Courtyard room upgrade question?
 

Hi,

I'm not quite sure the thread title is accurate, but here goes.

I've searched a bit and not found an answer.

My husband and I are going to NY for a week next month and staying at the Courtyard on the upper east side in Manhatten. We've stayed there before, and the rooms, like most in NY are smallish.

So here's my question. We booked the reservation as three separate reservations because the weekend rate is about 100 a night less than the week night rate. We have Saturday-Monday, Monday-Thursday, Thursday-Saturday. The first two are a king bed room, and the third is a king with sofa bed. From experience, we know the sofa bed room is a corner room, and appears to have more space than a standard king room.

We'd like not to change rooms. As a gold member, do I get the best room upgrade available, or is that reserved for platinum? And is it worth calling the hotel before we get there and asking? I'm thinking at the very least I should trying linking the reservations together.

I couldn't get the king with sofabed for the first two parts at a decent price.

I hope this question makes sense, and thanks in advance.

Abby

Is the corner room that you want considered or listed as a "suite" room? If not, then yes, if it is available at check-in, it should be something you would get an upgrade to. But as you state, being a Gold, there may be Plats who will be checking-in that day who may 'trump' you on that upgrade.

With that said, all other things being equal, I suspect the hotel would prefer you not to have to switch rooms either as they have to do a "deeper" clean between guests. So switching rooms does have a cost to the hotel (though it may not be a very high cost.) So it is worth asking if you can get that corner room for your whole stay. But realize that there is no guarantee that you will get that upgrade. They may have a lot of Plats who stay there whom they would prefer to give that upgrade to instead. Also note that if the prices are higher for the nights you don't have the bigger room, it could be due to the hotel be closer to capacity and as such, there may be a few upgrade options and/or more elites competing for that upgrade.

So if you really want that upgrade, reserve it for your whole trip. If you prefer to try and save some money, then be willing to accept that you might not get the upgraded room for your entire stay.

Hi,

Well, we're now working away in our room at the Courtyard. I called the hotel before the trip and they blocked off our corner room with the pull out sofa. (It's not a suite, just shows as slightly more expensive)

The front desk couldn't have been nicer about it - they blocked the room for the entire week across 3 reservations. We started reservation # 2 today, and only had to stop at the desk to re key.

Thanks for your reply.

Ive had a good experience there too -wasn't doing multiple bookings but the front desk was very hospitable.
Enjoy your stay

Interesting - I've never gotten an upgrade at a Courtyard - either as a Gold or a Platinum. Maybe the Courtyards I stay at only have one type of room - but I do stay at a lot of them.

Are others getting room upgrades at Courtyards?

Hi,

The only times I've gotten upgrades are at this hotel (this is the third time we've stayed here and had the corner room each time, although on stay 2 we asked to be moved from a double queen room with no extra space) and in Phoenix.

At the Phoenix Airport Courtyard, they've given us (me and my sister) a suite a couple of times, but I think that was because they've come to know us. We've been staying there for a week in November and a couple of weekend prior to that for the Susan Koman 3-day since 2006. We're captains of a stop along the walk route, so each morning of the event we leave the hotel early in silly costumes, so they know us. My status probably helps, but I don't think, without the costumes, the ridiculous amount of luggage we bring (lots of things for our stop) and the repeat we'd get the suite.

Otherwise, just a nice room.

Although I usually get the standard room I'm paying for, there have been a few times a CY has given me an UG.

The Milwaukee CY, which is in a grand old building, has given me a huge, beautiful suite a few times. There is a CY in Dallas that has done the same. (Can't remember which one, although it is attached to a Tex-Mex restaurant, if anyone knows which property is attached to the Tex-Mex place.) Those are the only two that stand out.

Recently, at the unbelievably horrible Rocky Mount CY, the desk clerk told me the only king room available was a suite, so I needed to be in a regular room. Rather than push the issue, I took the key to the room with double beds (I had made the reservation the day before and that was the only room available) but was thinking, "I'm PM. Why not UG me?" Maybe the TV would have worked in the suite. Maybe the maintenance man would have actually tried to fix the TV in the suite, rather than promising to do so and just disappearing. Maybe the maid would have knocked before entering the suite. Maybe I wouldn't have been standing pantless near the door in the suite. Maybe the suite would have been clean. Maybe the internet would have worked in the suite. Nah, who am I kidding. The UG wouldn't have made any difference.

FIs are better for UGs, IME.

Yes, now and then, but certainly not the norm for me.

Related thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...d-upgrade.html

I've been staying at a CY in NY 3-4 nights/week since January. Since I hit Platinum I've been getting bumped to a suite every week.

I tend to have fairly good luck in getting a suite room at CYs. I have to admit though that I tend to ask about an upgrade when I check-in. And quite often, if there is a suite room available, they are willing to upgrade me to it.

So the secret is to just ask. ;)