wolfson292

So the Disney Swan has found an interesting loophole in the Suite Night Award system. They don't apply for the online booking of suites for money, or through any of the national call centers. You can only book them directly through the hotel. Since no suites are in the reservation system you can't use a Suite Night Award. I chatted with a platinum agent who said that since no suites were available I could not use an award. I then checked the hotel website and it said rooms might be available but I'd need to call the hotel which I did. I then found out you can only book suites week days during normal office hours. I checked again with another platinum chat rep who confirmed with the front desk that Suites were available and that Suite Night Awards could be used but only by directly calling the hotel and having them applied. This really seems like a sketchy way for the hotel to keep the majority of people from using their awards. Hopefully one of the lurkers can respond.

dingo

Please explain...I don't understand this. Genuinelly asking...not being flippant.

whimike

I don't think he can explain since it has been stated many times that hotels do get some sort of compensation by honoring SNA awards.

dingo

Thanks; I am curious as to what he means. But, also, when you say "by honoring sna's" that makes it sound like it is an option for them. I know that in practice, it does seem to be optional for them but the official line is that it is not optional but compulsory...correct?

RogerD408

They are not required to make suites available for SNA redemptions. If they even think they can sell the suite then they are no available for SNA. Not to mention the games of renaming the suites out of the "standard suite" category.

I'm sure there is some compensation, but if it's a choice of real $s and SPG $s, I suspect and expect the property to choose the real $s when they can. Playing games where they end up with zero $s and not the SPG $s, they don't win.

dingo

Man, I just keep getting more confused. Roger - are you saying that the hotel specifically makes suites available for SNA's as opposed to the SNA's being taken by SPG out of standard inventory? Is that fact or speculation? I had thought that the hotel had no say at all as to whether they were used for SNA's if there was inventory...that the "system" just grabbed them from bookable rooms. Is that wrong?

I know it is wrong based on the experience of several people on this thread, but thought it was always a "technical glitch" as opposed to the hotels denying use of SNA's at the upgrade window.

I had seen this benefit as a way to get away from the games that hotels play with upgrades...it sounds like it is the same game, just a different playing field?

RogerD408

Second guessing property managers will drive one totally insane. We all have ideas how we would run the property, but then we have a different agenda.

As I understand it, the property has total discretion to determine what they wish to call their room types (i.e. the Ws), and they get to determine which ones will qualify as a "standard" suite. In this way they get to control the number of suites that qualify for the SNA program.

As for honoring the SNA requests, there does seem to be an issue with the system not always being able to select rooms and some requests are going unfilled. The Lurkers have offered to step in and check things out.

Many have reported even though their SNA request was denied, they were still able to get their Plat upgrades at check-in. Just supports the YMMV mantra.

Personally, I don't have SNAs and I have no plans on earning any. So my experience is from reading the posts here and my interpretation of the rules as I read them. As suggested by others, if your plans require a suite, book it and eliminate the option of chance.

Starwood Lurker

All of the suites at this property are configurable, which means that rooms need to be attached to parlors to make a suite. Therefore, only the hotel can book a suite.

SPG is working with the property to identify a premium room type that can be attached by using SNA's; however, I have no idea when that will come to fruition.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

Starwood Lurker

Nope. The properties that are able to do so identify a suite, several suites, and or a premium room type to be used for SNA's. Once identified and vetted by SPG as an appropriate choice, they are attached to a rate plan that supports the automated system that confirms them. Therefore, whether or not they think they can sell the suite/suites/premium room type is irrelevant because they have no control over the automated system. Once the 5 day window hits, if any of the suite/suites/premium room types are available, they are confirmed. If they aren't and the suite/suites/premium room types are selling, then there is some kind of technical error preventing it and that needs to be reported.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

dingo

Thank you William.

wolfson292

Well it is good to hear that they are not doing this deliberately. Still waiting for someone in reservations to actually return my call though.

RogerD408

Sorry William, I don't see how that negates what I've said. The property determines what to call their rooms and which ones are part of the SNA program. Therefore, they can control the number of rooms available. We do not know which suites are considered "standard" (unless in the name) and even then subtle differences may not be noticed by someone checking to see what might be available (city view suite vs mountain view suite).

I like the idea of SNA, it's just there is so much work to get it implemented in a transparent way that everyone knows what will happen. Coordinating the efforts of all the properties is a massive task and SPG has its work cut out. Good luck.

Starwood Lurker II

Don't recall reading any information on my end that individual properties can limit the availability of certain room categories without providing valid reasons.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

whimike

I didn't mean to make it sound as if it was optional. What i meant was, if there is no suite availability then your SNA request will not be honored and the hotel would get no compensation. If there is availability, and the system uses your SNA, then the SNA request has been honored and the hotel would get some form of compensation.

RogerD408

Given a property has a finite number of rooms and those rooms get split up into different categories and the property determines which rooms get classified into which categories and which categories qualify for SNA, they control the inventory. Just like the airlines may have five (or more) fare codes for a coach seat and they determine how many they offer at the lower buckets. It's all a numbers game. I can't remember how many times I've been given and "upgraded" room to find it absolutely no different from their standard room, yet the FDC was so proud (s)he was able to get me the room.

We may be saying the same thing here, that once a property has declared what category is available for the SNA pool, they can't/shouldn't change that number, but then again, they can choose to assign those rooms to other guests to reduce the quantity available just to be reassigned at check in.

Again, it's a numbers game and it doesn't take long for people to learn how to make the numbers work for them be they guests or properties. We all do it by booking early, rechecking rates, and using points to reduce costs.