I have found , pretty much universally, that the "official" upgrade policy is often never followed at resort hotels. For the most part, if resorts give you an upgrade, it is often a "one class" upgrade, no matter how many empty rooms they have, excluding suites.

It is harder for the front desk at resorts to respond honestly when you have your mobile ap open showing how many better rooms they are actually selling when you check-in, but resort front desks seem to give you the hardest time. Particularly if you have Gold status.

On the contrary, resorts is where I've gotten the most upgrades, I never book anything but resort view and almost always get Ocean Front or at the least Ocean View.

I've received a 2BR suite in St. Kitts, a top floor corner Ocean in Grand Cayman, an Ocean View room in Wailea, and a top floor Ocean Front in Aruba, all within the last few years, and all at the dirt-cheapest award level.

Yes, confronting front-line staff and calling them a liar is always a good strategy for getting an upgrade above that to which you are entitled. I can't imagine why they wouldn't be fully cooperative

That may be true - they may be saving the rooms for their most frequent and loyal PLT customers. That probably explains the different upgrade experiences noted above. Silvers probably have an even harder time.

Outstanding post; I couldn't have said it better.

Marriott has all of those trumped with lifetime status. Now that I'm no longer a road warrior, the fact that I will have lifetime plat status is HUGE.

Hyatt has a lifetime diamond, as well. It takes something like $200k in spend, but they do have it.

Let's suppose they have 10 Ocean Front rooms unsold, 15 plats checking in and 15 golds checking in. They are not going to give that premium room to a gold, even if it is still for sale on the website.

Does this violoate their policy of giving golds and plats the best available room "at check in"? Should a plat be penalized because their flight came in late?" I, fo one, was very happy when we arrived at Wailea at 11 pm and our ocean/serenity pool view room was waiting for us, but I am sure some golds checked in before us and didn't get it.

Nobody should be penalized because their flight came in late, and typically, that is already accounted for because most resorts don't allow for a cancellation of the reservation 24 hours or more prior to the day of arrival. The late arriving plat has already effectively paid for the room, their card will be charged, and it makes sense the room is "held" for them.

Just to be totally clear, I have every reason to expect plats are getting the better rooms as part of the benefit, and would totally understand being displaced by them (as I probably displaced some golds for the two years I was plat).

The situation I am describing, however, is not as simple. When I was plat (last two years), there was no holding back. As a gold, I've recenty found I've been given a one-class upgrade, told no availability is available for rooms better than that. However, a silver or general member could still come in and purchase those "not available" upgraded rooms since they are still available for purchase right on the website. This is where the lying at the front desk comes into play. It seems, that the benefit , as it exists at many properties, is tiered so that golds aren't given the full benefit in the event a paying silver or general member who hasn't yet checked-in might want to pay for the best available upgrade.

A simple solution would be to be forthright and honest, and downgrade the current benefit for golds. At least you would know what you were getting...a one-class upgrade at properties with more than two-classes of rooms. I'm sure there are plenty of golds who would pay for the next class room anyway, so maybe the benefit could also be receipt of an elite discount on the next level upgrade. Leave "best available room" for the plats.

This solution could also benefit silvers, if some form of upgrade discount was available to them to get any form of upgrade, which currently isn't a benefit to them at all.

Program benefit is a "Room Upgrade". You are probably correct that properties provide better "room upgrades" to PLT than GLD. The benefits were provided as promised. If the desk told you no better rooms were unsold/unoccupied, and they were, then shame on them. If they told you none were available for you, then that is correct per the program/property policy.
To what? Maybe something like "Room Upgrade. Suites excluded". That's sounds oddly familiar.
This is the Marriott forum, right? Where does the MR program promise best available room? Since you put it in quotes, please provide the reference. Google couldn't find it.

Perhaps it's just me confusing my many years at MR and SPG PLT. Where does MR promise "best available room at check in"? Iirc, that's a direct quote from SPG.

You seem to be confusing "available for purchase" with being available for you to get as an UG. There are many, many scenarios where there is no room available for your UG yet there may still be a room available for sale.

Scenario One: You are checking in and a Plat will be checking in later. The room is being held for the Plat, but if someone comes into the hotel willing the pay for the room, the Plat will lose the UG.

Scenario Two: The hotel has one room left available for the night and gets several walk-ins on an average night. The only room left is a more expensive room, but the hotel has a history of selling the more expensive room to walk-ins. Is the hotel supposed to forgo likely revenue just because you reserved a less expensive room but want more? If I were running the hotel, I wouldn't be looking at the more expensive room as available.

Scenario Three: You look online and see a room available, but when you go to actually reserve the room, you get an error message. (That has happened to me several times.)

https://www.marriott.com/rewards/mem...nefits/gold.mi

Room Upgrade
When you check in, we�ll upgrade you to our best-available guest room at no additional charge. Not available for suites at Marriott Vacation Club International. For Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites, upgrades from studio to 1- or 2-bedrooms are not guaranteed. For The Ritz-Carlton, Club Level and suites are excluded.

In scenario one: Shouldn't I as a gold then be offered the opportunity to purchase that room being held for the plat? I think the problem though is most properties won't do this, since it opens up the can of worms where then they need to explain "oh well that room wasn't really the best available for the purpose of YOUR upgrade, but if you pay for it, it is available...just ignore that whole "free of charge" part of the benefit." I think it would become more problematic all-around.

In scenario two: To emphasize, my original post was about observing this behavior at resort properties. My sense is that the walk-in at a resort would be less likely. Regardless, I agree with you, the hotel shouldn't forgo revenue in situations like you describe, but this is all the more reason Marriott should just change the wording of the benefit to something more about being a one category upgrade for golds, and two for plats. There is really nothing subjective about the wording now, and "available at check-in, except in the case of a room that has a history of being sold later on" is really not the spirit of the promise.

I've never experienced scenario three with Marriott.

Nothing is stopping you from asking to pay for the room, now is it? Granted, Marriott does not act like McDonald's in trying to push the room UG (Would you like fries with that?) but if you want to pay for the room, have at it. What you're asking is the room be given to you at the hotel's loss of potential profit. If there are several rooms, the hotel should UG you, but if there is one room, it's understandable the hotel would consider it not available for UG.

Poorly worded legalese, IMHO.

I suspect that internally, at Marriott corporate HQ, the terms "guest room" and "suite" hold different definitions. In other words, sentence 1 simply says "We'll get you high floor, nice view, C-level if we have it, away from elevator, away from ice machine, etc." It doesn't intend to commit to true suites.

But then sentences 2 through 4 go on to point out explicitly where suites are excluded, thus implying that maybe they're on the table at Marriott, Renaissance, JW, Autograph, etc.

It's clear to me that regular Marriott hotels don't intend to give suites to Plats often at all. Through hundreds of lifetime nights, that's my brand expectation. Nice deluxe rooms or junior suites, right bed type 100% of the time, nice amenity, lots of bonus points, and overall good treatment as long as I avoid the resorts - all of that is true, but suites IME are not unless I write a letter making a one-off appeal to the GM for one. The only thing I fault Marriott for here is poor copywriting in a few areas on their site (not just related to suites...sloppy T's & C's are found in a few different areas on the website).

By the way, that junior suite in Des Moines last week - a nice big room with a mini-kitchen, couch, and sitting area. Not a real suite, but still a fine room - exactly what the spirit of the upgrade benefit should deliver. ^

DH is PP and often gets suite upgrades, including in Hawaii, London and Rome. In a number of locations we have gotten the Presidential Suite. But we never expect them and always say thank you. Sometimes we will get the Presidentail Suitee on one visit and an ordinary room the next at the same property.