Originally Posted by akm
I wonder if anyone has (recently) successfully booked an award with points at either of these hotels. I wanted to book nights using points for Jan 05 and tried several dates with no success. I then tried various random dates over the next 8 months or so at the Hyderbad Sheraton and still had no success. Anyone knows what is going on?
It'll be hard to get these hotels using points. They are always oversold. I often have to stay at the Taj in BLR (on paid stays) because the Windsor Sheraton is usually sold out. 2 out of my last 3 trips were like that. Stuck at the Taj (once at West End and once at Taj Residency)... definitely not as nice as the Sheraton. So, I believe that they are being honest when they say that point-stays are not available.
PS: One thing I should add that while the Taj hotels are not as nice as the Sheraton, their service tends to be at least 100% better than the Sheraton. The Sheraton staff have clearly become a bit cocky. Since their hotel is always oversold, they think that they can lower their service standards and get away with it. I'm not saying that they are rude, but they are simply not as attentive as the staff at the Taj hotels.