moondog

You can probably score the Westin for Y750 per night if you play your cards right, but why would you not want a serviced apartment that is attached to a hotel? You'll live better and save a solid $2,000. Shanghai Centre (Portman) is my favorite.

roverkt

Thanks moondog, will check that out as an option too. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Was looking out first for an SPG property since given we're now at the half year mark, and I might have to spend three months in Shanghai, this means I'll have less than three months to get enough nights to renew plat status.

I'll have to weigh the pros and cons so the information posted here has been helpful.

Dr. HFH

Neither, actually. What I meant was that perhaps the hotel wouldn't give you the type of break you seek until it knows that you're really going to be staying for an extended period. So I was thinking that maybe they'll charge you the regular rate first, then if you actually do stay, perhaps issue a credit against your charge card after the first month and lower the rate for the rest of your stay, effectively giving you a lower rate retroactively once they know that you're not blowing smoke about the length of your stay.


I'd go to straight to the GM. S/he has the authority to give you an immediate answer. If the answer's no, then s/he has the authority to change the answer if your powers of persuasion are good enough. There'll be no, "Let me speak with my manager about that and get back to you."

And if you're going to be there for an extended period, you definitely want some type of personal relationship with the GM. There's nothing quantifiable and tangible, but having the GM know you and that you're spending a lot of time at the property never hurts.

MSPeconomist

OP might want to consider negotiating perks as well as rate.

Be sure to note that if your entire stay lasts 90-91 days or more, even if you have several reservations, you will earn no points, except maybe for F & B, and no night/stay credits at all. The way to avoid this is to completely check out for at least one night and then return. If you absolutely must stay over 90 days, you might as well negotiate away your points since you won't get them anyway.

BTW, my experience with staying in a USA LC property for about two and a half months is that they did not bill me weekly or even monthly, although they obviously checked that AmEx was going to authorize the amount. If I had used a credit card, they presumably would have blocked off some of my credit limit.