NEWS! Starwood beta test of a reservation system, roll out on Thursday the 7th

[Captron]

Dumb question - I've logged in and I can't locate the BETA everyone is referring to. Under which menu is it located???

Starwood ownership Menu on the top left. Labled " Villa resort availability finder" with the big orange rectangle with BETA in it, or just follow the link in my previous post.

 

[Captron]

This is a great start. It is very helpful to have this information before making the request.
I would like to better understand what "limited" means. It seems that maybe there is not a full week available???
Overall, it's well thought out and I applaud the introduction. I look forward to the online reservation phase.

I have submitted the question about "limited" online ...which means I should get an answer in a week or so .

I believe it does not refer to less than a full week as availability is listed daily. So far I assume it means that there are a "limited" number of units available.... meaning less than ??? is the question.

I will post if/when I get a response.

 

[rickandcindy23]

rickandcindy , are you still on hold???

maggiesmom

Not anymore, but that was a longer wait than usual. I am so disappointed in Starwood for saying we could all see inventory, including me, a lowly week owner (well, I own many weeks).

 

[Captron]

From the "horses mouth":

"Limited availability means that there might be three or less villas available for the dates you are requesting." (from Olga on the online chat)

Considering the availability is listed in a daily fashion I think it is reasonable to assume that means less than three of that unit available on that day.

 

[Captron]

Ok, picking it apart some:

Checking availability at SVR in 2BR for period beginning 12/26 (just to play) and result comes back with 2-Bedroom Lockoff Villa and 2-Bedroom Premium lockoff villa.

Having never heard the premium lockoff designation before referring to the 2BR, I asked. She did not have an answer for me other than to speculate that one may refer to the Lakes lockoffs and the other to the Cascades lockoffs. (Those are the only two phases with lockoffs at SVR.) She said she would try to get back to me before the end of the day with the answer.

She did tell me that the availability is in real time, just as they see it, and not updated periodically. Though, remember, it is real time when you do the search, if you look at it for 20 min it may have changed and likely will again by the time you talk to a VC and get through the security protocol.

 

[PamMo]

I am considering buying a resale Marriott Aruba Surf Club right now. For those of you with experience with Marriott, do they have a good online system to make reservations without having to call in?

Yes, Marriott's online reservation system works great. I've had no problems booking a prime week in Marbella (if I do it early). Their site is easy to use.

 

[Ken555]

Much better than expected, yet still not enough. I'm glad they show this as a beta, which means they do intend on doing more, if only fine tuning what's there now.

This is the only meaningful tech improvement in all the years I've been a SVN member, and I'm very glad to see they finally got something done.

Now wouldn't it be nice for the system to email you when there's availability for a particular week/unit size you desire?

 

[ada903]

The online availability is not accurate. There is a Westin Riverfront villa for Xmas online, but I called 3 times and was told it is not available.

 

[SteveS1]

The online availability is not accurate. There is a Westin Riverfront villa for Xmas online, but I called 3 times and was told it is not available.

Same experience here. I have a sm 1br HRA reserved for Nov. and have been calling periodically to change to prem 1br. Online shows limited avail for the date so i called today, twice actually and was told its not avail for the date or any other date that weekend. When I asked why the agents advise that is why there is a disclaimer, there are still kinks to work out.

 

[YYJMSP]

there are still kinks to work out.

It was showing 0 StarOptions available for 2013 earlier today, and now it's showing the correct 610,300....

WKORV isn't differentiating Deluxe units, but I suppose that's only applicable in home resort period bookings.

 

[LisaRex]

I'm showing 0 SOs for 2013, which is not correct...

 

[VacationForever]

I tried it and I like what I see. I haven't tried calling yet. The test run gave me the assurance that the resorts that I am interested are available for some of the dates that I may be interested in the future.

 

[Captron]

The online availability is not accurate. There is a Westin Riverfront villa for Xmas online, but I called 3 times and was told it is not available.

Agreed. At one point (very early am) saw Christmas week at Harborside in 2 and 3 BR --- NOT!!!

 

[C30NY]

Yes, definitely "Beta" still - I did a couple tests with the rep on the phone and neither Limited or available were available for a few resorts I found.

