Room upgrades?

[Simbee3]

Our family is planning our first split stay between Disney and Universal this year.

I have been lurking for some time now on the Universal boards and have found very useful information. I have joined the Loews first program, and do understand that being a blue card member I can only get an upgrade if one is available upon arrival to the hotel.

But, my question is which hotel would be more likely than not to give a room upgrade during the month of August?

 

[Motherfletcher]

PBH is the easiest on-site upgrade. We have booked the standard garden view a dozen times but have yet to stay in one. Ask if an upgrade is available at check in and ask for the west wing either way.

 

[Simbee3]

PBH is the easiest on-site upgrade. We have booked the standard garden view a dozen times but have yet to stay in one. Ask if an upgrade is available at check in and ask for the west wing either way.

Thanks for the information, but can you tell me why the west wing?

 

[Motherfletcher]

PBH is rather spread out. We have had rooms at the end of the Villa Wing that were 900 feet from check in. We have had bay view rooms near the end of the East Wing and both were quite a walk to the water taxi and the Beach Pool. The West Wing is more centralized and if you get a garden view room in the West Wing it will likely be a view of the Beach Pool which is designed resembling a Roman aqueduct.

 

[Simbee3]

Thanks so much for the information.

 

[disneyfan67]

PBH is the easiest on-site upgrade. We have booked the standard garden view a dozen times but have yet to stay in one. Ask if an upgrade is available at check in and ask for the west wing either way.

I'm staying there July 26th to the 28th and Ill be checking in around 2:30. This will be my first visit to Universal and any hotel owned by Lowes. Do you think I might be upgraded because of my newbie status? All I have booked is a standard garden view room. So defenitely ask for the West wing when I check in? I'm just thinking about the kids and how close to the pool they will be. I guarantee that the pool will be the first thing they will want to see when we check in.

 

[Motherfletcher]

I'd keep the garden view reservation and ask what upgrade might be available at check in. About 4 days prior to check in you could send a fax requesting the west wing. That is when the rooms manager starts the process of putting reservations where they fit. That is the summer season so it could be a little harder to get an upgrade. If you ask if one might be available it allows them to say yes for $50/night or let you have it complimentary.

 

[disneyfan67]

I'd keep the garden view reservation and ask what upgrade might be available at check in. About 4 days prior to check in you could send a fax requesting the west wing. That is when the rooms manager starts the process of putting reservations where they fit. That is the summer season so it could be a little harder to get an upgrade. If you ask if one might be available it allows them to say yes for $50/night or let you have it complimentary.

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind. I don't have no problem with paying for the upgrade as long as it's reasonable. We won't be in the room that much anyway, but if bigger room is available and it's cost effective, I may do it.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

 

[MSWint]

We got an upgrade from a Garden view to a Pool view on our first stay with the Loews Blue at HRH ... first stay at any of the Loews Hotels. We had booked a Garden View and were traveling with our pet, we checked in around 11:00 AM and they upgraded us to a pool view without even asking. I was planning on asking but the front desk clerk was very, very pleasant and upgraded us before I even got a chance to ask.

P.S. I was ready for a rude front desk person from the many negative comments from other posters and was very pleased to find a friendly, pleasant and accomadating front desk person ... luck of the draw? ... I don't think so, EVERY STAFF MEMBER that we came in contact with was absolutely fantastic!!!

Both my wife and I have worked in the customer service industry our entire careers ... we definately know the difference between good customer service and not so good customer service. HRH ranks very, very high or higher in comparison to equivalent Hotels in Orlando (and elsewhere) including Disney Resorts and even DCL in reference to overall customer satisfaction in my opinion.

At the risk of a flame war ... my opinion of why some people run into "rude" staff members is simple ... generally, when it comes to interacting with other people, you get in return what you give. What you give is something that is observed (usually without even realizing it) by all of ones senses ... hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch. Rude prompts rude, friendly stimulates friendly.

You want an upgrade .... try the friendly approach!

 

[Simbee3]

We got an upgrade from a Garden view to a Pool view on our first stay with the Loews Blue at HRH ... first stay at any of the Loews Hotels. We had booked a Garden View and were traveling with our pet, we checked in around 11:00 AM and they upgraded us to a pool view without even asking. I was planning on asking but the front desk clerk was very, very pleasant and upgraded us before I even got a chance to ask.

P.S. I was ready for a rude front desk person from the many negative comments from other posters and was very pleased to find a friendly, pleasant and accomadating front desk person ... luck of the draw? ... I don't think so, EVERY STAFF MEMBER that we came in contact with was absolutely fantastic!!!

