room upgrades | the holy grail of hotel stays

Ocean View Prime Suite at FS Hualalai

I can't show the comic strip, as King Features wanted $60 for a one-time license, but go to the Rhymes with Orange website and click back to the April 15th cartoon. Cinderella is standing in front of "The Enchanted Forest Rental Desk" to rent a pumpkin coach. The rental agent, a flying fairy godmother complete with wand, informs her, There are no more pumpkin coaches on the lot, but for the same price we can upgrade you to a butternut squash.*

Room upgrades are the holy grail of luxury hotel stays. For many hotels and resorts, the only difference between a less inexpensive lead-in room and higher room categories is the view. A great example is the Four Seasons Maui where lead-in Mountainside rooms look away from the ocean with a view of the roof of the parking garage. Higher room categories (Garden, Partial Ocean, Ocean View, and Ocean View Prime) have progressively better views. So a room upgrade is a valuable perk that can save you $100 every night of your stay, depending on time of year.

How can you increase your chances of getting a coveted room upgrade? Find a luxury travel consultant who

(1) is a preferred partner of your favorite hotel families. Brownell Travel has preferred partner relationships with Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, Park Hyatt, Orient Express, and Rosewood, among other luxury brands. We are among a handful of agencies that are the biggest producers for these brands, and our clients go to the top of the upgrade list.

(2) is a member of Virtuoso, or another consortium with negotiated amenities such as Signature or FHR. These perks include room upgrades on check-in, subject to availability, at over 900 five star hotels and resorts around the world.

(3) has personal relationships with sales managers at the hotels you want to book. If you send a lot of guests to certain hotels, and work with sales managers to VIP your clients, they get to know you and will often try to guarantee an upgrade in advance.

It can help if you are a frequent guest of certain hotels. So when you find a hotel you love, stay with it! Your own relationship, especially when combined with that of your travel consultant, will help you score a room upgrade!

room upgrade (search here on Google)

*Hilary B. Price, "Rhymes with Orange" (April 15, 2012)


copyright (c) 2012 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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