Hi there Fodorites!

I am going to the Four Seasons Maui, and had a question about how the resort treats honeymoon couples who ask for a free upgrade, of course only if there is availability.

My dear friends went to Manele Bay last year for their honeymoon, and upon arrival the hotel offered them a free upgrade to one of their top suites - from their pictures, you can see it was bigger than their apartment! Same thing for another couple at the Princeville Resort this year.

The Four Seasons has set such a standard for themselves, and Maui is supposed to one of the jewels in their crown. I am just wondering if anyone has had an experience where they were either offered an upgrade at the Four Seasons, or got one if they asked.

I am hoping that with the reputation the FS has built, that it too would try to do some extraordinary things for its guests, who are paying extraordinary prices to match!!

Thanks in advance for your help!!! Best Regards - Melissa

If you are an AMEX Platinum or Centurion member the resort may be in the Fine Hotels, Resorts, and Spa program and you would be entitled to an upgrade depending on availability...

Sorry that I didnt do the legwork myself, but if you are a memeber check AMEX's site.

Generally, a virtuoso agent is one who generally gets the free upgrades & other free amenities for their customers, when available at the 5 star resorts/hotels...I used one for travel to the caribbean for my honeymoon...check with your travel agent to see if he/she is a virtuoso agent..if not try virtuoso.com...I think some american express agents are virtuoso agents...also the rate will not be higher..try the bed & breakfast deal since you may get breakfast included for the same price as rack rates (this is true for the four seasons in Nevis)...enjoy your trip...no I am not a travel agent, someone else told me how the free upgrades work..fourseasons/maui has a 5th night free promotion going on..hope this helps

We just stayed at the four seasons in Maui and on the big island in February. We were upgraded at both hotels, from a garden view to an ocean view on the concierge level at FS Maui and from a gold view to an executive suite at the FS on the big island. I have no idea why we were upgraded, as i didn't even request it. However, i have heard that they really try to upgrade honeymooners, as such, make sure that they know. PS...you made a great decision in staying there, the hotel and staff are incredible.

Hi Anthony, Alan, and Tom!

Thanks so much for the tips and comments!

We are so excited - it would be so cool if did get a nicer room than what we can afford (This is our dream honeymoon), but if not, I know that we are going to have such a great time anyway!

We've been saving for this for ages - can't wait to get to Hawaii! Your help is so appreciated.

Thanks again! Best Regards - Melissa

I have no personal experience with Maui,but FS hotels normally ask when you book if the stay is for a special occasion. It is then entered into your comments line. A few days before your arrival, the Reservations Management assigns all the rooms. Believe it or not, at upscale resorts there is a person whose sole job is to do this. They will take your special occasion into consideration; this will normally get you an upgrade, as well as a special acknowledgement of some kind upon check-in.

Hey John!

Thanks so much for the info! - A co-worker acually just mentioned the same thing. Her sister went to the FS on the Big Island, and they upgraded her room since they had noted that it was her honeymoon.

Sounds SO wonderful! Thanks again! MM

Melissa-

That is a very good question. Thanks for asking it, seriously. A lot of people don't realize that they might be able to get a free upgrade if they only ask for one. If they don't get one, at least they tried. Take care.

Melissa-

That is a very good question. Thanks for asking it, seriously. A lot of people don't realize that they might be able to get a free upgrade if they only ask for one. If they don't get one, at least they tried. Take care.

OOPS......Don't know why my earlier post posted twice. Anyway, thanks again.

i got married at the 4S in big island and didn't get upgraded! hotel was completely full--been there twice and has been completely full so was not upgraded.

hey mae!

when did you get married there?

melis

This might sound like a stupid question but it needs to be asked.

Say you book a mountain view room but of course it would be nice to pay for a mountain view but get an ocean view room instead. You check-in and you work up the courage to ask the front desk person if any ocean view or partial ocean view rooms are available for an upgrade. What makes you think if they had a room available they wouldn't expect you to pay the difference? I can't imagine how you'd ask and expect to get the upgrade for free.

