Thanks for the upgrade. . .but is it really?
Many's the time as a gold member that I'm told at check-in, "Welcome sir, and as a loyal HHonors guest we've upgraded your room."
I always say thanks, and trot on upstairs. This has happened twice in the last couple weeks, at the London Paddington and the Paris Hilton (Arc de Triomphe).
When I get to the room it's, well, a room. Always OK, but on the two occasions I just mentioned my wife and I started laughing and wondering out loud what the non-upgraded rooms were like. Now, we know full well that rooms in European hotels--and especially London hotels--tend to run to the small side, and it may well be that these rooms are indeed upgrades, but how do we know?
I suppose you could go to the desk and ask to see a non-upgraded room just to compare, but I would never bother unless the room was truly substandard, which has never happened.
But it does make you wonder how many times desk clerks tell people that their room is an upgrade and just give them a standard room.
Our stays at these properties were actually very pleasant, with full breakfasts given at check-in (without having to ask), and with good hotel services including excellent concierges, late checkout granted with no problems, etc.
But did we really get upgrades? I have no idea.