Here's a great tip to get that primo hotel room.  When checking in, after you've been assigned a room, tell the clerk:

"Don't give me that room.  Please give me the room you were gonna give me when I came down later and complained about the first room"

Works almost every time.  So does a $20.00 discreetly passed to the desk clerk while checking in.  In many cases, that $20. buys you a room worth hundreds more than what you're paying.