Originally Posted by
escapefromphl
The whole Marriott upgrade proposition just has no value, there is no incentive for the properties to give you an upgrade. Personally I have no real need for upgrades so it doesn't matter to me. After several hundred stays with Marriott I have only had 2 or 3 suite upgrades.
If you value suite upgrades you probably need to go with Starwood or Hyatt or both.
I don't agree that properties have no incentive to give an upgrade. My travel has me going to the same areas on a very regular basis. When I'm in the Minneapolis area, for example, I have a wide selection of Marriott family hotels, and they're not all owned by the same entity. There's a Residence Inn that works hard for my loyalty and my upgrade percentage to a 2BR suite is probably close to 70% at that property.
Contrast that with the SHS down the street, which basically has no upgrades (never been given a whirlpool room), I usually choose the RI.