Hotel excluding suites from upgrades (JW Guanacasta Costa Rica)
Jan 1, 2019, 1:55 am
#47
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I believe we would all prefer that hotels follow the rules unless the deviations are in our favor. If a hotel isn't going to treat status guests well, I would prefer knowing in advance so that I can book elsewhere instead of finding out when I arrive. Hopefully, this policy will be corrected in the future.
Jan 1, 2019, 2:59 am
#48
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If they make a very substantial change unannounced, it wont looks very good for their own program.
And like what kacee wrote, status quo can achieve the same without creating massive backlash.
It was way better for MR to keep the T&C as is and provide hotels more discretion.
Jan 1, 2019, 3:26 am
#49
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Folks...I hate to keep beating this drum, but we are in a new era. The good old days are gone. Right-sizing and an explosion of global travel have brought demand into line with supply, big data allows chains to dynamically price to the last dollar, and consolidation has ensured that customers have nowhere to run. The big guys have us right where they want us.
The world we live in isn't one of massive oversupply, where winning a loyal customer means consistent revenue and one less empty room. They'll sell that room to someone now, and they don't care who it is. They'd rather sell a room to 50 single-night package tourists than a 50-night business traveler and eschew the costs of dealing with loyalty perks.
All the table-pounding and foot stomping in the world isn't going to change a thing. Only big cyclical or structural events, such as a global recession or a major new entrant (AirBnB somehow finally connecting with business travelers) is likely to effect much change.
The world we live in isn't one of massive oversupply, where winning a loyal customer means consistent revenue and one less empty room. They'll sell that room to someone now, and they don't care who it is. They'd rather sell a room to 50 single-night package tourists than a 50-night business traveler and eschew the costs of dealing with loyalty perks.
All the table-pounding and foot stomping in the world isn't going to change a thing. Only big cyclical or structural events, such as a global recession or a major new entrant (AirBnB somehow finally connecting with business travelers) is likely to effect much change.
Jan 1, 2019, 5:22 am
#50
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I've certainly gotten the impression from speaking with some Marriott executives that there is a divide between the loyalty division and the hotel development division. The fact that there are some Marriott-managed properties breaking the rules is pretty significant, if you ask me.
Does anyone actually believe Marriott is going to rake over the coals a franchisee or third-party management company that owns or operates multiple -- and, in some cases, dozens of -- properties because some elite status customers aren't getting complimentary upgrades? Which division of Marriott do you think gets its way? Hotel development or loyalty? Marriott's real customers are the owners and third-party management companies. We, the guests, are merely the product that Marriott sells them.
Last edited by hockeyinsider; Jan 1, 2019 at 5:29 am
Jan 1, 2019, 7:16 am
#51
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i get that knowing in advance which properties don't follow rules makes it easier to avoid them....but being ok with something like this can lead to other properties trying to adopt the same policy....in that case the list of properties to avoid will keep getting longer....
Jan 1, 2019, 7:50 am
#52
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My only point was if a hotel was going to do something objectionable anyway, I would rather know what to expect upfront. It's a bit like learning about certain tourist scams so that they can be avoided. Stating that I appreciate knowing about recalcitrant behavior isn't the same as being unconcerned about it. Hopefully, MPG will take action against hotels who try to avoid providing loyalty benefits.
What's even more appalling are those who say, "Yes, they're cheating but everything at the property is nice." It's like the battered wife who keeps returning to her husband even though he beats the hell out of her.
Someone should start a boycott thread.
Jan 1, 2019, 8:12 am
#53
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Much to my dismay this is yet another example of how Marriott and Starwood treat those who stay in hotels quite differently. If *wood, we'd already have a post from a lurker saying this is against policy and that they have forwarded the issue to the hotel coordinators. Within a few days it would be fixed. With Marriott, meh. That said, I'll add this hotel to my personal boycott list, and continue wondering if I should start doing with hotels what I already do with flights: book whatever room I want, at whichever hotel, regardless of brand. Especially now that loyalty appears to be becoming a one-way street.
Jan 1, 2019, 8:35 am
#54
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Much to my dismay this is yet another example of how Marriott and Starwood treat those who stay in hotels quite differently. If *wood, we'd already have a post from a lurker saying this is against policy and that they have forwarded the issue to the hotel coordinators. Within a few days it would be fixed. With Marriott, meh. That said, I'll add this hotel to my personal boycott list, and continue wondering if I should start doing with hotels what I already do with flights: book whatever room I want, at whichever hotel, regardless of brand. Especially now that loyalty appears to be becoming a one-way street.
I remember when Pulitzer hotel decided that their only single room (no double occupancy permitted) was their standard room category, and the only one available for redemptions. It took SPG several weeks to take any corrective action and initially Starwood and the lurkers stood emphatically by the property’s decision (see here).
Jan 1, 2019, 8:50 am
#55
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That is very a romanticized representation of the ‘good-old-SPG-days’. There were many cases reported here on FT of properties going rogue on program’s rules and Starwood and its representatives having their backs or at least taking several weeks to take any action.
