Many people moan about the uselessness of Marriott Bonvoy status when it comes to scoring upgrades. While room upgrades are part of the Marriott Bonvoy program starting at the Gold Elite level, you’re not likely to get more than a better view. There are countless comments about how upgrade requests using Marriott Suite Night Awards given to Bonvoy members as a reward for their loyalty are never granted.
However, there are times when you can get an upgraded room on a Marriott Bonvoy stay. For instance, we stayed in a junior suite in the Chambers Wing of the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel using our Suite Night Awards. Our best upgrade for having Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status was at the Le Méiriden in Frankfurt, Germany.
But nothing we’ve experienced comes close to the upgrade our friends got during a one-night stay in Dallas, TX.
We’ve written about our friends Stephan and Emilio before when they tried to hack the thermostat in a hotel room using the info in one of our posts and it went horribly wrong.
This time, Stephan texted Sharon about their stay at The Stoneleigh, a Le Méiriden hotel in Dallas. For a one-night stay, they were upgraded to the Presidential Suite. Of course, we asked for pictures which he provided. The Stoneleigh was built in 1923 and was recently renovated. Here’s an article describing the renovation, including information about the 11th floor.
Emilio is a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite member from work travel. The room at The Stoneleigh was an award stay using 40K Marriott Bonvoy Points. They did apply a Suite Night Award request for a Junior Suite which was accepted a few days before the stay. It wasn’t until they arrived that they knew about the upgrade to the Presidential Suite.
The Presidential Suite is on the 11th floor of the hotel and was previously the owner’s apartment. The living room and dining room are now used as function spaces and the bedroom/bathroom is the suite (Room 1101, the only room on the floor.)
Exiting the elevator, you were looking at the wallpaper, which was intentionally hung upside down.
From there. who wouldn’t want to walk down this hallway to their room?
What about a library with 500-year-old paneling?
There’s a staircase from the 11th floor where you can go up to the Penthouse Suite, which was previously occupied by the owner’s wife (which also has a rooftop terrace) or down one floor to the space previously occupied by the owner’s mistress.
The Presidential Suite consists of a large bedroom.
And an elegantly designed bathroom with a tub and walk-in shower.
Immediately upon seeing the pictures of the hotel, Sharon determined we needed to return to Dallas to stay at this hotel. 🙂 The public spaces look amazing.
Here’s the lobby and check-in area.
With a lobby bar/coffee area.
There were also throwbacks to the history of the hotel, like the original Westinghouse electric panel which powered the property until the renovation in 2006.
I won’t say that we were drooling over the pictures, but we were.
Since we’re friends, we asked why Stephan and Emilio went to Dallas for the night (they live in Florida). It was because they needed to pick up the new addition to their family, Sherlock.
I can’t think of a better trip than getting upgraded to the Presidential Suite while on your way to pick up a puppy.
*** Many thanks to Stephan & Emelio for sharing their photos and stories about this visit
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1 comment
That’s awesome!