keeblet

I stay at this hotel on a fairly frequent basis and am nearly always told that an upgrade to a suite is not available nor an upgrade to one of the club floors - this despite specific requests in my reservation and specific requests at checkin. Yet I know for a fact that there are suite available as I've had colleagues get one after my check-in, etc. My last visit there I was explicitly told that none were available and given a regular room. After getting sent to to (clearly) smoking rooms, I was reassigned to - guess what - a suite! So clearly they were available. The hotel is so close to my office in Stamford, but I avoid staying there at all costs because it's always a negative experience at check in.

skofarrell

The T&C's say "Our Best Room: You'll automatically be upgraded to our best available guest room at check-in." Clearly there were better rooms, they did not want to give one to me because of my rate. Weekdays in Feb at WDW (even at "business" hotels like the Swan/Dolphin) are not really that busy. My wife and I were up at 6am the next day to walk, there were papers at less than half the rooms on our floor.

In addition, I don't see being on the Club Floor itself as an upgrade as the T&C's also say: "Complimentary Access: Enjoy complimentary access to the hotel gym and Executive and Club Level floors at Westin® and Sheraton® Hotels & Resorts." We would have had access to the club regardless...

bigjim

But, you had a room on the club floor, not just access to the club... In addition, there is a difference between best available guest room and a suite... Plus, if you're a platinum, the suite upgrades are very, very limited. If you haven't figured it out, I'm playing devil's advocate here. Although, I do apologize for calling SPG the devil.

skofarrell

I understand. Keep in mind that as a Plat, I've had some amazing suite upgrades. The Westin Cincinnati and the Hollywood Fla Diplomat being at the top of the list for recognizing Platinum status.

The Swan club floor rooms are no different than the other standard rooms in the hotel. They have two club floors. We were on 11, the club itself is on 12, so we still had to use the elevator or stairs to access the club.

I'm irritated because there are 5 different levels of suites in the facility (Junior, Executive, Grand, Governor, and Presidential). Not staying at a peak time, I think they could have shaken a junior suite loose if they wanted to. Clearly they did not. In other words, a standard club level room right next to the noisy elevator was not their "best room".

Just letting others know that this is another example of a Starwood hotel that makes up policy as they go...

PrivatePilot

I've stayed at the Sheraton Long Island so many times as a Platinum and very rarely got upgraded.. somtimes I would get a club floor (when there were suites avalable...) but I even had to ask for those. Once, after the checked me in, I called the Platinum Conceirge who looked up availability and confirmed there were much better rooms available than what they assigned me to... so they wrote a complaint...

A few days ago (as a new GOLD), I get upgraded to a mini-suite...

Don't know they cleaned up their act or if they treat Golds better than Platinum?

sergeic

(I overlooked this thread earlier and made another post - this should belong here)

This was the third time I stayed at this property. As a plat, I've always been upgraded to a Grand Deluxe Room. For the past 2 stays, I was told that suites were occupied. This past Tuesday, I decided to call the hotel before my arrival and ask them if a suite was available. The front desk clerk told me that my rate was not eligible for a suite upgrade, and that I've already been upgraded to an Ocean view room. Since I've booked directly from spg.com at 130+, I asked for the front desk manager. I explained to them that suite upgrade for plats is one of the rules that they have to follow, if a suite is available. Mr. Watani, the front desk manager, explained to me that plat upgrade is only to the next category of rooms, including suites. Since the rate I booked was for a Deluxe room, the upgrade would therefore be Grand deluxe rooms, not a suite. He also explained that occupancy was high, and that they've had a lot of walk-in guests. Then I was offered to upgrade to a suite for 7000 points (yes, it's available). I politely declined and hung up.

Then, I called up the plat concierge, hoping that they could help me out with the situation. Because of the time difference, it took quite long until someone picked up the phone. I explained to the customer representative about the situation, and he did not seem to understand. I then pointed out about the suite upgrade upon availability rule for plats, he had to *verify* that --- after 5 minutes, Larry the CR, found that rule in his handbook. He then told me that he'd let the hotel aware of this rule. I thanked him, and hung up.

