Other than AC usage (which itself is quite variable, depending upon individual considerations), explain to me how they are not. Are additional towels used? Additional housekeeping? Additional water?
Set yourself up why don't you!
Additonal towels? Yes, I believe more towels are provided in a 1BR than a studio.
Additional housekeeping? Absolutely! Unless you're trying to maintain that cleaning one room of 500 square feet takes exactly the same effort as cleaning two rooms and a full kitchen of 900 square feet.
Additional water? No
The furniture, carpeting, counter tops, appliances, etc... takes a beating with each guest. Yes, I realize YOU take care of things when YOU are there, but the wear and tear needs to be averaged over the number of stays. Believe it or not, all these "things" wear out faster when the unit is used more.
There are more "things" in a 1BR unit than a studio.
Any "extra" costs with regard to furniture, etc. were incurred at the resort's inception; they are sunken costs. Any additional costs required by them will be incremental (according to the mathematical usage of the word) and will be reflected in the MFs (which vary incrementally according to square footage).
This is only true if you assume they will never replace anything on a room by room basis. Once one thing in one room needs replacing the entire resort will be renovated. Only then can you take a single snapshot at inception of the cost and maintain equality with the rest of the facility.
If units need to be "refreshed" your "sunken cost" argument goes out the window because now the extra wear and tear has added a cost outside those "sunken costs".
This is really a simple concept if you just give me the benefit of the doubt for a minute.
Did you ever notice that people change their kitchens and bathrooms way more often then their bedrooms? That's because kitchens and bathrooms are high traffic areas. They wear out faster. People try to take care of their homes... they really do. But usage is usage. Stuff wears out and breaks. Although we spend A LOT of time in a bedroom, we really don't wear things out... other than the blankets, sheets and mattress.
Same thing applies to 1BR units if everyone were upgraded into them. They'd wear out faster than the studios because they'd simply be used more. And since there are more things to wear out in them, it costs much more than wearing out a studio. Hence, each stay in a 1BR costs more in maintenance than each stay in a studio.
Therefore, our MFs would go through the roof if they started to upgrade everyone.
And upgrading elites to better rooms would not, in the end, cost non-elite owners additional money for benefits of which they not the recipients?? How is this fair to the non-elite owners, taken on a resort-by-resort basis? Should I, as a WKORV owner, either have to pay higher MFs (for your upgrades) or get jammed out of a better room simply because you, as an elite, own at Harborside -- a completely unrelated resort?
Answering the last first... Harborside is not a completely unrelated resort. It's in the SVN and you, as a WKORV owner, have as much right to their facilities as they have to ours (I own all my weeks at WKORV).
Yes, my upgrade as a 5* costs you money. No doubt about it. Perhaps thats just another reason Starwood was trying to kill the benefit.
Compared to the differences multi-week owners enjoy in other networks, this upgrade cost forced on the masses is small potatoes, but it is a cost. The only savior is that most people are NOT elite, and if you consider most elites (like everyone else) vacation during peak times, they don't often get upgrades. So there is much restraint in the system that gives away your money to elites like me. Let everyone upgrade and that restraint dissappears. Everyone would upgrade whenever they could, 52 weeks out of the year and costs of their upgraded stays would be nearly twice what it would be without the upgrade.
Think of it like this: If you get a couple of rain drops on you, it's tough to notice and it won't bother you in the least. Have someone dump a bucket of water over your head and you're gonna feel it and be annoyed.
The current system of elite upgrades is like a very light rain. Yes, you're getting wet, but it's hardly noticeable. Giving everyone upgrades would be like getting hit with the bucket.
