Hotel Upgrades
 

This is something that's always on my mind, and I was just thinking about this earlier so bear with me guys.

Why do people put such a large emphasis on hotel upgrades and make a big deal of it? I understand airline upgrades, where the differences between economy and business class are day and night (seat versus bed, edible food vs nauseating tin foil, lounge access vs gate lice etc. etc.)

But almost every hotel and room type offers the same two basic features: a bed to sleep on, and a reasonable degree of security. Unless you're with family or friends or otherwise in a large group, I really don't see the difference between a standard room and a junior suite and a suite in practical terms. In fact, personally I'd rather prefer a room that's cozier (but not cramped) to a large empty room or suite. Maybe I'm just strange though.

So my question here is- what's the big deal with hotel upgrades? Is there just something I'm not getting, a matter of personal preference or something else?

:-:

Yep I feel the same way, it just feels a bit weird when I'm traveling alone and I have this huge empty hotel room.

To a certain mindset (one in full evidence here on FT) the idea of getting something one did not pay for just overwhelms rational thought. That someone does not need the upgrade/suite, etc. doesn't enter the conversation. It's a game, it's a weird validation that "I won and you didn't," it's beating somebody else (other traveler or hotel, it matters not).

100% right on. I am like the OP and find holiday inn express perfectly suitable. Bed, breakfast, shower and Internet. I don't need anything more in a hotel.

^:D:D

FWIW. Of course it matters. (1) Space creates calmness to the mind. (2) Certain upgrades have lounge access with free drinks/breakfast/food attached, which on a week trip may save hundreds of euros/dollars/yens. (3) It's a confirmation of the -often only perceived- bond between frequent hotel guests and the hotel, a token of their appreciation.

It is disputable if an upgrade from King Standard to Twin Deluxe/higher is actually an upgrade, but that is OT.

Hotel Upgrades
 

Sometimes it's location, a room facing a busy street or one facing a quiet park. A higher floor vs a lower floor. A renovated vs non-renovated room. A corner room vs one near the elevator. Sometimes you get free Internet or free breakfast (at places where breakfast is otherwise not free), but that's more tied into status. Like you I don't need a lot of space, but an upgrade from a standard room to 1 bedroom suite is great if you have guests coming over.

Agreed. I like the preferred location. I do not need a huge suite if traveling solo.

I regularly turn down upgrades. "Save them for someone else. Perhaps someone with a family". Solo, I get Citizen Kane waking nightmares.

The answer is..... it depends.

If all I am using the hotel room for is to come in, go to sleep, wake up, shower, change, and head out then I don't care if I'm upgraded or not.

If however I'm going to be working in the evening or staying a few days, then having a bit more room to spread out, or have a separate living area where you can relax without having to use the bed all the time, or even having a little kitchen can be really nice.

It's like saying the only purpose of a car is to be able to drive from point a to point b, so why doesn't everybody just rent the cheapest compact? For some people that's fine, but for some others, they want something a bit better.

Many hotels offer both kinds of rooms because there are people who are happy in the shoe box, and others who want the divided boot box.

its a bene, why not take it?

but carping about not getting 1, is okay if you have to let off steam....

Well, it's true that travelling solo one does not require a dining table for eight and seating for 12 more, along with several beds, multiple baths, and a service kitchen. Yet when that, or some lesser "excess" is bestowed, even as simple as an amenity from management, I take it as something to enjoy for the moment because it's nice. Not like beating someone or getting over to prove one's self worth.

Upgrades and perks are good; feeling entitled in these matters isn't good. Maybe my attitude is wrong and I should withdraw from FT... :)

Currently writing this post from a $69 Hyatt Place. That works too.

If it's an upgrade to a nicer view, modestly larger room, or a Club floor, I am happy to take it. (I like Club lounges for the free breakfast, and for access to a space where I can sit and do work in the evening without feeling like a lonely prisoner in my room.) However, an upgrade to a big suite actually bugs me. To me a suite just means more places where I can potentially put down my stuff and then forget about it when I check out!

Huge suites are usually quieter than smaller rooms because the uncontrolled little brats in the next room are farther away. That's the only reason I like upgrades.

Anything else, like lounge access or free internet is more tie to status, IME, so I don't count that as an upgrade benefit. If I get it in a suite, I'd get it in the prison cell room.

Totally depends on the trip.

For vacations with family, I want max space in the hotel room - that's why a lot of those trips are done at Residence Inn or at a hotel where I think I have a very good chance (or can confirm with extra points) to get a suite. On those, I'm also highly likely to fly Y since (a) to date, they have not been truly long-long-haul and (b) the kids don't get anything out of J/F.

For solo work trips, I generally don't care much about either the hotel or airline upgrade - I just want efficient service and the "basics" of the elite status in play to work well. Good airport processes, fast security checkpoint, efficient boarding, irrops support if I need it. At the hotel, fast check-in/-out, good lounge, high floor or corner room...I'm happy. My airline statuses are all mid-/low-tier these days so I don't really have high expectations of upgrades there to begin with. (Although US has had a surprisingly good success rate for me this year.)

