I have a 5 night (Sat-Thur) reward stay booked @ Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes in late September. My wife, two toddlers, and I have the cheapest room booked--and I'm just fine with that. But, it would be nice to get an upgrade if available, e.g. an ocean facing room would be spectacular. What chances do I have, and what is the proper etiquette/technique/protocol for doing so?

I'm plat. I'm at 87 nights this year so far, and I'm currently staying in a Marriott property. I don't know when I'll be going home. I could be past 100 days by vacation time. I don't know if any of this matters. Any other info that would help you answer the question will be gladly provided.

Thanks in advance.

What I normally do is call Marriott Reservations to get the hotel GM's email address. I will then email the GM to let her/him know that I will be traveling in with my family. Give the name, dates, reservation info. I then let the GM know that I have heard many good things about the hotel and we are really looking forward to our stay. (Stroking their egos a little bit usually doesn't hurt. ) Then I let them know that I understand no upgrade is guaranteed, but anything they can do to help us out would be greatly appreciated. If the hotel isn't too booked up, this usually works for a decent upgrade. At most hotels, the GM will forward the email on to whomever on staff who assigns rooms.

It might not hurt to call either the day before or the morning of your arrival and remind them that you are coming. You can inquire as to your room upgrade then. You can also ask about an upgrade when you check-in as well.

Don't expect much. NICE rooms, but I've stayed at 279+/nt and not gotten anything as a PP. It was a "partial" view, and partial is exactly that!

That said....still remember they have no lounge, and NO bfast coupons!!! (And yes they are arrrrrogant about it if you ask about a bfast coupon)

Slip the guy a $20 when you check in and ask for the upgrade. It works.

When I really wanted an upgrade for a leisure trip, I have always gone the email route to the GM...it is my preferred route and I do it only a few days prior.

last time i was at the hotel they upgraded me when i asked at the desk. it wasn't in the peak of the summer though...so it might be tougher now

Totally agree w/ the above. Cheers.

* Bolding mine...

It also doesn't hurt to call the Platinum reservations line and have them put the upgrade request in your reservation. I don't know what they do that is special, but I've always had good luck when the res people request it as opposed to simply booking online and hoping they notice my Platinum status.

I would guess that they see someone who elects to use the Platinum line rather than the web to place their reservation as a person who knows their benefits and isn't afraid to use them.

I did this for my stay at Renaissance Chancery Court in London a couple of weeks ago. They upgraded me to The Tower Suite for no extra charge - and I'm only a Silver!

I've had good luck emailing GM's before. I usually phrase it as asking for a room well-suited for two adults and two small kids. The result is usually either a corner room or a jr. suite. I try not to make it sound like I'm asking for a huge upgrade...just help me out a little bit with a "desirable" room. That, plus Gold/Plat status, usually yields something fairly good. Whether the email or the status is the main reason for that, I don't know. I've even had good luck doing this as HHonors Gold, which is a wallet-candy status, so I think the email must help a little bit... Assuming it actually gets ready, of course!

What I usually do is to call the front desk on the day of arrival to request an upgrade. I simply ask what kind of upgrades are available for Platinum members. If you get the standard "we've upgraded you to the concierge level" but you want something more, politely ask for it. Such as asking for a corner room, room with a view, suite, or whatever. You should check in advance to see how full the hotel is. If it's not fully booked then there is usually a pretty good chance for upgrade based on my experience.

If the front desk staff is unable to help you with the upgrade, ask to speak to the manager on duty. You can do this over the phone or when you check in. Calling earlier usually result in the standard answer that says "upgrades are based on availability when you check in". I have not tried emailing the GM but it sounds like another good way to get an upgrade.

I just finished an award stay at the Harbour Beach Marriott in Fort Lauderdale. The award was for a standard room, but when I called on the day of arrival I was able to confirm an upgrade to ocean view with a balcony. Didn't get the suite but it's not bad.

Late September is definitely not "high season" for Myrtle Beach, so the hotel should only be half full if that. That should up your chances of an upgrade. Please be careful/aware of jellyfish this time of year in Myrtle Beach. I got stung really bad down there around labor day one year.
Cindi

Doesn't Myrtle have some odd "peak" seasons? I seem to recall April-May being expensive as hell, but June-July being dirt cheap. (And I think there was a secondary peak in maybe October...)

We used to do annual trips down there when I lived in DC. Being 3 to 4 carloads of 20-somethings looking to play a sh*tload of golf as cheap as possible, we always had to make the decision: do we want to go early (March), when there wasn't quite enough daylight to get in 36 holes a day, or do we want to go late (June), when it was 90+ degrees and humid?

We opted for June more often than not. Did a few trips at that time, and the whole city seemed deserted - unless we happened to hit one of the two big biker weekends. The upside was that you could usually play four-hour rounds, something that is much harder in resort towns when the courses are packed. And our travel agent would always throw in nice condo upgrades since places were pretty empty...

Thank you very much for all the thoughtful replies.

As I write I could only find ocean view rooms available on Marriott.com. How many--I have no idea. I assume it's an off-ish season because most other time/dates weren't available even 9 months ago.

I'm trying to foresee the merit in the various approaches if I need to choose just one. What's your take on the questions below?

Do you think it's wisest to choose a course and stick with it or can I mix & match? For example, let's say I take the course of emailing the GM as outlined above. After doing so, I should or should not then call plat line to request same? I think either can be followed by a call day of arrival for status of request.

The request is best with specifics or just general? e.g.
-Mr/Mrs GM you have no obligation but I would love plat upgrade to ocean view suitable for family of 4
OR
-Mr/Mrs GM you have no obligation but I would love plat upgrade?