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SVN NEWS: Online booking now available at mystarcentral.com! [+ Resv. rules changes]

Denise L

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So on a high demand check-in day at 12 months out at 9:00 PM Pacific, will the servers freeze up due to the demand for reservations?! Time will tell. I wish they would have the call center open to also take reservations at the same time. Then if the website is down, we can call and book instead. Obviously not going to happen.

Will they soon charge to speak to a human being and make changes?
 

DavidnRobin

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WKV (Scottsdale)
Exciting...

I decided to see if I could make a HomeResort reservation at WKORV for our OFD studio using the on-line BETA reservation tool. I did this for Sat. Jan 24 2015 - which would usually be open tomorrow at 6am PST when I normally would have to call (yawn) to get best timestamp - and get that personal service... ;)

At 8:59pm. PST - only Jan 23 was open, at 9:00pm Jan 24 opened. I made the reservation - and got a confirmation number. I checked my email immediately, and a typical reservation confirmation (with same number) came at 9:04pm. I could have gone quicker, but I was reading the pages leading up to the confirmation.

Quite easy and quick.
 
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undrpar64

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Does anyone know if there is any way to piggyback a series of reservations online after the first one is confirmed? I am guessing you would need to call the next morning to get this done. From my past history with *wood the initial timestamp carries over or even improves with the additional reservations. They are in the system and are processed before the calls on that morning are taken.
 

psfcfa

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Booked 2 brm. ov lockoff online for WKORV for 2/27/15 at 12:05 am when the system let me at 12:04. Reservation shows 12:10, and I was just wondering what the pros think of my chances of getting a really good unit. I usually request floor 5 or 6 in bldg 2 or 3 forward of elevators.
Your opinions? Mahalo!
 

DeniseM

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Booked 2 brm. ov lockoff online for WKORV for 2/27/15 at 12:05 am when the system let me at 12:04. Reservation shows 12:10, and I was just wondering what the pros think of my chances of getting a really good unit. I usually request floor 5 or 6 in bldg 2 or 3 forward of elevators.
Your opinions? Mahalo!

There is a pecking order for views, so it really depends on how full the resort is, and how many Elite Owners with more priority than you have reservations that day. An early time stamp does put you at or near the top of the heap of other single week O.V. owners reserving the same day.

The resort no longer accepts requests that are that specific (floor and forward of elevators.) But of course, if you put it in online, you weren't speaking to a human who could reject it, but Starwood is going to interpret your request as "a high floor in bldg. 2 or 3."

Currently, they will only accept a request for a building, and a high or low floor. You will probably get an emailed response stating that they no longer accept specific location requests.

But hey - it doesn't hurt to ask! Good luck! :hi:
 

psfcfa

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Thanks Denise! Of course I meant 2/28/15, not 2/27...
Have 3 star and will be booking next unit for the following week so will hope for the best!
 

ragdoll

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It certainly wan't a smooth launch - I can't figure out why such a big company is so poor with technology.

FWIW: There was an ad in Business Week by Accenture, which touted their contract with Starwood Hotels & Resorts to "manage their IT systems end to end." It didn't mention TS units, but it may be the same company.
 

SDKath

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FWIW: There was an ad in Business Week by Accenture, which touted their contract with Starwood Hotels & Resorts to "manage their IT systems end to end." It didn't mention TS units, but it may be the same company.

Well that is nothing to write home about since the SPG website is about the worst booking engine of any hotel system I have ever seen...
 

KACTravels

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There is a pecking order for views, so it really depends on how full the resort is, and how many Elite Owners with more priority than you have reservations that day. An early time stamp does put you at or near the top of the heap of other single week O.V. owners reserving the same day.

What is the "pecking order" vs time stamp for preferences?
 

DeniseM

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Elite multi-week owners are higher up the food chain.
 

DavidnRobin

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Elite multi-week owners are higher up the food chain.

For WKORV, WKORVN, and WPORV - this is not accurate - it is much more complicated.

For example - if a 3* (float owner) reserves a single week use for a particular check-in day (e.g.. Sat, Mar15), and gets an earlier timestamp compared to a 5* (float owner) that also reserved a single week (Sat, Mar15). Their 5* does not trump the 3* for location - the timestamp rules.

It runs like this... Fixed, Event, Ultra Premium, then EY Float, then EOY Float

However, it gets complicated over how the LO villas are broken up, and whether their are multi-week Home-Resort reservations (with multi-week owners naturally having more Elite status and the ability to have multi-week Home-Resort reservations).
 
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DeniseM

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True: But I am referring to Elite owners with multiple weeks at WKROVN/S.

