jmd4211, my experience as an SPG Plat has been very good. I always fill out the cust sat surveys when received. While sometimes disappointed if I don't get a suite upgrade, it really comes down to the quality of the non-suite I received as to whether I'm unhappy. At some properties the regular rooms are so small that I do come away unhappy.
Without knowing what kind of property you work at, it is hard to really help you much. I expect different things from a 4 Points vs. a Le Meridien, for instance. The same goes for a property in Australia versus Asia.
Here are some of the things I expect and that make me feel special as a Plat and keep me happy, besides the suite upgrade.
- Check-in
- The property should have my room assignment ready and in the Plat key card jacket before I arrive. It makes things go faster and shows that they have thought about my stay beforehand.
- I really dislike getting a key card with a "You've been upgraded" sticky on it unless I've been upgraded to a suite. If it is a club upgrade or executive floor upgrade but not a suite, then the sticky makes me feel like someone is trying to get one over on me.
- If I've not been upgraded to a suite simply say, "I'm sorry, but we had no suites available this time".
- If the room is not ready yet, invite me to a free soft drink/coffee in the bar/cafe.
- I should be presented with the Amenity card and asked which Amenity I'd like.
- I should receive an Instant Awards sheet with my name and current number of Starpoints on it.
- Being escorted to my room is nice.
- Room Arrival
- Having a signed welcome letter on the desk addressed to me is nice.
- At some properties they always have a complimentary bottle of wine waiting for me.
- Some properties give special recognition of a 10th, 20th, etc stay. Recently a Hyatt gave me a bottle of wine, some chocolates and one of those bead-filled, aromatherapy eye covers to recognize my 40th stay. I know the SGS in BKK does things to recognize threshold stays.
- Fresh fruit waiting in the room is a nice touch.
- Delivery of complimentary tea, coffee or juice upon arrival is a great touch. The specific selection can be done at check-in, upon entering the room if escorting the guest, or by the bellhop when the luggage is brought up.
- At one property the bellhops bring me that days newspaper about 50% of the time when bringing my bags.
- During the stay
- Being referred to by name is great, though sometimes it can feel a bit much.
- A call to make sure that everything is going ok and to inquire if there is anything else that can be done to enhance my stay is always nice.
- If I'm in the club/lounge, engage me. You'll be able to tell by my response/body language if I'm perhaps busy or not interested in being engaged, but try to talk to me about why I'm visiting the city, if I've seen this or that, etc. Recently during happy hour in the public bar of a property I was planning only to have a drink and the snacks. One of the staff engaged me about the property as it is new. Eventually we got to talking about food. She was telling me about how fabulous some of their dishes are and that I must try some of their special cocktails (which were complimentary anyway so it wasn't a sales pitch). I eventually ordered a few things and remember her fondly for her recommendations and her great personality. It enhanced the way I feel about the entire property.
- Post stay
- The single-most thing that will drive me nuts about a property is the points not posting in a timely manner. At 90% of the SPG properties i stay at the points are posted within 24 hours of the stay. At 10% it can take 2-3 weeks. This minor annoyance means I need to keep track and keep looking and is enough for me have second thoughts about staying at the property.
- Ensure that the 500 point amenity is posted with the rest of the points.
- I enjoy getting the post-stay surveys.
- I like getting the "Glad you stayed with us" type emails but it drives me nuts that when you reply to them they go not to the GM whose name is on the email but rather to a black hole of CS which autoresponds that they'll not be reviewing your email.
- Keep me updated with what is going on at your property. Recently a property I've stayed at a few times opened up some great recreational facilities. I only know about it because I happened to see that they have a Facebook page. Nothing about it on FT but more importantly nothing about it in my email inbox.
I hope this is helpful and that I don't sound like some kind of snob. These are the types of things which make me want to return to a property rather than just resigning myself to return due to price and location.
If as a Gold I was getting some of these things it would likely make me want to continue and work to get Plat. I know this happens with my colleagues when they see me and other colleagues who are Plats getting such great recognition.