10 Tips on Scoring Hotel Upgrades

10 Tips on Scoring Hotel Upgrades


Getting a better room is easier than you might think – and it never hurts to ask

Most travelers never think to ask for a hotel room upgrade, which is regrettable. During the off-season, large hotels frequently run high vacancy rates, and moving a guest into a nicer room doesn't cost anything except for some extra laundry expenses. As with so many other things in life, there is simply no harm in asking politely.

An upgrade doesn't have to mean a larger room. Perhaps it's an ocean view, a king-size bed, or a room in an especially quiet wing. The important thing to remember is that hotel upgrades are mostly about personal relationships, rather than loyalty programs or special credit cards (though those can certainly be helpful).

Upgrades are given at the discretion of the hotel manager or the front desk clerk. These people tend to receive a fair amount of grief from finicky guests on a regular basis, and they appreciate being treated with respect and patience. Acting entitled or being deceitful usually won't help your case – these are professionals who have seen it all before.

Dress nicely, and be as friendly as possible, even if you're exhausted after a long flight. Inquire about an upgrade after you've given your name, but before you've been assigned your room. Do a little research on rooms beforehand, and make a specific request (e.g., "Would it be possible to be upgraded to an executive suite at no extra charge?").

Simply asking for a "better room" is not as effective as requesting a particular room using the hotel's terminology (Central Park Suite, Harbor View Suite, etc.). Don't be disappointed if an upgrade is not possible – this is a matter of availability, after all.

In large city hotels, upgrades are more likely during weekend, due to the absence of business travelers. For smaller hideaways in scenic locales, your chances are better during the week. Frequent visitors or members of various hotel reward programs will gain preferential treatment, but more often than not, hotel management is happy to lend a favor to a calm, amiable guest. It's good for business.

Here are 10 tips for securing a hotel room upgrade.

1. Contact Management Before You Arrive: If you are celebrating a special occasion, feel free to mention this in an email. A personable and enthusiastic call to confirm your reservation also can help.

2. Book a Mid-Range Room: You're more likely to be upgraded from a mid-range room than the cheapest room in the hotel.

3. Time It Right: Large city hotels tend to be busier during the workweek. For a smaller hideaway in the country, try for a midweek booking if you have some flexibility.

4. Arrive During Mid-Afternoon: Checking in between 3 and 5 is optimal. The front desk clerk will have a better sense of the day's bookings and cancellations.

5. Look the Part: Dress appropriately. A nice jacket can make a world of difference. If you're traveling with tired children, it probably won't hurt to have someone mind them in the lobby while you're at the front desk.

6. Be Personable: Ask nicely. Mention that you'd be happy to reference the counter clerk's name in customer evaluations.

7. Be Specific: For example: "Would it be possible to be upgraded to an ocean view?" If you have a preferred room that you've stayed in before, feel free to mention it.

8. Mention Relationships: If your company does a lot of business with the hotel, feel free to mention it. If you use a travel service or a credit card that has a "special relationship" with the hotel, by all means, pipe up.

9. Take Advantage of Minor Misfortune: Laundry gone missing? Noisy neighbors? Kindly let management know that an upgrade will wipe the slate clean.

10. Leave On a Happy Note: A nice tip for the doorman. Smiles for the concierge. A note of approval to the manager. Every little bit helps, especially for the next time around.

Proving Me Right

I would like to thank everyone that has sent me emails or notes responding to my open letter. As I have had many positive responses, at the same time, a weasel gets in and proves me right.

Case in point, a guy using the Yahoo ID jessejamescollado. I talked to him 3 times on Yahoo IM in the span of 3 months. Twice this guy asks me if I have a cam. From past experience, anytime a guy asks a girl for her cam, he wants a free peep show. Yes, I shut him down twice. The third time he asked me for pics. I am sitting here like WTF? When I point it out to him that he is a pervert asking me for my cam twice, he tried to deny that he has ever talked to me. (ok, do I have stupid written across my forehead?) When I pointed it out to him that I had chatted with him 3 times, he acted like he had NO CLUE! C'mon really? Hell, i even gave him an alibi by saying that someone may have been playing on your Yahoo. He actually answered yes! I promptly told him that he needs to stop playing games, called him a pervert for the 3rd time and put him in the Super Iggy Bin.

