Hotel Name: Sheraton Vitoria Hotel
8 nights
Rate On spg.com : USD 88.38
Room Type : Deluxe Room Flexible with Breakfast
Competing rate : USD 67.89
Competing Room Type : DELUXE ROOM FLEXIBLE WITH BREAKFAST
Competing website
www.despegar.com
Confirmed rate $US57.02 plus tax
Hotels in Vitoria are obviously not in high demand for Carnival this year
City Name : Cabo de Santo Agostinho
Hotel Name: Sheraton Reserva do Paiva Hotel & Convention Center, Recife
10nights
Room Type On Reservation: Classic eco reserve view, non-smoking
Rate On Reservation : USD 121.43
New Starwood Room Type : Classic King
New Starwood Rate : USD 114.80
Competing rate : USD 100.40
Competing Room Type : Classic King
Competing website :
www.booking.com
Confirmed Rate:$US80.32 plus tax
And the failure:
Thank you for your Best Rate Guarantee claim form and I am happy to assist you. I welcome this opportunity to assist a loyal Platinum member.
I have reviewed the rates for Sheraton da Bahia Hotel, Salvador for the dates of your claim on our website and found a rate of $78.50 USD per room per night plus taxes which is lower than the rate of $79.77 USD per room per night plus taxes found on hoteltravel.com. Since the default currency of the competing website is not the same as the currency used at this hotel, I used XE.com to convert the rate I found. Since the rate is lower on our website, I am not able to approve your claim.
In the event the competing rate is in a different currency from the Starwood rate, we will convert the competing rate into the same currency as the rate offered on the Starwood-branded website. The currency exchange rate we apply is based on the exchange rate the hotel would have used, at the time of the original reservation. Your interest in our Best Rate Guarantee is appreciated and we welcome any claims you may submit in the future. The Best Rate Guarantee form is located here. To locate the lowest available rate on our website, please click here. For complete program details please refer to the terms and conditions of the Best Rate Guarantee program.
Even after the rejection email I could find the 10 night stay on the competing website for $810 total versus $844 on spg.com. I have a feeling that the BRG rejection may be valid as there may be a city tax of $2.20/night that is payable at the hotel and that is included in the spg.com total but not the competing website total and would have brought the difference to close on 1%.But the rejection would have been so much easier to understand if they just said that in their email.