Marriott Waikiki, we booked the cheapest room they had for 2 or 3 nights...they gave us a corner 1 BR pseudo-suite with 2 balconies and an ocean view....as a Gold FWIW

San Antonio Marriott RiverCenter (2 different stays, huge corner suites, I was told the second largest in the hotel)

San Francisco Marriott (4 room, Presidential Suite for a 9 day stay, magnificent)

Marriott Wardman Park (2 stays, 1 upgraded, to a 2 Room, Huge Hospitality Suite for a 9 day stay, 1800 sq. ft.)

Marriott Desert Ridge Resort Phoenix (Beautiful 2 Room Suite for 7 day stay)

Renaissance Madison Seattle (2 different stays, 2 room corner suites, very nice views)

Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel (2 Room Suite, Beautiful and Large, magnificent bathroom, available for half of an 8 day stay, I appreciated the effort and accomodation)

Rome Marriott Grand Flora (Beautiful 2 Room Suite for 4 day stay)

Renaissance Chancery Court, London (Concierge Floor)

Courtyard Las Vegas Convention Center (2 stays, Oversized 2 Room King Suite, this was a very nice Courtyard)

Renaissance Scottsdale Resort (15+ Stays, Always give me an upgrade to 2 Room Casita with outside spa, and offer upgrade to 3 Room Casita with kitchen when not busy, weekday breakfasts to Plats, not required for resorts)

Washington (DC) Marriott (35+ stays, 20+ upgrades to my preferred larger rooms, #15, #18, #20, in "the bend of the hotel," other times usually on Concierge Floor, sometimes "bend" rooms on the Concierge Floor)

New Orleans Marriott (3 Stays, 1 upgrade to a huge 2 room, high floor, corner suite with wet bar)

Fort Lauderdale Marriott North (HUGE 3 room suite with two balconies for 5 day stay)

Renaissance Fort Lauderdale (small 2 room suite with balcony for 3 day stay)

Actually, if we are adding CYs to the mix. I stayed at the following CYs last year:

Auburn Hills, MI (two separate 5 night stays): both upgraded to King Suite
Tulsa, OK (one 5 night stay): upgraded to King Suite
Arlington, TX (one weekend stay): upgraded to King Suite

In fact, I haven't stayed at a CY within the last few years where I wasn't upgraded to a King Suite. ^

Not all CY that I have been to have suites, and some only have one or two, so I have certainly not had suites at all that I have been to in the last few years. I mentioned the CY suite upgrades that I received because I thought they were noteworthy, and actually, now that I think of it, I just remembered another one, which was particularly nice, and quite useful for business purposes:

Courtyard San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront (5 stays, 4 upgrades to Oversized 2 Room King Suite, which twice came in handy for business meetingss, this was a very nice Courtyard at the time that I was last there in October 2005, but according to marriott.com there was just a $3M renovation)

Speaking of CY's, I got knocked up to a suite at the Mt. Laurel, NJ CY late last year...

Marriot Rive Gauche in Paris
Marriot Frenchmans Resort in St Thomas, Virgin Islands
Marriot Key Largo Resort
Rena in Dallas
Downtown Marriot San Antonio

[QUOTE=pgh;9110491][QUOTE=pgh;9073183]Happy to say that following 3 additional stays since my original post, the Del Mar Marriott has improved significantly IMHO. While I can't be sure if it is general improvement or that they know me now, the improvement is still there and noticeable.

Governor Switzer (or he whom the Governor was pretending to be that day) must be a grade above Plat, "Double Diamond" I guess. He got a Heck of an upgrade at the Mayflower DC (but seemed to have to pay in adavance for future utilization).

Shucks, leave it to those New Yorkers...The last two really publicized violations of the Mann Act incolved Chuck Berry and Lucky Luciano. Now we get the Staright Arrow himself, the toughest Elliot since Ness.

At Marriott Westchase in Houston. Upgrade to large 1 bedroom suite with free internet. I'll be here again.

Someone earlier mentioned Marriott Seaview. Staying here two nights - Thursday night (paid), Friday night (Visa free night certificate).

Got upgraded to a large room with a couch and a wonderful bath suite.

^ property

Has anyone had any experience with upgrades at the Blackstone in Chicago? It seems that this property has stayed pretty solidly booked since it's opening last month, and upgrades are rare (as is even getting the bed type requested). Had two different reservations back to back this past week. First reservation was told the only Kings available were handicapped accessible so offered and chose an upgrade to a Lake View Double [Queen] room on a mid-floor. Nice view, and being an upgrade, wasn't too concerned with the bedding arrangement. Second reservation (next night) upgraded to a "King Lake View room" which turned out to be a handicapped accessible room with a single queen bed, not a huge deal except I preferred the actual shower as opposed to the shower/tub combo so was downgraded to a South (Hilton) view King room (basically the view you'd expect from an alleyway). Still an excellent property but it seems that they are having major issues in the rooms control department and was just wondering if anyone else has had an experience with this property?

In the last two years, I have received "noticeable" upgrades (meaning that I can tell I was upgraded, not just a meaningless upgrade from one room to a slightly better room of the same type) at one hotel.

At the Renaissance Harbour View in Hong Kong, my gold status usually upgrades me from a "garden view" room looking out the back of the hotel over the swimming pools and tennis courts to a harbour view out the front of the hotel.