This is part five of a twelve part trip report from my travels to Prague, Nice, Bratislava, Sorrento, and Rome. This trip picture report includes my stay at the Le Méridien Nice.
- Delta BusinessElite 767-300ER JFK-PRG (Prague)
- Hilton Prague Old Town
- CSA Czech Airlines Crystal Lounge Prague
- Czech Airlines PRG-NCE (Nice) / NCE-PRG
- Le Méridien Nice
- Nice Côte d’Azur Lounge
- Sheraton Bratislava
- SmartWings PRG-NAP (Naples)
- Hilton Sorrento Palace Hotel
- Marriott Autograph Collection – Boscolo Palace Roma
- Alitalia Giotto Lounge Rome
- Alitalia B777-200ER New Magnifica Business Class FCO-JFK
For a non weekend stay just prior to high-season, SPG had the property listed for 4800 Starpoints and $99 for a non-refundable classic room. There were high upgrade chances – SPG.com showed availability both days for Junior & Presidential suites as well as Deluxe rooms with gigantic patios overlooking the Mediterranean.
Arrival – SPG Platinum recognition and 500 SPG points, no upgrade as “there was no availability”. Tiny classic room with virtually no view. Armed with my iPhone I headed back down to the check-in desk to prove availability for both nights. I was told it’s a mistake and that the manager was on break until 1am (it was 12). We skipped unpacking and left the property to check out the area for a bit.
Back @ 1 – The manager explained that the mobile website was not synched correctly with local inventory and only the main site was accurate. I headed upstairs to grab the MacBook Air. On SPG.com, both room types still showed availability. Back downstairs…success – Manager rolled his eyes and had a bell boy show me both rooms. I decided on the Deluxe corner room for the larger wrap-around patio with an awesome view, though the suite had a huge bathroom. Loved my new room!
Next morning – Awesome lunch of tuna nicoise on the roof-deck with some swimming while waiting for the food to come out. Took in the great views and then headed off to the Le Méridien private beach across the street.
The private beach – Why deal with the rocks and a little pain, the Le Méridien has mats to protect your feet while walking to your lounge chair and they have a dock leading you far out into the water where there is only sand. Warm water and great swimming. Waiter service (ridiculously priced) but the watermelon looked too good to resist. After some initial turbulence, great stay, fantastic room, and really nice beach.
Related – Trip Reort – Marriott’s AC Hotel Ambassadeur Antibes- Juan les Pins, France – Hotel Review
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18 comments
Why do SPG elites seem to have so many problems securing upgrades? Do these hotels not understand their own policies? Do they really not think that as a savvy traveler I would check the website to find out what suites may be available for upgrade? Similar situation happened to me at the Westin in Aruba, and it took a full day to get resolved.
I’m just curious.. is this review from a trip taken over a year or two ago? The photos posted are in a folder that was created a year ago. Also, if this is a trip report why are you using screen shots taken of professional photos?
@Brent – Thanks for the questions. The trip was just a few weeks ago, but I also visited a year ago and that’s where the pictures are from. Note that there have been no hotel changes since then. You can see that dates and tickets are provided for all associated flights in every single one of my trip reports. As you appear to be a new reader (or one who hasn’t posted before…I had to approve this post, you may not be aware of the camera that was ruined during this trip. The professional photos as explained in an earlier post are for the room pics that were destroyed. The point of this post was to discuss my check-in experience, upgrade, and beach. The pictures are there as support, not as the trip report.
@Adam
I can’t see that the dates and tickets are provided for the associated trip to Nice. It looks like you skipped the flight report, but I will take your word that you were there. I did a search but did not see anything about a camera being ruined. This is just my opinion, but maybe you should state within your post that the given photos are from a previous trip.
Thanks for your reply.
@Brent – Thanks for the suggestion, it’s a good one, will do tomorrow. En route to the hotel here!
Unfortunately, this seems to be a more and more common response when denying a a platinum upgrade. There is no availability and then when confronted with evidence to the contrary on the web site, the response is usually the web site is just not functioning and we have nothing to upgrade. I do not understand why so many properties simply hate to upgrade platinum members. It is clearly part of the T&C which they all agree to.
I have the same question: Why are SPG hotel employees and even managers flat-out lying to guests who are rightfully entitled to better rooms? That’s despicable behavior. You earned the points and the status with the understanding you would be able to use them for deluxe rooms. How can SPG try to deny you like that? These companies can be so rotten sometimes.
I stayed 2 weeks in early 2012 in this hotel while it was renovated.
It was overpriced for low quality room, tiny and outdated.
Don’t know if it’s any better…
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