Arriving at the hotel at around 1pm, I expected troubles. I met with the assistant manager, Carlos, who received the call from Larry, the PC CR. He explained to me that there were no suites available. Upon pointing out that Mr. Watani offered me a sutie upgrade for 7000 points, Carlos became very argumentative. The discussion got a little heated and he dug out the photocopied handbook, with the plat upgrade paragraph highlighted. It sure seemed that they've used that quite a lot to turn down plat upgrades. Carlos pointed at the word *specialty*, which was highlighted in a different color, and he claimed that the suite available was considered a specialty suite, and was therefore not eligible for upgrade. Only standard suites, named executive suites, are available for plats. Then, he reiterated that there are a lot of guests in Macau who might walk-in and pay for the suite. At this point, someone came up to Carlos, Carlos told him to complete a *dummy checkin*. I didn't know what that meant, but it just seemed to be something to do with my room.

I was very annoyed at the point, and asked them for the tariff table to see the rate difference between the *standard* suite, which they claim was occupied, and the deluxe suite, which they claimed was a specialty suite. Here are the rooms they offer at rack rate in USD:

Deluxe mountain view - 295
Deluxe ocean view - 308

Grand Deluxe mountain - 320
Grand Deluxe ocean - 333

Executive suite - 641 - 2 available
Deluxe suite - 705 - 6 available

Chairman suite - 2948 - 1 available
Presidential suite - 3204 - 1 available

It was quite apparent that they've made up the specialty suite argument a few minutes before I arrived, after receiving the call from Larry. I then asked them to call the PC. They called up Starwood Corporate office in Singapore. Instead of handing the phone to me, he chose to explain his side of the story to the CR first. Then, CR asked to speak to me, and he passed the phone to me. The lady on the line was very polite and patient. She told me that she would look for some other contacts at the hotel to straighten the situation. She asked for my cell number and promised to call me back ASAP. I was really tired of this whole thing by the end of the call. Instead of offering me some kind of comp, Carlos suggested that I should get lunch, and leave my luggages with him. Well, that's all I could do at that point.

You've guessed it - the CR in Singapore never called me. I kind of expected that, and double checked that she got the right number. But nope, no calls until 5. Then I decided to drive back and complete my check-in, whichever room they are going to put me in. I was at the check-in desk, and it seemed like everyone knew who I was, the trouble maker, and I did get that attitude from the front desk clerk. I asked for the manager, and see what he got to say about this. Eric, the marketing manager, greeted me and explained the whole situation tactfully. He apologized about all that mess, but could not do much. I was quite surprised that he actually apologized politely. Never had I felt that with the other 2 managers. I accepted the explanation, and got my keys. The room was so so, just as the last stays. And by the way, I was upgraded to the same room as a Gold, a couple of years back.

To sum it all up, I was turned down for a suite upgrade for the following reasons:

1. rate not qualified for suite upgrade
2. plat upgrade is for one category up only
3. high occupancy, someone might walk-in and pay $705 for the suite
4. 7000 points needed for suite upgrade
5. no suites available
6. only deluxe suites available, and they are considered "specialty" suite

After the stay, out of curiosity, I called up PC and asked them for executive suite availability. As I've expected - zero - for the next month, and zero, for 2 days I picked randomly in September.

I have 2 concerns:

1. I've always been upgraded to executive and deluxe suites at asian SPG properties, and have never heard that deluxe suites are considered specialty. From what I heard from the managers, deluxe and executive suites are only different by view, ocean and mountain respectively. That is also reflected in the small 10% difference in rate, whereas chairman and presidential are 5 times more than *standard*s. can hotels name what suites are *specialty* at their liberty?

2. Executive suites are *booked up* for the next few months, whereas deluxe suites are available for most days. Can hotels play with availability to wait for walk-ins? Is the SPG reservation availability system tied to accounting systems? Can manager *dummy checkin* some fictious customers to occupy rooms?

I hope that lurker is around to pick up this thread. I don't know if I should write a letter to the GM at the property or *wood corporate office...

