Originally Posted by
gottaluvNW
A question for Lurker on the W Boston:
Attempting a points stay at the hotel, I was told that the corner room is the equivalent of a suite upgrade at 2x the points? Can this be true and if so, isn't this the equivalent of an indirect points devaluation?
It is true as it stands now and everything at Flyertalk is a points devaluation, be it direct or indirect.
In the past I have stayed at the Westin Copley Place in a junior suite and paid a couple of thousand extra points (or thereabouts) in addition to the standard room charge. Once again, here I am told that I will need twice the points to redeem a Junior Suite (24,000/night).
But, this isn't The Westin Copley Place and every hotel is different with regard to what it offers as a standard suite room type. Some are junior suites, some are full suites, and some are just oceanfront/oceanview rooms as you will often find in Hawai'i.
Highway robbery? A change in SPG policy re: upgrades? Two incompetent SPG telephone agents? (I doubt the latter - they were professional, courteous, and seemed to know what they were talking about.)
No, the associates knew what they were talking about. My take is that the hotel has the wrong room (suite) type attached to the SPG5SU rate plan for this particular property, so I've asked the SPG hotel coordinators to make an inquiry. So, can we wait for a definitive answer on that before we go about accusing the hotel of highway robbery? Regardless of what the answer may be when it comes back, however, SPG has not changed its policy with regard to Platinum upgrades. You are entitled to whatever room type is attached to the SPG suite award rate plan since that identifies the select standard suite (whether it be an actual suite or not).
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
[email protected]