Originally Posted by gollum

I am Platinum with both Marriott and Starwood. I have found that Starwood definately upgrades more consistently than Marriott.
In fact, after 6 years as a Marriott Platinum, I can think of only 1 instance where I was upgraded without having to press the issue. (Casa Magna - Cancun: using points). The remaining few times I was upgraded, it was not easy convincing the front desk staff to do so. I found myself calling the Platinum desk just prior to checking in to confirm suite availability, just so I could corner the front desk staff when they told me suites weren't available.

This is the primary reason Marriott has lost most of my business. I don't feel like going through a phone call to the Platinum desk and a 15-20 minute check-in process everytime I enter a hotel, to 'persuade' the staff to upgrade me. I think Marriott should definately strike the upgrade verbiage in their policy, because they certainly don't honor it without a fight.