Markie

5-6 March 2005
EUR205 rate

Booked bay view room, given rear street view room so not only no upgrade but not even the room I had booked.
Told that this was all they had.
No Platinum amenity either needless to say.

suitcasejockey

No upgrade in Westin Grand BKK. Sitting in a regular room right now. Nice place though - just a standard room. I am here for a client's wedding, and everyone else is in a REALLY NICE all suites hotel a mile down the street, paying less than half what I am paying and enjoying rooms 2-3 times the size of mine. They were laughing at the SPG plat/hhonors gold/hyatt gold/marriott gold guy with the small room and the big bill.

KenF

I've stayed at the Westin Macau and, like you, failed to get a Suite upgrade. I let it go at the time because the hotel did really seem to be very full on our day of arrival, and I became aware that our room type request may have been conflicting with any Upgrade (We wanted an Ocean View, all of the Exec suites are on the Beach side).

However, from the information I have gleaned from this fine board over the years (and used very effectively to prize suites out of the clenched fists of unwilling front desk managers) there is one basic rule that applies for Plat upgrades (as I understand it):

Platinum Upgrades come from the same inventory that points-based Suite upgrades come from. I.e. if you are staying at a Cat 3 hotel, there will be a rate code "SPG3SU" that is used if someone is daft enough to pay double the redemption rate for a suite. These are the same suites that are considered by SPG to be available for Plat. Upgrades (many properties just allow any suite to be used, or use common sense, but I'm talking about the rules here). So, as far as I can see, if the property said that they had suites available for 7000 *Points, then they are in the wrong, as any Suite available for redemption must also be available for Plat. Upgrade.

When arriving at a Hotel I expect to be "troublesome" I call SPG prior to arrival and ask them to check inventory for point upgrades. Most of the Plat. Concierges are street-wise enough to know that you should not need to do such an Upgrade with points as Plat., some even offer to ring the Hotel

Point is, I think you have a legitimate complaint here, and I do begin to wonder if I was too forgiving on my last visit to this Hotel.

Mind you, I scored a suite upgrade at the Westin Tokyo last year (using the above strategy and some very polite, asian style, firm negotiation), and I undertand that is on a par with collecting a full bucket of rocking horse manure within SPG!

Be interested to see what William has to say, and what the outcome is.

Ken.

"What part of >UPGRADE< don't you understand?" - Flyertalk T-Shirt I've never had the guts to wear when checking in

pixuk

After a couple of years without Platinum, I'm now back - and it's interesting to see this thread is still alive and well.

Has anyone had any experience of the Sheraton Universal in LA or Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf in SF? I'm booked for a couple of trips in June and would be delighted to know if they have any problems recognising Platinum. Being a polite Brit, it irks me to have to beg/shout at check in, and strictly speaking it shouldn't be necessary - but any prior warning of what to expect would be much appreciated.

Pete

Markie

Please see this thread for details:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ghlight=DUBLIN

paul577

I stayed 5 nights at the Westin Taipei in March...no upgrade, just the room for which I had paid a fairly hefty sum. Not even on the SPG floor. But better treatment at the Westin than at the dreadful Lai Lai (now taipei) Sheraton...a dark and dingy, musty hovel of a room there on my last stay. I have had problems getting anything remotely like an upgrade at the Singapore Sheraton ( in stark contrast to the wonderful treatment at the Westin Stamford and Plaza, unfortunately now Swisshotel properties). However, on my last 2 or 3 stays they have lifted their game significantly( possibly after I " spat the dummy" when I couldn't even get a morning newspaper 3 stays running) and now I see some benefits being offered, although suite upgrades remain very rare. Out of frustration I had started to use the Hyatt but if things continue to impove at the Sheraton I will stay with it. Other properties in Asia are pretty good at platinum benefits ( Royal Orchid Bangkok is outstanding, Sheraton Saigon also great and a wonderful hotel, Westin in Kuala Lumpur very good...so too the Sheraton Imperial, Sheraton Subang , HK, Chiang Mai, Westin Melbourne). The Great Sheraton in Beijing usually offers Junior Suites. The Four Points in Sydney often upgrades and is very good value for Sydney. The Taiping Yang in Shanghai offered good benefits but is not convenient since the airport moved to Pudong and in any event it is now way too expensive. Cheers.

