New York.

I attempted to check in early, but was told that I would need to wait until my room was ready.

Ate lunch outside, and the app showed that I was allotted the 5th ave suite, was ecstatic.

When I checked in, it was a suite, but the basic suite.

Can't complain, but yeah, I've learned to not trust the app.

mahasamatman

Useless, as the upgrade rules are very clear.

HockeyCoachBen

How are the upgrade rules effected by offers at check-in to pay for an upgrade? There have been a few SPG properties where as SPG Gold I was upgraded to a higher level/category room then offered a suite for $30-40/night additional at the time that I check-in. Would I essentially be taking a potential upgrade away from an SPG Plat?

If that's the case, I think that's a dirty way to play the game. Why not have a cut-off time like the airlines to pre-assign upgrades for elites?

UA-NYC

Wasn't so useless the couple times this happened to me, when I showed them the screen shot and they ultimately put me in an equal or better room

travelswithmyself

I would say this is would be dependent on hotel policy, and how much they prioritise income and Plat treatment.

Even if you pay for a suite, the Plat coming later could already have one pre-assigned and your suite just happens to be unoccupied. Or you could be taking it from the Plat. Each hotel will have it's own criteria and priorities for doing what it does with unoccupied rooms. How it deals with them might even change day to day.

The T&C give a guideline of "at checkin". Hotel's don't follow that even now, I doubt they'll follow a cut-off time. Even airlines don't. I've seen passengers upgraded just after the doors are shut...