Basically, I think you could easily be 100% right but, I believe, you forget to add in that the hotels has not been following the programme 100% and they have not, as you assume, threated me with white gloves because :
1) In my first experience I was not upgraded as a platinum, rooms were available.
Your initial post stated
I have been recently in a Hotel that on my last stay denied plat upgrade because no room was available...later in the evening, while I was at concierge for restaurant reservation two different guests (talking to two different front desk officers) were upgrade to a Diplomatic Suite and a De Luxe Suite rispectively, both of them Platinum.
As I and the hotel have tried to explain these two suite categories are not what you are entitled to as an upgrade solely because of your Platinum SPG status. Yes rooms were available but on the information that you have given they were not rooms that you had any entitlement to
2) In my second experience I was not upgraded. I reminded them of my status and my previous experience, asked for explanation...had to wait to get, as you said, and only after request, the minimum. I don't know to you, but to me this is already very annoiyng and It's not my fault if really something does not work in their system.
Irritating no doubt that your Platinum status was not seen in their system but this has nothing to do with the Platinum Upgrade policy.
3) When I phoned from the room to just ask what the upgrade policy was I was told that no better rooms were available. I had to give factual evidence that indeed there were available several rooms of different kind.
Once again there were no rooms that you had an entitlement to - you were ringing from a Junior Suite which was an upgrade to the level specified by the SPG program
4) I was then told that those rooms were hold in case of reservation. I had to remind them that first of all it was 08. pm and I was living at 08. am next morning and that the best room in the pool was supposed to be given to me.
you may have been told that but you had no entitlement to those suites in the first place. You had already received your upgrade
a) I saw them giving much better room to platinum when available;
Not to a Platinum but to a Platinum who had paid for a higher room category and this hotel has told you they have a policy to upgrade such guests to suites above the level that SPG defines for platinum guests
b) they indirectly confirmed those room were part of the pool because insisted in telling me that there were just no better room available and after they wanted to hold for incoming reservation.
It was a logical consequence for me to believe that those room were part ot the upgrade pool. Please remind that when I call them my question was "would you be so kind to tell me for my future reference what is the best room you upgrade platinum when available?" as easy as that.
5) When they were forced to admit that better room were available (I did not demanded it, I only asked for the above reported information), and that they had to give it to me if part of the pool, they stated those rooms are in no way to be considered for platinum. It was here that I gave again factual evidence of what I had saw with my eyes some weeks earlier. Yes, those rooms were given to Platinum, easily.
Only after one hour of jumping around (and several intentional or less intentional lies) I was told that the category booked influenced the room level you could be upgraded to.
You seem to want to ignore everything I say and everything that the hotel says. Nowhere have they confirmed that the Deluxe Suites or Diplomatic Suite are part of the pool of suites available as an upgrade to
a select standard suite for a platinum. The hotel has made clear that the Junior Suite is the category that they use for Platinum upgrades. I have tried to explain that there are other reasons apart from being Platinum that might secure a better upgrade but you seem to want to ignore that reasoning
I don't know why you are putting it in a way that I was demanding and/or expecting something I was not entitled to.This is uncorrect.
Because that is the way it seems to me - there were references to phone calls to the front desk, arguing with the FDA, asking to speak to the manager all after you had been given a reasonable explanation of the policy and your appropriate upgrade.
Your statement
When they were forced to admit that better room were available (I did not demanded it, I only asked for the above reported information), and that they had to give it to me if part of the pool, sounds like a demand to me.
I was very happy with the room and just wanted to now better they policy because i was confused and I wanted a clear information to set my expectation accordingly.
I am not getting the impression of someone happy with the upgrade given.
This was not provided. They jumped on evident lies that I had to confront with factual evidence. And you know that can be often challenging for a guest as far as only the hotel knows what lies behind the desk.
They were not lying to you - they were giving you factual information that you refused to accept and you still refuse to accept. When they told you that there were no other rooms available to upgrade you to I would have understood that to mean that there were no rooms available in the category that I was entitled to, not that the Presidential suite was occupied and that the hotel was 100% full.
When they told you that they don't upgrade Platinums to the Diplomatic Suite they were not lying to you. Just being a Platinum at this hotel is not enough to necessarily get you an upgrade to the Diplomatic Suite
Finally, I have nothing against this property and maybe hotels can have an internal policy (can they? how confusing can this become?); but you should agree with me that those policy should be made clear and understable for guests and not hided with lies of circumstance.
I'm afraid I can't even agree with you here - all hotels have internal policies. This hotel's internal policies that they have stated to you and you have made clear here are not confusing at all - they provide the SPG mandated level of upgrade for Platinum guests ie what you are entitled to according to the program. They also provide higher level upgrades to platinum guests who book higher category rooms. That is very sensible policy to me and I don't need the hotel to explain/justify why they do it
How all of this is becoming me to force the hotel to provide the bare minum I have not understood as well as I have not understood why you think the hotel has acted so brillantly in providing my platinum entitlment if it tooks me to fight and to go trough several unintentional mistakes (let's give them the benefit) to get the....bare minimum (and only at my second stay).