What people do to try to get a hotel upgrade

[leadman]

I've witnessed many times people trying to get a hotel upgrade at the front desk from the true and tried DYKWIA right through to outright begging and pleading, but last nights one is worth posting.

Checking in at a Marriott in London, the Office manager was taking a call which went something like this;

"I'm sorry Sir, we don't have CNN"
{caller}
"Yes i know its a news channel, but we do have BBC"
{Caller - about a two minute reply}
"they are very similar, but BBC is British. it is also a 24 hour news channel"
{caller}
"I'm sorry but we cannot subscribe at this moment, and we just don't get CNN, I'm sure you will be happy with the other channels"
{caller}
"I know most of the channels are British, but you are in England"
{caller}
"You want to check out? I'm sorry Sir, but your room is already pre-paid, there is not much i can do."
{caller}
"I'm sorry Sir i cannot upgrade you to a suite as they are all full."
{caller}
"An upgrade to the executive floor? i'm sorry they are also full."
{caller}
"No, all rooms have the same TV channels, the suites don't have CNN, but you will enjoy the BBC "
{caller}
"Why don't you try logging in with your computer, I'm sure CNN has a website"
{caller}
"I'm sorry, but again, all the suites are taken and they don't have computers in the room"

At this point the caller hung up, but the OM was superb, professional and handled it extremely well. I and about 5 others in the queue had big smiles......

 

[serfty]

Ha!

So, to precis this:

{caller} There's no CNN so I want an upgrade.
OM: Sorry sir - No!

 

[Denali]

I wish when they said, "Next please", you responded with. Hi, Im checking in, do you have CNN?

 

[leadman]

Actually the guy in front of asked the other duty manger did they have colour TV?

 

[kermatu]

Stupidest example I've seen was an American guy in his 20s or 30s checking in to a London hotel. Wife was minding their cases off to the side. He said to agent, "it's my wife's birthday today. It would be great to surprise her with an upgrade if you have one". Very polite. Trouble is he'd just handed over their passports.
Agent calmly said "There seems to be an error on your wife's passport. In any event we don't have any upgrade availability but I've checked you in to a very nice room .... etc". All in one quick spiel, so minimal embarrassment but still made the point to the guy (and some in the queue). So many other things she could have said!

 

[amaroo]

The Vegas way works - slap down a big enough note and you’re in a suite. Simple.

 

[Blinky]

I’ve had upgrades by truthfully saying,, when asked if we were there for any occasion, “it’s our anniversary”. Once to a suite at the Pullman in Sydney with a bottle of French bubbly.

 

[luxury-lizard]

I've received upgrades in two ways - firstly being a member of the hotel's loyalty program (at a higher level than basic; e.g. Gold) - for many programs upgrades "subject to availability" is supposed to be a benefit but often not offered - when asked they sometimes manage to find a better room (or just say sorry none available). I find Accor and Hilton are more proactive than other hotel chains/groups.

Also - sometimes if you arrive many hours before the official check-in time you can score an upgrade just because that's the only available room type. I would not recommend this as other times you can end up waiting hours for a room.

In fact here's another good question - what is your (i.e. the best) strategy when arriving at your destination in the early morning and (of course) wanting (desperately needing) and early check-in. Hum - I will start a new thread on this topic.

 

[get me outta here]

I had a very pleasant long weekend stay booked via Luxury Escapes, in AKL. When checking in, I was asked if it was a special occassion, and as it had been a big Bday for me not so long ago I said, “It was”, with a big smile. I was upgraded to a lovely suite.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

"I know most of the channels are British, but you are in England"

Reminds me of that classic Fawlty Towers episode

 

[GoldCanyon340]

"I know most of the channels are British, but you are in England"
{caller}

This reminds me of a Bill Bryson book. He's in the US mid west and asks for an English Breakfast tea. The response from the waitress is, "We're in America."

 

[Himeno]

I wish when they said, "Next please", you responded with. Hi, Im checking in, do you have CNN?

Should have asked about ABC or CBC.

 

[get me outta here]

I was told the same thing when I commented on check out that the Tokyo hotel only had Japanese channels and she said something like, 'we are a Japanese hotel'. I politely pointed out that as a tourist hotel probably 50% of their clientele probably speak (some sort of) English, but maybe not Japanese. She seemed to think it was worth considering. And, Japanese TV tends to be pretty bad, nothing that resembled news.

 

[vetrade]

I was told the same thing when I commented on check out that the Tokyo hotel only had Japanese channels and she said something like, 'we are a Japanese hotel'. I politely pointed out that as a tourist hotel probably 50% of their clientele probably speak (some sort of) English, but maybe not Japanese. She seemed to think it was worth considering. And, Japanese TV tends to be pretty bad, nothing that resembled news.

Ah yes, we have always been unpleasantly surprised by the number of hotels in Europe which might have 30 or more channels but none of them in English. The annoyance is exacerbated when you come across English language movies or shows which have been dubbed over in Italian, Spanish etc.

 

[Forg]

Ah yes, we have always been unpleasantly surprised by the number of hotels in Europe which might have 30 or more channels but none of them in English. The annoyance is exacerbated when you come across English language movies or shows which have been dubbed over in Italian, Spanish etc.

I was most amused, 10yrs ago, when checked into the serviced-apartment in Ghent (Belgium) I flicked the TV on … and half the channels were BBC! It's that close to England.
Of course, half the Belgian channel programming was Australian reality TV.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Australian television is so bad I sometimes wish it was all imported. Don't even bother dubbing it, half the fun is making up the dialogue

Thank goodness for Netflix and YouTube!

 

[Forg]

Australian television is so bad I sometimes wish it was all imported. Don't even bother dubbing it, half the fun is making up the dialogue

I dunno … I'm willing to put up with other people subjecting themselves to The Block and My Kitchen Rules and Home And Away and Border Patrol, as long as at least occasionally I get a Secret City or Rake or Cleverman.

 

[flychrisfly]

The Vegas way works - slap down a big enough note and you’re in a suite. Simple.

How big?

 

[drross]

Has worked for us too

I’ve had upgrades by truthfully saying,, when asked if we were there for any occasion, “it’s our anniversary”. Once to a suite at the Pullman in Sydney with a bottle of French bubbly.

 

[LadyC]

Sometimes being a repeat customer in off peak can land a good upgrade. A few years ago we got upgraded to a Suite at the Four Seasons Hong Kong - we had stayed there twice over the 18 months prior.