TomT

Greetings:

I know that most of the Starwood Platinum's full in the business category but I wonder just how many Leisure Plat's are running around?

When I say "Leisure Plat" I am refering to the great unwashed who pay out of pocket rather then working on an expence account, billing or using the expence as a deduction.

A few comments from the Leisure Plat's might not only be of interest to the Leisures but also might enlighten the expence account crowd as to what may be in wait when the "creative writing" ends.

For what its worth:

I have been Plat. since 1999
I was a Gold from the old Sheraton program
I gained Plat in 99 with 26 stays and 40+ nights out
I average 30+/- stays per year and average 40 /50 nights out
We use Sheraton 50%,Westin 15%,LeMeridian 15%, Luxury 15 % and four Points say 5%...W once and St R...0%
Sheraton is our target because of the clubs and the club floor
We book the cheapest room and then hope for an upgrade ( This can change when we want something....HKG hrb View, etc) Our upgrade is running around 80%
We are 50/50 domestic/international
At last count have hit about 100+ locations

Added comment, I am Plat with Priority and Ambassador with Intercontinetal.
(Cash and points not stays) Intercontinetal has some great locations but we have found Starwood beats them hands down.

Hope others may find this of interest.................

adventurous

About half of my stays are leisure, which means I have made the choice (within the past year) to go w/Starwood. I am also HH Gold.

MIKESILV

We have quite a bit in common, but I have been Plat only about four years.
I am also HH Diamond ( HH member for almost 20 years)
And 80-90% of all my hotel stays are leisure/personal.


My Starwood stays are 75% International and are generally Luxury Collection, Westins and then we stay at W's mostly when we visit the west coast. ( Only two 4 Points in 6 years with SPG)

We take at least two week International trips per year and overall I am fairly happy with the program - upgraded I would say 90% of the time and I too usually book the cheapest room or use SPG50s.

mike

Keith009

All my stays are leisure ones. Gained Gold in 2006, got Platinum last year thanks to double stay promo. Making Platinum this year on night count thanks to the huge trip I did early this year - 40 nights thus far!

I stay at a mix of most brands, though try to avoid St Regis and LCs. I stay at Ws wherever they exist (sadly not many places outside North America ). Can't wait to see what aLoft is like. If not I'd try for a Le Meridien if it's one of those chic modern ones, or Westin. I also find most Sheratons dependable and will stay if the price is very right. I do like the Sheraton Sydney despite a misunderstanding that occurred the previous stay. Don't have much experience with 4Ps thus far, as have only stayed at 3 - 4P SYD fab, 4P DC pretty good, 4P Miami Beach downright appalling (i understand that this property is on the extreme end of the scale).

Given there aren;t many SPGs domestically in Australia, I'd have to say most are international. In Australia I've only stayed at the Sydney properties and the Westin Melbourne - all fab. Outside Australia, for this year I'd say about 20% Asia, 30% Europe, 50% USA. I also simply book the cheapest room and hope the upgrade gods are playing ball. Had a 90% success rate at Plat upgrades since getting Plat.

I try to do about 4-5 international trips a year, and quite a few weekend jaunts domestically and trans tasman.

Favourite property thus far is W Chicago-Lakeshore - why I became loyal to SPG in the first place.

Anglo Large Clawed Otter

All leisure here as well, since late 2006. It's a fairly even mix of Ws, Westins & Le Meridiens, with Luxury Collection, St. Regis, 4P & Sheraton thrown in from time to time.

chanp

all my stays are for L and i pay for all of them. been member since 1995 i think and have been some sorta status for many many years

ajnaro

My Sheraton International / SPG experience is very similar to TomT's, except perhaps for slightly higher participation for St. Regis and Four Points (due mainly to YVR and SFO airport 4Ps). I avoid W like the plague. 80-90% of my stays are outside of the US. When not staying at Starwood, I prefer Intercontinental (especially HKG).

tommy777

I would say about 70% of my Starwood stays are leisure around 40-50 stays a year. My new job has a Hyatt and Sofitel corporate deal so I expect the leisure percentage to go up this year

pointsjunkie53

hi , i am a starwood vacation owner and have become platinum for life, so all my stays are leisure. we have had 3 stays so far and got 3 upgrades.

jottoson

Another Leisure Platinum here. Platinum for 6+ years now, and in the process of earning our 7th year. We travel at least once a month, and continually ensure our platinum status, based upon suite upgrades. We always opt for a Westin/W when available, or St Regis/Luxury Collection when the price isn't ridiculous. Sheraton and Le Meridiens are last resort. Four points... We usually choose a CY Marriott, Instead.

sfvoyage

How does one get Platinum for life? Does being a Starwood vacation owner give you instant or a fast track to Platinium for life?

Peatisback

I'm a leisure Platinum; you will recognize me by the powder blue leisure suit I wear duing SPG stays. Most of mine are at Ws and Westins, w/occasional Sheraton, and FP stays.

DownUnderFlyer

A search will bring up the answer to this. Depending on the investment level you will get status with SPG when purchasing a vacation ownership direct from Starwood.

About 76% of my stays are leisure so quite a bit of this PLT status is paid for with my own money.
In terms of hotel mix, anything from a cheap 4Points near an airport to the St. Regis Bora Bora.

alanslegal

I am a new bargain Platinum member having qualified in February 2008.

I earnt my status by way of the double stay promotion ^ which I really don't know why SPG said I was eligible for that promtion given that I have not booked any nights through SPG or their branded websites in the past.

I have had previous stays at various SPG hotels which I booked through using Hotwire, Priceline and other competitor sites.

In the past few years I have been in hotels on average 30 nights per annum, so given my new bargain Platinum status my future stays are likely to be all be booked into SPG properties where they are available.

Previously I had no hotel brand loyalty and had no hesitation jumping from hotel to hotel. Nowadays I jump from Westin to Sheraton to LM purely for a mattress run


PS. I'm hoping that the friendly dragons at the Westin Moana Surfrider will upgrade me to a 1 bedroom Oceanfront Suite when I am there later this year

Keith009

I have to add that I didn't do double stay promo this year - so am qualifying normally. Went for double points instead. Will have spent almost 3 months of this year in hotels (95% at SPG)... most unprecedented for me.

Hence I tend to think that the diversity of strong brands means there's something for everyone at SPG cf other chains. Would be interesting to see how Edition by Ian Schrager and Marriott plays out, though I suspect it'd be closer to LM100 than W.