I view the paying/reserving of the previous night as a guarantee of a room immediately upon arrival. If I am willing to take the risk that the hotel is sold out or has no clean rooms, I sometimes arrive early in the morning hoping for the best. When I have an overnight flight, it would be difficult to request reimbursement for the previous night's hotel charges too. IME 4 am is early morning while 1 am is the previous night. If the hotel had an available room, IMO it should have been given to an elite, and certainly to a regular guest at the property, graciously without charge as the room would not be sold at that point.

Perhaps the OP should make the acquaintance of the property's SPG coordinator (unsure of exact title) or other management and either make such requests directly or through Plat Concierge/Ambassador.

BTW, welcome back to FT. I haven't noticed you around here in quite a while, although you seem still to be flying DL TPAC as often as ever.