I remember when Pulitzer hotel decided that their only single room (no double occupancy permitted) was their standard room category, and the only one available for redemptions. It took SPG several weeks to take any corrective action and initially Starwood and the lurkers stood emphatically by the property’s decision (see here).
Wasn't this Hotel des Indes? Do/did they have the same owner?
Jan 1, 2019, 9:24 am
#57
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That is very a romanticized representation of the ‘good-old-SPG-days’. There were many cases reported here on FT of properties going rogue on program’s rules and Starwood and its representatives having their backs or at least taking several weeks to take any action.
I remember when Pulitzer hotel decided that their only single room (no double occupancy permitted) was their standard room category, and the only one available for redemptions. It took SPG several weeks to take any corrective action and initially Starwood and the lurkers stood emphatically by the property’s decision (see here).
Yet Starwood had “Select” and “Specialty Select” rooms that were almost always available to book through a rep for a mere 1000-1500 points per night. Those rooms at the Pulitzer were larger and accommodated 2. So my husband and I easily booked 7 nights in a Specialty Select on points and then the hotel further upgraded us to a fabulous Canal View Royal Suite with a loft. We received excellent Platinum treatment there.
Only once has a hotel ever suggested to me (actually to My Ambassador) that I would have a better chance of an upgrade if I booked a higher category room. This was at a legacy Marriott luxury property last month. That seemed contrary to terms but I went ahead and booked a higher category and then I still didn’t receive a Suite Upgrade because the staff insisted that as a Resort they were Exempt. They would only upgrade one category up. (I am not naming the hotel because they later called me to apologize and I want to give them a second chance).
But SPG never played those games with me. I never heard “only one category up” or “we are exempt from Suite Upgrades.”
I feel as if one of two things inevitably will happen at Marriott- either Marriott will force hotels to comply with the current T&Cs and legacy Marriott hotels will get used to it and eventually adopt more of the Starwood culture, or Marriott will backpedal and change the T&Cs to restrict Suite Upgrades to something less than SPG loyalists are used to.
I don’t think it’s paranoia to wonder if Marriott might limit Suite Upgrades at Resorts in the future, or make some similar change that will provide cover to properties reluctant to upgrade to Suites.
Last edited by damon88; Jan 1, 2019 at 9:29 am
Jan 1, 2019, 10:11 am
#58
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Only once has a hotel ever suggested to me (actually to My Ambassador) that I would have a better chance of an upgrade if I booked a higher category room. This was at a legacy Marriott luxury property last month. That seemed contrary to terms but I went ahead and booked a higher category and then I still didn’t receive a Suite Upgrade because the staff insisted that as a Resort they were Exempt. They would only upgrade one category up. (I am not naming the hotel because they later called me to apologize and I want to give them a second chance).
Jan 1, 2019, 10:28 am
#59
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It's somewhat OT and irrelevant now, but I stayed once and only once at the Pulitzer and had greatly looked forward to it, as a FHR booking for their room with one king bed, where FHR always books rooms for two. When I arrived (one person) apparently someone at the front desk decided that I must be a dumb American who had never traveled and assigned me to a tiny celllike room with one small bed. In went back to the front desk and showed them the hard copy of my confirmation for a "deluxe" room with one king bed, of course with a one category upgrade from this if available at check in. I didn't know exactly what "deluxe" means at the property (and I've had such arguments at other FHR properties when they attempted to give me a bad room), so I focused on the fact that I had been confirmed in a room with one king bed. The hotel then tried to lie to me and say that there are no American sized king beds anywhere in Europe and that what I was given would be considered a king bed in Holland. Of course I knew better as I've had, for example, both queen and king beds at Hotel d'Europe located just a canal or two away in Amsterdam as well as in Paris and elsewhere throughout Europe. I fought hard and eventually got a (much larger) room with a king bed, but I have refused to ever go back or suggest that anyone even consider staying in this hotel.
Jan 1, 2019, 10:30 am
#60
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So much unnecessary melodrama.
It’s one property. SPG also had plenty of properties that played havoc with the spirit and execution of the Plat suite upgrade—even if those were the exception and not the rule. Marriott does now, as well. Not much has changed despite the massive protests herein pretending otherwise.
Everyone pretending this is a sign of the apocalypse is more than welcome to go join the nearest cult. I’ll enjoy waving to you from my upgraded suite at the next property at which I stay, and the next after that, and the next after that. All while your prognostications of doom make for a good Lifetime movie.
Vote with your pocketbook and choose to stay elsewhere. Problem solved.
It’s one property. SPG also had plenty of properties that played havoc with the spirit and execution of the Plat suite upgrade—even if those were the exception and not the rule. Marriott does now, as well. Not much has changed despite the massive protests herein pretending otherwise.
Everyone pretending this is a sign of the apocalypse is more than welcome to go join the nearest cult. I’ll enjoy waving to you from my upgraded suite at the next property at which I stay, and the next after that, and the next after that. All while your prognostications of doom make for a good Lifetime movie.
Vote with your pocketbook and choose to stay elsewhere. Problem solved.