Is one year of SPG Platinum Status worth $1184.69?

[Henry M.]

I've had to go to New Orleans several times this past year. I'm always upgraded to an executive suite and get access to the lounge where they serve breakfast and have decent hor d'oeuvres. I also go to Germany several times a year and stay at the Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel where I'm usually upgraded to the lounge floor. That lounge features an open bar, cooked to order breakfast in the morning and very nice snacks in the evening.

Before that, every time I've staid at a hotel in Hawaii I've gotten very nice suites, even during 4th of July week.

I've never had any bad experiences as a platinum and it definitely adds a lot to my stays at SPG properties. Sorry to hear yours haven't been very good. I bet the managers of the hotels you've staid in read TUG
(j/k).

 

[sjuhawk_jd]

...I bet the managers of the hotels you've staid in read TUG
(j/k).

I seriously doubt that. Tripadvisor (may be), but not TUG.

My experience as a SPG Platinum has been good, mainly staying at the Italian SPG properties this past summer. As a result, I am doing a Mattress run this year, that will continue my platinum for two more years (stays count double promotion), will cost me about $1350, and will result in 36K SPG in my account (which are worth $750 in my book). So the cost of preserving platinum for two years is about $600 or $300 per year. It is so worth it!

 

[tomandrobin]

Wow...What a disappointing ending to your grand experiment.

Since we have becoming Platinum Members, we have been upgraded on the few times we have used our status.

 

[pwrshift]

This was an interesting thread and extended story. I have an SPG credit card that was very useful to earn a lot of points for a trip to Venice and Florence a couple of years back ... stayed in the Danieli Venice and Excelsior Florence on points and got upgraded to suites in both cases. It must have been my card as I was not gold or anything at the time. Out of the blue, I got upgraded to gold and decided to see if it made any difference. It didn't - in 3 different hotels (Toronto, Pittsburgh, Atlanta) we got normal rooms and a small platter of cheese in the room. At one of the hotels, there were very few cars in the parking lot yet they told me they couldn't upgrade as they were sold out, yet the lobby and reastaurant were empty as was the banquet area. Very disappointing ... especially seeing how well we were treated and upgraded in Italy. Never earned my gold status and let it slide...going back to Marriott where I made Platinum this year.

Comparatively, I must say that Marriott goes out of their way for Platinum (and gold for that matter) with instant recognition for your status the moment you arrive until you leave. On the one stay where I didn't get an upgrade, Marriott gave me free valet, free internet, concierge and breakfasts.

No doubt others on this Starwood board have tried Marriott, and perhaps those with more experience with both chains have other thoughts.

I should say that the MNBA MasterCard SPG card for Canadians is coming to an end in February 2010 for some reason. It was a no charge card with a ton of bonus points for use, so I switched a lot of my company charges to this card for a two year period with only 3 stays on the card ... thus earning enough points to have a terrific Italian trip...where Marriott has very few decent hotels.

Brian

 

[nodge]

Another Data Point – Westin Detroit Airport

Hi Gang,

I’ve got another data point. This time it is for my recent stay at the Detroit Airport Westin. I’ve been accused of attempting to mask all the true benefits of being an SPG Platinum and SVO owner by "rambling," so I’ve presented this latest data as bullet points so as not to "obscure" all the glory of SPG Platinum status:

Where: Detroit Airport Westin – Romulus, Michigan
When: Early December
Duration of Stay: 1 night
Method of Payment: Cash & Points ($60 & 4000 Starpoints)
Time of arrival at hotel: midnight

Complementary SPG Platinum Upgrades Received:

Upgraded to club floor? Yes
Club Floor Lounge Breakfast Hours: 6:30 am to 8:30 am

Upgraded to Suite . . .
Automatically?: No
By begging on check-in?: No

Free bottled water in room? Yes – One 16 oz bottle with sign saying all other bottles used would be $3/each

Functioning ice machine on floor?: No

Sealed disposable plastic cups available in room so as to avoid worrying about this possible situation?: No

Number of clean glasses noticeable on the maid’s cart in the morning?: None (You do the math)

Robes in room? No

Settable thermostat in room instead of one of those useless “warmer/cooler” knobs on those cheap and rattling wall box heater units that the staff turns all the way to the coldest setting in the winter to save money, but also thereby makes it freezing in the room when you arrive, and you have no way to know how hot it will get by turning the knob to any particular “warmer” setting so you crank it all the way to the warmest setting because you’re freezing and it’s 1 AM in Detroit in December and you just flew across the country in coach next to a guy hacking up a lung and is it really too much to ask that you at least just get warm, which you never do while falling asleep, but then get the privilege of waking up at 3 AM baking like a deep dish pizza because you set the “warmer” knob too high two hours ago?: No

Comments (OK – I’ll ramble here a little):

So I finally made it to a club floor during a day and time when the club floor lounge was actually open!

