I just checked into a FSM for a two night stay. When I arrived in the lobby, I took a moment to check online to see if higher-level rooms were available. In the booking engine it showed concierge level guest rooms, executive king rooms and one bedroom king concierge access rooms available for both nights of my stay. Great! So I approached the desk, showed my ID and inquired about an upgrade. To my surprise, the desk clerk stated that there were none available and placed me on a non-concierge floor though he did mention the that I had lounge access (though it was closed on the weekend but that's another thread). I didn't feel like being confrontational so i took my key and went to my room.

The room was pretty average. Once I got settled in, I dropped a note to marriott.com asking them why upgrades would not be granted, despite those room types showing as bookable. About four hours later, I get a call from the hotel manager on duty. She stated that the information online was wrong and that she would need to speak to her inventory control person.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening? In 2011, one would think this process would be completely automated and updated in real-time. What if someone went online and booked those rooms only to find they actually weren't available? Frankly, I find the manager's explanation to be BS but I'm interested in my fellow FTers experiences.