Originally Posted by
bhrubin
Hopefully, this is seen as constructive!
You will find that SPG.com does not necessarily reflect the availability of suite upgrades based on the standard suite pool from which upgrades come. You therefore can’t fully rely on SPG.com to be sure that there are “standard suites” available as you might think otherwise. Though if there are upgradeable rooms and not suites, those should always be available (as long as they are available for the full length of your stay).
Thank you ... and definitely constructive.
I agree the distinction between standard suites and suites is important. Sometimes the properties seem to call larger corner rooms suites as well. Of course, there are a couple of SPG properties I stay at regularly (W West LA, W Miami Brickell, SLS LA) who go beyond the standard suite in terms of upgrades.
That being said, in the cases I referenced there were clearly better rooms and what appeared to be both better rooms and the lowest level suites available for booking when I checked in, and, in the case of the W Scottsdale when I followed back up at the desk.
YTD -- I have 100 nights at Marriott properties and 30 at SPG properties. On the SPG side, I'm around 35-40 percent on the upgrade rate. I'm also around 35-40 percent on getting what I booked when it appeared there were better rooms or what seemed to be standard suites available for booking. The other 20-30 percent, it appeared suites were "fully committed." On the Marriott side, my upgrade rate is similar. There is, however, less visibility on the Marriott app of suites as they are usually not listed on the app as available (Marriott seems to not want to sell suites through normal booking channels for whatever reason)