SPG Platinum Game Part II

So its a new year, 2014, not much has changed in the hotel industry, i have here a recent stay for my wife's birthday and how the SPG upgrade program works

First I book the cheapest room:

Sometimes they will upgrade you about a week ahead of check-in, sometimes you have to wait till the moment you check in to see if there will be an upgrade, this time i did get a suite:

Then you want to see how much is that suite worth... 

Yes, its still worth it to try to maintain elite hotel status

This is the view from one of the lanai...with my snack

The sitting area... it had a bunch of balloons and a birthday amenity waiting for me after dinner... super nice touch!

The only SPG property that i have been to that has NEVER upgraded me is the Nines, in Portland, Oregon