Originally Posted by
VickiSoCal
There's absolutely no incentive for individual hotels to give a plat a suite upgrade if you arent' a repeat customer at their hotel. And they don't know that you don't pester every single hotel you stay at for one. We are like you, we don't pester, and it seems like when we could really use one, we don't get it.
That kind of attitude does not engender loyalty and is contrary to my experience. I occasionally receive a 1BR or suite upgrade on 1 night business stays, but never on multi-night stays on repeat visits. If I were to guess it would be that a hotel that is near capacity is more likely to upgrade me for one night rather than forego the revenue on multiple nights. Of course that is exactly the opposite of what the customer wants.
Originally Posted by
hhoope01
I'll try to get Hilton Diamond this year to go with my Marriott Plat and PC Plat. And then at the end of 2013, I'll see if Hilton really is worse than Marriott or not.
I think you will find Hilton to be comparable to Marriott. Few if any suite upgrades, decent breakfast in the lounge (where avail and not always weekends) and perhaps a little better service when you have an issue.
I believe if you get a suite upgrade is very dependent on how full the hotel is and how many Plats or golds are on property.
For SPG it appears this is true (per FT reports) but I do not find it true for Marriott which appears loathe to give out suites unless you checkin late and they have an oversold situation. YMMV.