Yies, I just became a starwood member. I will be staying at the Westin Innisbrook resort for my first starwood stay. I was wondering what to expect as a member, I guess now I know.

Just don't expect too much and then if you are treated well it will be a great surprise. We have encountered so many of the same problems stated here. We have been so frustrated and angry over our treatment that we have said we will never go back again. When you call customer service they are so arrogant as if I just disturbed their afternoon nap or murdered their dog! As far as I'm concerned Starwood has a lot of nerve charging what they do and then trying to make the consumer look like their (Starwood's) mistakes are the consumers fault.

I have Platinum status with Starwood, Diamond with Hyatt, and Gold with Marriott (which by the way is not part of Starwood as Juice stated). I think that they each have their strengths and weaknesses. I find that Starwood is the fastest to post points (usually within 48 hours of checkout). I have had missing stays with all 3 programs (with Marriott being the worst) but I just fax them a copy of my folio and it's not a big deal. The upgrades are based on availability so customer service doesn't grant upgrades (they can certainly request one), it's up to the individual property. That said, I have never not received an upgrade through any of the 3 programs. I think part of Starwood's problem is that they have multiple customer service centers that don't communicate with each other, whereas Hyatt and Marriott only maintain one customer service location (I think) so the responses are more consistent. But for me, Starwood's unrestricted redemption far outweighs that one negative. It also sounds like the original poster had problems mostly with one particular property, so perhaps that is the difference. I usually stay at the St. Regis properties and have received nothing but excellent service.

We thought we were the only ones out there with these same problems with this program. We are also Platinum and have not recieved anything for loyalty either. We just decided that we will give our money to Fairmont who have an excellent program. I hate to have to build up our status again, but we travel frequently so it shouldn't take too long. We have had the points problems, we have had the customer service problems and we have also stayed at the Westin in Maui and encountered many, many problems there. With the way they treated us, when we stay at any Fairmont we will think we died and gone heaven.

I had to fight for my $40,000 worth of points from my wedding reception at the Sheration Convention Center Hotel in Atlantic City. Finally got them after an attorney write a letter. With the points I had before the reception, I am able to have 2 weeks at one of theie nicer properties. Maybe the Caribbean this winter.<BR>

Wow, I guess I should consider myself lucky! My husband has been a Starwood Gold memeber for the last 2 or 3 years and we've never had a problem. Only once did we not receive credit for s stay, I sent in a request online at we received the credit within 24 hours. we've received numerous upgrades (never asked0), a gigantic room on the Grand Canal in Venice at the Hotel Danieli, and an oceanfront suite at the Westin Maui (and we were using a free weekend!). The 10 nights/Free Weenends program is a great deal, and we've been able to transfer points to miles, probably close to 100K miles over the last few years. We make sure to stay Starwood wherever we go.