Even The President’s Granddaughter Kai Trump Couldn’t Get A Suite Upgrade At Marriott’s St. Regis D.C.

Upgrades with Marriott Bonvoy are so tough in the United States that even the President’s granddaughter couldn’t get one.

The Trump family stayed at St. Regis D.C. for the inauguration, based on video shared by President Trump’s granddaughter Kai who took on a much larger profile this past summer at the Republican Convention.


St. Regis D.C., credit: Marriott

This hotel is notoriously challenging for upgrades because – despite having plenty of suites – they seem not to inspect their suites as having been cleaned until they’re booked for cash so that they are ‘not available’ when Ambassador members check in.

That approach seems to apply to Kai Trump, who is Donald Trump, Jr.’s daughter. A seasoned premium cabin traveler, Don, Jr. is known for his video trip reports like in Emirates first class.

Kai Trump appears to have had a simple king room assigned, with a rollaway bed for a friend.

And the president’s granddaughter seemed to only receive an in-room amenity of flavored canned water or non-alcoholic Spritz with a couple bottles of Perrier water and fresh flowers.

This surprises me. The St. Regis D.C. is Marriott-managed, and not a franchise. But the property is owned by a subsidiary of the Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company which is controlled by Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family. I’d expect they would want to offer all the free upgrades that they could.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. So, anyone want to wager how long that ‘BLM’ on the street outside this St. Regis will last? I personally liked it, but that’s not who’s in charge anymore. Regardless of whether it’s under DC’s jurisdiction, I’m surprised it wasn’t removed on ‘Day 1’

  2. @ 1990 — It was placed there during Trump’s first term, so I am quite sure it will remain for the second one.

    @ Gary — We rather enjoyed our 5-night reward stay with complimentary suite upgrade at the Willard for the 2025 inauguration. It was fun terrorizing the Trump scum with our anti-Trump clothing. Cost = 432,000 IHG points that we bought for $2,160. Sure beats the 5-night cash price of $29,525 for a Jr. Suite!

  3. Creating an issue when none exists (to both trigger people about Trump and also beat the dead horse of hotel upgrades). Maybe that is the room she wanted. Also, you have no idea if she is Ambassador or Titanium (about only levels that can reasonable expect an upgrade since Platinum has been devalued due to credit card access – thank God I’m lifetime Titanium). Surely with the money this family has if she wanted a suite she would have simply booked one!

  4. I was going to stay there last time but didn’t want that address of BLM street. I remember when some dumb people painted BLM in Highland Park, someone painted NO in front of it.

  5. I’m so glad that Trump presidency, he’s gonna make Americans richer. Who wouldn’t like that?

  6. Unless Elon buys a hotel or Trump gets his his hands on the bankrupt Waldorf-Astoria and converts it back to a Trump hotel, I imagine Trumpworld will be making the St. Regis their go-to spot given its location to the White House.

  7. @Hal

    ‘Good!! Let the hate flow through you!’

    @Bob

    Point taken, but the ‘deep state’ isn’t stopping Him this time. Would the Democrat/Marxist mayor of DC stand a chance against Trump’s Sec Def Hegseth’s ‘un-woked’ loyal-to-the-leader, not the constitution, ‘just-following-orders’ military?

    I think not. Again, not my preference, and my word choices above are sarcastic, not genuine, but remember, they got the tanks and nukes, and the Supreme Court, in their pocket.

    Since ‘Make America Great Again’ the more characters than ‘Black Lives Matter’ they may have to take up a little more of the street. Also, they’ll probably go with red instead of yellow.

  8. Here’s a trick to getting an upgrade every time you check-in: PAY FOR IT!

    I do and I’m just a schlub like everyone else.

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