nrunning24

The fact that your asking the question likely means your a good client. Again this is inherently the push and pull hotel only bookings cause. The client wants the same flexibility as booking direct, advisors don't want to work for free if plans change...... I think a V advisor charging a fee to get "better" perks (what this thread started on) is crappy, all clients should get the exact same service. But a V advisor choosing to charge a fee for bookings or cancelations/changes is by no means a fraud or someone taking advantage of clients.

bwptravel

I know that most agents will not say this, but at a small intimate hotel like Amanjena or Amangani, most reservations have probably been made with a potential upgrade offer. Upgrades become harder to be secured at these hotels versus larger hotels. The reality is that most guests will have worked with a Virtuoso agent, FHR Platinum, or some other consortia. Also, the pool of people who can afford to spend a minimum of $1,600 per night is relatively small in comparison to the world, so there will be many VIPS, or however you address them. The reality is that if you are a notable person and have booked through Expedia, you will get upgraded first. Plus repeat guests etc.

As someone else mentioned, checking hotel room availability is not always reliable as hotels may show rooms as available even when there are only high-tier suites available. They will typically then upgrade other rooms to open availability. There have been many times for clients or my bookings where I felt upgrades were available but not offered. The best thing to do is review the Virtuoso hotel (not the agent) if you think an upgrade was available but denied. I know that Amex FHR has a similar process, and hotels can be removed if they notice patterns. Now, truthfully, I am not sure that AMAN, not being affiliated with FHR or VIrtuoso, would mean anything for the brand because they are pretty exclusive, but in some other hotels, it has more weight.

In my experience, I have received far more upgrades than I have not at hotels all around the world. I have received multi-tier upgrades, upgrades to club level, etc., without even alerting the hotel that I am an agent. But I understand your frustration, professionally and personally. It might be a good idea for your agent at your next stay to mention this and see if they can offer you a one-time upgrade at the time of booking exception. It never hurts.

DetailsIM

Not sure if this is the right thread to be posting this but does anyone else have hiccups at the time of checkout with the hotel not giving the proper credits etc? It seems to happen quite often to me.

offerendum

Ver rarely and if it happens it's always handled in a minute. Often my problem as mainly traveling in Europe over the last years is the exchange rate. Sometimes 100$ credit were 60 € (when exchange rate was 0.9 or even more).