Both my wife and I have worked in the customer service industry our entire careers ... we definately know the difference between good customer service and not so good customer service. HRH ranks very, very high or higher in comparison to equivalent Hotels in Orlando (and elsewhere) including Disney Resorts and even DCL in reference to overall customer satisfaction in my opinion.

At the risk of a flame war ... my opinion of why some people run into "rude" staff members is simple ... generally, when it comes to interacting with other people, you get in return what you give. What you give is something that is observed (usually without even realizing it) by all of ones senses ... hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch. Rude prompts rude, friendly stimulates friendly.

You want an upgrade .... try the friendly approach!

Thanks for the information. And I do agree with you about how you treat people is exactly how you will be treated in return. Sometimes if someone isn't having a great day and you arrive to check in, a simple smile or joke etc. could really change there mood. Or even improve their mood if they are already in a happy state of mind. And in return you may get that upgrade that you wanted.

 

[damo]

We got an upgrade from a Garden view to a Pool view on our first stay with the Loews Blue at HRH ... first stay at any of the Loews Hotels. We had booked a Garden View and were traveling with our pet, we checked in around 11:00 AM and they upgraded us to a pool view without even asking. I was planning on asking but the front desk clerk was very, very pleasant and upgraded us before I even got a chance to ask.

P.S. I was ready for a rude front desk person from the many negative comments from other posters and was very pleased to find a friendly, pleasant and accomadating front desk person ... luck of the draw? ... I don't think so, EVERY STAFF MEMBER that we came in contact with was absolutely fantastic!!!

Both my wife and I have worked in the customer service industry our entire careers ... we definately know the difference between good customer service and not so good customer service. HRH ranks very, very high or higher in comparison to equivalent Hotels in Orlando (and elsewhere) including Disney Resorts and even DCL in reference to overall customer satisfaction in my opinion.

At the risk of a flame war ... my opinion of why some people run into "rude" staff members is simple ... generally, when it comes to interacting with other people, you get in return what you give. What you give is something that is observed (usually without even realizing it) by all of ones senses ... hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch. Rude prompts rude, friendly stimulates friendly.

You want an upgrade .... try the friendly approach!

I agree 100%.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

At the risk of a flame war ... my opinion of why some people run into "rude" staff members is simple ... generally, when it comes to interacting with other people, you get in return what you give. What you give is something that is observed (usually without even realizing it) by all of ones senses ... hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch. Rude prompts rude, friendly stimulates friendly

.

I agree! Except at the HRH. Sorry, but both times I have been there the front desk people have been snotty and rude. I have worked in customer service for years, I know how to be friendly.

 

[macraven]

Our family is planning our first split stay between Disney and Universal this year.

I have been lurking for some time now on the Universal boards and have found very useful information. I have joined the Loews first program, and do understand that being a blue card member I can only get an upgrade if one is available upon arrival to the hotel.

But, my question is which hotel would be more likely than not to give a room upgrade during the month of August?

request the upgrade when you first book. if you have already booked, call back and have it confirmed prior to going to the hotel.
at blue, you will only get the upgrade if the room is available.

book at garden view and the upgrade will be switched to pool view.

pbh and rph have more rooms than hrh and better chance of free loews room upgrade if you wait until you check in.

like i said, if you have already booked, call back and have the request added.

i have had great staff wait on me at hrh. i guess we all have different experiences. if you should encounter rudeness, by all means, request to speak to a front end manager or higher up at that point. give them a chance to correct the situation.

the only place i had an issue was last year at rph. the issue did not go very far as the desk clerk had the supervisor come to the check in counter then and all was resolved quickly. end of problem then

 

[MSWint]

.

I agree! Except at the HRH. Sorry, but both times I have been there the front desk people have been snotty and rude. I have worked in customer service for years, I know how to be friendly.

Sorry to hear that ... maybe they are under new front desk management now

The manager/supervisor of any "front line" personnel has everything to do with the quality of the interaction.

In my business frowns (employee or customer) gets you fired and smiles gets you hired and stay hired ... and I get to do the hiring and firing

In my experience, I find that it doesn't take but a few sneak peeks a day to see who's smiling and who's not. I am very surprised that a hotel of HRH's caliber would hang on to anyone that doesn't "get it" for very long. Orlando can not possibly be in short supply of people who don't "get" the importance of the customer interaction.

Anyway, hopefully they have changed their ways, at least that was our experience two weeks ago.