Starwood Preferred Guest - Greetings from Down Under

Presently I am staying at the Westin Sydney. I knew it was supposed to be a very nice hotel, but I didn't expect it to be as nice as it is.

Note to William: Please thank Alex for getting the problem with the rate resolved. The old rate was shown on my registration card when I checked in.

Monday I am going to the Melbourne and staying at the Westin. I hope it is a nice as Sydney's.

I will try to write a trip report when I return. I flew first class on Qantas from LAX to SYD and everything went very smoothly. This is a great trip.

Thanks, SallyL. I told you Alex would see it through. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Melbourne is supposedly a world class city with some of the best Starwood properties in the world. I'm sure the Westin there will be able to compete with the one in Sydney.

Travel safely.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

SallyL: Hey, good to know - please give a broad report. We are staying at the Westin Sydney at the end of the year for 5 nites and at the Westin Melbourne for 4 nites. Hope to read, it was an excellent decision... ;-)

Yesterday, I checked into the Westin Melbourne. It is beautiful too. I really can't say whether I like the Westin Sydney or the Westin Melbourne better. The hotels are definitely not carbon copies of each other.

I had one small problem. The rate on my card at checkin was not what my reservation was confirmed at. I had my faxed confirmation with me and the rate was adjusted. I made my reservations way back in December of 2000, and it is my theory that the computer was programmed for 2001 rates.

On Saturday I fly to Auckland, NZ, and will stay at the Sheraton for 5 nights. Please be patient, but I will eventually post a trip report.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by joergi:
SallyL: Hey, good to know - please give a broad report. We are staying at the Westin Sydney at the end of the year for 5 nites and at the Westin Melbourne for 4 nites. Hope to read, it was an excellent decision... ;-)</font>

joergi, I returned home on Friday, 10/26. This afternoon I wrote an eight page trip report in Word. It still needs to be spell checked. I discussed my hotels, flight and sight seeling in Australia and New Zealand. I think I should post it in the trip report forum. I will try to do this tomorrow.

You are going to love both of the Westins.



[This message has been edited by SallyL (edited 10-30-2001).]

Look forward to your complete report. Just booked a couple of nights at the Westin on my trip to MEL in February, so curious for me details. Exactly where is it located in relation to the main railway station on Flinders? I know Collins, but it's been about 10-years since I was last in the city, and it wasn't around back then.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Shareholder:
Look forward to your complete report. Just booked a couple of nights at the Westin on my trip to MEL in February, so curious for me details. Exactly where is it located in relation to the main railway station on Flinders? I know Collins, but it's been about 10-years since I was last in the city, and it wasn't around back then.</font>

Shareholder, The complete report is posted in the Flyertalk trip report section.

The Flinders Street Station is located on the southwest corner of Flinders St. and Swanston St. The Westin is one block north on the northeast corner of Swanston St. and Flinders Lane. The hotel covers the entire block and is bounded on the north by Collins St.