techie

The wife and I stayed at 2 separate hotels last weekend -- a Luxury Collection property and a Westin -- and had SNA confirmed at both 5 days out. However, on arrival at the first one, we were told that they are sold out, so had no suite to put us into. At the 2nd, they said that they did not get the SNA from corporate until overnight on the day we arrived and also had no suite inventory to upgrade us to. I suspect that the Luxury Collection property had the same symptom but just didn't tell us about when they got the SNA from corporate. Now I'm 3 SNAs down without staying in a suite and am in the process of clawing them back.

So the question is: how frequent is it for these "glitches" to happen? Should I contact the hotel as soon as SNA confirmation comes in to ensure that it registers with them? Why does it not work normally?

Kacee

It's not common. And I would question the properties' explanations. Sounds to me like they knowingly sold your suites. I would have had a very frank discussion with the manager, and expected some substantial service recovery.

UA-NYC

Name & shame...

tarheelnj

Question about improving odds of getting suite upgrade....

Does checking in through the app when prompted have any impact at all on upgrade chances? For example, when checking in on the app, does the system automatically assign you a room of the type you reserved? If so, would waiting to check in at the hotel improve the chances of getting a suite, if available? Unlike airline online check-in, where you know your seat assignment, I don't see any obvious benefit to the app (beyond lowering chances of getting walked). Why not include a feature like Hilton does and let you select your own room?

Kacee

This has been the subject of much conjecture. It's been argued that the best approach is to check in using the app and then send a message to the property through the app requesting a suite upgrade.

I only use the mobile check-in if I will be arriving really late. I haven't noticed any impact on my upgrade rate (which is pretty good, especially at SPG properties).

tarheelnj

Thanks. Good suggestion about sending a note through to the hotel through the app requesting the upgrade.

Still wondering then if there is any benefit to checking in through the app, other than an alternative to calling the hotel to warn them of a late arrival.

mahasamatman

The OP did...

beachfan

beachfan

Flying for Fun

As a Titanium, suite upgrades for me have been happening prior to check-in more often than not. I use the chat feature proactively as a tool to communicate directly with the property for special requests. I also message the property when I am enroute with an approximate ETA (30 mins, an hour) so they know I will be arriving soon and can further prepare for my arrival. This is better, IMO, than arriving at the property cold. If I haven't been upgraded I politely request, "any upgrades would be appreciated." That prompted a full suite upgrade at the Marriott Tokyo, one of the few that wasn't upgraded prior.

James

techie

The first hotel is Perry Lane (Luxury Collection) in Savannah, the other is Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa. I would have booked all 3 nights at the Westin, but the first night was sold out. I had to call Customer Service to find out why it was not letting me book all 3 nights on points when all 3 were available to buy with cash -- the phone rep mistakenly thought that Westin is somehow not part of the "no blackout dates" policy so I had to show him in the Ts & Cs, so he called the hotel to get them to open a room but then suddenly cash availability disappeared. Make of that what you will.

It was last weekend, so I imagine both hotels would have been packed for Memorial Day and things like weddings, graduations, etc.

The first hotel made it sound like they were doing me a favour by putting us into a nicer room -- still not a suite -- but that was did not fly with me, since I am a Titanium. Props to them for going above and beyond in terms of sourcing a crib -- it was mentioned on the reservation, but somehow they did not one available when we checked in -- though they did scour other hotels in the area and borrowed one from them, even if it was more of a playpen. Despite breakfast being included in our rate, we were still charged for it and I had to call the property after we checked out to ask for a refund that showed up a couple of days later.

The 2nd property offered to give us 5k points (still have not been credited, but I'll give it another week) and bumped us to full buffet breakfast (instead of continental). I asked about suite availability for the 2nd night and they were going to put us into a Hospitality suite, but apparently there was an engineering issue with it so the best we got was a slightly nicer room on a higher floor.

Next time I will bargain harder and ask for free parking, resort fee refunds, spa treatments and more points in terms of service recovery.

beachfan

Kacee

Me too. The reservation updates within minutes or hours of the SNA clearing, so the suite should show as reserved in the system That's why this sounds like a deliberate downgrade with fake excuse to me. And very clever of them to latch on to the "Marriott IT" excuse.

There's no way I would have been satisfied with 5k points.

rowingman

Question: what is a "suite night award" when the program says that as a "Titanium Elite" whatever I am supposed to be upgraded to an available suite? I have never understood this "benefit", given the advertised upgrade purely on status. Is there an "ahead of time" window, similar to flight upgrades? What is the deal? I have done "suite night awards", and similarly, I have been given a suite at check in without having asked. It all seems totally random to me.

beachfan