I have zero status w/ Hilton and I typically stay at more upscale properties in NOLA like The Monteleone, Soniat House, etc. We always swing by the Sazerac Bar for a Ramos gin fizz (or three) when in town.

I've decided to stay at The Roosevelt for our upcoming trip to NOLA this year, primarily because I have a large accumulation of points and also because we're going to be travelling between Tokyo-NYC-Montreal-Palm Springs in the months immediately prior, and I wanted to not spend so much on hotels and use my balance to redeem for award nights instead. The downside to this is that it's my wife's 40th and I would have liked to have stayed somewhere a bit fancier. Again, we love The Roosevelt but from what I've seen of the rooms on sites like Oyster it looks pretty standard/generic above the lobby level.

Anyhow, all that to say, we've booked into a superior room and I'm wondering whether it's worth upgrading to a suite. The cost difference is pretty negligible (something like $25 extra per night w/ corporate rate) but the points redemption is huge -- the difference is 61K to 99K (if memory serves). 30K points is not quite the equivalent of $25/night.

I'm wondering if there's a way to upgrade with only cash and also whether it's even worth it. If the standard king suites are not any more interesting (views, decor, furnishing, bathrooms) than the superior rooms, I won't bother. While extra sq. footage is always welcomed, it's not really necessary. I'd just like to know if the suites are a significant upgrade. Also, what is the likelihood that we might get knocked up to a suite w/o status given the occasion? I celebrate my birthday one day after my wife and her is a pretty big milestone this year.