If you are checking in to a hotel during a non peak time and know that there are better, more expensive rooms than yours available, talk to the front desk. If you tell them that it’s your birthday, anniversary, or some other special event, they might just upgrade you to a nicer room without upping your rate. The hotel always wants to give you a great, memorable experience, and if the room was going to be empty anyway, they don't lose anything by letting you stay in the better suite. And if it's not actually a special event... nobody's going to arrest you for fudging the truth a bit to get a nicer hotel room that you couldn't normally afford.