kalorama

Does anyone know if the hotel will carry a new flag after October 13th?

edlin303

I'm not sure that is a safe assumption. I believe there was a similar thread about two Venice properties leaving last November where 1 day notice was given on at least 1 award cancellation. Those were sold by SPG and it was not announced until the last minute.

*edit* Either my mind is playing tricks on me, or the thread is not coming up in a search. If I find it I will link here.

*edit2* found it. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...-starwood.html

gsilliman

... and actually Starwood has put themselves on the right side of that issue for this guest. We once arrived on St Croix for a long-planned trip with 2 other families, only to find our hotel had ceased to be a Westin on that very day. The transition did not go well for the new management. I sent a letter to Westin and they gave each family points for an equivalent 1-week stay.

Underneath every branded hotel location is a real estate investment, and that business has gotten pretty rough. It seems like differences between property owners and operators have gotten more out in the open these days. Once consequence is more reflagging of properties.

terminalfive

No notice: legally correct, not good hospitality, unfortunately the sad truth

Excellent way to sum up gsilliman^

terminalfive

UPDATE:

Phoned up plat desk today and very helpful associate apologised for not having a reply yet from the hotel on whether
a) my prepaid rate would be refunded or if
b) I could be moved to another hotel

After less than an hour receive e mail directly from the hotel confirming that my reservation has been cancelled and that my non refundable rate WOULD be refunded to my c card

Hats off SPG - didn't enjoy this "adventure" but the plat desk did a smashing job (as always) and the hotel will refund my reservation
Now to picking another hotel

^^
Thanks to William for replying to my posts

terminalfive

NEW UPDATE!!!

Find this VERY hard to understand but now on the spg website it says that LM Sunny Isles will no longer be part of Le Meridien and or SPG as of 5 NOVEMBER...??!!!

Very odd... They gave 11 days notice before 13 October now they have add roughly another 3 weeks

Problems with reservations??

Starwood Lurker II

I believe it might be the decision of the owners to delay the departure, though I seriously cannot confirm on that.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

terminalfive

Thanks Thyetus - could you kindly confirm if a stay is still eligible therefore for the 1000 bonus points as per US offer (it is on the list but as there hasn't been too much clarity over this property..)?

Many thanks ^

nsx

You guys are awesomely straight with us. I understand how it's in the hotel owner's interest to be able to cut their ties at any time. I understand that it's in everyone's interest to make membership in the program attractive to the hotel owners.

I had been under the impression that hotels were locked into participation for a year or so at a time, and that continued participation was a matter of periodic negotiation. I guess I was wrong. The hotels appear to be able to renegotiate their deal with the program any time they want to. That would be an odd arrangement in other areas of business, but it seems to be customary here.

FWIW, the Hyatt Cancun Caribe dropped its Hyatt affiliation with zero notice 9 months ago. They had offered magnificent beachfront rooms with a superb Regency Club in their own separate building for 10k points per night. That was the best hotel deal since the days of Hilton's 100k ALON. And it vanished in a puff of smoke. Gotta grab those deals while you can. And have a backup plan in case the hotel leaves the program, shuts down completely, or gets destroyed by a hurricane.

Kremmen

Interestingly, the real estate slump means that some chains can afford to buy up some of their properties. At least, that's what Rydges has been doing recently.

Starwood Lurker II

Hi terminalfive,

My apologies for not responding much earlier to your reply.

Unfortunately, once the property is leaving SPG, most of the stays will not be eligible for the related promotions.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Starwood Lurker

I would go so far as to say that none of the stays will be eligible for promotions once the property deactivates.

That being said, any promotions that were applicable to Le Meridien Sunny Isles will remain in place until the day the property does actually deactivate.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Spent_All_My_Miles

I suppose that this may well be how the hotel franchising industry works ... but there is nothing stopping SPG from awarding the points out of its own pocket, right? Why not do so -- and let the relatively few customers caught up in such situations know that? I imagine it would build goodwill knowing that SPG is voluntarily making people whole.

Explore

I don't think anyone has yet answered the question of whether you are liable for a non-refundable rate in this scenario. After all, the inability to get a stay credit could force you to shell out for another room night unnecessarily.

Should the non-refundable rate fail to be refunded, I would refuse payment to my credit card because reasonable contract terms have been violated.

3Cforme

There's little basis for that. Starpoints are awarded for eligible stays wholly at the discretion of Starwood. One is unlikely to convince a judge that absence of point earnings constitutes a major change in terms, any more than a seasonally closed restaurant or temporary pool closure should force a refund: these are services merely incidental to overnight accommodation.