jkuok

Yes it is, after rereading the status match at Grand Hyatt, I think I will give it a pass for now.

Real pain in the ... to get there from Hong Kong

travelswithmyself

I just wanna say with a surname like yours, you'd think you wouldn't need to do mattress runs LOL

*joking*

clarkef

Why are you expected to spend the night?

jkuok

lol didn't know my surname has any special meaning except it sound strange and no one know how to pronounce it...

travelswithmyself

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kuok

travelswithmyself

Well the T&Cs actually state the three conditions to make a stay eligible:

SPG Member provides his/her SPG Member number at the time of reservation or at check-in and stays in one of the reserved guest rooms and pays for the charges

So it depends on what your definition of "stay" is :P

jkuok

haha I wish I was that rich, sadly we arent related


So whats SPG definition of a stay? I mean staying for a night out of 20 is a stay just as taking a bite out of a burger is tasting it

RogerD408

Not to speak for SPG, but let's face it, the traditional definition is spending each night between check in and check out. Yes, some of us may work weird hours and those spent awake vs. asleep can be very different. And some may choose to use a hotel room for something other than sleeping (work or play). The loyalty programs try to carry those definitions over to apply for earning criteria. Not to turn this thread into a political debate, but this is just like other areas where religious definitions are used to determine government services when there is supposed to be a separation of church and state.

We all have different definition of a comfortable bed or good food, yet we use those terms in our context regardless how others may use them. So just because the act of paying for a room could be construed as a stay, it may not for SPG. I believe the intent is to reward those actually staying in properties (and possibly spending money onsite), not the fact that you paid x $'s over a period of time.

As long as the rules are imprecise, bend them and twist them to your heart's content. Don't get too upset if they pull the program or close those loopholes.

writerguyfl

If Housekeeping enters a rooms on check-out day and see that the room appears as though no one used it, they may report it. Thinking they made a mistake and accidentally checked in someone who wasn't there, the Front Desk may reverse the change.

Will that happen at many hotels? Certainly not. But, it's still a possibility. (That was how we handled the situation at both of the hotels in which I worked.)

clarkef

I guess.

I see it differently. I read that as saying that the room is for your personal use, i.e. that you are exercising dominion and control (ok. a little legalese) as opposed to getting a room for someone else.

PayItForward

I hope they will always clean the room even if it does not looked used between guests.

Dr. HFH

Yes. If it were only about the room revenue, you could just send in a check annually. Would be cheaper for the hotels, too, because they wouldn't have to service the room or take it out of inventory for your nights.


Easily a topic for its own thread!!

clarkef

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree.

Hotels and their owners are not your friends, buddies or lovers. They are businesses to make money. Loyalty programs are brilliant marketing programs designed to incentivize travelers to spend their travel dollars at one's hotel by "rewarding" large expenditures. But it seems somewhat gauche to come out and directly say that "we reward big spenders" so they devised a program to achieve that objective...albeit through the side door, i.e. more nights roughly translate to more money spent...all things being equal. It's not a one to one correlation, but it's close enough.

Consider, many chains provide status through other means such as co-branded credit cards which require little or no actual butts-in-beds nights to qualify. Better yet, some chains "reward" the guests with fewer points (Marriott properties especially). Why? The lack of ancillary revenue. No restaurant, room service, etc. at say, the Residence Inn. Even the 4 pts only gives 250 points as a plat amenity.

My favorite though is HHONORS which, much like airlines, threw away this pretense and permits status through expenditures. Spend 10K in one or many night and achieve Diamond Status.

Don't get me wrong. I am a happy recipient. I purposely chose Starwood hotels because the perks stretch my travel dollars. I will be staying at a Starwood this weekend. The free breakfast for 2 is a $44 nightly value to me.

Vulcan

"Stay" is undefined. Is it 12 hours, 6 hours, 2 minutes, etc. What if I went to my room, combed my hair, left for a meeting and did not get back until the next morning when I left for the airport immediately on my return? Did I ''stay"? I say yes. SPG got my $$$$

RogerD408

I would hate to see the T&Cs that would be required to cover every possible corner case. No one would have the time to read them all, let alone a property able to enforce them all. And no matter what, YMMV, as anything we say here is speculation at best, even if backed by experience. The same agent at the same property should do the same thing given the same situation, but there are many reports that some just don't.

We use terms that have generally accepted definitions. Particular circumstances can tweak those definitions. If you fry an egg, it would be considered breakfast, but if you put that same egg on a sandwich then it can be lunch or dinner.