Had a suite booked at the Le Meridien Arlington for one night last Friday. Happened to look on SPG and noticed the St. Regis selling rooms for $139.75 (day after Thanksgiving, pretty empty in downtown DC). Le Meridien rate was flexible, so I called SPG, confirmed that there was an upgrade-able suite available at the St. Regis (there was - the Caroline Astor is standard suite available for 40k points), and booked a Superior King, expecting the standard suite upgrade. I then canceled the Le Meridien reservation, and minutes later, we headed over to the St. Regis, a 5-minute cab ride away from where we were.
On arrival, we were told no upgrade available (at all). I asked about the Caroline Astor suite, FDC said not available. I showed her the SPG website, but she didn't care. I then
booked the Caroline Astor Suite (it was $269.75 instead of $139.75) and canceled the original Superior King reservation. She was surprised that I would do this. When the reservation made it across the desk to her, she called her manager over, and eventually we were upgraded to an even nicer St. Regis Suite. It is unclear whether there was actually a Caroline Astor suite available for occupancy, but no one disputed that one was available for sale.
All of this was at check-in time. I sent off the note below. We were both happy with the suite we got, but I believe I have a valid claim for the denial of a Platinum upgrade. Thoughts?
Starwood Customer Care:
I am writing to complain about the denial of my Platinum Upgrade benefit at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, DC. My reservation (#8xxxxxxx) was for one night, checking in on November 23, 2012. I booked a superior King for $139.75 plus tax. I called SPG to confirm that the "Caroline Astor Suite" was the Standard Suite at the property, to which I would be upgraded if one was available at check in. When I arrived at the hotel, I checked in and [name] told me that there was not a Caroline Astor Suite available. I logged on to starwoodhotels.com and showed her that there was one available for sale. She still said that there were no upgrades available, and denied the upgrade. I responded by booking the Caroline Astor Suite right there, from my phone, at the check-in desk (for $269.75 plus tax, on new reservation #7xxxxxxx), and cancelling the initial reservation. We waited a minute, and then [name] saw that I had indeed been able to reserve the very same suite that I should have received as a Platinum upgrade.
[name] called her manager over, who looked at the situation and said something like "oh, it was supposed to be off the market." I don't know what that means, but in any case, she apologized for the confusion and upgraded us further to a very nice St. Regis Suite. The room itself was excellent. However, I am writing to request a refund to my Starwood American Express card (ending *****) in the amount of $130.00 plus taxes, equal to the difference between the rate of room I booked initially and the rate I ended up paying. Alternatively, I would accept 10,000 Starpoints (one-half of a free night at this property).
I understand that there may have been some sort of mistake as to the listing of the Caroline Astor Suite on the SPG website. However, the room was still "available" to the extent that any customer could have booked it and received that suite or something nicer. There is no other way for a customer to know whether a suite is available than to log on and see what the hotel is selling. SPG even confirmed to me over the phone that the Caroline Astor Suite was the proper upgrade, and that one was available for sale. If the property made a mistake by listing a Caroline Astor Suite as available when it really wasn't, the loss from that mistake should fall on the property, not on me. I would not have stayed here had it not been for SPG's assurance on the phone that a Caroline Astor Suite was available for upgrade on the night in question.
Please refund my Amex $130 plus taxes, or alternatively credit me 10,000 Starpoints.
Thank you,
platbrownguy