I think you are correct in your concerns. As you can see from my previous post, I had originally reserved a harbour view room and got no Platinum upgrade since they said harbour view suites did not exist. Unfortunately, the website says otherwise: <http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/rooms/room_class_detail.html?propertyID=482&roomClassId= 83140003>
In such cases, and if they have a good reason not to consider these as part of their pool of "standard suites", then the check-in staff should be empowered to at least upgrade plats to a towers room rather than give no upgrade as was in my case...
Originally Posted by
tillephone
Thanks for all your comments regarding Sheraton Hong Kong's upgrade policy. I didn't mean to imply I was treated badly. I was only surprised to see the hotel being very strict about not upgrading to Harbor View Suites although there are some available. However, they will have their reasons and maybe they have occasionally people moving into these rooms on short notice (I can not think of another reason for not offering these suites as upgrades).
Also for clarification: yes, they were absolutely proactive about upgrading me. But that's what I find in almost every Starwood Hotel (the only exception I can think of is the Le Méridien Stuttgart).
What I got originally was a partial Harbor View Exec Suite facing the Peninsula. As I said I liked the room but since
1) it's my first time in Hong Kong
2) I am staying here alone and
3) I am on Vacation and won't spend much time in the room anyway
I decided to move to the Harbor View room. And I don't regret it! The view is amazing. Also of advantage is that I now have to find less light switches when going to bed ;-)
The approach regarding the breakfast (continental for free, full american for HKG30) was also new to me but I find this actually quite a smart solution. Full ABF included would be nicer of course, though ;-)