choptliva,

sorry to resurrect an old thread. I am at this hotel now, using the (not-free) wifi.

it's still 1979 in the lobby

once again my Plat non-status got me a generic room on check in despite booking two weeks ahead on the spg website. a short discussion got me a suite, but one on the first floor where it is also 1979 (or maybe 1977; I can't tell). the top/club floor looks nice in the hall, and the lounge is OK (except the booze is under lock and key and the "free breakfast" is cold cereal) but they did not have a room available on that floor. the buffet breakfast for $10 is lousy: powdered eggs, greasy pork by-products, cheap-junky pastries and waffly things. so I'm underwhelmed. Since there's nothing around here, I've been eating at the hotel restaurant. tonight's meal was pretty good, but the last two were mediocre. However, everyone here has been very pleasant, even when ordering dessert tonight threatened to devolve into a Monty Python-esque rendition of the "Cheese Shop" act.

these days the ONLY reason I stay at *wood properties while on business travel is the redemption value at fabulous resorts and glitzy international cities. the ten nights in Sydney for nothing were worth every crappy night at a (US) 4-points (non-US 4-points seem to be pretty nice places) or ratty old Sheraton (hi Winnipeg and Charleston!)

"automatically upgraded to the best-available room" is meaningless. It's the opinion of whoever is at the check-in desk of what's the "best-available room" which in every case is a standard plebian room. I always have to prod (nicely, I'll add) for some kind of upgrade. In my year as a Plat, I have had exactly two upgrades on probably 15 stays (yes, I'm unlikely to retain Plat, but I have no reason to care any longer), and they were at ratty old Sheratons. I spent eight nights at the W City Center Chicago, a hefty tab, last month, but the upgrade was simply to a slightly larger room. Apologies were, at least, offerend, along with a nice fruit plate and a bottle of Merlot, so it wasn't all bad.

I feel that my business with *wood is not valued.

I had more upgrades as a Gold

sorry to turn this into a Platinum rant. I'm a little annoyed that I spent most of the qualifying nights at the seedy Sheraton Winnipeg last year to make Plat, when I could have stayed at much nicer hotels for not much more, only to find that the status really doesn't amount to much besides a point bonus. beats a stick in the eye, I guess