Bolding mine.

Actually, that most properties don’t have many suites is often true for most of the non-luxury portfolio of Starwood, as well.

Most Element and Aloft hotels don’t have suites or have very few proportionally, and most Four Points, Sheraton, Westin, and Le Meriden hotels have few proportional to their overall number of rooms (often 5-10% or less). One of the reasons why so many SPG Plats often complained about not getting a suite upgrade was from not understanding the simple arithmetic that there simply weren’t as many “standard” suites available for upgrades.

If you go to the starwoodhotels.com page for each hotel, the “rooms” link almost always indicates the total room count and the total number of suites. I don’t think Marriott ever bothered with this, since the Marriott brands just didn’t have as many suites.

The Starwood luxury portfolio brands, on the other hand, typically have more suites proportionally—as is more common with luxury hotels of all brands and sorts. I’d expect this to be just as true for Ritz Carlton and maybe Edition hotels as much as it is true for St. Regis, Luxury Collection (some more than others), and W hotels (especially new builds).

Tribute Portfolio and Autograph Collection, as well as Luxury Collection, are all independent hotels with varying proportions of suites depending on the markets and niches they serve.

The net effect in my experience is that it’s almost always easier to get a suite upgrade at a luxury brand hotel than other brand types of hotels. Obviously, any hotel with a larger proportion of suites is going to allow a higher rate of suite upgrades.

Do remember that SPG suite upgrades were only guaranteed based on availability to whatever they considered “standard suites.” Marriott has used the term “select suites.” We still don’t know what that might mean, but standard might mean only junior suites or the lowest suite category or two for the hotel.

For those who wonder about the pecking order among Platinums for suite upgrades, this will be a subject of continued debate and much consternation well after Marriott releases its official terms—just as it has been with SPG Platinums.

I would expect that Platinum Premier elites will have priority over Platinum elites, as the system likely will now show that difference. That won’t please those Lifetime Plats in SPG who are only getting Unified Lifetime Plat, but it will be very pleasing to those newly minted Lifetime Plat Premiers in the new Unified program. That’s likely also why the new Unified program doesn’t offer a way to attain Lifetime Plat Premier, as those Lifetime Plat Premiers will eventually die off...leaving just the Lifetime Plats to enjoy upgrade privileges much as they do now with SPG.

Whether the system shows the Platinum Premier with Ambassador level any differently than Platinum Premier, I will tell you that the Ambassador level elite should have a major advantage if it’s executed anything like it is currently executed with SPG—at least starting out with Starwood brands that are more accustomed to this. I won’t be surprised if there’s a learning and experience curve (after many SPG originals complain!) with Ritz Carlton and Edition hotels. (But that won’t include Club level upgrades at RC.)

There has been considerable debate on the SPG Ambassador threads about this, but it becomes much more obvious when you dig deeper. I’d always claimed on the SPG threads that those Ambassadors who spent more and who were staying at the more luxury level hotels (which had more suite proportionally) were the ones who enjoyed the highest levels of suite upgrades and the highest levels of service overall by the Ambassador program. A lot of people hated that suggestion, but the new Marriott Unified $20K revenue threshold suggests that I was right on target in that assumption.

Beyond that, as an Ambassador elite, I routinely got upgrades well beyond the “standard suite” category as is normally provided to Platinums. My Ambassador reached out to the appropriate contacts at the hotels, giving direct instructions and requesting feedback on what was possible. As a result, I almost always was considered a VIP level guest at almost every SPG hotel at which I stayed—with many hotels executing that better than a few others. The front desk agent may not know, but the front office manager always seemed to know who I was.

My upgrades beyond the standard suite level go to showcase that point, as in the last few years I’ve been incredibly upgraded to the StR Bora Bora Royal Overwater Villa with private pool, to the Gritti Palace Venice Dalmatia Suite, to the St Regis San Francisco Metropolitan Suite (every time I’ve been there almost), to the St Regis Houston Caroline Astor Suite, to the St Regis Princeville St Regis Suite, to the Hotel Imperial Vienna Imperial Suite, to the Prince de Galles Paris Makassar Suite, etc. Even on award stays!

So I strongly expect that there is a value-add for reaching Platinum Premier (75 nights) beyond the extra 5 Suite Night Awards. I strongly expect there is a value-add for reaching Platinum Premier with Ambassador (100 nights) beyond the Your24 benefit.

Of coirse, for those who don’t agree, I won’t lament anyone not bothering to attain either status level. That just means far fewer people competing with me for the suites when I want them.

Good point. Often time people have unrealistic expectations. There's simply not much some properties can do to upgrade you. An upgrade at a Courtyard or Fairfield Inn may just be a room on the top floor that doesn't overlook the interstate highway.

One thing that is interesting about legacy Marriott Rewards is that the terms and conditions are actually more favorable for a suite upgrade at Ritz-Carlton properties. Specifically, only platinums are supposed to receive a suite upgrade.

I keep saying it, but this is why the terms and conditions are so important. It is very frustrating that Marriott has not released them yet. You could read "select suites" multiple ways. Perhaps it means there will be a category of suites called "select suites." Alternatively, it could mean only a "select" category of suites will be available for upgrades.

