Saying no to suites
 

I find that it is the case for some suites - the usual suite I'm upgraded to in the Grande Bretagne, for example. The worst situation is where there's a slightly claustrophobic bedroom and then a living room without a comfortable seating area.

That's a minority of cases for me though. I usually find suite bedrooms are comfortable enough and the living room allows me to do work, watch TV, workout etc. in a separate room with a bit more space before retiring to my bed. When travelling for work I pretty much have every evening guaranteed at at the hotel, so it does make a difference for me.

You are not alone. I am much more likely to leave something spreading out in a suite.

Agree, for work I'm fine with a standard room. Takes me an extra 20 minutes to hope that I didn't forget something, looking everywhere. Unfortunately its work that the upgrades happen, not personal travel with family.:)

Suites are great when the HVAC is noisy. I can run the unit in the unoccupied room, leave it off in the room I'm in, and the air will circulate eventually.

It would be nice if we can specify upgrade preference; for example size vs view. Many standard suites don't have nice view which may not be better than premium view rooms.

The downtown SLC Sheraton is a good example of suites that are actually a downgrade. Huge rooms, but worthless.

The biggest benefit I get from suites is simply physical separation from other guests and sources of noise, especially when they're configured so that the living area sits between the bedroom and another guest room.

Also second the previous comments on HVAC noise reduction/control and better working spaces. To that latter point, I also order a lot of room service so I enjoy it when there's some place to eat other than at the desk, especially when it's the evening and my desk space is already set up for work. The best setup has been at some suites with big dining tables where I can have everything in one place.

Oh, and more toiletries to bring home if there is a second bathroom. :D At some places, the suites actually get larger sizes of individual toiletries as well.

I tend to agree. For me its the bedroom is often designed so light leaks in, say through frosted glass to the bathroom. Also I've found HVAC can be actually worse in many suites. Really just depends on the hotel and suite design though. A couple times standard rooms had very small shower, while the suite's shower was very comfortable. I think this one has to be hotel specific, but several times I've changed to a standard room over a suite.

I've had situations where the hotel went ahead and upgraded me to a suite after I requested 2 beds. Well its not so fun, when one person has to sleep on the pullout.

We also dislike actual suites, with a separate bedroom, unless we plan to have someone stop by for a quick meeting (very unlikely these days). The bedrooms are usually quite tiny, unless one has a high-end suite at a luxury property.
(Suites can be useful if we are traveling with family, including grands, in which case we've identified a few 3BR suites, but those are few and far between, and not "upgrades", to put it mildly.)

But we love the huge "executive [or junior] 'suite' rooms", with lots of extra space. It's also nice if there are WIDE French doors (IF there have to be any doors at all), which can be left open most of the time, still keeping it mostly "one big room".

And yeah, it's tricky... how does one quietly "hint" that "IF you are going to surprise us with an upgrade, could it please have x,y, and z specifications?" :rolleyes:

And in the USA, 1BR suites are less likely to have an extra bathroom or even half-bath, which is one of the other serious advantages elsewhere.
When we used to travel to conferences where we were both working/giving presentations, we'd request two "interior connecting rooms" (and call to double check that this wasn't a hotel that figured two rooms next to each other were just as good!).
That way, we used one as sort of an office, so the other could get to sleep earlier, plus we'd have two full bathrooms to get ready for early morning meetings. We had made the mistake early on of getting a 1BR suite for that purpose, without thinking it through properly, alas.

GC

Seriously. I once got a seriously nice upgrade for a room where due to changing circumstances I ended up having to leave only ~6 hours in, and was still glad I got it.