Originally Posted by
sammyindc
Marriott Bethesda North - wanted $150 for a suite upgrade on a weekend when the hotel was full.
Was told "we don't do platinum upgrades because we still try to seel the suites" when I checked in at 9:30pm!
They instead "upgraded" me to a executive room on the concierge level because I was a Platinum ... even though that was the room rate I had.
In nearly 20 years of staying at Marriott brands, and since 1994 with elite status, I have only been asked for $$ for upgrades twice, and both times I talked them out of it rather easily, and basically found that those particular FD staff members I was checking in with weren't familiar with elite member benefits and rules.
There are a couple of exceptions to this, though not an EXACT comparison, such as needing to spend additional points in the higher end resorts, such as Hawaii, Aruba, USVI, where points reservations required additional points for GUARANTEED upgrades, which I suppose I can understand, since points reservations are basically non-revs to begin with. I have always refused to spend additional points for guaranteed upgrades, and felt I would take my chances that an upgrade would be available at time of check in. The ONLY place where I was disappointed and got into an argument about it was at Marriott Kauai, which was a disappointing hotel all around for me, and it was so bad that they ultimately refunded ALL of the points I used to make the reservation, AND the assistant manager, who was the MOD on the first two days of my stay, was disciplined for how the MESS was handled. I would NEVER go back to that hotel in Kauai!
Originally Posted by
TomBrady
Ive gotta say, i don't really know what I would even do with a suite upgrade.
I use my room to watch tv and work on reports. If I was going to be at a place for a month or two then I would see the benefit.
I don't usually care if my stay is for one or two nights, especially if I was staying on biz, but if the stay is for longer, I tend to get a bit claustrophobic in the typical 12-15 foot wide hotel rooms, and especially for stays of a week or more.
Originally Posted by
repcool
If I care about a room upgrade I will call ahead and often get exactly what I wanted.
Zigactly! I have employed this method many times over the years, with considerable success. I have found it especially important if I am going for a conference when the conference is taking over the entire hotel. In those instances, I have usually said something fairly simple to the person I was speaking with, along the lines of "I know that our conference is taking all 900 rooms in your hotel for that week, including the suites, so I would just like to request that as long as you are giving out all of the rooms at the same rate, since I am Plat, you might as well block me into one of the suites, rather than putting someone without or with less status by chance." Over the years this has gotten me some incredible suites, such as the Presidential Suite at the SF Marriott Marquis (1,362 rooms, including 137 suites), and the second largest suite they have at JW Marriott Desert Ridge (950 rooms, including 81 suites) outside of Phoenix, all at no extra anything from me. Again, they have to give them to someone!