I was so excited I actually set my alarm to make it there for breakfast and revel in the luxurious bounty bestowed only upon Starwood’s most elite members (or those willing to pay handsomely for club floor lounge access) who can also make it to the limited two hour window, weekdays only, in which such services are actually offered.

And what did I see when I arrived at the club floor lounge at 8:15 am, a full 15 minutes before the club floor breakfast closed?

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:

Club Floor Lounge Breakfast Buffet – Detroit Airport Westin – December 2009

FWIW, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in central Michigan the next night at the Priceline rate of $60/night. It included complementary breakfast from 6:00 AM to 10:30 AM (7 days a week) for everyone staying at the hotel. Even though I’m not a member of its “Priority Club” rewards program, the agent allowed me and my wife to select two items each from the “Priority Club” member “welcome basket” on check-in. We both selected a bag of chips and a bottle of water. The agent said that if we needed any more bottled water, just swing by and she’ll give it to us.

For comparison purposes and to be fair, like with the Westin Club floor lounge the day before, I visited the Holiday Inn’s breakfast buffet 15 minutes before its scheduled closing time. Here is what it looked like:

Holiday Inn Express Breakfast Buffet – Okemos, Michigan – December 2009

(The Holiday Inn Express also included 4 sealed disposable plastic cups in the room.)

The SPG Platinum Emperor has no clothes ( . . . at least in the rust belt where it is really cold both literally and economically so you'd think it would at least bundle up a little)! Hey Detroit Airport Westin, you may want to think about turning your customer service knob in the "warmer" direction.

-nodge

 

[DeniseM]

Nodge - apparently you didn't get the email: Starwood has a new "slim and trim plan" for Plat members and that was their new "No will power needed" buffet!

Thanks for the update on your Plat adventures! Always a funny read!

 

[jarta]

Based on 112 Tripadvisor reviews. Westin Detroit Airport rated No. 2 of 30 hotels in Detroit (but No. 1 by Business Travelers).

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...it_Metropolitan_Airport-Detroit_Michigan.html

There are a total of 404 guest rooms and only 10 suites at this hotel right at the airport. You arrive at midnight (probably during that horrible Midwest cold snap and storm in early December) and demand a suite. And, you get upgraded to a room on the club floor and then you complain that the new room which was vacant until midnight was not toasty warm when you arrived? And, then you complain that when you set the thermostat all the way to the top - it worked too well? And, then you take a close-up picture of one lonely, depleted croissant tray in a corner of a room and want us to believe it showed the only thing to eat? BTW, did you even ask about more croissants?

I'm not knocking the Okemos Holiday Inn Express (near Lansing). It looks like a very nice Holiday Inn Express. It is probably a better value than the Detroit Airport Westin. It has an indoor pool, meeting rooms and Internet. It has - from what you posted - a well-stocked breakfast bar.

But, the Holiday Inn Express caters to a different type of traveler. The Westin Detroit Airport is a business-oriented hotel. Business people carry on their business mainly during the week and are gone from the hotel to meetings usually by 9:00 am and on weekends. (Or, those people changing planes overnight in Detroit are usually on the early plane out of Detroit the next morning.) Thus, the early hours of the Westin club breakfast. When you and your wife travel to Lansing, I doubt it is for business. You can linger over a cup of coffee before starting out to wherever your final destination might be. You don't have to make a series of meetings starting at 9:00 am. Thus, the longer and weekend hours of the breakfast offered at the Holiday Inn Express.

Both hotels cater to their usual clientele.

So, maybe your comparison is not completely fair. But, if you must stay at a Holiday Inn Express (so that, like in the commercials, you can become an expert on everything, lol!) maybe next time you get to Detroit at midnight, you can stay at the Belleville "Airport" Holiday Inn Express (6 miles from the airport) and feast on its breakfast bar in the morning. ... eom

 

[LisaRex]

Ahh, but you can clearly see that the Westin's breakfast was served on impressive granite while the Holiday Inn Express breakfast counter was [whisper]laminate[/whisper].

