sc flier

Might a guest be denied the right to bring a non-alcoholic drink into the lounge from their room? (I'll be at the Sheraton NY Hotel & Towers later this month. Great breakfast, but purchasing expensive soft drinks in the afternoon made their lounge's happy hour less "happy." Do they serve soft drinks there as single-serve or with free refills? For some reason, I'm thinking that they served soft drinks as 12 oz bottles, but it's been about 2 years since I was there.)

azboy1

If a sticky is created, it would be nice to have other club lounge info included, such as how many guests are allowed per platinum member, menu items, open/closed on weekends, if kids are allowed, etc

ENIAC

Yes. And Hyatt lounges are, on the whole better. But (having done just that last year) SPG is the one I'm going to renew. Hyatt no longer promises lounge access in Asia and Europe. At most hotels you get it only if upgraded. (Same with Hilton, at least with Gold). Asia, particularly Japan, has a lot of great lounges. But you can't count on getting into them with Hyatt. So I'd rather book Starwood, where you can count on the lounge.

On the other hand, Hyatt always gives you a breakfast regardless of whether the hotel even has a lounge, and so if you don't get into the lounge you get breakfast in the restaurant (ParkHyatt Tokyo is a weird exception to this). Whereas SPG is very hit and miss with breakfast.

Having said all that, paying for soda and water really sucks. Free alcohol is not expected in the US, but if there is no free soda then why bother having a lounge in the first place? IMHO, Starwood should set basic lounge standards, and then hotels can choose whether or not they want to bother with a club level. Imagine paying extra for club level and not knowing if you'll get any benefit other than cramming into a noisy little room to pay inflated prices for bottled water!

pwrshift

In April I was at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix and paid the extra $150 a night for a two person admission to their Cloud Room. It included breakfast, mixed drinks & beer etc., afternoon snacks, pre dinner eats and after dinner desserts. Beautiful lounge with several widescreen TV's, card tables, computers to use, etc. Very nice - we got our money's worth as we staggered back to our room.

I guess there's no free lunch anymore...but if you pay a higher rate for a Starwood room to have access to the club I'd want more than a free chair to sit on. JMHO

sbtinme

This is called hitting the nail on the head. Thank you.

grayland

I think that the consensus here is that there is really not much reason to book a club level rate if all you get is a place to sit.
It is really not about the few bucks they are charging for the soda or water...it is the rip off of touting the lounge which would be no different than sitting in the lobby and ordering a soda or water.

I am not sure I remember a recent thread that had so much negative agreement....not even any of the normal cheering squad for the properties.

idahost

Rio Sheraton charges for all carbonated drinks, i.e. Coke

rhetor

Awhile back, at the Isabel Maria in Mexico DF, I was given "access" to the lounge but charged for soft drinks. I've not been back to that hotel for that reason (well...and also because it's a generally crappy hotel )

mauld

I used to be a fairly frequent guest at the Chicago Sheraton & Towers, at their Lounge the charge for a glass of white wine was $7, but at the bar in the lobby it was $5! Needless to say, I'd buy a drink in the lobby and carry it up

Seattlenerd

Agreed. I now consider the Club Lounge access benefit a marginal one, at best. It doesn't sway my decision about where to stay, since there is such variability in the atmosphere and amenities offered.

In many cases, it's anything but a refuge, as it can be filled with lots of families with young kids (at the Sheraton Boston, two were loudly climbing on window sills while staff and parents both ignored them), or folks noisily stuffing down free food. Not exactly a relaxing atmosphere.

Yes, and I know I sound like a curmudgeon. However, "Club Lounge" does sort of imply a place of relaxation.

Rolling Stone

A number of posters now have said that a Club Lounge is only a place to sit now that you have to pay for soft drinks.

I still find the included breakfast each morning and occasionally the afternoon hors d'oeuvres to be of value to me. And I've never been charged for my morning coffee.

Now that more of you will be boycotting the lounges because you can't get a free coke maybe I won't have to wait for a seat for breakfast anymore.

One thing that I sincerely hope doesn't happen is that this thread gets passed along to the powers that be and they start cracking down on those properties that I frequent that are exceeding the standards with their complimentary offerings. Especially the one that still passes out free wine and beer.

thierry

Being both an SPG Platinum and a Hyatt Diamond comparison on lounge access and amenities offered in the lounges are easy for me to do. No question Hyatt is far superior. Although Club access is no longer garanteed in Asia or Europe I have NEVER been denied access even if I had not been upgraded to a RC room. Breakfast was always provided, most of the time in the RC lounge
SPG is much more inconsistent in this respect. Some of the lounges are great and offer all kind of food and beverages free of charge (Buenos Aires Sheraton for example) and others (unfortunately the majority) just a room where you supposedly can relax, but unfortunately as mentionned by Seattlenerd crwded with loud children uncontrolled by their parents.

Nevsky

Perhaps once you know they charge you should bring your own soda (and maybe ask for ice). That might make a point too.

But frankly that should not be necessary, in particular in a Towers Lounge. When I pay extra for a Towers Lounge, the least I expect is a free diet soda.

trekkie

This was what i was thinking when i directed my question to william. Whether you are at the spg platinum privilege level or that you pay for the club room, you have paid for dues for lounge access which has traditionally and in normal practise has been expected and delivered complimentary breakfast and evening snacks as well as drinks. Its not about being a freeloader and i don't think many of us are. I'm sure many of us don't often utilise the lounge for drinks or sometimes skip the breakfast offering. The fact is that we have all ready paid our dues and we should get what we paid for.

I hope the more prominent or corporately important people here on this board will bring this point across to the specific hotel managers.

DENPremEx

It will be interesting to see what happens to some of this policy over the next 12 months or so as the economy continues to slide into recession. A nice downturn in the economy will shift the power back towards us travelers. Let's see how low the room rates go and how nice the incentives become.