Originally Posted by
bhrubin
I’m hardly the only SPG Ambassador guest reporting positive stays and experiences. Even on this specific thread, there are positive reports by UA-NYC, EuropeanPete, callmedtop, SHLTP, itsaboutthejourney, etc. On SPG threads, there are many more, as well. They just get belittled and bogged down by so many people questioning why they don’t get similar treatment when they stay at Sheraton and Elements with only 5-10 suites during the middle of the Christmas-New Year’s Eve season.
If people want to assume that the Ambassador experience is best quantified in the positive by the number of posts on FlyerTalk, then those people are making a big mistake. Boards like these are exemplified most often by those posting negative and questioning examples rather than the positive. Most people who are happy don’t post.
I believe most who are posting about the negatives of Ambassador service are bitter that they cannot qualify for it or stay in the better hotels that make it most worthwhile.
You aren’t a proper Ambassador elite yet for any current SPG hotels—including W. You are enjoying Marriott’s attempt to mimic the SPG Ambassador program—and that applies now only to Marriott hotels (and not even Ritz Carlton hotels). Your Marriott “Ambassador” trial status does not translate yet at all to Starwood hotels. You are the equivalent now of only a Starwood Platinum at any SPG hotels. Your experiences therefore are those of a mere SPG Platinum.
I agree my status as a "charter" -- I've never heard of a trial -- ambassador on the Marriott side doesn't carry over to SPG. So, my experience on the SPG side is as a "mere" Platinum. Of course, you've acknowledged you don't know whether the SPG desk can tell whether a guest is an SPG Plat, a Plat75, or Plat100 with Ambassador. So, as a "mere" Platinum, I only expect the published benefits. But ... after 14 SPG stays in 2018 ... in SPG properties ranging from the LC Park in Buenos Aires to the Westin in Nashville, (one of my SPG stays are at Elements or non-full service SPG properties) I've had two suite upgrades. That hardly meets the published benefits of the SPG Platinum program but I readily acknowledge its not representative of the SPG Ambassador experience. All of the SPG properties i have stayed at have suites and room service.
As for the others, I don't believe there is anyone else who reports the quality of experience you report and in my experience, the group on here and on the SPG board are a group of quality travelers who don't just come here to complain. This isn't TripAdvisor. Most report they use their Ambassador on a couple of occasions a year and get help. On the temperature piece and this trip, did you contact your ambassador in connection with this trip and ask him/her to make sure that all your hotel rooms had the temperature pre-set before your arrival? Is your Ambassador calling for 100 nights a year to different properties?
And as for the Platinum Premier Ambassador experience on the Marriott, my experience is that if I make requests to my ambassador she handles it but I don't know what to request other than some occasional assistance with getting names added properties to the reservation or paying in advance. I'm fairly confident she's not contacting properties in advance. On the other hand, my upgrade rate with 42 nights in legacy Marriott is far better than in legacy Starwood properties. For example, I'm in a Courtyard in rural America tonight since my travels could be Boise, Brussels, or Buenos Aires. I received one of their two suites along with a nice handwritten card from the hotel GM, a bag of snacks from the market, and a couple of drink coupons. This highlights that for a regular traveler who doesn't have time to call an Ambassador to plan out my stays next week at a Marriott, Renaissance, and Westin, an engaged GM has far more value than the Ambassador.
Not that I wouldn't appreciate a bottle of wine and a suite at all those places so I'm hopeful that after August 1, bottles of wine will start appearing in my room on every stay!