It's been a while since the battle was fought here, but isn't "suites excluded" part of the upgrade language.

We stayed there not long after it opened, also on a lowest tier award, and did get a 1BR Ocean-facing suite. It's a great island, I hope it hasn't been too commercialized in the last 5 years. Be sure to go all the way south to Turtle Beach - hopefully the monkeys and pig are still there to feed. And say hi to Elvis if you run into him...