Westin SFO – Failing Grade

Posted in Hotel Critique on Oct 24th, 2009 | 0 comments
Is it just me, or is business travel really becoming more and more painful?  With my 150K flown miles and 100+ hotel nights so far this year, I am finding it increasingly dissatisfying to have to ask for every little thing.  No place has made this more obvious to me than the Westin SFO.
I only remember staying at one Westin before.  It was in the 2003/2004 time frame and it was in mid-town Manhattan.  I remember a well-appointed lobby and decent guest rooms.  Now, I have platinum status at Starwood hotels, which includes Westin. (see Status Matching article)  I was excited when I was able to get a good rate (under $100/night) at the SFO hotel and wanted to check it out.  Because my flights to the east coast are usually very early, I like to stay at an airport property the night before my flight.
Based on my previous Westin experience, my expectations were pretty high.  I reviewed the hotel website and it is presented quite well.  The only problem with the website is that the “hidden charges” are not really explained. I could find no mention of a parking fee, although I had a feeling there might be one since the Marriott and Sheraton in the same vicinity charge for parking, but the website did not specifically call it out.
Since becoming platinum at Starwood, I have been treated very well at several properties:  complimentary room upgrades, lounge access, complimentary internet.  At check-in for this property, I was not offered anything.  I was put on a SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) floor, but I have no idea what that means.  How is it different from any other floor?  If there are differences, they are not obvious.
I asked about lounge access.  As a frequent traveler, this is the single most important privilege to me.  I like the self-serve breakfast where I can get something quick and get my coffee to go.  I like the appetizers in the evening because a lot of times this constitutes my dinner.  I was told by the front desk clerk that this property has no executive lounge.  I was quite shocked!  She said that there was one at one time, but it was discontinued to create more guest rooms.  So that means guests like me must spend extra money on dinner and breakfast.  All of a sudden the good rate for the room wasn’t so good anymore.
STRIKE 1.
I asked about internet access.  I still don’t understand why the “partial service” hotels like Four Points, Courtyard, HGI, etc. can offer this for free, but the “full service” brands charge an exorbitant amount for this service.  At this hotel, there was the 24 hour option for $15.95, and the 2 hour option for $4.95.  This offering is more expensive for the 24 hour rate at the competitive hotels in the area, but I haven’t seen the 2 hour rate offered anywhere else, so I think that is a good addition.  At my previous stay at the Sheraton a few months before, I was offered complimentary internet due to my platinum status.  Here, no such luck.  STRIKE 2
I asked about my room and if it had been upgraded.  I was told that there were no more bay view rooms or suites available.  I have seen upgrades appear on my reservations at other properties up to a week before I arrive – why not here?  OK, so this is STRIKE 3 and I haven’t even gotten to my room yet.
On my journey to my room, I exited the elevator to find really drab carpeting with what looked like decades of stains – and this is on the SPG floor.  I really hate to see what it looks like for the “not so special” guests.  The hallway was a bit dark, luckily my room was not far down.  Basically there was nothing homey or inviting or the least bit interesting about the décor in the hallways on the SPG floor.  STRIKE 4 – still not in my room yet.
Get to my room, open the door – not bad, but again, nothing special either.  The décor was functional, but dark and drab.  The room itself seemed ample, but the bathroom and closet configuration was a bit difficult.  I looked in my closet – no robe and slippers.  Don’t most of the hotels that have “executive” levels provide these things?  I inquired at the front desk about getting a robe and slippers and was told that housekeeping would bring them up shortly.  Well shortly, someone did bring up a robe, but no slippers.  I was told that they were out of slippers at this time.  I really like having slippers for my feet on the cold bathroom floor.  Good thing I brought my own from the MARRIOTT!  STRIKE 5!
The bathroom was a bit small, but useable.  The most interesting thing in the whole hotel was the soap that was green and shaped like a leaf.  The shower had 2 heads, an upper and a lower.  There was a sign explaining the “heavenly” setup and how you can shut one of the shower heads off.  I thought this was a nice feature until I actually tried to use the shower.  For one thing, they protrude into the shower area quite far, and they are about at head height (for an average person of 5’6” or so).  At the back of the shower area is the towel rack, which also protrudes into the shower space.  Between these two things, there is barely enough room to bend over and wash your feet!  Also, since the shower heads are so low, a taller person would have to duck to wash their hair.  Out of the 2 shower heads, you can only turn off the upper one – which in my opinion is a useless feature since the lower shower head is way too low.  STRIKE 6.
Other than that, it was a great hotel!!
I do have to give a base hit the front desk agent who tried to temper my disappointment with comp’ing my internet and parking.  I think she is a great asset to the hotel, too bad she doesn’t have much to work with.  I rated this hotel a 6.3 out of 10.  I was only there for 1 night, so I did not get to experience all the features, but anything under a 7.0 is a failing grade in my book.  Instead I would recommend the Sheraton Gateway SFO (7.52 rating) with complementary internet (for platinum guests) and an executive lounge.

