dshaz

I also had a reservation here for cash+points that got canceled.

For me, there was plenty of time, since my reservation was for September, but I'm still annoyed by it because I had my whole trip planned out and now I either have to pony up the cash to stay for the full price or make a lot of changes to my trip plan.

There are no other SPG hotels near Rome that accept cash+points. I'm thinking about making reservations at Hotel Excelsior in Naples and staying there instead of Fiuggi. But that also peeves me because I made my Palazzo della Fonte reservation back in January, well before the category changes. So now it will cost me more to stay in Naples than it would have if this had been my original plan.

I know I know. cry me a river.

sc flier

I don't have any personal experience there and I'm not endorsing any of these, but I ran a quick query from my database to identify ALL of the other Starwood properties within your area (Rome - Rimini). Here they are with their category numbers:

3 Four Points by Sheraton Roma West Hotel
3 Sheraton Bologna Hotel and Conference Center
3 Sheraton Firenze Hotel & Conference Center
3 Sheraton Golf Parco de' Medici Hotel & Resort, Roma
4 Le Meridien Rimini
4 Sheraton Roma Hotel & Conference Center
6 Grand Hotel, Florence
6 Hotel Eden
6 The Westin Excelsior, Florence
7 St. Regis Grand Hotel, Rome
7 The Westin Excelsior, Rome

Among these, the Sheraton Golf Parco de' Medici Hotel & Resort, Roma, has some of the lowest rates (aside from the 4P). The Westin Excelsior, Rome, has C&P availability for 8K points + US$150 on June 1 & 2.

I checked my Hilton info and don't see anything other than what they have in Rome and Florence. Unless you want to head southwest to Naples or beyond.

No Hyatts in Italy other than the one in Milan.

I didn't check Marriott brands.

I need to update my database with this one and the Patria Palace that left on April 1.

SanDiego1K

sc flier, you are a star. Hilton is working with me to try to force an award reservation at the sold out Cavalieri on the outskirts of Rome. If I get that, I think I can drive to a couple of places I had meant to go from Fiuggi. Then, I think I'll just have to pony up for a paid night somewhere enroute to Rimini. It's all very much in flux right now.

dshaz, I feel your pain. I booked my Starwood Italy properties in late 2007. This trip simply wouldn't be sensible without points.

SportsTech

It's easy for me to spend SPG's budget, but come on - if a hotel leaves the program without notice (and 30 days is the minimum period I'd consider reasonable for closure/severance/cancellation notice, regardless of the terms of the contract) then Starwood should bend over backwards to find suitable alternative accomodations for disadvantaged guests AT THE SAME PRICE. In this case (no great loss to SPG, this hotel's general manager is a non-responsive idiot and his property is losing serious money according to the staff) Starwood/SPG should offer the victims comparable or better rooms at one or more of the hotels in Rome - including the Cat 6's. This is tantamount to a "walk" on an award, so help out already! And how many people are affected by this closure - 10, tops? Even if it's 100 at a real hotel, the customer relations cost of these 'cancellations without recourse' substantially outweighs the incremental cost to SPG to find a way to honor the award reservations. I realize that there are times where there is no complementary hotel, but that is rarely the case and certainly isn't the case here.

And why is it ok for a hotel to ignore its contract with Starwood and fail to honor room reservations (award or otherwise) while Starwood honors its nondisclosure agreement? There can't possibly be a financial penalty attached to the nondisclosure without an offsetting penalty for failure to honor reservations, could there? William, something here doesn't really add up.

SanDiego1K

As a disadvantaged guest, this certainly resonates with me. I made this reservation in December, in order to be ahead of any category increase. Further, I had deliberately chosen this property as a means of cost containment - just $60 plus 4K points/night. Now, if I made a new reservation somewhere, it has to be at the new category level. And any Rome or Florence property would cost me substantially more.

Starwood leaves it entirely on my shoulders, stating this in my email: "book online at www.spg.com to make alternate arrangements, subject to availability at the time you try to call or reserve online." I'm already traveling; I'm actually in Asia right now. I've only material with me for my trip as I intended to take it - and now I have to figure out new accomadation. I do feel I have been walked, with no help from Starwood in finding another hotel.

sc flier

San Diego 1K,
Though we'll take this thread way off topic, the fact that the hotel is leaving kind of leaves the thread as useless anyway. And as a mod, you can rearrange the posts when you're back from your trip.

Your quest prompted me to pull up an old link that I saved last year from BudgetTravel.com:
39 Affordable Hotel Chains Only Locals Know

Spanish chain Sol Melia had come to mind.

Sol Melia: only has a hotel on the west side of Rome (around 98 Euros), and that's opposite from where you seem to want to be.

Barcelo: nothing in Italy.
Riu: nothing in Italy.

Novotel: French chain. 12 in Italy. On the east side of Rome is the Novotel Roma La Rustica. It's along the ring road. About 7 miles east of the city center. (84 Euros) I'm assuming that you will have a car. Looks like a decent place to stay, but there's nothing notable nearby. If all you want is a clean and comfortable place on the east edge of Rome to serve as a base for day trips, this might suit the bill.

Just searching around in Google Earth, I came across this place:
HOTEL TORRE SANT'ANGELO
4-star hotel about 20 miles east of Rome in the hills above Tivoli. Rooms from 126 Euros/nt with breakfast. Half board and full board meal plans available for 33 and 53 Euros per person per night. Of the places that I've come across so far in my search, this is the place I would choose if it were me. Hotel looks nice, it's away from the city, and there are things to do and see there.
See also: http://en.venere.com/hotels_tivoli/h...html?ref=42065

There are some other nice hotels in Tivoli, but it appears that many of them are already sold out.

If you need more assistance, let us know in this thread or send me a PM.

AZ Travels the World

With all due respect, William, what more is there to know when it comes to how a member is being treated as the result of a situation that is entirely between the hotel and Starwood? Platinum member receives an e-mail a week before confirmed reservation which says, essentially, the hotel has left Starwood and your confirmed award reservation will not be honored.

While I still maintain that this could be handled contractually, and enforced on that basis, the real issue, in my view, is how it is handled by SPG. To dump a member on her head a week before her stay, is simply unacceptable. It is inconsistent with how SPG does business.

I agree with SportsTech, for reservations within 30 days, if the hotel cannot be made to honor the terms of their contract, Starwood should find a suitable alternative for the member at the same price.

That e-mail should have said, "We have had a sudden change in our relationship with the hotel. Please call us at your earliest convenience so that we may help you with alternative arrangements, which will be at no additional cost to you." That is how SPG does business.

tinkybelle

Della fonte is no loss to SPG in my opinion.
they did have a bad attitude

there was no one in the property on the sun and mon
all the shutters were down except 2 rooms and ours.

schriste

There is a Best Western in Fiuggi as well as many other local hotels.