Kimo

It's offseason, with temps down and empty rooms, so your mileage may vary during warmer times, but here is my take on the Le Méridiien in Monaco.

First of all, the previous poster is correct. It all depends on who is at the desk when you check in. When I checked in they told me, frankly, that they were new to the Starwood program and not sure of what the benefits were for Plats

I was upgraded to one of the nicest rooms in the hotel, with beautiful windows overlooking the ocean, up on a high floor. No problem there, but at this point the benefits stopped.

For some reason the front desk put me into a room but didn't enter it into the computer correctly and my room showed up as empty for several hours. My luggage took a long time to come up, but I heard the bellman unloading my racing bicycle box into the room next door (large knocking noises). I convinced him that I was not in that room but had been given the key to this room. In the following hour, both another bellman with someone else's luggage, opened the door without knocking and also a chambermaid walked in while I was in the shower. She was surprised, and I said something about "shrinkage" that didn't make the translation from English to French and I don't think she had ever seen the Seinfeld episode, so my attempt to make an akward moment into something that was humorous ended up as only an akward event at both the physical and linguistcal levels. I contacted the front desk, to let them know that two hotel staff had entered my room without knocking and they sent up an apology bottle of wine. OK, I'll gladly take a bottle of wine, since ordering through room service in expensive Monaco would be more than 26 Euros.

The hotel staff are friendly and generally benign. I've had a special rapport with the bellmen and car parkers, since I was there to cycle up the big climbs in the Alpes Maritimes. They all had recommendations for great cols to climb and routes for great rides up through the mountains rising from the coast. But beyond the car parkers and bellmen, the staff was pretty clueless, particularly about the benefits of Platinum Preferred Guests.

There is no lounge for Starwood guests. When I asked, in lieu of a lounge, if there was a place where SPG Plats could go for drinks in the evening, I was met with blank stares.

There is no special place for breakfast for SPG Platinum. When I asked if breakfast in the downstairs breakfast area was complimentary, I also got nothing.

Yesterday, after being here for four days, I asked one of the fellows at the front desk if he actually knew what the SPG Platinum benefits were, he had no idea. However, he promised to find out and get them printed out and delivered to my room by the end of the day. Nothing ever showed up.

Today, I told the front desk that I would be leaving the hotel tomorrow at 1500 and was informed that they had to check with the Manager. I said that I thought that this was a benefit of being SPG Platinum, but they said that they would call back after they got the OK from the Manager. An hour later and no call. Two hours later, a note appeared under my door that my request had been "approved." Sounded less like a benefit and more like a favor granted.

Quite frankly, the management here could do a better job of informing the staff as to the benefits for SPG Plats. Rather than risk being charged 30 Euros for the breakfast buffet, I have ridden up the hill to the local shopping area, where you can get a croissant for less than a Euro.

It is Monaco. Parking in the hotel is 34 Euro per day. Internet is something like 20 Euros for 24 hours. Mini-bar beer is 13 Euro (gasp!!) and the room service cheeseburger is 23 Euro. However, costs for goods is inversely proportional to your distance from downtown, so actually renting a car has been a huge cost saver for me, despite the parking charge. Just being able to drive to Menton (nearby town) to shop or to head for somewhere like Les Contes to dine at Chez Maximes with REAL FOOD at reasonable prices, compensates.

After being Royal Ambassador level in the IC program for many years, I left for SPG because of the inconstantcy of upgrades and benefits at the IC locations. Several years ago, you could almost always count on the SPG locations to keep to a set of standards for PPGs. Has the Starwood expansion overun their ability to keep to a set of consistent benefits, so those of us who have committed to chain loyalty with SPG, can count on something without having to bargain or cajole for it on check in?

I'm an easy PPG. All I want is the upgrade to the best room available, my 500 points in lieu of a gift, a place I can go to have a drink in the evening if I am in the hotel and a free breakfast, in the lounge or downstairs in the general breakfast area. Here in Monaco, I got the nice room with a spectacular view of the Med and my 500 points.. but not much more.