Starwood Lurker

According to their status set for the night in question, the hotel had no Astor suites in open sell inventory when the night audit was completed, so their explanation holds water with me. YMMV.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

JFKSFOLAX_friend

Maybe so...but it does look fishy when the property backtracks/changes their answer after a second inquiry.

Starwood Lurker

I can agree with that to a point; however, most people are usually satisfied with an initial generic answer, so most of the time the gritty details are not explained. No such luck with this crowd, however.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

JFKSFOLAX_friend

William,

I guess I am also confused by the property's first answer...specifically: "Though Astor Suites are one of the room upgrade options we have for our platinum members, the upgrade is not always guaranteed. In situations where we are fully committed on suites or forecasted to sell them at their full prices, we upgrade our platinum members to the next best room category."

The bolded portion is concerning, no? If a Platinum member checks in and a better room is available (and eligible for Platinum upgrade), can the property withhold the room because it forecasts it can sell it at full prices?

Starwood Lurker

Yes, if I had any concern at all with anything the hotel said, it would be with this; however, it may be just a matter of context.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

ramalama8

The hotel's excuse is B.S. That is 100% contradictory to the SPG promise of upgrade to best room available. I see very little room for interpretation of the statement other than they're holding an available room from a free upgrade. They're skirting inconvenient obligations.

JFKSFOLAX_friend

Context? Can you provide an example -- any example -- where this would be consistent with SPG rules?

Starwood Lurker

He could have meant up until the point of check-in and he would be well-within the Terms and Conditions of SPG. If not, then there is a problem with their understanding and that needs to be adjusted. Should that be the case, I am sure that the SPG Hotel Coordinators will do so, although I have no idea who to tell them it was that communicated this to the OP.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

JFKSFOLAX_friend

(Perhaps sfosolo could forward the email (or the name of the person that wrote the email) to William. While I know that William's glass is half full, I (personally) find it hard to believe that "context" was the issue. I (personally) think that the author of the letter does need some SPG "training.")

sfosolo

I agree with the previous posters that the phrase “or forecasted to sell them at their full prices” is troubling, which was partly why I requested that the complaint be re-opened. Here is the full email with only the names cleansed. In my OP, for the sake of brevity, I removed only the pleasantries. I don’t see any context that might explain the troubling phrase. I will e-mail the name of the sender to William for follow up.


"Good evening sfosolo,

Thank you very much for staying at the St. Regis San Francisco and giving us the opportunity to showcase our property and provide you with 5-star, uncompromising service. Please consider us for your next visit to San Francisco and I will look forward to welcoming you back in not-too-distant-future.

I would also like to sincerely apologize that we were not able to upgrade you to an Astor suite during your recent visit. We appreciate loyalty of our Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum members and always do our best to upgrade them to the best available rooms. Though Astor Suites are one of the room upgrade options we have for our platinum members, the upgrade is not always guaranteed. In situations where we are fully committed on suites or forecasted to sell them at their full prices, we upgrade our platinum members to the next best room category.

I truly hope this did not mar your impression of the hotel. Should your future plans include a trip back to San Francisco, please do not hesitate to contact either myself or xxxx. We will be delighted to personally assist you, do our best to upgrade to a suite and set up a welcome amenity prior to your arrival.

Thank you and have a great day,
xxxx."

chanp

Stayed there last week. Before my arrival I saw online, no email from spg, that I had been put in an Astor suite. This was the first time ever. One time I had to call downstairs, them tell me no, call spg and have them call before they put me in a suite. It does suck when it shows avail online, but wont upgrade plt's.

andrewpartyman

The reality is as a stand-alone chain, St. Regis is weak. What makes most any of us stay there is solely their affiliation with SPG. They get business because of that, yet they don't want to honor their end by upgrading Platinums, etc. Even more so troubling because odds are, you are spending around (or at the very least) $400/night to stay here. What does it cost them to upgrade you? A maid spends a few more minutes vacuuming? I just don't like it when a hotel has it both ways: they get fed customers via Starwood but don't want to honor their end of the deal. I stayed here, and honestly there was nothing at this hotel (including alleged 5 star service) that would ever get me to come back there, especially if it were not affiliated with Starwood. I am glad people are fighting the hotel on stuff like this. Once we roll over and take it, it's gone. This "it's ok I understand" attitude with the hotel is the same attitude that 99% of people have over on the Delta Airlines thread. In the past 2-years all we have done is watch the product get worse, the promises made get broken, and the benefits decrease in value quicker than the the currency of Zimbabwe--all while people say "Delta is the best!"

andrewpartyman

I made a comment on here that I didn't think the St. Regis San Francisco was anything special. Lucky for you guys, I happened to take photos of our room. (I do this all over the world; I am a dork.) I said something like I thought the rooms were comparable to an average Westin. I stand by that remark. Here are the photos of the room I stayed in at the St. Regis San Fran. To me it doesn't look like anything special. Basic comfortable bed (if not too warm), flat screen TV, bathtub that opens to room if desired, standard marble shower, and that's that. People have asked me which Westin's I have stayed in with better rooms (or comparable). In the past year I would say: Vancouver, British Columbia; Westin Times Square, Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago, The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, the Four Points Sheraton Dubai, Westin Athens, Greece; and pretty much every W all over the world except Mexico City and Chicago Lakeshore (again, not Westins but St. Regis is supposed to be a vastly superior experience) Sure these locations are all over the world (thus varying degrees of service) but a St. Regis is supposed to be like staying at the Peninsula hotel: blown away at every turn. After waiting 10 mins to check in, 15 to check out, not having my amenity points on my statement, not getting points for food service, being charged for internet, and being "upgraded" I was hardly impressed to say the least. As I stated, the room was nothing to write home about:
http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/...rewpartymanFT/

MikeBOS

I beg to differ. I think the rooms at the St. Regis SF are *much* nicer than Westin Times Square, and every W I have been at (W SF, W Times Sq, all Chicago Ws, most Atlanta Ws). I like the beds, the linens, the wood and marble, and the bathrooms much better than in those other places.

ratnasam

I've been staying at the St. Regis SF since it opened and have had perhaps 20 stays. When I first stayed there I was a SPG Gold and they always upgraded (either independently or by my request) me to a corner premier room on a high floor. The corner rooms are larger, with a lounging chair and a long hall way.

As a "regular" at the hotel, I'm treated very well by the front desk, concierge, and bellmen, they all know me by name and are very helpful. I've been platinum for about three years. To my surprise, during that time I've only been offered upgrades to Astor suites a couple of times. Truth be told, I hate the Astor suites, they are on the wrong side of the building with a lousy view, and the sleeping area has a problem with noise coming from some loud club at night. Since then I've turned down "upgrades" to Astor Suites and prefer the high floor corner rooms that I received as a Gold. When it's just not me traveling, I go for a Platinum upsell to a high floor, Yerba Buena Park view Metropolitan Suite.

Recently, the St. Regis has been quite full and I've been staying at the W Hotel next door. I've been more consistently upgraded there to high floor "Extreme Wow Suites" or high floor "Fantastic Corner Rooms". Though quite different in character, I find my experience with the W to be "almost as good" as the St. Regis. Either one works for me.