Under the existing terms and conditions for the legacy program, upgrades to club-level rooms at the Ritz-Carlton are possible, though you won't (or aren't supposed to) have access to the club lounge. I've pushed back during past stays at Ritz-Carlton properties and gotten upgrades.

I don't think it is reasonable for a platinum premier in the new, unified program to expect suite upgrades at busy properties or resorts during peak season.

Plus, we all know that some hotels within the Marriott portfolio will lie to your face. I'm reminded of the Renaissance Aruba, when I arrived with my boss and another colleague. All of us were either platinum premier, platinum, or lifetime platinum. We had an event at the hotel. In our contract, we (as platinums) had individual reservations and were guaranteed full Marriott benefits, including an automatic one-category upgrade and further upgrades to the best suite available, if there was availability. The front desk lied to us and claimed nothing was available for upgrade, not even to the one-category guaranteed by contract. We asked for the duty manager. She came out and suddenly found the one-category upgrade rooms, but then lied again and said there was no suite availability. We said there was availability for suites. She then lied and said as a franchise they don't have to provide the Marriott benefits. We then showed her our contract, the Marriott terms and conditions, and dummy bookings for suites that we had just made. Suites suddenly became available. Our same group also did a $35,000 event at the J.W. Marriott Los Cabos. Same deal in terms of the contract and benefits. The front desk lied about suite availability, despite our contract requiring at least a one-category upgrade. The one-category upgrade was literally a room on the top floor with the same view as the room we booked. After protesting, showing our contract, showing the Marriott terms and showing the availability on Marriott.com (it helped that the property had an occupancy rate of less than 20%), we received suites.

So, I don't see what Marriott can do to get hotels to comply with the upgrade provisions in the new, unified terms and conditions when so many properties in the old program would lie and even violate a legally binding contract that a group signed for an event. I could barely get an upgrade at the J.W. Marriott Los Cabos after giving them $35,000 in revenue. I doubt they'll give me an upgrade if I give them $500 in revenue for 3-4 nights.

As for platinum premier ambassador, who knows. I don't think front desks and duty managers, who are ultimately responsible for delivering the benefits, will understand the difference between platinum, platinum premier and platinum premier ambassador. As an existing platinum premier in the legacy Marriott Rewards, I've had to correct a front desk several times that I'm not a platinum.

Very well said . The actual terms and conditions will go a long way in helping to set expectations for elites. It is going to be of paramount importance to see which suites are available for elite upgrade . Additionally, the parameters of the breakfast benefit need to be well defined . Any exceptions need to be explicit and transparent .

The ubiquity of of smart phones and other WiFi devices make it much harder for individual front desk staff or properties to make incorrect statements regarding availability and benefits. The guest can simply pull up live availabity or benefit terms at check in to prevent “confusion”.

In my early days as an SPG Platinum,which were also the early days of the SPG Platinum program , the suite upgrade benefit often became a far too prevalent “discussion” at check in. Without smart devices , I often had to get to my room to plug in or call reservations to check availability. That being said , SPG had an excellent guest services hotline . One call to guest services to express my disappointment at not receiving the published suite benefit usually resulted in then calling the property on my behalf . That was typically followed by a call to my room from the duty manager to inform me that they had “found” a suite for me and I could return to get my new keys or have a bellman come up with my new keys and move me. As the SPG Platinum developed , I did find that most properties became more compliant and calls to guest services became a rarity. Of course , there were still rogue properties but they were few and far between . I actually found the luxury properties to be the most accommodating, compliant , and welcoming .

We we will have to wait and see how benefit delivery plays out in the new terms and conditions and how properties deliver those benefits . If there is a long list of properties that are exempted from any of the benefits , then that will certainly devalue the program . It’s bad enough , under the current scheme ,that certain hotels in popular cities can provide 1000 points instead of breakfast when the lounge is closed .

The angst that has been highlighted in these forums could have been avoided with a more comprehensive and transparent “roll out”. The announcement should have included the updated terms and conditions , property category assignments , better description of the status match mapping in the new program , and detailed information regarding the Ritz credit card etc .

i truly don’t believe it was a test. I just think it was more hype than substance , in that there are numerous questions still to be answered and lots of confusion. For me , the whole announcement started on a sour note when they asked us to take time out of our day to watch the live video at 4:30 pm then proceeded to air a video for 10 minutes before even starting with the program announcement. They should have respected our time and got right into the information we tuned in to hear . Leave the video for the end.

If this is indeed a test or trial balloon , they need to analyze the feedback QUICKLY and make any “enhancements” known ASAP. Otherwise , the loss of goodwill could be damaging . Part of the strategy will work well for them as folks may increase bookings to qualify for status or lifetime stays . However , there are those , like myself , who will not take a leap of faith and have booked away .
in my case , solely because there is no “respect for revenue “ in the new program as there is no path to status based solely on spend ala Hyatt and Hilton. The low night and high spend crowd was ignored .

I would love to know the reactions of the property owners . Obviously, some properties will be giving out benefits that they never had to in the past- such as breakfast at resorts .