KenF

I'd like to preface these comments by saying that, unlike some others on this board, we really like this hotel - the location suits us, the renovations, now that they are complete, have made a major positive impact on the overall feel of the hotel, and, given the circumstances, the way that they have dealt with lounge access for Platinum members is quite "innovative" when some other hotels would just have said "tough - our lounge has butler service, so it is outside the program.

However, I'm concerned with my latest experience:

Holding a res. for a towers room - hotel has been showing availability for towers suites (standard exec. suite and above) for our stay for some time. Called the Plat. desk this morning and there was still availability for a suite upgrade with points (told that I didn't have enough points, as it cost 25K per night, which is wrong for a Cat 4 hotel, but that's another matter.....!)

Arrived and told we'd been upgraded to a D/L harbour room, explained that we would prefer a suite, as it was a "special" trip for me, and I am travelling with my girlfriend, lots of baggage and very demanding teddy bear (see trip report )

Advised that:

Hotel does not offer suite upgrade for points in Towers, only in main hotel, so checking for points upgrade availability is pointless (pun unintended)

No suite upgrade as Towers is sold out (if so, wouldn't it make sense to upgrade us and regain an extra room to sell?!)

Best available is a Junior suite with a Queen bed - confused as we've previously been upgraded to a king bedded suite in the Towers, and was under the impression that this was the "standard" suite.

Obviously, we like the place, but there has to be limits to loyalty - I was here last week, on the eve of my 40th birthday, and the hotel didn't manage an upgrade for us, and apologised that they did not believe the notes from the Plat. desk as their system showed a different date for my birthday?! Since we were only here for one night last week, I applied the benefit of the doubt, but I have to say that paying rack rate to stay in a hotel to gain SPG benefits that the hotel does not seem willing to offer is begining to grate more that a little.

So:

Previous posts about the Sheraton HKG have indicated that the hotel justifies it's "no towers upgrade" policy on the basis that it runs the two hotels as seperate properties - if this is the case, can they still be compliant if they do not offer Towers suites attached to the "suite upgrade" rate plan? Isn't this a case of trying to have your cake and eat it?

If there is no chance of an upgrade with a towers booking, wouldn't we all be better off saving the money and booking into the main hotel - thus removing the whole point of the loyalty programme?

I'm honestly interested as to where the SPG4SU rooms that I was told by the plat. desk were available have gone between 9:45 and check-in - I realise that it's POSSIBLE that they've all been sold, but I'm sure you can imagine I'm a little sceptical....

My stay dates are 12th-17th April - If you want to check this out Will, I'm happy to give you more details by P.M., or you will probably be able to locate my res. on the basis that the 1st 2 nights are on an SPG50 and the rest are at the full whack.

We're holding a CONFIRMED suite at the Mandarin for an overall saving of HKD 3,300 - we'd have been happy to give the extra money to this otherwise excellent Starwood property if they were not so darn tight fisted with rooms that they do not appear to be able to sell anyway! I guess I'll make a decision on a hotel move tommorow morning.... (Oh and my friends in HKG think I'm barmy to even consider staying here if I can get a better deal at the MO, but there you go!)

Ken.

"You'll get that suite when you pry it from my cold, dead, hands"
"Your offer is acceptable...." - A slight paraphrase of "Men in Black"

skeena1

Five nights on cash and points. Welcome amenity was offered and posted fairly quickly. Nothing for an upgrade. Room was very plain, certainly not on Club Floor. $5.00 bottles of water didn't cut it. Three mints at turndown were the extent of my Platinum benefits.

ac777

1.Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel and Conference Centre-- 3 stays in April but no suites-- did get lounge access and good rooms with view and the staff were very good--overall a great hotel.
2. Sheraton Mar Del Plata-- no suite but hotel was fully booked. They offered me an extra amenity-- I chose the wine but never got it.
3. Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Toronto Airport-- 2 stays in 4 days. U/G to Exec Floor but no suites.

So getting a suite has been impossible in my last 5 stays at the Sheraton Chain but the points posted fast.