I have spent hundreds of nights in hotels and have received countless free upgrades, and I am finally ready to share my secret with you. My secret way to get upgraded is simple: all you have to do is ask! Most hotels are looking for ways to serve their guests. They want to go above and beyond in your eyes. They want to make your stay special and meaningful. But they won’t know the best way to serve you unless you tell them!
Most hotel reservation systems allow you to include a comment or note with your reservation. In that comment section, you can tell them the reason for and circumstances of your stay and what they can do in order to exceed your expectations. They won’t always be able to offer an upgrade, but they won’t usually offer unless you ask.
Recently, my family and I drove to Florida from Chicago. We stayed at a hotel where I had included this comment in my reservation: We are driving from Chicago with our kids, ages five and two, and will be staying with you for two nights. Our two-year-old is still a terrible sleeper. Any upgrade you could provide would be much appreciated.” We were upgraded from a standard room with two queen beds to a king-bed, bunk bed suite.
At our next hotel I had left this note in our reservation: We are driving 12 hours with our five-year-old and two-year-old before we collapse at your hotel. Frozen and Elmo music will likely be ringing in our ears at that point. Any complimentary upgrade you could offer that would allow us to be farther than five feet from our kids would be much appreciated. That hotel upgraded us to a one-bedroom suite with a sleeper sofa. The secret: I told them how they could go above and beyond.
A few additional pointers:
- Become a member of hotels’ reward programs. Most programs are free and many times will come with special perks, amenities, and priority for requests.
- Be kind, genuine, and classy.
- Don’t act entitled or expect special treatment.
- Be grateful if they do upgrade you. Tell the front-desk attendant that you appreciate the upgrade or gesture.
A few other comments I have included in my reservations:
- “We are celebrating my wife’s birthday with a night away from our kids!”
- “We are celebrating our sixth anniversary!” (This was two months after our anniversary, but a marriage should be celebrated all year long!)
- “We love our kids but don’t love sleeping next to them! Any upgrade you could provide is much appreciated.”
- “Celebrating my wife’s birthday with a trip away from the kids. Complimentary upgrade to club level if available would be much appreciated.”
- “We are booking this for my brother-in-law’s tenth wedding anniversary. Any way you can make their stay extra special is appreciated” (as this was a hotel in Italy, I put this into Google Translator and translated it to Italian). They received an upgraded room and a free bottle Prosecco.
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