I had a property outright lie to me last week. This is a legacy Marriott property in Europe and the standard rooms are on the small side. I had used SNAs hoping to upgrade but they didn't clear. At check-in I politely asked the FD agent if I might be upgraded to their Royal Suite which was still showing as available since my SNAs hadn't cleared and I was traveling with a friend who had never been to that city before and I wanted to make a good impression. I know that this isn't a standard suite, but keep in mind that this suite is a mere 56 sq m, which is smaller than the 2 junior suites I've been upgraded to in the past 2 weeks at other properties. Plus I was only there for 2 nights. The agent told me that the suite was already booked and the website was incorrect. OK fine. A few hours later I sent a message via Chat to ask if it might be possible to upgrade to the Royal Suite. I was told that it was available and I could have it for an extra 270 Euros over my current room rate.
Looking at the pictures on the hotel website, it's a sad looking suite, and I wouldn't have paid more than an extra 20 euros for it.
For those who are going to tell me I wasn't entitled to the Royal Suite, save your breath. I know that and I didn't demand it. I was polite the entire time and just asked if it was available on a whim. I didn't call out the property for lying to me even when the same FDA served me the following day. It would have been far better if they had just told me that they are not allowed to upgrade Ambassador Elites to that room/suite.