Originally Posted by
iahphx
Oddly, my experience with Hawaii chain hotels is that elite status doesn't make it significantly more likely to get you an upgrade (unless the upgrade is confirmable). I've actually gotten better rooms on award stays when I was a "nobody"! You just have to arrive at the right time (and being nice to the clerk probably doesn't hurt). This time, as a Hyatt Explorist, I'm pretty much expecting nothing.
I can't speak for this hotel but I suspect that your problem is that (1) hotels are often close to capacity, (2) especially at nicer hotels, many of the guests are fairly well off and will just pay for a suite or a nice room, and (3) explorist just isn't worth that much.
Having said that, over several trips to the HR Maui (as globalist) I always book cheapest available and I've never gotten less than a high floor corner room with an ocean view. Once I even got the palace suite.
So I'm not sure that you can apply your experiences to all chain hotels in Hawaii. But if you are not top tier, it's probably true that status is not worth much at any busy hotel.