Kacee

I'm not sure what legacy SPG rules and procedures that are no longer in effect have to do with this discussion. Properties now identify their upgrade pool. You can see them when you check the SNA options.

The other thing is that SPG actually enforced its rules. I think most here would be okay going back to that vs. the Wild Wild West under new Marriott.

kaizen7

I believe complaining about unavailability of a "suite upgrade" will be quite difficult due to the fact 3Cforme said.
We dont even know which suite eligible (whether ALL junior suite or just the odd number one)

The best FTers could do would be reporting their stays and FTers could see if a property is known for being stingy and avoid them (or book straight the suite you want)

EuropeanPete

The SNA options are not necessarily (and usually should not be) a 1:1 relationship to the upgrade pool.

Kacee

Well we now have for the second time in about two weeks a property affirmatively stating (this time to OP's ambassador) that suites are not in their upgrade pool.

This will absolutely be copied by more and more properties if Marriott does not crack down. Just like Hyatt where some brilliant GM figured how to game awards by only offering standard rooms as part of a "package," a practice which quickly spread, particularly among Hyatt owned properties.

ethernal

While some of this is perhaps a result of system limitations, some of the SNA options are ridiculous. One property i was looking at had 8 different SNA options: only one was a junior suite; the rest was pretty much "anything but a standard room" - a club room, a corner room, a room on a high floor... I couldn't help but laugh. Yes, I'd really love to use my SNA for a room on a high floor

C17PSGR

Not sure that's accurate until OP identifies the property. I personally know its not the Marriott since I was there last month. Others are saying its not how the Sheraton approaches it.

I think that just leaves The Pier One.

As for the ambassador info, its always helpful if someone expressing concerns about information from an ambassador identify where the ambassador is based. For example, my Omaha based ambassador and the SLC based ambassador team has confirmed to me that the APAC suite program continues to apply to legacy Marriott properties.

OP -- please provide more info

MSPeconomist

ethernal

Yes, of course - and I get that. My laugh was at the fact that these were clearly rooms that were not really upgrades in any material sense - something like 4 or 5 out of the 8 options were really just standard rooms with modifiers (standard with city view vs. river view, etc etc).

And unfortunately many properties are making junior suites the only upgradeable suite.

templar42

I think that would probably be a good thing - I'd rather be part of a loyalty scheme that promises reliable benefits than one that makes extravagant promises to unrealistic numbers of people.

ethernal

I'd happily trade "guaranteed suite upgrades" (at random) with either (a) SNA awards that are confirmable farther in advance [won't happen] (b) more suite night awards (e.g., 15 a year - or maybe an extra 5 every 25-30 nights one stays after 100).

The reality is that I don't care about suite upgrades when I am traveling for business, but I definitely want them for vacation. Getting upgraded to a suite on the road isn't great (and actually can be annoying if you've gotten used to a property's standard room and now have to learn a new layout).

Of course this continues the issue that resort hotels (or hotels in cities with high tourist loads) already face - an asymmetry in benefits from the loyalty program. Boring business hotel gets all of the benefits of a price insensitive business traveler but the costs are born by other hotels.

Zelucifer

That seems to the overall theme with the new Marriott program. There is no consistency, in fact it seems like they've decided to make the program as confusing as possible. From the Breakfast Spreadsheet, all the way to the upgrade policy.

RogerD408

SNA pool availability was never visible on the website. It was always described as a subset of available rooms. Also, for that matter, the website is not a good source as to what is available for any room category as many properties deliberately overstate their inventory with the understanding there will last minute cancellations and/or no shows that could leave them with empty rooms (even if already paid or billable). Should more people show up than they have rooms ready to occupy, then the walk policy kicks in. Way too many people have used this data to bully the FDC to change room assignments and taken away upgrades for people that have not yet arrived but were pre blocked by the property (a different discussion). The only person that has visibility of what is available is the FDC looking at their system and even then it might not be correct if a room has been taken down for maintenance and the local system is not updated.

I do believe the T&Cs should be enforced, but keep in mind we do not have all the data to judge if they are in compliance. Until we can start counting on someone actually looking into the situation and not just giving bogus excuses, we have what we have.

margarita girl

This!

The Lurkers were awesome for reporting rogue properties and having corporate address the issues. No one seems to care at Marriott.

hotelboy

ftaus

I'd prefer not to name the property publicly as I stay there regularly. However, happy to provide via PM to an SPG/Marriott lurker if they're interested in addressing it. I will say that it's a main brand, which narrows it to 2-3 properties.

The main reason I posted this thread is to question the policy, as it feels like a slippery slope if hotels start restricting the upgrade pools (outside of hotels with "all suites" or only limited numbers of specialty suites).

To confirm/answer a few other details:
- The ambassador who answered my emails is based in Nebraska (402 area code). My ambassador is Singapore based.
- This hotel has a number of suite types available for SNA redemption.