Originally Posted by
Jumpgate
Sorry you had a bad time - but it seems to me your gripe is more with the Park Lane London (do a search - many people share your gripe) than with Starwood as a whole.
By your own admission the other two hotels were adequate or better.
I would agree 1/15 upgrades is very very low and much lower than my platinum experience.
you are spot on, the park lane, was terrible, the westin paris, wasnt great but not terrible. the upgrades never really bothered me that much, as i stayed because i was already locked into starwood. what upsets me the most with the program is the fact that i literally had to threaten to leave the park lane and never stay at starwood again before cust service would call them. i would imagine this threat is why i received such amazing service at the meridian, which kinda taints the experience there, i didnt want preferential treatment because i got pissed off, i wanted that treatment because they were thankful for all the business i gave them, but im not going to let that assumption affect the experience there.
i just feel like i put $100k's of money into starwood that i could have easily done with another brand, then when i have such an important moment, they treat me like crap, which hurts, i mean frequent travelers like us tend to get picky about travel, and you develop a relationship/bond/loyalty whatever with the different chains, and you expect them to treat you well in exchange for your business. unfortunately for starwood this is just the freshest experience in my mind, and most likely the last.