It looks like the other hotel chains give way more upgrades then Marriott. Just read the Hilton forum.

I don't really care about having a suite other then when I'm on vacation and really have to the time to enjoy the extra space.

I think Marriott should give a yearly coupon to gold and plat members that will allow you to secure a suite in advace. I think this would be fair to everyone.

I think there are more plats and gold memeber out there then you think, if a typical Marriott hotel has one or two suites, the chances of getting one would be very slim.

I will add that I just returned from staying a week at the Harbor Marriott in Sydney AU and they did upgrade me to suite on a reward stay without asking. This hotel had 48 suites in though. It was nice!