mikeyyz

You should counter-offer with no SNA cert used but the suite for 2 days. I think that's fair!

Mike

ikonos

Unfortunately the customer here does not have much of a leverage as the hotel could just assign him to the reserved room for his entire stay and return his SNA's. All the hotel will lose is SNA revenue but they probably covered it with the suite they sold.

Starwood Lurker

My understanding is that this was eventually sorted out.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

holtju2

Truly doubt that hotels are reimbursed anything for SNA as is the case with space available upgrades.

MSPeconomist

My understanding is that the hotel does receive some money from SPG for the use of SNAs. Remember that these are booked and confirmed by SPG, much the same as award stays and free nights. Otherwise the hotel should not care whether they give suites for SNAs or as Plat upgrades and, in at least one case that I know, they seem to care very very much about this difference.

transparent

Regardless, I like this counter-offer!

Vuelos

OP care to follow up on what you received?

mecabq

I still don't really understand the logic. At the St. Regis Singapore, the room hierarchy is as follows:

Executive Deluxe
Grand Deluxe
Lady Astor
St. Regis Suite
Caroline Astor Suite
Manhattan Suite
. . .

I would like a room with two beds; apparently only the Grand Deluxe and Lady Astor have these rooms.

I first booked the Lady Astor Room (with two beds), and it offered me an upgrade to the St. Regis Suite (with one bed). Fine. I then changed the reservation to Grand Deluxe (with two beds), but the only upgrade it offered was to the St. Regis Suite (with one bed) -- skipping a category. Why?

So my two options are to book the Lady Astor Suite with two beds and forget about the upgrade, or to book the Grand Deluxe with two beds and forget about the upgrade.

I realize that I could possibly get a roll-away-bed, and of course I am fine with the strategy of just booking what I want. But this is yet another case, just like every time I have tried, where the Suite Night award is not very useful. Why can't I book the Grand Deluxe room (with two beds) and go for the upgrade to the Lady Astor Room (with two beds), since it's the next category up? That way, I am assured of what I want whether the upgrade clears or not.

Relatedly, it seems like there is no way to tell before committing the reservation what upgrades will be available. Frustrating.

3544quebec

Because the Lady Astor Room is not a suite and the benefit is a Suite Night award.Its a bit like saying the Platinum Breakfast benefit is not very useful because I can't use it for afternoon tea.

MSPeconomist

Be sure that you understand room categories at this property. I was told that the only difference between Executive Deluxe and Grand Deluxe is location, with (despite the name) Grand Deluxe being on higher floors. I suspect that the same is true for Lady Astor rooms, in that they would be the same but on the highest floors. The regular rooms are very nice and do have separate work and sitting areas, plus fantastic (but not huge) bathrooms. They're better than what some luxury properties try to call junior suites IMO.

I was given a suite at this property which I understood to be slightly above their normal upgrade category, so that I suspect it must have been a Lady Astor suite. It was located on the corner and had a large foyer, a smallish living room (with sofa, comfortable chair. cocktail table, lamp table, large desk and good desk chair, and wall mounted flat screen television), a normal bedroom with a king bed, and a large and impressive bathroom. Not all Grand Deluxe rooms or Caroline Astor suites seem to have two beds.

I suspect that you need to negotiate directly with the hotel in order to make sure that any upgrade has two beds. I wonder whether they would consider allowing you to upgrade with cash or points, maybe in addition to a SNA, to get the suite you want. Better yet might be to use a SNA with clear understanding from the property that you would get a suite with two beds, perhaps in exchange for booking a higher category room initially.

mecabq

I wish that you were correct. If you read the reports here (and the not-so-fine print on the program), you will see that the "Suite Night" is really a misnomer; you get a category upgrade to a suite or some type of premium room.

Thanks for the tips. I am not so keen to go back-and-forth contacting the hotel; it seems hardly worth the effort.

There are other hotels (e.g., St. Regis Osaka) in which some categories of room are simply the same room as others but on higher floors or supposedly better views, and the "Suite Night" is good for an "upgrade" to one of those rooms.

3544quebec

Yes, you are totally correct - premium non-suite rooms can also be given as upgrades under the Suite Nights Ts+Cs.
Maybe I should check the breakfast benefit Ts+Cs to be sure that I can't use it for afternoon tea

whimike

I have a reservation at the Westin Moana Waikiki coming up and applied one of my SNA's to the single night stay. We are now within 4-days of the stay and on the SPG website the Suite that I chose is showing as available for booking, yet my SNA has not yet been approved.

According to the FAQ:

8.When will I find out if my Suite Night Award upgrade request is confirmed?

Beginning five days before your scheduled arrival, SPG will check to see if a Suite Night Award upgrade is available. If an upgrade is available, you will receive a confirmation email at the email address on your SPG profile as soon as possible.

So, how does one determine if an upgrade is available? Does it being avaialbe for booking not suggest it is available?

RogerD408

Sounds like it should have cleared. As William has stated before, there is a "technical glitch" they have yet to eradicate. Send a PM to him at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/priva...o=newpm&u=4179 and provide your account and reservation info and ask if he could check it out for you.

whimike

Thanks! Just shot off the PM.