My son and I are in the midst of a weeklong trip mostly in Denmark and Belgium, but I’ve been trying to keep things rolling on the blog while we’re away. We stayed 1 night at the Marriott Copenhagen, and while I will have a full review coming up shortly, I did want to make one quick comment about the check-in procedure
Lying about “upgrades”
One of my travel pet peeves is when front desk agents give me an “upgrade” that is not really an upgrade. I mean, it’s really not the end of the world, though I will admit to being occasionally whiny about getting upgraded. But when I’m traveling by myself, or just a few kids, even a standard room is fine. The things I truly “care” about are
- Most importantly – Lounge access, if applicable
- Much less importantly – Good views / high floors
Checking in at the Marriott Copenhagen
Due to all of the madness with the combination of the Marriott / Starwood loyalty programs, I checked in to the Marriott Copenhagen as a Marriott Platinum, which is a mid-tier status (requires 50 nights). The list of benefits says “We’ll do our best to upgrade your room (including Select Suites), based on availability at check-in. Upgrades are subject to availability identified by each hotel and limited to your personal guest room.”
My “upgrade”
I had booked a regular room, but asked if there were any upgrades available. I was told that because of my Platinum status, I was upgraded to a room with “a view of Tivoli Gardens“. Ooh… sounds nice!
But wait, rooms with city views (like views of Tivoli Gardens) are not as desirable as waterfront rooms. Marriott’s own website says so – here are the prices for the 2 rooms on a random weekday
(As an aside, this was a pretty good use of 40,000 Marriott points – 2800DKK is USD$436, so over 1cpp for Marriott points which is definitely on the high side of value I get for Marriott points)
But back to the point – Marriott is charging nearly USD$60 / night more for these waterfront rooms, so don’t go trying to tell me that a city view room is better than a waterfront view.
In the end it didn’t really matter – we weren’t in our room very much and we had access to the executive lounge, so it’s all good. It’s just so irritating when hotel front desk agents pretend to give upgrades
What about you? Does this ever happen to you? Am I making too big of a deal of it? Leave your thoughts in the comments
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
So are you saying Marriott International is lying or is the desk agent at that particular hotel lying to you about the upgrade or is it really a higher class room than the standard room back of the house over looking the alley way? Maybe it’s your perception of what you feel your entitled to ?
I mean creditability here please.
I am saying that Marriott did not really give me an upgrade, and tried to play off that a “Tivoli Gardens view” room is an “upgrade” when in reality, it’s the waterfront view rooms that are actually the upgrade (from the cash room prices)
Huge pet peeve! All of there hotel brands are playing these games, not just Marriott. And we know many hotels are franchised. We also see corner rooms now called “junior suites” or making only a couple of rooms “standard” so that fewer award redemptions are available.
I don’t mind if the answer to upgrades is no, I mind when there is a game, and even more when you can see that your entitled room type is for sale.
I’d like to see corporate push down harder on franchisees who do this. I get they need to make money, but 50 or 100 nights is not a small amount of business. When my life is in a hotel, those small conveniences make a big difference. If you can’t deliver the benefits of the program, then change the program. When more new properties these days are at low end, where there is no elite differentiation, it is important for full service properties to carry extra weight, not play games.
I’ve just had exactly the same at the PHL airport Marriott, I’ve been upgraded from a runway view room to a runway view room, until the AC was unrepairable then I was upgraded to a non runway room which costs $40 less per night.
Well, ask David Flueck how he sees his promise to see spg upgrade policy implemented in the new program despite the lax t&c fulfilled here…
Marriott Mor(m)ons have never cared about this, it’s not in their DNA and as Peter Drucker said… Culture eats strategy for breakfast, so no good times ahead for spg loyalists
Hilton does this, too. Sometimes I’m told we’ve been upgraded to “the Honors member floor.” When I ask why that’s an upgrade, the answer is always something like, “it’s the Honors floor.” Umm, OK.
Dan you keep referring to “Marriott” it’s not Marriott it’s the local property and management that’s whom your argument is with. Look I am tangentially in the business also coming from a family owned hotel development business and while I agree on you may have felt cheated I can tell you each property “lays out” their rooms types location etc then prices accordingly. While we my think it’s a shell game it is reality period. I have 4400 rooms nights and I have had great upgrades and have had ones that cause me to scratch my head.
My suggestion if you feel Marriott did you wrong then write or call them let us know their response
You’re right – it’s not “Marriott” and as other commenters have pointed out, all hotels seem to do this
It would be helpul to know there is a concierge level at a hotel without having to call and ask; also I wonder when one can take a guest…say if visiting someone in a city and they meet you at hotel..can one take them up to lounge
It sounds like the front desk agent tried to pull a fast one, hoping you wouldn’t know or check. Whether this is a trained action is another story.
This Marriott Copenhagen property has had quite a few problematic stories in recent weeks. I’d avoid it.