I would suspect that an ocean view room is a few hundred dollars more per night than an mountain view room and many people have probably paid the extra to guarantee the room with a view. Why would they just hand that same category room out to someone who hasn't paid for it? And if it did actually work that way wouldn't everyone do it?

Curious...........

We are honeymooning in Hawaii at the FS. Do they frequently upgrade honeymooners first?

I learned from a 4 Seasons associate that whenever you check into a hotel you should ask with a smile "Are there any upgrades available?" They do not know who you are, or who you know, and it works for us 80% of the time, free of charge. In Vancouver recently, I posed the question and the receptionist stated she could give us a suite for $100 more per night, we negotiated, we got the suite for $40.00 more for both nights. Smile!!

p.s. the reason they are willing to give you an upgrade, is it is easier to sell standard rooms to late arrivals, the suites go unused..

The FS Maui rarely has trouble filling rooms and there are oodles of honeymooners there. So never assume they'll upgrade you. Even if they'd like to, many times they simply can't.

I travel a lot and stay at nicer hotels. Upgrades are worth inquiring about, and there's definitely an acquired skill to the inquiry process, but I can't imagine an 80% success rate. At least half the time I check in the hotel is genuinely sold out, making an upgrade very difficult.
Much easier when the hotel's not full, of course.

So based on the replies, I should expect to pay "something" if I request an upgrade and I can barter with them? I can't imagine doing this with other customers there checking in at the same time! Also, this just doesn't seem fair when the majority of people who get ocean view rooms have paid full price for these rooms yet they'll just hand them over to those who ask!

Several years ago my husband and I went to Hawaii in November (low season). I had reserved a partial ocean view room at the Kahala Mandarin on Oahu so I asked if there were any rooms with a slightly better view available. The front desk person, who was in the process of escorting us to our room, told us that the hotel was only at 50% capacity so all room types were available and then she began reciting the additional costs for each room type! I didn't know what to do since I just expected they would upgrade us for free. They obviously weren't going to do it complimentary even though the rooms would just be empty. We were only there for 3 nights so it wasn't that big a deal I just didn't know how to ask and get the result I'm looking for.

I'm actually not thinking about this for Hawaii. I'm going to Paris later this year and I'm staying at the FS George V. I would love a room with a view!

In my experience, at upscale hotels the etiquette for bartering for upgrades is as follows:
1) inquire about availability of upgrades.
2) if the response is essentially a flat "no, we're sold out", no vacillating, that's usually the end of the discussion.
3) sometimes an upgrade will be offered without any request for compensation. In fact, it's been the very rare occasion when I've had any hotel request extra $$ for an upgrade. If you're a good client at an upscale hotel, actual bartering is usually considered somewhat petty.
4) If the desk attendant begins hemming and hawing about rooms possibly being available, not sure what they can do, waiting for some type of response from you, you have the option of waiting them out to see if they'll in fact come up with an upgrade (which they usually do once this little game begins) or offering to pay extra. I always wait for them to make the first move. I think most of them tap around on the keyboard for awhile hoping you'll just say "Oh, never mind. A standard room will be fine". I always just stand politely, silently, or try to make casual non-bothersome small talk about whether they've been unusually busy in recent weeks, or how much I like the hotel, having been there several times before, etc. You get the idea.

BTW, there aren't too many rooms with great views (Eiffel Tower) at the FS George V. Keep your fingers crossed, though.

The same thing has happened to me. I was at the Big Island two years ago, and upon checking in, I asked the hotel whether they had any room upgrades. She said that they had it available but it would cost $$ to go from our room to the ocean-view. I was hoping it would be free. Oh well. I just declined.

My question is: do we have a lesser chance of getting a free upgrade from a cheaper hotel - like Outrigger, Ohana, or Aston hotels? Do they only tend to give free upgrades at the very fancy hotels?

Thanks.