cmallett

Starwood Lurker... here is an example of a blatant lie from the Westin Essex hotel in NYC.....

Following the response I received from the GM as follows... I checked reservations online and came up with 4 full suites with park view for my reservation dates.....

Give me a break... I am taking my wife for our 25th wedding anniversary and this is the level of service?

Greatly appreciate anything you can do to intervene... considering I was trying to be proactive as opposed to reactive like every one in Flyertalk discussions.

Regards, Charlie Mallett SPG Platinum

----- Original Message -----
From: Charles Mallett
To: Morgan, Robert
Cc: LoTurco, Rebecca
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 3:29 PM
Subject: Re: Reservations for 25th Anniversary celebration


There must be some confusion.... when I look up reservations online it shows several full suites with park view available...

It appears I will take this up with the onsite staff upon my arrival....

And if not satisfied I will contact Starwood corporate customer service direct to handle...

It will be unfortunate if I have to seek corporate assistance to fix what appears to be a ample supply of luxury suites.

Respectfully
----- Original Message -----
From: Morgan, Robert
To: Charles Mallett
Cc: LoTurco, Rebecca
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 2:49 PM
Subject: RE: Reservations for 25th Anniversary celebration


Mr. Mallett, Congratulations on your 25th Anniversary! I have two options for you for your stay. First, I have a nice King bedded room overlooking Central Park. Secondly, I do have a Junior Suite available BUT it does not have a view of Central Park. Please let me know what would be the best room for you and your wife. Thanks




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Charles Mallett [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 3:34 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Reservations for 25th Anniversary celebration



Mr. Morgan, my wife and I will staying at your hotel on September 4th for 2 nights and I would like to request your finest accommodations in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary... We were married on September 6, 1980...



Thank you in advance for making our stay most memorable. Our reservation is as follows...



Sincerely, Charlie & Karen Mallett

Starwood Lurker

I don't know. Park view suites don't sound like standard suites to me. Checking on what is available currently there may or may not be 4 standard suites available. It is a little confusing because the room types I can see look like parlour rooms, not full suites. These would be rooms added to a regular room to make a suite.

Regardless, this is still not a violation of SPG Terms and Conditions, yet. September 4th is two days away and you haven't checked in yet. So, the hotel is not obligated to upgrade you in advance, even if it is a special occasion. With two days to go and only 4 standard suites (maybe), they are probably thinking they are going to sell them.

I think the manager is offering to upgrade you in advance to what he is willing to sacrifice. Apparently, he isn't willing to sacrifice a suite at this early date.

Now, if the suites remain unsold the nights you are there and they don't upgrade you at check-in, then that would be a violation I can look into. But I will need your SPG account number to do so.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

stydie

Website and reservation line have been showing MULTIPLE urban suites with terraces since yesterday, still showing them today. Desk worker declined to upgrade me at check-in last night, despite the fact that I'm platinum and I offered to put him on the phone with a reservation specialist who verified the suites were available.

I'm going to see what I can do tonight when I get back to the hotel - I'm pretty peeved right now, though.

TahitiBoy

Again you're only entitled to a standard suite, and I'm betting an Urban Suite is out of that consideration. Do you ask?

stydie

Urban suite is the "standard" suite. Gotta love the W's and their room naming conventions. I'm in a standard room right now.

The upgraded suites at the Court are called "mega suites" (heh) - I'll be happy with an urban suite with a terrace.

Sorry for the confusion - William has contacted me regarding this matter and they should be taking care of it. Thanks, William!

stydie

They managed to "find" me a suite last night, but it turned out to be smoking. So I'm tired from not sleeping and I have a sore throat... stopped by the desk today and asked to be transferred to a non-smoking suite - they said it wouldn't be a problem and my stuff would be in the new room by the time I got home tonight.

At least they resolved it - but I had to haggle like I was buying a used car and move rooms twice. Oh well...

geisman

I just got back from a 3 year TDY for the Country on one of its war efforts... prior to this TDY I spent most of my life in hotels including 40-50 nights a year in Starwoods'.

