coolfish1103

Well, I had a similar issue for W St. Petersburg and eventually it went through. I didn't bother re-booking myself cause by the time I know the W is leaving all the similar rated hotels were skyrocket in price. It was for World Cup dates.

I just let the platinum liason team work their way through and they placed me in an alternative luxury hotel, but no Platinum benefit though as it was not SPG affiliated and the corporate would not budge on giving stay and nights citing terms & conditions. Basically, you get a place to lodge.

I did hear others got placed in the Marriott Courtyards on different dates, so the treatment could be extremely different depending on each cases.

MSPeconomist

One suspects that your SPG status helped.

coolfish1103

That's definitely not the case.

There were lifetime plats whom got placed in Courtyard, with different dates.

Dr. HFH

No possibility that you just happen to have an Ambassador who is not performing to requirements. Must be the entire program.

thomasito

My Ambassador even informed me about not allowed to contact Deactivation team or help in this regards. Ambassadors have much less "power" then people might think or that is advertised.

MSPeconomist

RogerD408

I would escalate this issue. Just the name of the program touts they get to speak on your behalf within SPG. Sounds like he/she wanted out. General peeve with today's support environment.

Dr. HFH

I'm sorry, -- your Ambassador is "not allowed to ... help"? I have difficulty believing that there's not more to this story. I'd love to hear from the Lurkers on this.

Starwood Lurker

The fact is this...no one...and I mean no one...is able to handle a deactivation situation. All that anyone who is not on the deactivation team can do is bring it to that team's attention. But, that is it. From there on, the deactivation team takes over and no one else can be involved.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC

[email protected]

Dr. HFH

Thanks for your usual prompt and informative reply, William. You and your team are the reason I've been so loyal to Starwood since I started traveling (and I believe that last night I hit LT PLT!!). It's easy to find lots of nice hotels. Not so easy to find a hotel brand with a person/team who has the ear of top management and is always there, ready and willing to lend a hand. Kudos to you and your team. Hope that you all stay put after Marriott takes over completely!

maisondubonheur

Here is my last experience with the de-activation team. They are in St Thomas, Ontario, and they are only 4-5 of them. I'm sure the W St petersburg must have been a heavy duty for them. In my case, very nice phone call and email follow up...professional and creative. For the moment, they still don't have access to theMarriott inventory. Sound kind of crazy...but basically we had to play with points in order for me to book a room at the Courtyard next door instead of the Sheraton. All process was nicely done in less than 48 hours.

What I truly cannot understand is the lady told me she was ended my case 24 hours earlier....while I have been contacted on repeated time my Ambassador over 3 weeks ahead. Is being Ambassador level not supposed to simply smooth issues?

mikeyyz

Just a +1 for this hotel though, stayed there about 18 months ago and had a great stay. It was super cheap on JetSetter.com and no brand options around the area - I think this was before they joined SPG booking via DH. Anyway... might want to consider a direct booking. The attached restaurant is a gem and we had some of the best meals there for my mom's birthday trip... and were lucky to get a balloon ride on our last day with winds having cancelled the previous 5 days.