Yahoo IM messages

I know a lot of people have asked about my Yahoo IM messages that are displayed beside my name. Well here is a small breakdown of the common messages so people wont be sending that famous acronym WTF??

Calling Ghetto Dr. Phil - I am chatting with someone that has a lot of issues and need someone that will give them objective advice. Sometimes they listen, most times they don't, and what I tell them comes full circle.

Having a Pinky and Brain moment - (If you ever watched cartoons, think of the Animaniacs' Pinky and the Brain.) This is twofold; If I am having a bad day at the office, the sign will go up. 95% of the time, it is my crazy-ass 'boss' in NC that has hatched another hair-brained scheme to take over the world, and I as his president tries not to attempt to catch a case (or commit myself under a 51-50) trying to stop him.

VoluptuousDCDiva - I'm in a basic Diva mood. Most of the time I am ranting about something in my personal life.

KARMUL - I am working on something related to Karmul. Simply hit me up and I'll tell you what's new on the Karmul horizon.

I'm (not) in love with a stripper - Catherine Price

I'm (not) in love with a stripper

I was tempted to kick off the morning with a piece about gubernatorial sex scandal. (I'm not even talking about Eliot Spitzer -- check out this article on David and Michelle Paterson's admitted infidelities.) But then I thought, screw that. I'd rather write about strip clubs.

Did anyone else catch this little nugget Monday from the Associated Press? Titled "Man Files Suit, Claims Lap Dance Injury," it briefly recounts the travails of a man named Stephen Chang, a securities trader who has filed a lawsuit against the Hot Lap Dance Club in Manhattan for injuries he sustained when "a stripper giving a lap dance swiveled and smacked him in the face with the heel of her shoe."

First, a note to Mr. Chang: Please accept my condolences for what could very well be a serious injury. If this was a stripper of the sort one frequently sees in the background of music videos, those heels were likely to have been quite high -- not to mention pointy. If this is anything involving your eye, then disregard the rest of this post and write me off as an asshole. (Update: According to the lawsuit, Mr. Chang did suffer an eye injury. I apologize. But as a general point, I still stand by what follows.)

Provided that's not the case, though, I have a question: Are you stupid? There are certain activities that come with risks. Try kiteboarding, for example, and a sudden gust of wind could smack you down on the water and break your back. Go base-jumping and there's a chance you might splatter. Surround yourself with scantily clad women whose entire job is to gyrate around your body in stilettos, and one in several million times, a heel is going to land in your face. Under normal circumstances, she would have gotten an extra tip for being so flexible.

So what are the possible long-term implications of this lawsuit? I imagine a world in which strip clubs start to resemble ski rental shops, requiring clients to sign lengthy liability waivers before they're allowed to try out the equipment. It reminds me of a release form I once saw at a bar that had a mechanical bull (proudly labeled as "The Best Buckin' Ride Ever"). The form -- which was several pages long -- could be summarized by one simple statement (which for some reason I have saved on my computer): "Mechanical bull riding has inherent dangers." So does hiring a woman to throw her leg over your shoulder and hump your lap. Consider yourself warned.

-- Catherine Price

How Far will You go?

Will you go as far as this man went to get rid of the life that he once had?

Man's Life in Australia For Sale online

SYDNEY, Australia - A painful breakup with his wife has prompted a man to put his entire life — his house, his car, his job, even his friends — up for sale online in an effort to start over.

Ian Usher, a British immigrant to Australia, said Tuesday he would auction everything he owns and more on e-Bay starting June 22.

"On the day it's all sold and settled, I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all," Usher says on his Web site.

Up for bid is Usher's three bedroom house in the western city of Perth and everything inside it, his car, motorcycle, jet ski and parachuting gear.

Usher says he is also selling a one-time introduction to his friends and a trial run at his job — a plan endorsed by his friends and his employer.

In media interviews on Tuesday, Usher said he wants a fresh start after realizing that most things in his current life remind him of the relationship he had with the wife of five years whom he broke up with more than a year ago.

"Everything that I have — the furniture in the house — all has memories attached to it," Usher, 44, told Seven Network television. "It's time to shed the old, and in with the new."

