How suite it is: Just ask and you may receive.

Want to know the secret to getting a free room upgrade on an American Club Kohler golf vacation, or on any other golf vacation for that matter? Ask for it.

True story. A friend of our publisher was recently on an American Club Kohler golf vacation and, for whatever reason, was not satisfied with his room at the normally infallible American Club hotel. When he inquired at the front desk about moving to a different room, he was told there were no other rooms available.

"What if the president of the United States was to show up tonight; would you have a room for him?," he asked.

“Of course,” said the front desk clerk. “We’d give him the Presidential Suite.”

“Well, is he coming?,” he asked.

“No,” was the answer.

“Wonderful,” he said. “I’ll take his room, please.”

And you know what? He got it. (By the way, it runs about $1,000 per night and includes the use of a Lexus compared to about $300 per night for a standard room.)

The insider advice here is three fold: Number one, hotels often have different room categories, so just because they’re sold out of one type doesn’t mean they’re sold out of all types. Number two, if you want a room upgrade, ask for it (nicely and preferably before the clerk gets too deep into the check-in process). The worst thing that you’ll hear is, “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

And tip number three is, it’s good to be the president.

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