Since returning to my normal work routine, I have begun to spend alot of nights on the road again. But Starwood was unwilling (despite all I endured in this war) to return me my platinum status again! All the other programs I achieved platinum status did almost immediately and were very understanding.

Since I returned to the Road again i've spent about 12 nights so far in 3 months at starwood and about 40 at others.. Starwoods haven't all been credited yet ...

I love starwood hotels for their awards program and the nicer quality hotels. I would prefer to spend all my nights there, but don't because Hyatt and Marriott award me so much better...

Is there something that can be done?

bigjim

Other than 38 more nights or a total of 25 stays? Probably not. @:-)

100,000miler

Last year I did very poorly on upgrades with SPG so I decided to try IC and I was made a Royal Ambassador member--their inner most Plat level. I have been disappointed with this program.

This year I am doing quite a bit better on up/g with SPG, (other than that darn Westin at Times Square which I hated and one or two others) but I think I am going to return to SPG as my hotel chain of preference. It is a better organized system on the whole from other chains IMO. I will renew my Plat status again this year for the xxxth year in a row.

Wish they had a lifetime offering as I should qualify.

I also wish they had more affordable options in Europe. Most of the SPG properties are 5 star and well beyond my budget for stays esp given currency rates. That is my 2 cents worth.

Motion122

Currently staying at the Sheraton Grand Tai Ping Yang Hotel in Shanghai. Reservation made using pts. As SPG Platinum only offered a king-bed smoking room on the 7th floor(guest rooms starts at the 6th). Twice I inquired about an upgraded room and was told the hotel is sold out. Dummy booking revealed plenty of guest rooms, even rooms on the club floor and various suites. Platinum amenity was not offered at check-in, was told by one clerk no Platinum amenity for pts stay, but was resolved by the front desk manager.

What do you guys do in a situation when the front desk straight out lied about no upgraded rooms available?

fly co to see the yanks

call the Platinum Concierge immediately and they can contact the hotel directly/intercede on your behalf. remember, the Platinum Concierges can see inventory. then, file a complaint with Customer Care (or whatever it's called). have them open a file.

make sure you mention that the hotel wouldn't even give you your amenity until the manager interceded. it will show that some re-training is necessary.

00flyer00

1. My stay at Vancouver Sheraton Wall Centre was horrible. I did get an upgrade to a nice suite only after I called SPG Plat for help. The front desk manager (had a name tag that said manager) told me there were no rooms available for upgrades and that 10th floor was the highest level they can go with rooms avaiable (the hotel is about 40 stories tall). I called there bluff and called SPG. A room suddenly became avaiable.

2. My stay at Sheraton Sands FL was not upgraded at all.

ajnaro

I had the opposite experience at this hotel -- suite upgrade twice recently (once on a stay using SPG points for payment) without having to ask. Lounge access for continental breakfast and cocktails was also provided, although all drinks, whether containing alcohol or not, were charged.

It seems that Starwood has a general problem with consistency and standardization. Apparently this particular hotel has the same problem.

Helena Handbaskets

I stayed at the Sheraton North Charleston recently, and said to the check-in agent, "I anticipate that I'll be platinum next time I visit -- do you have suites here, or is the club floor the highest upgrade available?"

Her response was, "We only upgrade platinums to suites when the hotel is otherwise completely full. If we're not full, platinums only get top floor club level rooms."

Isn't this hotel's stated policy in contradiction to SPG's upgrade policy? If so, can it be fixed before I return (not sure when that might be -- maybe spring 2006, maybe much later).

Starwood Lurker

I'll report this to the SPG Hotel Coordinators, but seeing as there has not technically been a violation of the Terms and Conditions of Membership, I'm not sure what impact it will have on a stay in spring of 2006. At least it will let them know we are aware of some anomalies at their property and give us some ammunition should a violation actually occur.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]