What should I hope for / ask for / insist upon for a Platinum upgrade at W?
 

I have an upcoming stay at the W San Diego (though my question is not specific to this property). I'm booked into a Wonderful room, but at the moment, the following room types are showing up as available during the dates of my stay:

• Wonderful
• Spectacular
• Fabulous
• Marvelous
• Cool Corner
• Fantastic Suite
• Extreme Wow Suite

I'll recheck availability right before checking in. Assuming this list remains the same, what is the most I should I hope for in terms of an upgrade? What should I reasonably expect? What is the least upon which I should insist?

I don't have an answer to your question, but do let us know what you get. Twelve years as a Platinum, maybe 15 nights a year at Ws, and I'm pretty sure I've never had any upgrade...even at low-occupancy properties like Silicon Valley.

To be fair to W, though, I never ask for anything because I really don't care.

you should be upgraded to a suite... bust out your SPG iPhone App at checkin if they are still selling suites and you're not upgraded, you know what to do.....

A standard suites that is. If anyone knows what counts as a standard suite at this W, then that would help to give them a steer.

Also, the OP should take a look at the master thread for this property and see what other Platinums have experienced here in the past to get a feel for how generous (or not) this property is.

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I'm usually upgraded to Fantastic Suite (without asking), most recently at the W Montreal

I've been upgraded to nice suites at the W Barcelona, Istanbul, and Scottsdale... so i think its very property specific

I was upgraded from a Wonderful room at the W Hotel in Westwood to a Spectacular Corner Suite

If I remember correctly William said that the Fantasic Suites were the only Standard Suites at the W Miami Beach. Not sure if thats by every W or not could be others may have other types included in their Standard inventory

SO OP its not whether theer are any Suites available when you are checking in but whether any Suites that that W considers as Standard Suites are available

There's not much in the property master thread, someone did say that they are considering Cool corners to be jr suites so that may be it. If not, the largest you'd likely be entitled to is a Fantastic Suite. You can call the Plat Concierge and ask them what is considered the standard suite at this property.

IME a Plat can get a Fantastic suite as it is considered a select standard suite at the Ws I know. WOW and Extreme WOW are definitely specialty suites, think of them as the W version of Presidential, so it would be an extraordinary upgrade. Many Ws sell lots of suites for parties, etc., so even properties--not all Ws at all--with relatively many suites can be difficult for upgrades.

I think of Cool Corner as more of a grand deluxe room than a junior suite. IME they are generally large rooms with good windows but are not junior suites as they generally don't even have a distinct sitting area, let alone something like a partial wall, glass doors, or being a real suite on a tiny scale.

Did that last week at the W New Orleans and was told the data was incorrect.. :rolleyes:

Very much depends on the individual properties: I had consistently very nice upgrades to HUGE suites in Barcelona and Fort Lauderdale. Large standard suites/corner rooms in HK and NY Union Square. But absolutely no noticeable upgrades on multiple occasions in Mexico City, NY Midtown, Miami Beach despite being told I am being upgraded (I'd hate to think from what).

The Ws seem to have so many types of "suites" that anything can pass for an upgrade...

At this specific property (W San Diego), I was recently upgraded to a Fantastic Suite- basically two regular rooms with part of the wall removed and one of the rooms converted to a living room. There were two full baths which was really nice.

Thanks for all the good information here. Based on the responses, I'm going to assume that a Fantastic Suite is a standard suite and that, if one is available, I should be upgraded to it. If not, then I would expect and ask for an upgrade to the best available non-suite, starting with a Cool Corner.

I would neither expect nor ask for an upgrade to an Extreme Wow Suite, but depending on the moment, I might hint at it and see where the conversation leads. On ne sait jamais and all that.

In my experience as a plat with 5 years tenure and lots of W stays under my belt I can say it is property specific for sure. Most upgrades come in the form of a corner room as lots of the W properties I stay at don't have any rooms that count as a 'standard suite'. I've had very few suite upgrades at W San Francisco, San Diego and all the NY properties. I've had a lot of success at LA properties especially the W Westwood with an almost 100% upgrade rate. In Asia it seems to be a different story and I've been upgraded every single time. I've stayed at the W Hong Kong, Walkerhill and Taipei and had gorgeous suites every time. I will say this though, if you stay at a single W often make friends with the hotel staff because I've had amazing suite upgrades from the W Seattle where I rack up about 30 nights a year.