Originally Posted by
starpoint_galaxy
I've been disappointed with the Ambassador program. From my understanding, it was supposed to be about more personalization; but I'm not seeing much difference than SPG Platinum. In fact, often things done via my Ambassador are less effective and beneficial than contacting the property myself before arrival.
LOL, I'm still having trouble getting basic Platinum benefits like small fruit baskets in my room, ROTFL.
Some thoughts:
1) A fruit basket isn't a published benefit. Some hotels give you a hotel amenity in addition to your SPG Plat benefit but this is on a YMMV (property-specific?) basis.
2) I found that Ambassadors are not all on the same level. My first one was awesome, I was about to propose to her. The second one was "meh". She did NOTHING for me but quote the SPG T&C and copy and paste feedback to corporate to open a ticket which she never followed up on. I requested a different person and the one I have now is almost as awesome as my first. Fast response time, pro-active seeking of feedback, reminding me of promotions, etc.
3) Personalization, if your ambassador is worth his salt (see point 2), they will make an effort to really know you. My ambassador knows my +1's date of birth and which Starwood brands she prefers. My ambassador knows I need tons of coffee or I will die a horrible death and I don't like my room freezing cold.
She knows that if a property would like to give me a welcome amenity, chocolate and cheese are banned but fruit and water are welcome. She knows that I have a ton of gadgets with me so a spare power adapter in hotels without universal power points would be nice. She also knows I don't want to see any hard-copy newspaper. She knows I like a set of foam pillows as an option because in some hotels the feather pillows stink.
Now how does that translate into real-life experiences ? Depends on the hotel!!! My ambassador certainly makes sure the hotel has a full dossier on me. Some hotels totally ignore it, some try to work with it, some follow it to the letter.
Take W Montreal last week for example: I never stayed there before but because of my Ambassador when I walked in there was a second power adapter, an espresso maker, a bowl of berries and the thermostat on the aircon was set to 25C. Foam pillows were ignored.
W Hong Kong:
I stay there often and they basically have the same suite for me every time, espresso maker on the ready, foam pillows, aircon set to 25C, fruit platter delivered as soon as I check in.
Sheraton Toronto Center: All preferences were ignored.
The ambassador works to automate stuff for me behind the scenes. What the properties do with it when I check in is another story, but still the ambassador is worth having. She makes bookings so easy. Just hammer out an e-mail on the go or call her and bark incoherent half-sentences into the phone and it's done!
I don't need to say much more. She knows. <3
If I were at 95 nights I would purposefully do a 5 night mattress run to keep her.