1. 2 papers on the floor means nothing. marriott stopped giving everyone a paper months ago to be cheap, err... green. yeah, to be green...

2. the ONLY way I could condone the "reserve a suite to game an upgrade" would be if you made the reservation _after_ you checked in and didn't like the room you got. If I (Plat Prem) was denied a suite upgrade after asking, got a crappy room, went online and found I could make a res. for a suite for my length of stay, I'd be tempted... This scenario doesn't quite fit the poster's story though.

I have pretty good luck calling the hotel beforehand and asking if they could do something nice because "my wife is coming with me this week and she rarely travels with me and i never get an upgrade when she comes with me so i decided to call and ask first. oh, and it's our anniversary/birthday too..." I stay at one property about 60-70 nights a year and the staff there takes very good care of me....