i have been a starwood member for the last 6 years, platinum for 4, this year downgraded to gold.

the end of september i booked a honeymoon to paris, london and then back to paris. very excited, i arrive in paris with my wife, and check into the westin paris. nice hotel decent room, just a standard, but for europe not bad. the service there however left much to be desired.

the last day at the westin before we flew to paris i decided to call the spg desk, and ask for any type of special treatment they could provide as i was on my honeymoon, and had 2 more reservations (one at the park lane london, then le meridian etoile paris) the customer service rep said no problem and he would be more than happy to call the other hotels and let them know.

so we get to london goto check in and literally was given the worst room i have ever seen in my life. it didnt even have a king sized bed as booked it had a full, and a window directly facing a brick wall...seriously...

needless to say i was pissed, i called spg and after having my first ever full hissy fit, i was moved to a different room. just the fact that they would do this to me on my honeymoon embarrassed me to no end infront of my wife considering with my loyalty to spg was outrageous, combined with the fact that i was paying an astronomical amount of points per night.

finally we got to the le meridian etoile, i will say this, the service there was AMAZINGLY good. when i went to check in the manager came over said congratulations and upgraded us to a jr sized suite. after like 15 minutes in the room they sent up a bottle of champagne, which i thought was incredibly thoughtful.

long story short, starwood lost all of my future business, except for the meridians i have had nothing but good experiences there. originally i chose starwood because they had the best beds, but now all the major hotel brands have comfortable mattresses, so the lack of perks is starting to become apparent, 3-4 years of platinum 1 out of 15 trips would i be upgraded... and their rewards system is horrible. all of my coworkers are hilton diamond and love hilton, so thats who im transitioning to.

starwood needs to seriously pull their head out of their butt, as from what ive heard the majority of their business relies on business travelers. when you arent superior to the other brands loyalty is something you have to rely on, and they just havent figured out its a 2 way street... they have to earn the loyalty of customers...

funny side note, with the platinum amex, which i orginally got for airline lounges, starwood gold status is automatic, so if i do have to stay at a starwood i will have the exact same status as i have now, without having to make one stay to qualify.