For trips with my wife, we like to upgrade the flight if we can (this is where I spend the miles or other upgrade instruments) and then stay in the best possible hotels where status provides breakfast and lounge access. More likely to spend extra points for a high-category hotel here, but getting a suite isn't really a determining factor with where we book. Rather stay in a Conrad or St. Regis type hotel, even if it's just a very good regular room.

Often big easy chair with ottoman and a large workspace come along with the upgrade - makes my day. Lounge access is huge. They're often more recently renovated and on a higher floor or with a nicer view. Little things like toiletries are nice, but not essential.

And plentiful open electrical outlets on top of the workspace!! If that's the one "upgrade" I can get, I'll take it!!

How about one which does not require moving of beds and desks to get at it.

A few reasons I list below.. but an anecdote: my wife usually travels for work and just gets the cheapest rooms. I have IC RA Marriott Plat, etc... she came along for the first time, and now she's spoiled.

Larger suite = can lay out all our luggage after all the shopping to repack appropriately (3 large luggages from all the crap she bought)

Lounge access = quieter breakfast area, drinks free, some have nice views. while these are tied to status and not 'room' upgrade.. the two go hand in hand. you only get room upgrades when you have status usually.

Preferred treatment = this is subtle.. but only noticeable when sh!t hits the fan with your travel schedule.. extend a night or two, cut a night or two short, need a room in really short notice etc.. status helps reduce headaches.

Small details = some fruit upon arrival, dedicated checkin line, some little gift like a chinese ceramic USB key, just some small details that makes a diff over a long time.

When you stay in a hotel 5 nights a year.. any room with a bed, internet, good enough
when you go in and out of hotels half of your life, the smallest details make the biggest differences..

Bingo! :D

some hotels are actually good, and some upgrades are actually valuable

you can get upgrades via travel agents (free)
when theyre confirmed at booking, why not?

The best upgrade for me would be one to a non-smoking room. Unfortunately, where I usually travel (Indonesia and China), those still have ashtrays.

Otherwise, I don't really care whether I have a small or large room. What matters to me is if the walls/door are paper thin...again, a common issue in China (and Indonesia). Turning on a bit of music to serve a two-fold purpose- overtaking the human chirps outside of the room and serving as white noise while traveling alone- has proven useful and soothing.

If traveling with a girlfriend, the decision of where to stay/how to stay there will be hers.

Another advantage of the upgrade is that one is more likely to get a big and deep bathtub and a nice separate rain shower. Double bowl sinks and lots of bathroom counter space are also a plus.

When traveling alone a suite wouldn't have any value, but a top floor room with a nice view would, as would lounge access.

Many people here are mentioning lounge access. I personally have no concept of a hotel lounge. To me, an airline lounge is used so you can get away from the masses of people in the terminal and have a quiet place to work or relax, but why would you need that at a hotel where you already have your own private room? Other than perhaps free food, what is the attraction of a hotel lounge?

IME it's basically the free food (and sometimes drink) that appeals.

It's food without having to wait for it in a restaurant as well as sometimes a pleasant place to sit that isn't a bar. It's a place where you might feel comfortable chatting with other guests, much the same as one can sometimes talk with a seatmate on a plane. For some people, it must be a bit of DYKWIA in that the hotel openly treats you special and you have access to a place where they don't allow all guests.

In some hotels, the lounge floor is key-card controlled access. This provides extra security, especially in large hotels in urban areas where almost anyone can apparently enter the elevators leading to guest floors.

In most hotels the lounge is on the same floor as the executive level room. This means that in the morning you can just paddle down to the lounge, grab a paper and a real cup of real coffee and sit at a real table. There's usually breakfast of some sort - varies wildly - so you can get a little nosh without having to go out or order into your room and pay through the nose.

In the evening when you're back after a long day you can dump your stuff in your room and then go for a drink and/or a little nosh. On those days when you're by yourself and are beat the nosh can even BE your dinner. Or, if you want to go out there's generally a staff member there who can advise you, make a dinner reservation, whatever. All very civilized.

The ability to get a quick, easy, small breakfast is the main appeal of a domestic U.S. lounge for me. Saves me a trip to Starbucks or bagel shop down the street.

The drinks and evening spread are an added appeal of an international lounge. The evening spread can be quite good, and a lot of lounges abroad have full table service and good liquors and wines to choose from. On that level, a good hotel lounge isn't much different from a good international airline lounge. (Better than a J lounge, but obviously not at the level of, say, the LH FCT.)

Also, at some good international properties, the lounge attendant is also a competent concierge. That can be extremely helpful if you're in a city where you don't speak the language and would have a hard time booking restaurants, events, etc. yourself.

I'm in a hotel room 2 - 3 weeks a month, 11 months out of the year. I like having a larger room with a couch when I will be in a place for more than a week. It just makes being in a hotel room seem less like a hotel room. It sort of becomes home.

If I'm in the US, then I'm staying at a Hampton, Holiday Inn, etc. There a room upgrade gets me a mini fridge and microwave. Then I shop at the grocery store for my dinner and I don't have to eat in a restaurant for 3 meals day for a couple of weeks at a shot.

Company to watch the game, free drinks, a place to get away from your room

There are some people that can stay in the same room all day, and some who like the chance to get out and around.

I don't think anybody needs a lounge, but it's a nice place to kick back, read the paper, watch the news, etc.

It's sort of like asking why people need a living room in their house.