By the way Dan I have had this issue at Hyatt’s as well. And one of them that we have a corporate agreement with!
This issue is one of the consequences of equity capitol sucking profits it’s all about pricing
I hate “customer-service-speak”. Instead of telling you the truth, they use fluffy words to try to con you into thinking that they’re either doing something for you or not screwing you. The reality is that they are counting on you to be either too stupid to notice or too polite to call them on their BS.
Of course, they’ll end the conversation with, “is there anything else that I can do for you?” because they’ve been trained that this phrase will make us feel cared for. In these situations, I sometimes ask, “Is there actually anything that you can do for me because it doesn’t appear that you have the authority to actually do anything?”
I’d go passive-aggressive. Be all super nice and ask specifically how the upgraded room is better, and that you just want to know all about how they’ve been so great to upgrade you, and tell you the exciting details, and as a Platinum you really appreciate them honoring the promised benefits and that you’re just so pleased to be in an upgraded room. If you want to lay it on even thicker, you can mention that you simply MUST email the corporation to thank them as well, along with writing a TripAdvisor review.
That’s a good one! I’ll have to remember that for next time 🙂
Marriot metro Washington DC…told me last wk ‘ there r no upgrades at this time due to the merger” idk what that has to do w/anything
In my forty years of business travel, I encountered this frequently. I lived in hotels rather then my home. I had reached the upper tiers of all hotel chains.
I would always ask humbly if they could upgrade me. If nothing was ‘available’ that first night, they would upgrade me later. If the room assigned me for unacceptable because of view, location or smell, I promptly returned to the room desk and requested an immediate change. I also made my own reservations online reading the room descriptions. I think the Hilton Hotel chain is the worst for what they offer and demand in points for rooms.
with me it’s been the opposite the past four stays: i check in, robotic front desk staff, neither of us says much, and when i get to the room it’s a suite. i’m in one at the sheraton LAX as i write this (the three others were at LAX and a couple of marriotts in the bay area). as a pre-merger marriott platinum i got a lot of sweet talk and good cheer from the front desk staff but not many upgrades … i much prefer this!
I can beat that one. Le Meridien Pyramids in Cairo. I booked two suites on points. it took us 45 minutes to check in and each of our key packs had a card that we had been upgraded. Our room was upgraded from the suite we had booked to . . . the suite we had booked. Our kids room was upgraded from the suite we had booked to a regular room!
It was a dreadful hotel
I once used my points at the Marriott in Buenos Aires and while free breakfast normally comes with a room, I had to pay $25 per person for breakfast because I used my points. How cheap can you get?
There are no Marriott hotels in Buenos Aires, or anywhere else in Argentina, only Starwood hotels. If you were inadvertanly charged for breakfat, when it should always be complimentary, you should have immediately complained to a manager, not accept it.
I am going back a few years and I did mention it to the manager which is why I know that they do not give a free breakfast to points users.
Dan, while I understand the frustration in feeling you got swindled or lied to, it’s simply not true…according to Marriott’s own website.
The problem with your comparison of room types is that you’re comparing the wrong room types. You weren’t “upgraded” from a standard room to a “City View” room (which, correctly stated, is less of an upgrade than the Waterfront view). As you said, you were upgraded to a room with a Tivoli view. On Marriott’s website, they list the rooms with Tivoli views as an Executive Level, top floor room, which is priced approx. 400 DKK higher than the “Waterfront View” room you’re comparing in your post. The “Tivoli View” rooms are not the standard “City View” rooms (which is likely the original room type you booked, since it’s the lowest-priced, standard room).
Again, the Tivoli View rooms are more expensive than (and an upgrade from) the City View room you originally booked and the Waterfront room you’re complaining you didn’t get. For proof, go to the Copenhagen Marriott booking site, enter an arrival date, and make sure you’re on the “Standard Rates” tab (since the Tivoli View rooms aren’t available for “Prepay and Save” special rates), and scroll just past the “Waterfront” room types.
And next time, maybe ask the front desk agent for an upgrade, but not a full upgrade…just a midway-upgrade. Then maybe you’ll get the slightly better Waterfront room you feel entitled to, instead of the even better Tivoli View room, and be happy.
Thanks for the detailed explanation Darren!
When checking in to any Marriott, I have done my research in advance. I don’t just ask for an ungrade — that comes off as entitled and arrogant. I ask if they have a balcony room with 2 beds facing the water. Much more effective.
I have had this happen too many times but I am sure it is not just Marriott. Sorry about your experience in Copenhagen. We recently stayed at that same hotel on points for three nights and were upgraded to the waterfront view on the Executive Floor. The view was great, the room was smallish but fine, and we really enjoyed the Executive Lounge on the main floor. We thought the front desk people were also quite helpful. So I’m not sure why you singled out Marriott in this post. Our most recent experience with the “upgrade that wasn’t” was at a Hilton in Paris.
You’re right – this isn’t just a Marriott thing.