 

[jarta]

LisaRex,

Expedia Ratings for Westin Detroit Airport. Also selected for Expedia Insider's Select Award (top 1% of hotels).

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=dspv&itty=new&from=m&shtl=1&htid=900411&crti=7&rfrr=-53056

I don't think Expedia awards the Insider's Select Award for granite, rather than laminate. Really, it all depends on what type of accommodation you want or how you decide you want to travel.

What I object to is dissing Starwood on the statement "a picture is worth 1,000 words" when a Starwood picture is a close-up of one depleted tray without a picture of the whole spread. It's selective information advertised as the big picture. As humor, it's probably effective. But, does it tell an accurate story?

Also, I don't see the validity of a complaint that you are not upgraded to a suite at a hotel that only has 10 of them (out of 414 rooms) when you arrive at midnight at a hotel airport during bad weather.

Or, the validity of a complaint about a heating system that works well when you turn it all the way up to the top. Would you do that when you return home after a trip? If not, why would you do that in a hotel room and complain if 2 hours later it's hotter than Hades?

Or, why post about the short breakfast hours at a business hotel and compare them to a family-oriented motel. I'm sure that even a nice Holiday Inn Express doesn't have Heavenly Beds or dual shower heads or an attached spa or its own TSA security gate (or granite counters in the breakfast area).

But, a Holiday Inn Express wouldn't and shouldn't have such luxuries. It's just a different place serving a different clientele with different wants and needs. So, why poke fun at Starwood, a company that features such little luxuries. You might find them extraneous; others may not. To each his/her own.

Finally, have you read the stories about the Holiday Inn franchisees who are dropping out because Holiday Inn wants them to renovate and upgrade their places (maybe install some granite, lol!). Here's a link:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/c...shabby-hotels-renovate-or-the-holida/19241315

Sounds positively Starwood-like to me. Spend some money on upgrades or you will not be in the system! ... eom

 

[LisaRex]

jarta, Nodge's posts are laced with good humor. You're kind of being a buzzkill.

 

[jarta]

LisaRex, ... My complaint is not about good humor. Starwood can do outrageously funny and stupid things. And, all humor has some truth to it.

My point is this: Is the picture painted of this hotel accurate? And, when does so-called "good humor" cross over to mean-spiritedness? There is not one "lol" in the OP dissing the hotel.

If the Westin Detroit Airport is so godawful, how come it won a Mobil 5 Star rating in 2008 and an Expedia Insiders Select Award in 2009? How come the ratings on TripAdvisor and Expedia are so uniformly good? Why does TripAdvisor rank it No. 1 in Detroit for business travelers? (BTW, how come the OP who dissed the hotel even checked in at midnight given the previous posts about Starwood?)

In other words, is the picture painted accurate? And if it isn't, is it really good humor or really funny? And, if the picture is not accurate, IMO, what's wrong with my pointing that out by posting something good about the hotel - with links. Are only "good humored" negative personal opinions about Starwood and its hotels allowed on TUG?

Maybe I'm just a buzzkill responding to a buzzsaw. ... eom

 

[DeniseM]

jarta - Unless you are the chef at the above named hotel, you are taking this wayyyyyy too personally! It's a funny story - lighten up!

 

[James1975NY]

Hi Gang,

I’ve got another data point. This time it is for my recent stay at the Detroit Airport Westin. I’ve been accused of attempting to mask all the true benefits of being an SPG Platinum and SVO owner by "rambling," so I’ve presented this latest data as bullet points so as not to "obscure" all the glory of SPG Platinum status:

Where: Detroit Airport Westin – Romulus, Michigan
When: Early December
Duration of Stay: 1 night
Method of Payment: Cash & Points ($60 & 4000 Starpoints)
Time of arrival at hotel: midnight

Complementary SPG Platinum Upgrades Received:

Upgraded to club floor? Yes
Club Floor Lounge Breakfast Hours: 6:30 am to 8:30 am

Upgraded to Suite . . .
Automatically?: No
By begging on check-in?: No

Free bottled water in room? Yes – One 16 oz bottle with sign saying all other bottles used would be $3/each

Functioning ice machine on floor?: No

Sealed disposable plastic cups available in room so as to avoid worrying about this possible situation?: No

Number of clean glasses noticeable on the maid’s cart in the morning?: None (You do the math)

