Originally Posted by
Nagasaki Joe
Good point but perhaps I should clarify. When I checked in, the front desk agent thought I was Gold and proceeded to check me as such. It wasn't until after I told her that I would turn Platinum after the first night and asked if I could get Platinum benefits on my second night that she said she would check my status and get back to me. When she returned, she confirmed what I said and offered me Platinum benefits for both nights. Sure, it would have been nice if they had checked my status beforehand, but I was still very happy with the result. I think most Marriott hotels would have only allowed me Platnum benefits from my second night, which I'm OK with since those are the rules. Since Japanese hotels tend to strictly follow the rules, this was a welcome surprise and thoughtful gesture.
I have had remarks around "requalifying on this stay", or "you are almost at the next level" etc. as they can see status and number of nights stayed in the year, if they want to. I'd never expect a Courtyard in the US to have staff enough to give them time for that, but sometimes one is surprised. First time it happened was at the Marriott in Riverside, they were rather empty on that stay, and the front desk manager's remark was "Just one more night after this and you have requalified for (old Marriott) gold, have you already booked your next stay?"