Usher said his life will be sold in one lot, and that bidders should expect to pay more than $390,000, which is the upper end of a realtor's valuation of his house that he has posted online.

Joy Jones, who co-owns the rug store in Perth where Usher worked as a shop assistant, said she liked the auction idea and wanted to help out. Joy Jones Rugs is offering the successful bidder a two-week trial, which could be extended for three months and then become permanent if it works out.

"When Ian came with this idea — because we had seen him go through a breakup of marriage and pain and bits and pieces — I thought it was really exciting," Jones told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "We thought, why not give it a go?"

Usher said his friends in Perth had also proved willing to be introduced to the highest bidder — allowing him to advertise his auction as offering a complete lifestyle.

Usher, who was born in Darlington, England, planned to open the auction at noon Perth time on June 22 and accept the last bid exactly one week later.

He said he hopes to set off traveling, including a visit to his mother in England, as soon as the auction is over.

"My current thoughts are to then head to the airport, and ask at the flight desk where the next flight with an available seat goes to, and to get on that and see where life takes me from there," he wrote online.

Soulmates

In our quest for happiness we must be sure that we don't settle for a
playmate when God has a Soul mate waiting for us. Sometimes this is a
hard distinction to make. Playmates are tricky. They are so much fun to
be with that even the smartest of us will be fooled into thinking this
has to be our Soul mate. Worse yet too many of us attempt to make a soul
mate out of a Playmate.

The danger of this is that later, after years of playing, we will meet
our Soul mate, but it may be too late. We may have already made a
Lifemate of our Playmate and created life-long bonds (emotional,
children, etc.).

Alternatively, we may have been hurt from playing so hard that we are in
no shape ourselves to be anyone's anything. How can we distinguish
between the One, and just another one? First, we must be open with
ourselves about who we really are and what our soul yearns for. Only you
and God know what is truly in your heart and mind.

Only you know what will make you truly happy and whole. In order to find
your Soul mate you have to know you, first. You must be willing to
listen to that inner voice. Moreover, is that voice telling you that the
nerdy person you enjoy talking and sharing your thoughts with, could be
him? What about that friend who is always willing to go the extra mile
for you when no one else will. Oh no! He's too short or too tall,
balding or too hairy, and on and on? Just too ordinary looking for me!

GUYS............

Then there's that girl who makes you feel so special when you're around
her, but she doesn't match that ideal you have conjured in your head.
She's too tall, not slender enough, not light or dark enough, not
shapely enough, not attractive enough, and on and on. She just couldn't
be for me! Therefore, what if he or she doesn't look like Shemar Moore
or Halle Berry.

Don't push away someone who is right there in your face, someone who you
think you are not good for, but you never asked them. Is the next person
going to treat you like the jewel that you are?

Not only that, his or her soul and yours will commune in ways you never
imagined possible! In order to heed that voice, we have to put on the
back burner our own superficial thinking. Could it be that your inner
desire is for a truly genuine person with a good heart? If you enjoy
playing, stay on the playground. There are plenty of Playmates out there
to occupy your time.

Nevertheless, don't spend too much time playing or you may play your
life away. Eventually the playing loses it appeal and your soul begins
to crave a deeper, more meaningful connection. Your soul begins to crave
your Soul mate.

Never make someone a priority when all you are to him or her is an
option......

Poem - The Other Woman

This poem is waaaay deep!

THE OTHER WOMAN
I am the one who consoles your man
I listen when you don't have time

I am his friend first and
His lover second
A lover who loves him unconditionally
I don't make him feel like he's less of a man
I know this good black man is doing
The best he can
In an unforgiving world
He laughs with me
Smiles with me
Shares with me
He runs my bath water
And licks the bubbles off my toes
He washes my body with gentle hands
Gentle hands from a gentleman
I make him feel wanted, needed and appreciated
He shows me a side of him
You never knew existed
Did you know he wanted to go to cooking school?