I wonder if "limited" inventory would be available to 5 star members? Anyone 5 star want to test availability of a small 1BR at harborside over thanksgiving week? I was told no, but the system shows "L"

 

[Ken555]

So... The only thing worse than no system at all is a system which shows incorrect information. Yeah, I know it's a beta...but what kind of beta knowingly pulls wrong data? The only time we've had this type of experience with our own development efforts is when a programmer erroneously links wrong fields together, which is easily discovered during testing. Oh, by the way, "testing"... I wonder if SVN ever heard of that.."testing" is normally what happens before ALPHA or BETA...but these days as soon as the first draft is done it's called a beta and marketing gets involved...even though the software team likely knows it's not yet ready for review. It's really not that hard to get these things right the first time.

 

[VacationForever]

I believe the pull is done once a day and is not real time. So what is available at 12:01 am is not available when you call in at 9:05am, as an example.

 

[jarta]

Yes, definitely "Beta" still - I did a couple tests with the rep on the phone and neither Limited or available were available for a few resorts I found.

I wonder if "limited" inventory would be available to 5 star members? Anyone 5 star want to test availability of a small 1BR at harborside over thanksgiving week? I was told no, but the system shows "L"

C30, ... Thanksgiving is 11/22/12. I'm 5 Star Elite. Just called Starwood Elite phone number for a Harborside Thanksgiving week small 1-br. No small 1-br availability for 11/16-23, 11/17-24 or 11/18-25. I was offered a small 1-br which was available for 11/23-30. A suggestion was made to call back tomorrow since someone could have grabbed it and has until tomorrow to cancel. Salty

 

[jeff01]

So... The only thing worse than no system at all is a system which shows incorrect information.

I couldn’t agree more, with the all the technology out there certain things should have been worked out first. Since I don’t need to book anything right now I haven't verified any of the availability but did notice the same glitches with the available StarOption number. In my opinion, nothing has changed, this system is useless in its current form. . . However, at least now we have confirmation they are at least trying.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am calling Sheraton today, every hour on the hour, to get a 1 or 2 bed at SBP for this Sunday. Seems like an online system would be easier for me.

If anyone sees anything with Staroptions, maybe we can work something out. I have a friend who wants only those dates.

 

[Captron]

I was told by a VC by the name of Olga that the availability was supposed to be a pull in real time, just as they get it, and "Limited" availability is supposed to indicate 3 or less units of that type available for that day. No booking restrictions in place. First come....

I agree, definitely some bugs to work out, I was told that is why the "beta" tag and the pop up disclaimer.

 

[zinger1457]

I tried to book a 1 BR Premium Villa at the Westin Riverfront this morning and was told it was not available for the days I requested although it showed limited availability on the search. I was able to get a studio which is OK, it's just for 3 nights. The sales rep did say what we see for availability should be the same as what they see but it doesn't seem to be the case since I was checking the status online while I was on the phone with her. I do like this new feature, just need to give them some time to get the bugs worked out.

 

[jarta]

"tried to book a 1 BR Premium Villa at the Westin Riverfront this morning and was told it was not available for the days I requested although it showed limited availability on the search. I was able to get a studio which is OK, it's just for 3 nights."

Good thing you got to talk with a real person - rather than to a machine. Getting alternates when you call is not something the computer thinks about. Machines are very good at many things but not very good at looking for something "outside the box." Salty

 

[Ken555]

A smart system, like many other travel sites, displays both availability on your choice of dates and alternatives. Just look at any airline site to see this... No need to talk to a person when the computer can do just as well. After all, what do you think that person is doing? Checking the printed reservation list? Whatever system they access can be accessed to allow us to review availability as well...obviously.

 

[C30NY]

availability was supposed to be a pull in real time...

Same thing I was told, and she was baffled when I told her I just ran the inquiry and it shows availability. It also showed "Y" for 3BRs at St John over Thanksgiving too!

Salty - Thanks for checking. Thought maybe they had some other stuff going on behind the scenes with "L"'s

 

[Captron]

The official availability tool announcement

In our continued efforts to simplify your vacation planning experience, we are pleased to introduce the Villa Resort Availability Finder.

Received this by email today:


As an Owner in the Starwood Vacation NetworkSM program, you're invited to the exclusive sneak preview of this exciting new tool on mystarcentral.com, which allows you to see what's available at our villa resorts before contacting Owner Services to make your reservation.

While the Availability Finder is still under development as a Beta version, you're able to try it out before it is released to all Owners later this year.

If you have any questions, please contact Owner Services toll-free at 800 847 8262 or direct at 407 903 4640.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Clark
Vice President, Owner Services