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I emerge from this thread with a new appreciation for room allocation. Thanks for sharing how it's like on the other side, slidergirl!
It's insights like these that balance out the discussions on FT ^ |
Originally Posted by Coathanger
(Post 28256732)
I emerge from this thread with a new appreciation for room allocation. Thanks for sharing how it's like on the other side, slidergirl!
It's insights like these that balance out the discussions on FT ^ |
Originally Posted by worldtraveller73
(Post 28259965)
Totally agreed. A worthwhile discussion and an understanding of what happens in hotels with high occupancy.
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Originally Posted by daniellam
(Post 28261544)
Just as a data point, I find that I almost always get upgraded on stays that are of 1-2 nights. For stays that are 3-4 nights, I sometimes get upgraded while on stays for say 5-7 days it gets rare (unless it is low season).
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Originally Posted by Score8
(Post 28256626)
I think part of the disconnect here is that, as we should have suspected if paying attention or actually knew, there is no such thing as 'best room at check-in.' There's just no way that with all of the variables that Slidergirl has been nice enough to explain, that everything could be left to arrival time. Even the little things like "the manager wants to write a personal note that is left in Plats rooms" could cause all sorts of issues if the guests are moved around based on arrival times rather than pre-blocked rooms.
My only pet peeve is that when traveling with lower or no status companions and we all have exactly the same checkin and departure times that they receive superior rooms. It happens quite a bit, actually, in capacity constrained hotels. In my appraisal, this should happen zero percent of the time. In Slidergirls defense, I would rather mine coal than have to be the front desk/room manager for a hotel like the Westin Maui, as an example. The number of preferred guests, points stays and entitlements/requests has to be grueling. FHR is an OK program for getting a little boost (especially when combining with status), but it´s not the best. As a personal data point, and a data point with clients: I almost always find that the best combination is booking a Starwood Luxury Privileges rate in conjunction with some level of status, preferably Plat. This is better than booking FHR, or Virtuoso for that matter. On the hierarchy of ´important bookings,´and talking with hotel employees/sales teams, SPG LP is always looked at as the first in priority - best rooms, most attention, more exceptions made for clientele, etc. For example, it has a very strict no-walk policy...something FHR doesn´t even touch on. SPG LP is basically Starwood´s ´own´ version of FHR, so combining that with status is a great combo. I´m always confounded when people book FHR (or V) instead of SPG Luxury Privileges... If you have status, this is even more of a no brainer. |
Also getting into this thread a little late. What about revenue people who are "serial BRGers"? Do hotels hate them? Would they fall somewhere between someone who pays full price, and someone on a points stay on the upgrade list? Or are they the lowest of the low? :)
Regarding the question of 2 beds, that's what I usually book because I'm often traveling with friends. However, I ALWAYS put in the comments section "Prefer 2 beds, but will take 1 for suite upgrade". No ambiguity! @:-) |
Originally Posted by margarita girl
(Post 28268618)
Also getting into this thread a little late. What about revenue people who are "serial BRGers"? Do hotels hate them? Would they fall somewhere between someone who pays full price, and someone on a points stay on the upgrade list? Or are they the lowest of the low? :)
I think it would look something like this: 1. SPG Luxury Privileges 2. Virtuoso 3. FHR 4. Signature 5. Full price/BAR 6. BRGers and-or cash + points 7. Full point redeemers |
Originally Posted by slidergirl
(Post 28238288)
How do you tell a guest who has booked that room with 2 queen beds because she needs 2 queen beds vs some cheap plat who booked it because it was the cheapest room available and is expecting to be upgraded into a suite for just himself? Well, look at the # of people on the reservation. Wait. Some people never change that data. Seen cases where dad is so used to booking for 1 for himself on business. Dad books for the family of 4, forgets to change the number of guests from his usual 1 to 4. Happens a lot. Someone forgets to change the number of guests from 2 to 1 and books the cheap queen room. expecting to get upgraded to a suite for himself. Happens a lot. Both of these show the damned if you do, damned if you don't on an upgrade.
But now isn't there a little box you can tick saying you want a bigger room even if it is only 1 bed? Or something that would like 2 or 1 bed (if you chose the other)? I might be confusing Marriott vs SPG websites/apps. |
Originally Posted by 5DMarkIIguy
(Post 28238565)
You are contradicting yourself here. If hotels truly pre-block the rooms, and then deal with housekeeping status, that is just extreme stupidity. Imagine guest A get pre-blocked into super deluxe room 205. When guest A arrives, room 205 is not ready, but room 305 is ready, are you saying that they will tell guest A to wait a couple of hours. What dumb hotel do this so I can avoid at all cost.
