My view has been that once Marriott made me Plat and told me how special I was (and before they told me I was really really special as Plat Prem ), that I want to see if they treat me that way. If I ask for upgrades I have no idea whether the property has a clue what to do with Plats and Plat Prem.

The upside to this is most times they mess up, such as I put in my reservations that I want to be away from the ice machine and elevator. When I'm going to the same property they may mess up the 1st or 2nd time but by the 3rd stay they usually figure out they need to straighten up.

Wound up in the Presidential Suite in Vienna when they gave me a really bad room while I was on vacation.

Contrary to the strategy of calling the GM ahead of time, I'll train their staff to realize that they need to know who is checking into their hotel that night (i.e. formerly how many Plat's and now how many Plat Prem). Since the front desk staff many times gets sweet talked into giving out upgrades to golds that check in early in the evening (sorry I'm sitting on 141 nights so far this year so I spend more nights in Marriott beds than at home in my own bed).