My wife and I and another couple were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary with a short weekend outing around Iowa. I know not TOO exciting, but all the time we had at the moment.

Anyway, I had two Marriott Rewards certificates for a free night at any 1-4 level Marriott locations which I used to make a reservation at the Renaissance Savery (a level 3 Marriott) in Des Moines on a Thursday evening for two rooms. I had sent a letter prior to our stay to ask about paying for an upgrade to the club level for my wife as a nice surprise for her for our 25th anniversary.

We arrived around 1 p.m. on Thursday and the only room they had cleaned yet was for our friends, room 1201 and we would be in room 1200. NICE to have side by side rooms I thought.

It only got better, the desk clerk said we would need to take the private elevator near the desk as it was the only one that would go to the Penthouse.

Now that sounded like a sweet upgrade, so we truck off to see our friends room. Up the SERVICE elevator to the 12th floor and this floor only had two rooms, our friends and ours. 4,000 square foot of rooms. Their room was 1,500 square foot, with 4 separate living areas, a huge kitchen, large master, large two shower bath and fireplace and a great view of the Des Moines capital building.

Later we got access to our room, which was adjoining the other suite, through double doors. Our room had 2,500 square feet, over 800 square foot bedroom alone, bath, living + fireplace a small sitting area with a crystal chess set on a table, kitchen, 8 person dining table area and a deck which had over 1,500 square foot beyond the 4,000 ft of indoor living.

We also had free access to the club lounge which is all I really wanted. We did have honor bar drinks that evening in the lounge, but they waived the cost as it did not show up on the checkout.

The whole evening was spectacular, and unbelievable experience for us all. The only glitch was the fire alarm was accidently pulled by the maid service and they evacuated the building and we had to walk down 12 flights of stairs, with a loudspeaker telling us to NOT get in the elevators because a fire had been detected in the building. I would walk down those steps twice a night to do this again! Kudos to the Renaissance Savery for an EXCELLENT ADVENTURE!

You lucky dogs! We're celebrating our 25th next month. Who would have though a couple of 15 year olds* would have stayed married for so long?

*I adjusted our age at the time of our marriage to match the age I want to be when you add 25 years to that.

Sweet deal, 4khansen! Congrats!

LOL, Suzie. You are quite the character!

wow! nice!

What a nice story. You might send a note to corporate complimenting how helpful and gracious the front desk people were during your stay. Keep details to a minimum, just acknowledge those that made your stay so wonderful!

Hi 4khansen ~ Outstanding, I love a happy story. Happy Anniversary! Your wife must have been so surprised.

(sorry about the fire alarm pull ~ I have had that happen twice during my travels, luckily both were false alarms. I did not feel inconvenieced in the least, better to be safe...)

Fabulous! What a great experience! Happy 25th---it kind of sneaks up on you, doesn't it? Ours was this past Valentine's day and we still haven't celebrated it in the manner to which I would like to become accustomed.

That story made my day! Thanks for sharing.

Now, fess up, did you take the chess set?

WOW! And I thought I'd gotten so great upgrades in the past.
Debi

Congratulations, that's some upgrade.

Our 25th is this September, and I cannot possibly be that old! I remember my parents 25th.

We're going to Chicago for a weekend.
I've already gotten some nice tips from the great folks on this forum. Thanks all!!

What a wonderful upgrade and what a heartwarming story!

Thanks for sharing!

Don't want to steal your thread 4khansen but...

angethereader, if you check back here, Chicago is a GREAT city. I love it there, have fun!

WOW! Wonderful!

Congratulations on your 25th Anniversary!

Fantastic story! That was very nice of the hotel. Says a lot about the people onsite. I like Sistalou's idea of writing a letter, but keeping the details to a minimum.