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It Should Go Without Saying: Reserve the Room or Suite You Want to Stay In. And yet even some otherwise seasoned travelers make the mistake of thinking: “I got upgraded from X suite to Y suite last time, so I'll just book X suite again so that I can stay in Y suite.” Not so fast. Just as with investments, where past performance is no guarantee of future results, the same is true with upgrades. The particular constellation of occupancy, other guests' stay dates, your arrival time, etc. that made an upgrade possible last time could and likely will be different this time. Recalibrate your expectations to assume you'll be in the room or suite you reserved, so that an upgrade is a wonderful bonus if it occurs. This is particularly true when your stay falls during a busy holiday period or school break, but in general, post-pandemic, we've found many of our clients' favorite luxury hotels and resorts to be operating at high occupancy. The shortage of hospitality workers means that cheaper hotels that used to suffice for some guests no longer deliver an acceptable experience, so guests that can afford to have traded up.
As always, there are a few exceptions when in fact an upgrade can be secured in advance:
1. A Luxury Hotel Program That Upgrades at Time of Booking
Peninsula PenClub, Hyatt Privé, Shangri-La Luxury Circle, and Oetker Collection Pearl Partner are luxury hotel programs that provide an upgrade at time of booking (note that for Hyatt Privé, it depends on anticipated occupancy, so an upgrade isn't possible during periods of expected high occupancy).
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2. Select Virtuoso Hotels Upgrade at Time of Booking
There are also select Virtuoso member luxury hotels that upgrade at time of booking as one of their Virtuoso benefits.
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3. Limited Time Exclusive Confirmed Upgrade Offers
At any given time, there are exclusive Four Seasons Preferred Partner confirmed upgrades for certain hotels and resorts, which are combinable with our Four Seasons Preferred Partner benefits. These are not offered to the public, so TravelSort Clients should contact us for the most up-to-date details. See a few of these offers at Top 10 Four Seasons Preferred Partner Exclusive Offers 2024.
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4. Hotel Elite Confirmed Suite Upgrade
Certain hotel loyalty programs provide a confirmed suite upgrade instrument to confirm a suite in advance. Just be aware that, particularly in non-luxury hotels during holiday times, the hotel may deny an upgrade even when confirmed in advance, as not all Marriott or Hyatt properties are familiar with how these elite confirmed suite upgrades work and may deprioritize them in sold-out or close to sold-out situations.
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