hhoope01

I agree that breakfast would be a nice elite benefit at CYs (note that SPG now offers free breakfast to their Plats at ALL Starwood hotels, 7 days a week.)

But I have to admit, so far this year I have a perfect record for suite upgrades at CYs. The key is to ask at check-in as I don't remember ever being "automatically" upgraded (which seem fair given suite upgrades aren't a guaranteed elite benefit.)

cmculp

But gold gets you the lounge / breakfast. The up to Plat gets you the extra mileage bonus and reservation guarantee, so the question is really whether that extra over gold is worth the benefit.

Someone said it right - preference and stay patterns determine. marriott works well for me.

sammyindc

Agreed. For my travels and last minute reservations, having the Platinum Override is essential when I need to stay near a convention center or at a trade show host hotel. Also the 50% points bonus is pretty worth is as well.

jayhawk

I receive upgrades regularly when staying at Marriott Hotels, or J. W. Marriott Hotels. As for the sold out guarantee I suppose that happens. However, at a Marriott Courtyard in the New Orleans area I am been refused booking four time since January 1. That is at the discretion of that facility manager, but Marriott allows him to do it.

hhoope01

I never talk with anyone to use the Plat Room guarantee. I make the reservation online.

My understanding is that the local hotel has virtually no control over allowing or not allowing the Plat guaranteed room. The only thing they can do is to petition Marriott with an exemption "event" where the whole hotel has been reserved by the "event" in question. If it is approved, then Marriott itself, not the hotel, will not allow a Plat reservation overide.

kunk00

Sometimes they said this is upgraded room. But for me, if they cannot upgrade to suite, it is not upgraded since I have a 5 years old kid.

SkiAdcock

Since suites are not guaranteed upgrades, any room above what you booked can be considered an upgrade, regardless of your personal viewpoint of not receiving an upgrade because it's not a suite.

BTW - multiple FTers have children with whom they travel. Not sure they buy into your theory of only a suite upgrade is considered an upgrade.

fieldeng

In that case, I decided it wasn't worth it so I'm holding still with Marriott and Hilton Gold on both. Hilton Diamond gives the reservation guarantee and alleged suite upgrades but I haven't sniffed one this year. On that front, the reservation guarantee is worthless for me as I book thru a work vendor and they don't take this into account at all. I can't book rooms outside of the company plan so the benefit is of no good to me.

sdsearch

It is upgraded; it's just not enough upgraded for you. There's a difference, upgraded means you got a better room in some way, not necessarily a useful way, than you reserved.

No program gives guarnateed suite upgrades on every stay. The best you can hope for is a limited number of confirmable upgrades, but still very few programs (maybe SPG if you do a zillion nights, not stays?) have even that much on paid stays. Some programs lets you reserve a suite for extra points on an award stay, but that doesn't help if you need to do a paid stay (and at any rate, the price in points may not always be so great).

My suggestion for someone who absolutely needs suites: Choose all-suites brands (or subrands, in the Marriott Suites case). Getting the kind of suite you want at them can be simpler (and actually less expensive often) than trying/hoping for a suite upgrade in a mostly-not-suites hotel (but then all too often not getting it, and being stuck with something insufficient for your needs). And Marriott has several of these (though not all of the "Suites" brands have mostly two-totally-separate-rooms suites, so research which of the "Suites" brands or sub-brands do exactly what if it matters to you). Some of them include (I'm not sure if I remember every last one): Marriott Suites, Springhill Suites, Townplace Suites.

elmococker

Just out of curiosity, has there ever been a Marriott thread that someone didn't bring up SPG?

As for the OP's question. I think that Platinum has plenty of benefits, but it varies by location and brand. By making to Platinum, I would think you understand the benefits by now or you wouldn't have spent so much time in Marriott beds. My favorite benefits are the extra points, C-lounge, and arrival gifts at resorts (some are really nice).

I don't worry about the upgrade to a suite or the late checkout. I just don't have a regular need for either.

Hope you have better luck in the future...

Happy Travels!

Motorskills

Can this also be used for Reward stays?
(I've Diamond-Forced reward stays with Hilton, not sure if Marriott is the same.)

The website is telling me a property is unavailable for a reward in a few weeks' time, is it simply that the website isn't clever enough to recognise my Platinum status?

hhoope01

No. The 48 hour room reservation guarantee does not apply to award availability.

apodo77

SPG - 992 hotels

Marriott - 3700 hotels

Easy choice for me as Marriott has a hotel in all the cities I travel to. SPG not so much.

I use Hyatt as my secondary choice of hotel.

kanerf

I always find it very funny when someone brings up how much better another programs benefits are in one of these threads, and when you go to the forum for that program you may find the very same poster complaining about how poor the benefits are in that program. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

rthib

Have you talked to the elite line.
One the few times I could not book online, one call was all it took.