Also - when it comes to actual view upgrades (ocean view to ocean front) a "Whale" Elite Owner will get the upgrade before a single week owner at the resort. It's Starwood's policy to "surprise and delight" Elite owners when possible. :D
 

DavidnRobin

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True: But I am referring to Elite owners with multiple weeks at WKROVN/S.

Also - when it comes to actual view upgrades (ocean view to ocean front) a "Whale" Elite Owner will get the upgrade before a single week owner at the resort. It's Starwood's policy to "surprise and delight" Elite owners when possible. :D

I can extract the rules from the OM if you want.

They certainly may (and do) surprise and delight with a view-category change, but that is a different scenario - and tangental to the question as pecking order for time-stamps.

I have never found (since 2006) someone with a better OFD villa location that was a 'surprise and delight' non-OF owner - or for that matter not among the 100s of discussions I have had with visitors. I have seen people that got bumped in view catagory (e.g. OV to low floor OF). No doubt it occurs where a 'whale' gets bumped to a better view category, but they are not bumping Home-Resort Owners in location based on time-stamp. They may get bumped from IV to OV or OF, but not above those Home-Resort Owners in that view-catagory. I believe that was the question - it is not true that an 5* will be above a 3* in pecking order for the Home-Resort owned view category.
 

DeniseM

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it is not true that an 5* will be above a 3* in pecking order for the Home-Resort owned view category.

I think they do - I should start tracking it so we have some stats to look at.
 

DavidnRobin

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I thought time stamp determined home resort priority views?

It primarily does (outside of nuances regarding villa configuration, and fitting the puzzles together) - all evidence I have observed seems to hold up to that. Certainly, there have been reports of view upgrades (surprise and delight), but when it is within a view level - I have seen no reports to the contrary.

If I were to be put on a floor lower than 5th - when I have a great time-stamp (as I always do) and it was not a special event week - there would be hell to pay - BUT, this has not happened. I did end up on the 4th floor of Building 2 once, but I had put in a special request for a pool view in B2.

In my experience - everyone I know with a early timestamp ended up in a location they expected. I would have to see evidence likewise. If DM can find 'Elite whales' that counter this - I would like to hear the proof (or circumstances).

I know on FlyerTalk that the seemingly endless privileged Plats give bad reviews to WKORV and WKORVN (and WPORV) because they do not get their butts wiped and powdered - and prefer to stay at the hotels.

However, Elites own multiple weeks, and therefore can make multiple week reservations - and it is clear in the WKORV/N and WPORV OMs that multi-week reservations is considered.
 

suzannesimon

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Online Star Options Reservations

Hooray! We can now book online for any of the Starwood resorts.
 

pathways25

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Online booking with StarOptions now available at mystarcentral.com!

You can now book StarOption reservations on mystarcentral.com! No borrowing yet, though...
 

sjsharkie

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This is great news. Unfortunate about borrowing though -- but I suppose this is a bit more complex to implement since they need to verify future mfs have been paid.

-ryan
 

SMHarman

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This is great news. Unfortunate about borrowing though -- but I suppose this is a bit more complex to implement since they need to verify future mfs have been paid.

-ryan

I would think the solution would be to take the booking and then follow up with the need to pay those MF or have the booking cancelled.

A borrowed and unpaid report can't be that hard for Accenture to create.
 

YYJMSP

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I would think the solution would be to take the booking and then follow up with the need to pay those MF or have the booking cancelled.

A borrowed and unpaid report can't be that hard for Accenture to create.

But that would mean inventory that is "held" while the reservation is "pending", effectively locking it out for those who already their ducks in a row, and are ready/able to secure the booking.

An online system that let you choose which qualifying week to prepay the MFs for at the time of the booking would make more sense.

I can see another potential problem, one for those who convert to SPG points. I'm sure it will require a call in to sort out which SOs were used from which week to make a SO booking, so that whole unit/weeks are left for conversion.
 

BradC

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Here's something I didn't know: some resorts have minimum-stay requirements.

If you plug in a request for a 1-day reservation at WLR anytime in the first week of January, you get a message stating: Search Tip: The resort you selected has a minimum stay restriction during the requested timeframe. Please contact Owner Services for more information.
 

Quiding

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Might be a stupid question.. But when will the availability come up on the webpage? At 09:00 so the phones get the same possibility to book or is it at midnight so the internet has an advantage?
 

okwiater

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SMV 2B Plat+
Sheraton Flex (x2)
Might be a stupid question.. But when will the availability come up on the webpage? At 09:00 so the phones get the same possibility to book or is it at midnight so the internet has an advantage?
According to the e-mail announcement, midnight EST is when the window opens.
 
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