Starwood Lurker

Lurkers are standing by to assist...and nothing would give me greater pleasure than alerting the Hotel Coordinators that we still have a problem here.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

sthubbar

William,

What are the terms and conditions of the "alternate platinum amenity"? Is there a link on SPG.com?

Starwood Lurker

No. Policies like this one are rarely posted in the Terms and Conditions. They are communicated internally to the properties, as this one has been on multiple occasions.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

CIVET FIVE

First off, thanks go to William for helping me look into this.

The Alternate Amenity is supposed to be chocolates, valet or 2 cocktails at the bars. I was not offered chocolates or valet but was presented the 2 drink coupons as a separate "welcome gift" and not any sort of alternate to HSIA. In fact, when I asked the agent when I was checking in specifically about an alternate amenity, she had no clue (nor did another agent the next day, a manager, and 2 Plat Concierges). Indeed strange that they don't know why they're giving me 2 drink coupons.

So, any plats checking in that receive these coupons - you are receiving your amenity, they just might not be clear that you are. You could probably ask for chocolates or valet, ymmv.

sthubbar - I know that you were there at the same time I was. Did you receive these?

Also a bit of clarification on the coupons. It turns out that they are only good for 1 specific drink (starts with an M; it isnt on the menu). It is there "welcome drink" and they serve it during the day. Its sort of like saying "good for 1 premium cocktail", but then there's actually a cocktail on the menu called "premium" and that's all you can redeem it for. The bar manager took some pity on us because we used it thenight before checking out, and allowed us to order 2 drinks off the menu, but it sounds like this was an exception and not a rule.

eeebee

This is precisely what I was offered, without having to ask, when we checked in last May, 2012.

We took the valet option, as we like to drive over to Kailua or other spots on the island pretty frequently while we're there. And this seemed like it was both an excellent deal (I think valet is normally $25 or $30/day), and was *very* convenient. Call down as we're about to leave, and our car was almost always waiting for us!

I'll be there again in April. I'll report back any problems that we (hopefully don't) have with receiving the amenity.

margarita girl

The box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts are the local gift Platinum amenity. That's what I chose instead of 500 pts. When I was there 2 years ago, the alternate amenity was coupon for 2 drinks or an additional 500 pts.

CIVET FIVE

The mandatory resort fee includes parking in the structure (elevators behind the starbucks at the entrance) which looked pretty convenient

yulhammeryyz

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9700; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.666 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

We found the valet to be very helpful. The Sheraton is a very very busy spot and parking is shated with the Royal Hawaiian and the attached mall with restaurants like Cheesecake Factory (currently closed due to a kitchen fire) & PF Changs. The parking can be very very busy and there's the small chance you won't get a spot. Valet is $10 per day if you don't select it as the Plat amenity

clublounger

bolding mine....


No, it's not shared. THe hotel parking and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center parking are completely separate. Next to one another, but separate entrances. You cannot park in one, for the purpose of the other.

ktakahashi

Will be staying here for 6 nights in June on points and have requested SNUs for the entire stay. Reading here and TripAdvisor, that may be a long shot. In any case, are the below the correct expectations for Plats staying on this property?

- Access to the lounge
- Platinum gift: 500 points, chocolates, 2 welcome drinks or valet
* What's the official word with being able to waive the resort fee in lieu of the platinum gift? Also, how much is it per night (report fee)?

Aside from Platinum upgrades around check-in time (hopefully I won't need to leverage that), any other expectations or fort timer tips?

Thanks all ...

mitsou_jpn

I can't answer any plat-related questions as I am not a plat, but their resort fee is 31.41 Per Room Per Night.

bocastephen

As a Platinum guest you will receive access to the lounge and your choice of base amenity (take the points). There is still considerable angst with this property vis a vis the alternative amenity - you may need to escalate in order to receive it, and what you end up getting is probably not worth the aggravation.

You will not get the resort fee (IIRC 33/day) waived as a Platinum - that just won't happen.

You can request late check-out - this property has always been very good with this, although you may need to change rooms.

I would reconsider the SNA - these upgrades book into Malia suites which are the old decor, not renovated and have obstructed views - watch the SNA/cancel window - if you clear into a Malia suite, call the hotel and ask if you can be moved to a Kai suite - if not, I would cancel the SNA while you're still able to get it back....you will be disappointed. You're much better off trying to negotiate an upgrade to a regular room with a Diamond Head/Beach view. If the SNA still hasn't cleared before the refund window closes, I would cancel it rather than risk being stuck in a Malia Suite....but this assumes you have other uses for the SNAs later in the year.

ktakahashi

Thanks for the quick turnaround on the advise. Really appreciate it. As for the SNU use, I am traveling as a party of 4 (kids 5.5 and 3) so I might take the Malia suite for the extra space even though the decor and view may be crap. What's your take on that? To your other point, I really don't have use for the SNUs as this is the *big* family trip of the year.

Again, appreciate your counsel on this. Gotta keep the fam happy!

LovetoTravel83

I'm with the OP on this, just look at the 360 view of the suite.

http://www.sheraton-waikiki.com/vrx_...x?sceneid=6611

bocastephen

If space is the main reason for the upgrade, then yes - go for the Malia Suite, but you can ask before arrival if they can note your preference for a Kai Suite - if it's available at check-in, I am sure they would try and accomodate you.