rogo

I actually think the Sheraton might be the best bet in downtown Seattle. The Westin is weird, the W is surely an acquired taste. I'm not sure the Sheraton will upgrade properly by the rules either, but it was nicely refreshed recently.

UA-NYC

I like the W. Renovated a few years back. Fun lobby. Nice rooms.

Zacnlinc

Maybe I made the wrong choice of selecting SNA's. Based on info I've been thus far, I may be stuck with them come Dec 2019.

First try with using them is in two weeks in NYC. The website for the hotel (Lexington) gives an error each time I've tried applying them for the past two weeks. Call CS and they tried as well. Said they sent a message to the hotel and I'd receive a reply from hotel. Yet, that was a week ago and I'm not expecting anything to become of it. It's NYC for goodness sakes!!

bergamini

I can't use mine at the Lexington either but I figured it was because of my ridiculously low rate. I have the email of a manager there if you'd like it, DM me.

margarita girl

Rates are irrelevant to the system. I've been using SNAs on BRG rates since they were launched and have never had any issues. I believe this is a merger/IT problem.

Zacnlinc

Thanks and that's my exact same situation!! Low rate, cozy room must = small. I I figure why make a big deal about this as I'm with colleagues and family and I better not rock the boat too much.

hockeyinsider

Let's look at three stays:

Courtyard Albuquerque. Booked a double. I was pre-assigned a double on the first floor when I sent a message to the hotel on the morning of my arrival. Apparently, they have 1 suite and it was occupied but they moved me to a top floor double. For what it's worth, my standing reservation preference is a high floor.

Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Booked a king atrium view. On the morning of arrival, the mobile application indicated I had a club lounge king. Suites, as well as every category of rooms, were still being sold online. I sent a message in the mobile application and they responded that they could upgrade me to a suite and block it out for me. At this property I probably would go with a king treadmill room as I like the connivence of not having to parade through the hotel in my gym clothes. Would I have received an upgrade without asking? Probably not, especially since I had a 10 p.m. arrival time.

Renaissance Cincinnati. Booked a king room. A full week before arrival the mobile application indicated I had been pre-assigned an executive king suite, which is their only suite category.

So what's the lesson here?

If you want a suite, it's probably best to check-in as soon as the mobile application will let you and then ask for an upgrade.

hockeyinsider

Of my last 4 stays, 2 confirmed an upgrade pre-arrival either 48 hours in advance or on the day of arrival after sending a chat message via the Marriott mobile application. A third property upgraded me a full week before arrival. The fourth only had 1 suite and it was occupied.

Two properties were Courtyards, one was a Renaissance and the other was a Westin. None challenged me or claimed they couldn't upgrade.

So, lesson learned: If you want a suite upgrade, use the online check-in and ask for a suite upgrade 48 hours in advance.

After all, the terms say you're entitled to the best room or suite available at the time of check-in, not the time of arrival.

kennycrudup

I've used "Plat Prem upgrade if poss please" so often on the "Any notes" section on the "Room details" form so often it's become an autofill in Chrome now, yet it's still hit or miss.

That being said, if I really do want the upgrade I will call a day before and have them put a note in my reservation. It does seem to me that properties hate upgrading even their highest elites, apparently thinking they're taking a loss.

"Terms", Hock?! C'mon, man!

hockeyinsider

I don't think most hotels even read this because the special requests that I always select (extra pillows, feather pillows, extra towels) are pretty much never fulfilled without specifically asking for them either through the mobile application's chat feature or through a response to a pre-arrival email from the hotel.

h2rdw1r3d

I wanted to give everyone an update on where my complaint stands.

"Thank you for contacting Marriott Customer Care regarding the <> Hotel. Your case has been forwarded to the property leadership team for review. Please allow 3-5 days for a response."

This was four days ago. I'm not overly optimistic.

Edit: I have been on the Platinum challenge for all this. I'm seriously thinking its not at all worth it. But I did stay at an AC Hotel last night and it was really nice. The customer service was top notch and I figured what the hell I'll try the upgrade language, and got an upgraded room no questions asked with a smile and everything. I was shocked.

C17PSGR

Thanks for the update. Your situation seems pretty easily resolved since you didn't get the room you booked, which is different than an upgrade.

As a plat, I'd set aside the suite upgrade concerns. Seems to me that you'll get more points and breakfast (sort of)/lounge access as well as better rooms.

dgparent

I am staying at the SLC Sheraton downtown, after this stay I will have spent 27 nights at this hotel this year. I have never been upgraded to a suite, the best I get is a room on the Lounge floor, for this stay they put me on the 7th floor, the lounge is on the 10th floor.

At least they recognize me as a PLT Premier, not much else.

I stayed at the Westin at FLL Beach in December and had a confirmed SNA when I checked in all they had was a regular room, I did not bother fighting it.

Don't really see the motivation to reach anything above PLT with Marriott anymore, probably will switch to as many Hyatts as possible after I reach PLT this year in March.

hockeyinsider

I don't see the Sheraton Salt Lake City having any suites for the next two nights, according to Marriott.com. They do, however, have a king loft room, which looks kind of nice. You should ask for it.

If I've stayed at a hotel for 27 of the first 29 days in 2019 and they didn't recognize me at all -- not even a bottle of wine or free drink -- then I would probably look at switching to another hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. It's not like there aren't options. Have you tried asking for the manager on duty?

Properties aren't involving in the clearing of suite night award certificates so you should have fought this. At the very minimum, you should call the platinum premier desk and ask to get the suite night award certificate redeposited.

Zacnlinc

How was your stay if it has occurred? I have until Monday to cancel my reservation with no penalty. I'm looking at other properties at the moment. Not just to use a SNA, but for better ratings of the hotel itself. But with cost as a factor, this one seems to be still a factor as it has suites and others in the same price range don't.

Guessing I'm just hopeful that they'd treat Plat Prem. Elite a little better and show a little love.

Tried again to apply SNA but the same "error" occurred. And I never heard from the hotel either. But at the same time CS at Marriott sent messages to other hotels I needed to amend, I've heard back from them all except this one. Just not expecting any special treatment at this time from the Lexington.