Would guest A prefer to wait for an upgrade or just to get a regular room right now? Do you know that beforehand? What common sense should tell you is the night before, run a report on room availability pre-block all paying non-status customers into their booked rooms. if they paid for a room with a view, or balcony or whatever, that's when they get assigned to these room types. pre-block status guests, FHR guests into the new room categories. if they are already in the new categories, when they show up, check them into any clean room in that category. Take all the thinking out of these front desk and let the computer do the room assignment. So if you upgraded all the suites, then what if someone shows up day of and wants a suite? None available? Or they book after midnight (after you ran your "room availability" report)? A guest who booked 2 queen beds will get 2 queen beds, if has status, will get upgraded to the next level with 2 queen beds. A cheap plat who booked 2 queen beds should be honored with 2 queen beds. And upgraded to the next level with 2 queen beds. Why do you need to decide for him if he's booking the cheapest room or if he's looking for 1 bed? You are not paid to think for him how he booked his room. You are paid to follow the program guideline. If the dad is booking for 1 and showing up with 4, why are you damned if you do or don't? If he has status, upgrade him to the maximum allowed level, and if he doesn't like it, then he can't do much. You don't have to think what he wants. If he shows up, and wants a 2 beds, you can try to accommodate based on his status, but he can't expect a suite with 2 beds. These scenarios are non-sense to me. When you say "he doesn't like it" then why do you care if you upgrade anyone? You don't care about the customer anyway. It doesn't matter why people are upset. They are still customers, and they are upset. Good service tries to make things right, work out a solution, throw the customer a bone (like 5,000 United miles) |
Originally Posted by Score8
(Post 28256626)
I think part of the disconnect here is that, as we should have suspected if paying attention or actually knew, there is no such thing as 'best room at check-in.'
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Originally Posted by s0ssos
(Post 28270898)
There IS a "best room at check-in". Just walk up with your wad of cash, and say, I'd like the best room. Period.
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Originally Posted by s0ssos
(Post 28270885)
What if room 305 is not super-deluxe? The large suites take longer to clean, fyi.
Would guest A prefer to wait for an upgrade or just to get a regular room right now? Do you know that beforehand? What if a guest wants to extend? What do you do then? What if a guest calls in the morning about a late checkout? So if you upgraded all the suites, then what if someone shows up day of and wants a suite? None available? Or they book after midnight (after you ran your "room availability" report)? Say suite 101 has a 4pm check out. That means suite 101 will be available at some point after 5pm or whatever. What's the concern? The report the night before tells you what suite is available the next day. It doesn't matter when the guest check out. The whole point is when the platinum guest check in if there's available suite, he should be upgraded. If he checks in at 2pm, and the suite isn't ready, it isn't ready. He can either wait for it or he can take whatever is available. Now, if someone shows up the day of and wants to pay for the suite, then the suite shouldn't be available for sale anymore, correct? Then how do platinum guest complain when there isn't one available to upgrade? You have a pool of guests eligible for upgrades, but you don't really upgrade them until they check in. This is why the whole thing about pre-assigned rooms for elite guests are so stupid. They should only pre-assign rooms to guests not eligible for upgrade (booked via 3rd party, tours, etc..) from rooms that are readily available (rooms occupied by 3rd party, tours, no status, etc... that have to check out by 11am) They should never pre-assign room to elite guests that can have room movement at the time of check in. Because if you pre-upgrade and assign them from deluxe to super deluxe, you might have to re-assign to premium or suite or whatever. You can write a very clear protocol, and the back end system should take care of room assignment. There is no confusion. Unless there is directive to squeeze money, there's no reason why the upgrade process can't be straight forward. Airlines upgrade is very straight forward. The ranking is algorithm based. Hotel upgrades should be similar. |
Originally Posted by 5DMarkIIguy
(Post 28272796)
Airlines upgrade is very straight forward. The ranking is algorithm based.
I'll take my chances with SPG over the airlines any day. |
Originally Posted by 5DMarkIIguy
(Post 28272796)
The point is both 205 and 305 are super deluxe. If you preassigned someone to 205, and 205 is not ready but 305 is, front desk should immediately put the guest in 305. This is not a what if room 305 is not a super deluxe.
What do you mean? Say suite 101 has a 4pm check out. That means suite 101 will be available at some point after 5pm or whatever. What's the concern? The report the night before tells you what suite is available the next day. It doesn't matter when the guest check out. The whole point is when the platinum guest check in if there's available suite, he should be upgraded. If he checks in at 2pm, and the suite isn't ready, it isn't ready. He can either wait for it or he can take whatever is available. Now, if someone shows up the day of and wants to pay for the suite, then the suite shouldn't be available for sale anymore, correct? Then how do platinum guest complain when there isn't one available to upgrade? You have a pool of guests eligible for upgrades, but you don't really upgrade them until they check in. This is why the whole thing about pre-assigned rooms for elite guests are so stupid. They should only pre-assign rooms to guests not eligible for upgrade (booked via 3rd party, tours, etc..) from rooms that are readily available (rooms occupied by 3rd party, tours, no status, etc... that have to check out by 11am) They should never pre-assign room to elite guests that can have room movement at the time of check in. Because if you pre-upgrade and assign them from deluxe to super deluxe, you might have to re-assign to premium or suite or whatever. You can write a very clear protocol, and the back end system should take care of room assignment. There is no confusion. Unless there is directive to squeeze money, there's no reason why the upgrade process can't be straight forward. Airlines upgrade is very straight forward. The ranking is algorithm based. Hotel upgrades should be similar. |
Originally Posted by silentbob1974
(Post 28273155)
Anyway, it's all going downhill. Elite status means nothing anymore. |
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