Starwood Lurker II

Not that I know of.

[email protected]

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

millere2

I had the same issue twice and many others as well. There are a small number of rooms classified as traditional for award availability. Here is another thread.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...bility-we.html

Herb687

Oops indeed. It's bad enough that Starwood misleads people into believing that SPG awards have last room availability and no blackouts while giving their properties broad latitude to weasel out of offering award rooms. Please, FlyerTalkers, don't proliferate the same misleading marketing.

This board tends to be loaded with Starwood fanboys who get hyper-defensive when you criticize their beloved program. Even so, you will find plenty of posts over the years where people have called out sleazy tactics put in place by Starwood properties to prevent award bookings, deny suite upgrades, and do various other and sundry things that (sometimes) remain technically compliant with the program's T&Cs while violating if not the spirit of the program, certainly the abundant misleading marketing puffery churned out by Starfraud.

3Cforme

Starwood alone makes the rules of SPG. It's necessary for guests to read, understand, and emotionally accept the rules as written. If the program has little value to you - fine - move on.

Herb687

Then Starfraud ought to tone down its marketing message and stop overpromising. It's fine to have rules, quite another to actively market in ways that downplay and sidestep the significant number of caveats and gotchas in the rules.

The fine print should clarify, not contradict, the big print.

And let's not get started on properties that are so non-compliant that they can't even accept the rules as written, when the rules are written so generously in their favor in the first place.

Starwood Lurker II

Thank you for the example you have given. While the property isn't selling its standard room category for cash, they are abiding by the requirement of offering them for free nights redemption.

This has no relation to the claim that higher room categories are available for sale though and SPG has no ruling against hotels not offering standard room categories for cash purchases.

[email protected]

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

neo_781

I think you are getting a bit confused between properties that are gaming the system (or doing the least possible to satisfy the terms and conditions) versus condemning the whole program. While I don't dispute that these 'rogue' properties do exist I will say that in my experience redeeming SPG points has been considerably easier than Marriott or Hilton.

Maybe also its just the type of properties I redeem at? (I typically go for higher end properties, usually not in North America.)

Flews

I have never seen Starwood do this. Can you share specific examples to back up your allegation, please & thanks?

Cheers,

FSU

I am having a similar issue with this property. Only Deluxe rooms for sale on the SPG site, so no points availability. Interestingly, Standard rooms are available on other sites, such as booking.com, just not SPG.

Room rate is only $105 so I booked with $.

I did call the hotel directly to see if they were interested in selling a Deluxe room for more points, but the Revenue Manager would not call me back.