yurtripper

This thread reminds me of my stay in W HKG, where the GM was at the front desk to greet me and said "Thank you for your loyalty as a Titanium member. We have a wonderful room prepared for you."

I was impressed until I realised this meant that I'd just got the base room I booked with no upgrade

Enigma368

Does this mean I was wrong then to expedt the last available junior suite? Since they could just say that suite is not in their upgrade pool?

Kacee

Highly doubtful. It's not a matter of front desk discretion on a reservation-by-reservation basis. Most properties include junior and standard suites in their upgrade pool. One way to tell is to check out what's in the property's SNA pool.

Mr. BoH

I always thought properties were allowed to allocate "just some" of a certain suite type to the upgrade pool. For example, I know I have been denied SNA upgrades even when suites of the type I selected were available for sale. I don't think there is a reliable way to tell whether you are "entitled" to an upgrade for any given stay. You're ultimately at the mercy of the property.

Kacee

I've never understood that to be the rule with Marriott for day of arrival upgrades.

Per William, SNA inventory did not necessarily match inventory for sale, which could run in either direction (you could clear an SNA when no suites were for sale, or you could be denied an SNA when suites were for sale). My understanding is that even if the SNA is denied, you could get a day of arrival upgrade to the best available room, which might include suites that were not available for SNA.

George K

Apologies, is there any way to check SNA inventory per property?

TerryK

Nope.

jimrpa

So, at the end of the day, we are at the mercy of whatever the front desk agent tells us upon check-in. If, as a titanium, I’ve booked the lowest price, parking-lot view room, and the front desk grandly thanks me for my loyalty and announces that my room has been “upgraded”, I shouldn’t be disappointed that my “upgrade” is to a “limited air conditioner view” just above the hotel bar 🙄

Enigma368

I still think it's unclear based on the above posts. Ultimately the Marriott language says that we should be upgraded to "the best available room at check in including standard suites". I think at the very least it is reasonable to politely ask at the front desk why you can't have the e.g. junior suite that you can see is available for sale given that this is the published policy. If they still say no - they should at least be able to explain why the policy does not apply in this situation.

The problem is that many hotels just don't want to honor certain benefits. I have had challenges at multiple (non resort/convention) hotels getting the 4pm guaranteed late checkout. Some hotels will hope that guests just won't know the rules or don't want to make a fuss. Ultimately I just want to know what the exact policy is - I don't want to ask for something that I'm not eligible for but equally, I don't want to miss out on something I am eligible for because the hotel is not sticking to the rules.

Kacee

Dummy booking. It won't show inventory, but it will show the room types in the pool (subject to some limitations - it's not a perfect proxy).

If you choose to take that approach, yes you'll be stuck with the crappy room.

I do not.
Yep. The vast majority of properties this will work if well executed. There are some properties that don't follow the rules. I try to avoid those.

sxpsxpsxp

And I've been in at least one situation where I saw a room available for sale and asked at the front desk and was told that it was a mistake in Marriott's availability and that the room wasn't actually available for sale. Now, do you believe the front desk when they say something like that?

kaizen7

Unfortunately the T&C and Bonvoy prefer to make their valuable customers, which is hotel owners happy.

They made the t&c pretty clear that ultimately hotel have the final say about upgrade etc.
If the property decide that they identify that their upgrade pool is only those base room facing airconditioning unit, then it already satisfy the T&C.

kaizen7

Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan Jakarta, checked in, was assigned as booked room.
Chat with FD and ask hows the occupancy as the stay was when Covid was quite high and where hotels were struggling.
FD reply that it was very quiet.

Then asked if theres any elite upgrade, the same FD reply that they fully booked tonight.


Judging from his tone, I believe it was something they practiced over and over again to perfection

Enigma368

I've also been told this many times. One U.S. domestic Courtyard declined to give me any kind of upgrade as they were "sold out". When I politely mentioned that there were multiple better room types still available for sale for my 1 night stay, the FD agent rudely snapped back "Marriott does not know our inventory". Make of that what you will.

It seems to be the standard line that hotels train their staff to say. On the 20+ times I've been given that excuse, I think the property has actually had rooms available for sale for the stay period about 80-90% of the time.

ohmark

Last year had a reservation at Renaissance Atlanta Midtown. Called the hotel in mid-afternoon to tell them I'd be there around 5:30 pm. Asked if Titanium upgrade possible. FDC said, "We've already upgraded you to a suite."
Get to the hotel around 5:30 pm and checkin. Noticed that assigned room was not a suite nor any kind of upgrade. Asked what happened to upgrade I was told about earlier. FDC replied that he didn't know who could have told me that. I asked whether I could pay cash for upgrade to suite. He said, "Yes, I can sell you an upgrade, but we have none available for status upgrades.
At least he didn't lie about being sold-out.