cchrissyy

Approved!

Sheraton Kauai Resort - booked on starwoodhotels.com at $289/night
Actual confirmed rate: $251.10USD plus tax ($279USD less 10%)

SunshineStay

Hotel Name: Le Méridien Grand Hotel Nürnberg
Arrival Date : 04-07-2011
Departure Date : 04-08-2011
Number of Adults :1
Number of Rooms : 1
Room Type : Superior
Starwood Brand Web Site Room Rate : 184 EUR
Company room provider : Other Web Site
Other Company room provider :www.onhotels.com
Competing rate : 106.84 EUR
BRG Reward : points

kaysquare

If I'm understanding this right..
(1) hotel gets penalised on a successful BRG claim
(2) our alternative source of getting a cheap hotel room (be it through expedia or other website) disappears

Questions:
(1) does the hotel treat one any different on a BRG rate?
(2) can one call the hotel directly, assuming that one has some stay record there, to negotiate for a rate to match the price? (ie take the BRG offline)
(3) why would one want to force a BRG on the hotel if the rates appear on an alternative website and close off the loophole?

mahasamatman

I seriously suspect that (2) rarely, if ever, happens as a result of (1).

orknot2be

I've been trying to get an answer from the BRG claim dept and have not yet gotten a response. I was already approved at the BRG rate for a one day stay at the hotel I applied for and made the official reservation through the SPG site.

Now I have decided to go one day earlier and make it a 2 day stay (but obviously only 1 stay credit). The extra day will be paid at the current rate through SPG (no BRG claim made, just a regular reservation)

Does anyone know how this will affect the BRG rate? I will effectively have 2 different reservation numbers. Will I have to check out and then check back in? and do I lose my 2000 point bonus for any reason?

This is a hotel I frequent several times a year and they know me well. I have only used a BRG rate at this hotel once before and it was for one night (and by the way, it took quite a while & several emails to get my platinum points posted, my stay credit posted and the 2000 points posted).

So does anyone have an answer for this one?

Thanks for any input.

sc flier

It shouldn't affect the rate since they remain separate reservations. If they have the same room available for both nights, they should be able to relate the two reservations and check you in for both nights at once. I'd put it in the comments on my first reservation that I have another separate reservation for the following night.

alanslegal

This is my general feeling to your questions;-

(1) My gut feeling says the hotel will treat me less favourably BUT in my BRG stays, I have never been in the room I have booked - so the answer is No (in my case anyway).
(2) Yes feel free to call the hotel to negotiate a better price, there is nothing wrong or to lose by doing so.
(3) Well in my case, its to book via SPG and be entitled to stay,night credits, points, and Platinum benefits. I can go save a few $ booking on the cheaper 3rd party, but its very likely you will miss out on alot of benefits. Secondly, I may stay at that hotel once or twice (given I'm a leisure traveller) so if that cheaper site is closed, then so be it. Thirdly, not every traveller out there is that savvy with BRGs so its only a handful that makes use of this promise. Alot of people I know, book what they are happy with and then do not ever consider looking at prices again.

Zurich Flyer

I have been trying hard to find a lower rate for the FP Sheraton Dornbirn, e.g. for 1 July 2011 but I did not find any other website with a lower rate. Can anyone be more successful and find a lower rate?

sc flier

What's your best rate from SPG?

expedia.com? USD 112 = about EUR 77. I haven't checked to see if that includes taxes or not.

Edited to add: No dice. Looks as if taxes are additional, so price goes up to around EUR 85.

Not that it helps with a BRG claim, but Auto Club rate is EUR 80.75.

Zurich Flyer

Thanks for the fast answer. Right, all the sites that come in mind are at least 85 EUR, which is the price on SPG I would need to do there many weekend stays but if I can't beat the rate, I won't go there

pwflyer

I found an very good rate on kayak.com for the W Hotel in Hong Kong and entered a claim form for the Starwood Best Rate Guarantee program. The claim was denied at first because the person said that Kayak was a forwarding site to other sites like Expedia, etc. I told the person I spoke with that it was a rate offered on kayak.com directly and the person said I had to input another claim and write this comment in the comment box. I did so and offered to email in a PDF of the screen capture of the rate from kayak. The customer service person said they could not accept an email with the claim form. Then I got another email from Starwood saying they could not find the rate so they were denying my claim. This program is a joke. They did not even look for the rate until three days after I input the claim. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I asked for the telephone number of the supervisor just in case he/she did not call back and they refused to give it to me. I have been put on hold to speak with a manager for 36 minutes so far. Very disappointed in the ethics of this company. FALSE ADVERTISING - BEWARE! I will not support the program any longer because of this.

Thunderroad

I understand your frustration, but I believe Kayak is as you were informed--simply a site that accumulates quotes from other sites (such as Expedia) to which you must go to actually purchase a hotel stay or plane ticket. I've never used the Starwood Best Rate Guarantee, but if I understand the system correctly you'd have to provide the quote from the actual source offering the better rate, not Kayak.

koroleon

The OP is right, you can now book directly with Kayak without going to a 3rd party site. When you click 'Select' to see the prices, you'll see the option to book with Kayak too. The Starwood agent probably handled similar situations in the past and responded too quickly, without actually checking Kayak.

UAFlyer01

I can certainly understand why you were so frustrated. Kayak used to be only a search engine that only lists and compares prices from other websites. Now they added the new function of allowing people to book from their own websites. I guess this is just an unusual case for SPG BRG claim.

My personal experience tells me that Hilton BRG is really a joke compared to all others. I once booked a hotel from Hilton's own website and then found a much lower rate at expedia (both refundable rate). I submitted a claim and was denied. I was told that with Hilton rate, I pay the rate when I check in. but with expedia, I pay when I make the reservation. So they are not the same rate!!

That's why I believe hilton BRG is mission impossible.

HNLbasedFlyer

IS DISHONEST seems a bit dramatic - perhaps mistaken would be a better term. Keep trying - move it up the mgmt chain.