The best policy is to be flexible. I was able to provide an upgrade almost 100% of the time if a guest showed about 2 - 3 hours before check in. There was no way an upgrade would be available to check in to, but I would offer the upgrade and let the guest decide if they wanted to wait for it or not. Most guests would say yes, check their bags, and then go on with their day and come back when it was time to check in.

I am sure it varies from property to property, but that is how we handled it. It was the best way to do it for our property. I know it is hard to believe, but there are many Plats out there that do not care about room upgrades. Surely, none of them are FT members.

i'm one of them....if i'm on a one night stay traveling alone then i couldn't care less about a suite....

When you talk about upgrades for plats, I assume you are talking about "best available room"? Isn't that supposed to be an automatic upgrade?

You stated that your property didn't upgrade to suites? So how do you get away with only upgrading those who ask to "best available room"?

LKO- what he is saying is that if they only have 15 rooms that are "better" in some way and 30 gold/plats checking in, they will give those rooms to the ones who ask. They CAN'T give them to everyone.

FDGUY, thank you for taking the time to provide perspective and responses. Much appreciated and most informative.

Like KEYSER, I could care the least about a suite when I am traveling on my own. What I do care about is not having a connecting room, not being directly across from an elevator, or next to the housekeeping supply room. And yet I seem to end up there more frequently than one would think.

I am always surprised at this - and as you indicate rooms are blocked for Plats, even more so. Is the person doing the room assignments that unfamiliar with the lay-out of the rooms and floors?

I will hit my 1000th night with Marriott this year and I don't care about a room upgrade when on the road except when going on vacation with the wife.

Disclaimer--I rarely spend more than 2 nights in any given city and just don't care about being in a suite or on the concierge level (which I get most of the time anyway).

Give me an accessible room and I will be back at the front desk in a split second for a new room though.

Can you expand on this? I just had this issue and was told a whole bunch of things that are different than what's been discussed here on FT by the front desk person:

1. that it was $50.
2. that while points were assigned, even if I wasn't asked...too bad.
3. at this particular property, that screwed up repeatedly over a week's time, that I had already gotten other compensations, so....again, too bad.

When should we inform of not being offered our platinum arrival gift? Next day? End of stay? After check-in process?

depends on the type of property

ask them for the card that you are supposed to fill out. When they can't produce it, continue to push

keep pushing. If manager on duty refuses, call MR

I wait at least an hour, usually until the next morning.

FDGUY, please comment on your experience and the legal framework of guests staying over after their reservation has expired by its own term.

When I was traveling on business, every week, mostly staying in the same few hotels, some would always extend us when we underestimated the work and could not leave town on time (and had not checked out yet). We were repeatedly told that in most states you cannot legally push a guest presently in the hotel out the door if they wanted to extend, even if that put the hotel in a rooms-available bind.

(But, I'm also guessing from time to time letting us stay over in our upgraded rooms led to some interesting speeches about status, unavailable upgrades, and being related to somebody named Bill. Or, perhaps even full-hotel unpleasant walk situations for very late arrivals.).

In a few alternative outcomes, I've had professional associates arrive back at their hotel to find their bags packed for them and told there was no space and they would be leaving. (In one case, the thrown-out overstay guest was a VP with Six Continents kryptonite status who had six weeks of upcoming reservations in the hotel deporting him--which got promptly cancelled).

The hotel can't legally evict unless there is a situation regarding payment. If a hotel sees luggage in the room at 7 pm and you are due to check out that day, the hotel may see that and decide to extend your stay whether you like it or not. However, if the guest comes to the desk and asks to extend and the hotel has no availability whatsoever, then the hotel may inform the guest that there is no availability tonight and will need to seek accommodations elsewhere.

This is one of the must frustrating things for a hotel to deal with. If a guest way due to check out on Friday, but their bags were still in the room all day, then we would usually extend the guest an extra night. Most hotels are happy to just extend you if they have the availability, but I have heard of some hotels doing what you said - bags packed and removed from the room. This was a huge no no at our property. If we had to extend a guest that then put us into a oversold position, it would be at a huge rate increase to make up for the fact we are going to have to walk someone.

Every time we would call the number attached to the reservation, but it was usually an outdated number, a travel agency, or an office number who would not give out a cell number.

^

this is not how it should be and is not how it is in the majority of hotels...the OP is speaking from his/her experience at one specific hotel

It actually varies by state - only a handful of states do not allow hoteliers to evict guests (the NE states quickly come to mind).....however if you are an "unexpected stayover" there is nothing (no law) that requires the hotel to charge you the rate you paid the night before....ie a hotel is able to increase your rate for the additional nights to their rack rate if they so choose