ktjan

I would love to ask my fellow FTers what you would think the term “Elite” rooms mean. If you think that “Elite” rooms are SPG Club Level rooms, you may be sorely misled at this hotel. Apparently, the “Elite” rooms are like those at Sheraton Hong Kong Tower rooms where platinum members will NOT be upgraded to if they only book a room at the “regular” section.

I booked a so-called “Deluxe” room at this hotel on the spg.com and thought that I would get an upgrade to a very contemporary “Elite” room. And while I got an upgrade to a junior suite upon check-in about 5 hours ago, it was relatively small and obviously outdated (given this is a 20+-yr old hotel). When I asked whether I could get an “Elite” room instead of the junior suite, the manager told me no because the “Elite” rooms are at a different pricing category. I called SPG Platinum Concierge (at an expensive international roaming rate) to try to straight it out and the rep told me that the price of a junior suite is very similar to that of an “Elite” room (~ 3000 RMB). I asked him whether the “Elite” rooms are classified as specialty rooms where I would not be entitled for the upgrade. He did a research (7 min on hold) to confirm with me that the “Elite” rooms are not specialty rooms. He said that the hotel should honor my request to get me an “Elite” room because it’s available at that time. I went back to talk to the manager and explained what the Plat Concierge Rep told me and again the manager kindly refused and reemphasized that they are two different categories. To give them some credits, the manager did tried really hard not to upset me by offering me a bottle of red wine (I’m allergic to) and a fruit plate, which I gracefully declined.

I’m really sick and tired of this hotel-within-a-hotel/tower rooms setup. I suggest that SPG should list out the plat upgrade restrictions on its website for those hotels with such setup so that plat members will know ahead what kind of upgrade they should expect (if the desired rooms/suites are available). Or at least in this case, let the SPG Platinum Concierge personnel know the “Elite” rooms are at a different category than the other “regular” rooms. Had I known for sure that I won’t get that “elite” room upgrade with my so-called “Deluxe” room reservation, I would definitely choose another SPG property in the area. Also, please change the misnomer “Elite rooms” at this hotel to something more descriptive like “Deluxe-and-expensive-but-not-for-regular-plat-upgrade-rooms”.

*wood Lurker, am I being too harsh and asking too much? Should I make a call to the Corporate Services to file this trivial “complaint”? I wonder if other FTers have similar experience at this property.

Oh btw, Plat members are only allowed in the Platinum lounge, and only the Elite room guests are allowed in the Elite Lounge, which looks much nicer (since I was never allowed to get in, I didn't know what they served over there).