Robes in room? No

Settable thermostat in room instead of one of those useless “warmer/cooler” knobs on those cheap and rattling wall box heater units that the staff turns all the way to the coldest setting in the winter to save money, but also thereby makes it freezing in the room when you arrive, and you have no way to know how hot it will get by turning the knob to any particular “warmer” setting so you crank it all the way to the warmest setting because you’re freezing and it’s 1 AM in Detroit in December and you just flew across the country in coach next to a guy hacking up a lung and is it really too much to ask that you at least just get warm, which you never do while falling asleep, but then get the privilege of waking up at 3 AM baking like a deep dish pizza because you set the “warmer” knob too high two hours ago?: No

Comments (OK – I’ll ramble here a little):

So I finally made it to a club floor during a day and time when the club floor lounge was actually open!

I was so excited I actually set my alarm to make it there for breakfast and revel in the luxurious bounty bestowed only upon Starwood’s most elite members (or those willing to pay handsomely for club floor lounge access) who can also make it to the limited two hour window, weekdays only, in which such services are actually offered.

And what did I see when I arrived at the club floor lounge at 8:15 am, a full 15 minutes before the club floor breakfast closed?

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:

Club Floor Lounge Breakfast Buffet – Detroit Airport Westin – December 2009

FWIW, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in central Michigan the next night at the Priceline rate of $60/night. It included complementary breakfast from 6:00 AM to 10:30 AM (7 days a week) for everyone staying at the hotel. Even though I’m not a member of its “Priority Club” rewards program, the agent allowed me and my wife to select two items each from the “Priority Club” member “welcome basket” on check-in. We both selected a bag of chips and a bottle of water. The agent said that if we needed any more bottled water, just swing by and she’ll give it to us.

For comparison purposes and to be fair, like with the Westin Club floor lounge the day before, I visited the Holiday Inn’s breakfast buffet 15 minutes before its scheduled closing time. Here is what it looked like:

Holiday Inn Express Breakfast Buffet – Okemos, Michigan – December 2009

(The Holiday Inn Express also included 4 sealed disposable plastic cups in the room.)

The SPG Platinum Emperor has no clothes ( . . . at least in the rust belt where it is really cold both literally and economically so you'd think it would at least bundle up a little)! Hey Detroit Airport Westin, you may want to think about turning your customer service knob in the "warmer" direction.

-nodge

Judging from the pictures, looks to me like the occupancy was low at the Holiday Inn. :hysterical:

 

[Troopers]

So, what are you batting now? 3.5 for 11?

Sorry to hear about this. It seems to me that other SPG Platinum members (here on TUG and definitely on FT) have consistently reported more success that you have reported. Even I have been upgraded more times as a Gold member. Seems strange.

 

[LisaRex]

FlyerTalkers report a mishmash of results with benefits success domestically, and a much greater percentage of happy customers in Europe.

 

[nodge]

SPG PROGRAM UPDATE:

Earlier this month SPG announced a new level of platinum status that allows SPG members who earned their SPG Platinum status through hotel stays an opportunity to pre-reserve room upgrades, including suites. Here is a link to more information about that change.

This means, at least to me, that since I earned my SPG platinum status for this experiment via hotel stays, and not by spending way, way too much for a bunch of SVO timeshares and their ever increasing maintenance fees, under the new plan I probably would have done much better in the hotel room upgrade department than what my data (above) shows. And, I could have avoided all the begging on check-in that completely turned me off to SPG Platinum upgrades. This is all good news for SPG Plats that earn their status through hotel stays.

Of course, if all my years of watching “Twilight Zone” re-runs and/or having to read “Animal Farm” in middle school serves any purpose, it’s that I have learned that something good usually comes at a price.

(Using my best Rod Serling voice here)

In this case, that invoice is marked “paid in full” by SVO elites who now must beg harder on check-in for fewer available upgraded rooms just so SPG Plats that earned their status from hotel stays can now waltz right in to their pre-booked upgrades, . . . . presumably while their bomb shelter is being finished at home with only enough space for themselves and not the neighbors who will know about it and try to break into it when the air defense siren sounds (but I digress).

Some SPG Platinums ARE now truly more equal than others.

-nodge

 

[spencersmama]

nodge,

When you publish a book, please let me know. I will be one of the first in line to buy it. I stayed up way too late reading this thread. [okay - most of... I skipped some of the grumpy people's posts.] You made it far too entertaining to stop!