Great questions letiole -
Its my pleasure to help. Everyone on FT has helped me so much, I would love to give something back.
One quick disclaimer: this is what happens at the hotels I worked at, and is true of MOST hotels, not ALL. There are exceptions to every rule.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by letiole:
Thanks for offering to do this.
I would like to know what goes on in deciding whom gets upgrades. I've heard that there's a meeting in the morning when it's decided for the most part who will receive upgrades that day. What weighs most heavily? Status? Letters indicating it's a special time i.e. honeymoon or anniversary? Something else? Is there a best time to check-in to get an upgrade?
I've also stayed at hotels where it seems clear my upgrades are based more on how often I stay at that particular hotel than with hotels in the chain. In other words, hotels I have no status at, but that I've stayed with several times seem to upgrade me more frequently than hotels where I have status with the chain but have never stayed at that particular hotel. Is this pretty much the case?
How much leeway does the front desk person have in giving upgrades?
Thanks!!</font>
You are correct that SOME people get upgraded in the morning. These are the people that are usually upgraded first (usually in this order of priority as well):
-Frequent guests of the particular property (not the chain).
-VIPs: Celebrities, sports stars, execs. of major corporations, GM's of other hotels, etc. Even if they have never stayed at the hotel before. This is for PR reasons. (I know it doesn't seem fair).
-Frequent guests of the chain.
-Bride and Groom having their wedding at the hotel.
-American Express Platinum or similar partner
-Honeymooners
-Anniversaries
-Birthdays (sometimes)
After this, if there are still suites available, upgrades are given to guests staying ONLY ONE NIGHT, based on room rate. So someone paying rack for one night would get upgraded before someone on a corporate rate for one night. However, if the corporate rate guest is staying only one night and the rack guest is staying two, then the one night corporate rate will be more likely to get the upgrade.
These upgrades are not given until the afternoon or evening and the front desk agent ultimately has the final say, not unlike a GA for an airline.
So always, always, always, always ask! It couldn't hurt. If it was your birthday or anniversary that week, mention it! Be friendly and complimentary.
Oh yeah and tipping helps too!
[This message has been edited by g_leyser (edited 08-04-2002).]