Originally Posted by rthib
1) What does the phrase "Finest Available Accommodations" mean?
To all the folks who think this is a "dead horse" issue that we
know the answer to but just don't like it, I say B.S.!
{
Stepping on to soap box}
There is no ambiguity in the phrase
"finest available accomdations". Furthermore, to this day, the Marriott website uses the following wording for
Platinum upgrades:
Room Upgrade
When you check in, we'll upgrade you to our finest available accommodations — whenever we can — at no additional charge
Interestingly (something I had never checked before and therefore had not noticed), the wording for
Gold upgrades is different:
Room Upgrade
When you check in, we'll upgrade your room whenever we can at no additional charge.
With that language, I think it is pretty clear that if the Presidential, top floor, 6,000 sqaure foot, Penthouse Suite (not even sure if Marriott has anything like that, but work with me here) is available when a Plantinum checks in, that Platinum is
entitled to and should be given that suite - no questions asked and no request needed. A Platinum has been promised an upgrade to the
finest available accomodations. As I said before, THERE IS NO AMBIGUITY IN THAT STATEMENT!
On the other hand, a Gold would not be entitled to that suite since the only promise made to a gold is that Marriott will "upgrade your room". Since the term "upgrade" is not defined, it can probably be fairly loosely defined for each hotel. For example, going from a courtyard view to an ocean view could be considered an "upgrade" even if there is no difference in the rooms. Moving to a larger corner room could be considered an "upgrade". And, of course, moving to the conceig (how the F do you spell that?) floor could be considered an "upgrade". I think a fair definition of an "upgrade" would be a move to a room that, on average, is more expensive than the room you reserved. Obviously, this would include ocean views and conceige (spelling?) level rooms.
Compare the language that Marriott uses to a rental car agency. Say there are 3 cars on the lot: A Dodge Neon, a Ford Taurus and a Toyota Land Cruiser. If a gold has reserved an economy car and has been promised an "upgrade", providing him with the Land Cruiser would not be necessary because the Taurus would meet the requirement of an "upgrade" from the Neon. On the other hand, providing the Taurus to the Platinum woul not be sufficient to meet the promise of upgrading to the "finest available vehicle". If you had been given such a promise and got the keys to your Taurus only to find it parked next to an unrented Land Cruiser, you'd have a right to be pissed. The advantage that Marriott has is that the customer typically isn't going to see the empty suite that was denied him or her by the hotel management.
Chris is certainly free to answer if he wishes, and I'm sure he will get the official "company line" response for us. But, as far as I'm concerned, there is no ambiguity: Platinums get the best unoccupied, unreserved room in the house. Marriott's website clearly spells this out. It shouldn't even be a question and Platinums shouldn't have to battle to get it.
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Stepping down from soap box}