Originally Posted by
xooz
So the T&C says:
"....Platinum Elite Members and above may check out as late as 4 p.m. local time of the Participating Property. Members can request late checkout when making a reservation through central reservations, at check-in, via the mobile app (where available) or at any time during their stay. This benefit is guaranteed at all Participating Properties, except at resort and convention hotels and Design HotelsTM, where it is based upon availability"
I just got Plat yesterday so am not 100% up on benefits, but this seems clear that we can request and it is guaranteed with the specified exceptions. Is there a large number of cases where 4pm is requested and denied, AND the property refuses on site to pay up per the Elite Benefit Guarantee? When it says I "may" checkout as late as 4p, I read it that it is up to me, and I have a guarantee of 4pm at my discretion.
Secondly, is it clear how a "resort" or "convention center" is identified? Literally half of the hotels in major cities glom on a "destination" or other fee. Is the resort definition clearly stated somewhere? This was my original, in topic question.
I am sure some may shake their head at my naivete, but hard not to read the terms in this manner.
Your interpretive license on this particular T&C is no different than that used by hotels to deny the benefit. As has been suggested previously in the thread devoted to 4pm Check-out, it seems to have been written to confuse and permit different interpretations. As a longtime Plat - now Titanium, I can honestly say the number of times my request for 4pm check-out has been fully met is greatly outpaced by the number of times it was denied or partially met. While here are those who will claim 100% success, I find the earlier post by Tanic "Sort of like when Elite Late Checkout was rolled out with the weasley wording "as late as 4pm" that managers would use to deny guests late checkout after 12:30." to be a pretty accurate statement. As with everything in this program, YMMV.