Who am I?
I AM THE OTHER WOMAN
You were always too busy for him
With your career
Too busy to get the brother a beer
Too busy for love
He was never next
Too busy for anal or kinky sex
Don't get it twisted
This isn't something that will pass
It's a lot deeper
We read books together
Cry together
Love forever

Who am I
I AM THE OTHER WOMAN
When his pager goes off
And he has to leave unexpectedly
Well, that's me
When he comes home late and happy
From an all nighter at the office
It's me that put that smile on his face
I make dealing with you more tolerable
I've only spoken to you once or twice
You sound very nice, not cold as ice
Like he said, or maybe he meant
Cold as ice......in bed
Idle hands are the devil's workshop
Idle hands of your man
All over my tan.....brown body
A good man is not hard to find
A good man is hard to keep
Especially if you're a weak.......woman
He likes me because I talk back to him
I show him sass and spunk
I give him my lips to kiss and my body to lick
I am the challenge you never were
I bring him breakfast in bed
Followed by a little head
And drink Mimosa's out of his naval
Hey girl, I understand
Everybody aint able
Quit trying to be the boss
And give that salad a toss
I ask him how was his day
And massage his head and his feet
Letting him know
He is my only treat
No disrespect intended
But then again
I don't owe you a thing
I didn't commit to you
He did!

We as women get mad at one another
Instead of dealing with the man
The man with idle hands
Who am I
I AM THE OTHER WOMAN !
I AM THE WOMAN
In response to the other woman,
Allow me to introduce myself
I am the WOMAN who was there each step He took.
I am his backbone that keeps him strong.
I am his best Friend and Soul mate,
while you settled for being just his here and now date.
You state that you love him unconditionally,
well you don't know unconditional love until you lay
awake praying, holding and molding your mate.
I don't make him feel less than a man because I am
more than a woman to belittle my man.
And just because you give him tail and he tells
you sweet nothing to make your head swell,
doesn't mean he's your male.
You say he laughs with you, nah he laughs at you
because you will always be coach
because I am first class.
You say he smiles with you , well he cries with me
because we are connected emotionally.
So.... he licks your toes huh?
Well... toes and ho's go together.
But my dear he licks my cat, so how
You like that.
He massages my inner walls, and your surprised
he didn't call?
He is in tuned to me because I am his destiny.
Which you can never be.
Sweetie, you think you know things I don't,
his inner most thoughts, wants, and dreams.
Do you realize we built those things from
bottom to top together.
You should have known better.
Who am I? You know who I am. Damn.
I am that woman you strive to be.
Nothing and no one compares to me.
I AM THE WOMAN
The Woman you can't be.
The woman working hard to build stability.
Yes, I am a career woman.
And yes, I am on top of my business, but
guess what he is my business, and now this is
Personal.
You know I don't blame you for hating me
And if that makes you feel better about
yourself then let it be.
Because I am secure in how I present myself.
Don't YOU get it TWISTED sister, I do just
fine
in the satisfaction department, you didn't know?
What you did last night, he learned from me.
I have a bachelors in seduction, a masters
in rhythmatic abilities,
and PHd in climax stimulation.
Like I said before I am first class, the ultimate.
My ways are intoxicating, leaving a man
puzzled and perplexed
on how he can get his next fix.
Who am I? You know who I am.
I AM THE WOMAN, you can't be.
STOP....... you don't even compare to me.
He told you I am cold as ice, no sweetie,
you misinterpreted what he meant.
He meant I leave him with chills running up
and down his spine because I am so fine.
Kinky- I can be, but unlike you I am a
LADY
What I do in my bed stays in my bed,
while what you do in bed hops from bed to
bed to street corner.
You are right, a good man is not hard to
find, but hard to keep.
and weak.... hardly describes me freak.
He likes you because you walk behind him
I walk beside him.
You bring him breakfast in bed,
My mornings after has him scrambling eggs
butt naked with slippers on.
And when I ask him what will you eat- he
responds... "YOU are my treat."
No disrespect taken honey and actually I
find it quite funny.
I am more than a WOMAN.
He's the ONE who committed to me.
That's why I will let the two of you be.
Who am I? You know who I am.
I am that LADY who discharged his ass yesterday.
Now, what you got to say.
Ya see, I knew who you were on the phone,
that's why I decided to leave him alone.
My man and I had a little conference and
sadly to say
that I AM TIRED, so my jigga, your ass is
FIRED.
Who am I ?
I am that WOMAN who got AWAY!
It is best to be thought a fool than to
open your mouth and prove it. Silence can be so loud. !!!!!!!!