Is it just me, or is business travel really becoming more and more painful?  With my 150K flown miles and 100+ hotel nights so far this year, I am finding it increasingly dissatisfying to have to ask for every little thing.  No place has made this more obvious to me than the Westin SFO.

I only remember staying at one Westin before.  It was in the 2003/2004 time frame and it was in mid-town Manhattan.  I remember a well-appointed lobby and decent guest rooms.  Now, I have platinum status at Starwood hotels, which includes Westin. (see Status Matching article)  I was excited when I was able to get a good rate (under $100/night) at the SFO hotel and wanted to check it out.  Because my flights to the east coast are usually very early, I like to stay at an airport property the night before my flight.

Based on my previous Westin experience, my expectations were pretty high.  I reviewed the hotel website and it is presented quite well.  The only problem with the website is that the “hidden charges” are not really explained. I could find no mention of a parking fee, although I had a feeling there might be one since the Marriott and Sheraton in the same vicinity charge for parking, but the website did not specifically call it out.

Since becoming platinum at Starwood, I have been treated very well at several properties:  complimentary room upgrades, lounge access, complimentary internet.  At check-in for this property, I was not offered anything.  I was put on a SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) floor, but I have no idea what that means.  How is it different from any other floor? If there are differences, they are not obvious.

I asked about lounge access.  As a frequent traveler, this is the single most important privilege to me.  I like the self-serve breakfast where I can get something quick and get my coffee to go.  I like the appetizers in the evening because a lot of times this constitutes my dinner.  I was told by the front desk clerk that this property has no executive lounge.  I was quite shocked!  She said that there was one at one time, but it was discontinued to create more guest rooms.  So that means guests like me must spend extra money on dinner and breakfast.  All of a sudden the good rate for the room wasn’t so good anymore.

STRIKE 1.

I asked about internet access.  I still don’t understand why the “partial service” hotels like Four Points, Courtyard, HGI, etc. can offer this for free, but the “full service” brands charge an exorbitant amount for this service.  At this hotel, there was the 24 hour option for $15.95, and the 2 hour option for $4.95.  This offering is more expensive for the 24 hour rate at the competitive hotels in the area, but I haven’t seen the 2 hour rate offered anywhere else, so I think that is a good addition.  At my previous stay at the Sheraton a few months before, I was offered complimentary internet due to my platinum status.  Here, no such luck.

STRIKE 2

I asked about my room and if it had been upgraded.  I was told that there were no more bay view rooms or suites available.  I have seen upgrades appear on my reservations at other properties up to a week before I arrive – why not here?

OK, so this is STRIKE 3 and I haven’t even gotten to my room yet.

On my journey to my room, I exited the elevator to find really drab carpeting with what looked like decades of stains – and this is on the SPG floor.  I really hate to see what it looks like for the “not so special” guests.  The hallway was a bit dark, luckily my room was not far down.  Basically there was nothing homey or inviting or the least bit interesting about the décor in the hallways on the SPG floor.

STRIKE 4 – still not in my room yet.

Get to my room, open the door – not bad, but again, nothing special either.  The décor was functional, but dark and drab.  The room itself seemed ample, but the bathroom and closet configuration was a bit difficult.  I looked in my closet – no robe and slippers.  Don’t most of the hotels that have “executive” levels provide these things?  I inquired at the front desk about getting a robe and slippers and was told that housekeeping would bring them up shortly.  Well shortly, someone did bring up a robe, but no slippers.  I was told that they were out of slippers at this time.  I really like having slippers for my feet on the cold bathroom floor.  Good thing I brought my own from the MARRIOTT (when available)!

STRIKE 5!

The bathroom was a bit small, but useable.  The most interesting thing in the whole hotel was the soap that was green and shaped like a leaf.  The shower had 2 heads, an upper and a lower.  There was a sign explaining the “heavenly” setup and how you can shut one of the shower heads off.  I thought this was a nice feature until I actually tried to use the shower.  For one thing, they protrude into the shower area quite far, and they are about at head height (for an average person of 5’6” or so).  At the back of the shower area is the towel rack, which also protrudes into the shower space.  Between these two things, there is barely enough room to bend over and wash your feet!  Also, since the shower heads are so low, a taller person would have to duck to wash their hair.  Out of the 2 shower heads, you can only turn off the upper one – which in my opinion is a useless feature since the lower shower head is way too low.

STRIKE 6.

Other than that, it was a great hotel!!

I do have to give a base hit to the front desk agent who tried to temper my disappointment with comp’ing my internet and parking.  I think she is a great asset to the hotel, too bad she doesn’t have much to work with.  I rated this hotel a 6.3 out of 10.  I was only there for 1 night, so I did not get to experience all the features, but anything under a 7.0 is a failing grade in my book.  Instead I would recommend the Sheraton Gateway SFO (7.52 rating) with complementary internet (for platinum guests) and an executive lounge.



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