How do Starwood upgardes work at Swan/Dolphin?

[sharonk]

I'm thinking about booking an upcoming trip at the Swan or Dolphin and I've never redeemed Starwood points before, but I think I have enough for a free upgrade.

Can someone tell me how this works? Do I book the cheapest room I can find and then contact SPG to try to upgrade? Or do I have to wait until we get there to upgrade?

I'd appreciate any advice from someone who has done this before!

Thanks,

Sharon

 

[Kapp]

that you let them know in advance that you are a SPG member. This can help with some possible upgrades. To purchase an upgrade (i.e Club level), you usually can't do this until 5 or 3 days prior to your arrival. You will have to call them directly. We had enough a few years ago to purchase Club Level while using the Teacher discount. We requested a balcony room with an Epcot view and..........we got it! WE LOVE the DOLPHIN! Have a great time!

 

[kabauer]

We just got back from the Swan yesterday. I'm a SPG and was upgraded to the Junior Suite without requesting it. We were even paying the Nurse rate($149/night). We opened up our door and voila, there was the junior suite. It was great having all that extra room.

 

[DisneyFans4]

Definitely let them know in advance that your a SPG member because they will take care of you. It's hard to try to upgrade too far in advance because the upgrade will be based upon availability when you arrive.

 

[tinkerbela]

i just got my SPG card on monday and our room is already booked at the Swan. do i have to call disney and let them know that i'm a SPG member?

 

[madge]

i just got my SPG card on monday and our room is already booked at the Swan. do i have to call disney and let them know that i'm a SPG member?

I would call the Swan directly and have them add the number to the reservation

 

[tinkerrn]

OK...what if you are an SPG member and have never used it? We are members and have not used it to stay at a hotel yet...it just came in the mail. What good will it do us? Can we buy points to upgrade? The entire thing is very confusing, but am willing to learn. We have ressies for the standard nurse rate room of $99.00.

 

[madge]

OK...what if you are an SPG member and have never used it? We are members and have not used it to stay at a hotel yet...it just came in the mail. What good will it do us? Can we buy points to upgrade? The entire thing is very confusing, but am willing to learn. We have ressies for the standard nurse rate room of $99.00.

You can buy points to upgrade, but often times just being a SPG member is enough to get a complimentary upgrade at check-in. What type of upgrade are you interested in?

 

[DisneyFans4]

I've never used my SPG points either and right now am just building them up. It's always good to let the hotel know your a member so they can enter your account number into the system so it's there.

 

[tinkerrn]

When we made our ressies, I gave themour SPG #. I didn't know if they gave upgrades to those without points? We have 0 points. I was thinking of an upgrade from standard to lake view.

 

[Tikiman]

We are Platinum members and we used points at the Dolphin last July and not only did we get no upgrade but I think we got the smallest room in the hotel. We asked about some other Starwood things that we had gotten at other resorts and no one there knew anything about the program to answer our questions and told us to call Starwood. We have always been upgraded at every other hotel except the Dolphin. Besides that we were not that happy with the resort for other reasons but it was free and we switched over to a Disney resort later that week anyway. Many people love the Dolphin but I don’t know if we would stay there again. We might try the Swan.

 

[tinkerrn]

That is awful!!! I am sorry!! I hope that the rest of your vacation went much better! It looks like you were at the Poly Concierge!!! How wonderful!!!

 

[madge]

We are Platinum members and we used points at the Dolphin last July and not only did we get no upgrade but I think we got the smallest room in the hotel. We asked about some other Starwood things that we had gotten at other resorts and no one there knew anything about the program to answer our questions and told us to call Starwood. We have always been upgraded at every other hotel except the Dolphin. Besides that we were not that happy with the resort for other reasons but it was free and we switched over to a Disney resort later that week anyway. Many people love the Dolphin but I don’t know if we would stay there again. We might try the Swan.

Tikiman--did you contact the Plat. Concierge through Starwood? There's a whole thread on the Flyertalk boards about reporting problems with not getting amenities, etc. not just at the Dolphin, but at other Starwood properties.

I'd also write a letter to the Dolphin. I had an issue last year at check-in where I was misinformed by the desk clerk (about the Starwood program) and the front desk manager took care of it.

 

[madge]

When we made our ressies, I gave themour SPG #. I didn't know if they gave upgrades to those without points? We have 0 points. I was thinking of an upgrade from standard to lake view.

that likely depends on the time of year and how busy the hotel is. I always ask at check-in, just in case

 

[Tikiman]

That is awful!!! I am sorry!! I hope that the rest of your vacation went much better! It looks like you were at the Poly Concierge!!! How wonderful!!!

Yeah we had a good time. I don't let issues bother me to the point where I can't enjoy the trip. I do look forward to staying at different resorts and most people say it is just a place to sleep but part of the trip is the resort. There were quite a few issues at the Dolphin and some of them were taken care of but I don’t let that ruin my trip. After all we were in WDW. I know many people love the access to MGM and Epcot but I started to hate that boat. We always were waiting for it and it took forever to get to Epcot with all the stops so most of the time we walked. I liked the walk from the YC much better. Again I did not let it ruin my trip. The staff was very friendly even if they were misinformed. We did ask for our valet charge to be refunded and they did because every night they had the self parking closed off with signs even when there were spaces so we were forced to valet. Some people think I did not like the Dolphin because I am so use to the Polynesian but we have been to the YC and AKL and enjoyed it very much. I don’t usually post about my bad experience at the Dolphin because I would not want to scare anyone off from trying it because there are many people that love the place. Sometimes you just have to find out for yourself but I just wanted to say that upgrades are not a guarantee with SPG so just be prepared. I was surprised but I cannot complain about not getting something for free. After all I already got the room for free….well it cost us $44,000 in Starwood Ownership! LOL