Starwood Preferred Guest - W New York or Holiday Inn

I have been averaging 3-4 nights/week at the W New York (49 & Lexington) for the past 7 weeks. I have stayed at all other Ws in New York and this one definitely qualifies for the bottom of the list but nonetheless it had always been a decent hotel for business travel.

Based on my experience over this period, I have decided to move a few blocks down the street to W Court. Although W Court is more expensive and adds 10 blocks to my commute, at least I will be staying at a hotel where at minimum I can get a comfortable room with the kind of service expected from the W chain.

Just a few examples of things that have gone wrong during my stays:

1. There is hardly any recognition of the Platinum status here. They do ask you about the Platinum amenity upon check-in but a room upgrade seems to be always out of the question. They always claim to be sold out even though the website shows available rooms. Last week I checked in around 11am and the guy at the desk tells me that he has a great room upgrade for me and asked me to come back later. It turned out that the only upgrade about this room was that it was on the 18th floor. The room was as small as the others plus the DVD player did not work. Today I was given my room keys in a in a Gold Preferred jacket. No big deal but just shows how much they care about platinums.
2. This hotel, like most other W hotels, used to have coffee makers in the rooms. They are all gone now.
3. I found out last night as I was going to bed that my queen bed had only two pillows (vs. usual 4). I called the desk and was told they are short on pillows and will do their best!
4. Two weeks ago, they stopped delivering The Wall Street Journal. They used to deliver WSJ and USA Today.
5. The cordless phones in the rooms are old and most of them do not work.
6. At least twice during my stays, the alarm clock in my room was broken or did not work properly.
7. The air-conditioning units in the rooms make so much noise that you have to turn them off in order to get a decent night sleep. In one instance, the unit started in the middle of the night although I had shut it down.

The hotel is obviously making investments in upgrading and maintaining its bars and restaurant. The new gym and spa are very nice too. But these are about the only good thing I can say about this hotel. Last week while I was waiting for my ride to the airport, the police stormed the hotel and a few minutes later they walked out with two guys in handcuffs.

I am going to miss the short walk to the office but I am not going to miss this hotel.

I'm really surprised you stayed at this hotel so many times those first few weeks. You have remarkable patience. It took me two stays at the W NY to determine that I wouldn't be back.

For my second and final stay my room was this: Walk in the door and you see the back of the headboard. Walk around and it and see the bed sitting right in the middle of the room. There is about 3 feet of space all the way around the bed -- not even enough floor space anywhere to open a suitcase. And the place wasn't cheap. Unbelievable.

I had a pretty good stay there on the special $98 Sunday rate that they ran late last yr. I know it is a Sunday, so the occupancy was lower, but I was surely recognized as Platinum, and upgraded to what I would describe as a suite -- separate living and sleeping rooms.

I cannot comment on many of the other things that you didn't like -- I don't ever use hotel room coffee makers, as most of them seem utterly disgusting to me -- but, my stay was not the way you describe. Further, I, in no way mean to compare my one nights stay with your seven weeks.

Stevekoe

I find that with any hotel, in any chain - if I'm going to be a repeat weekly guest (as many people are), it pays to introduce yourself to the reservation manager, or even the GM if it's a small property. Do this after a few weeks of staying there so you can give some constructive feedback on the good and bad points about the property.

That being said, I spent over 100 nights at that very W you describe in 2001-2003. The rooms were on a downward spiral then, so I'm disappointed they've apparently let them go further. However, I rarely was declined an upgrade after my first few weeks. Often it was a corner suite on one of the lower floors (7-14) which were small, but definitely better than the shoebox rooms that were considered a "Wonderful" room.

The living room had a couch, minibar, TV, desk and sometimes a small outside terrace. The attached bedroom was TINY, and the adjoining bathroom was miniscule. But, this is the "Wonderful Suite" that they market and sell for a rack rate of $450/night. The key is getting an Urban Suite (on 17 or 18), but those are hard to come by. People actually pay for them (over $600/night). They're spacious on the top two floors, some with wrap-around terraces. You can also sometimes be upgraded to a "Spectacular" room, which is reasonably sized with room to breath and spread out your personal effects.

When the search works on flyertalk again, search for my messages in this forum - I had some detailed layouts of suite numbers, preferences, which ones have terraces, etc. for this hotel.

Almost every room on 17 and 18 is large. Those two floors were actually added to the top of the building. I don't know if that was before W took it over in 1998 or if it was done when the property was a Doral (and very shabby, at that). It would seem that you got shafted on an 18th floor room that was just a room. My favorite up there is 1805.

But, you're right to go down the street. I find the W Court a much classier place, and the bartenders in Wetbar are more friendly.

It pains me to read your post as this is the original W in New York and by now
one would hope that all guests especially Platinums would have an oiled and smooth experience. My one and only stay at this property was not so different years ago.Air Conditioning during summer months was inadequate.And I am not sure which was louder the noise from the streets or the A/C.Being 6"2 and over 225lbs I had to turn sideways to get into the bathroom door.There was no shelf space in the bathroom to speak of.Everything kept falling into the sink.
Regardless of elite status I decided it wasn't for me.There were some other concerns but these are all I can remember.
The fee from the health club at the time seemed excessive for the facility at the time which was complimentary at almost every hotel in town for a top tier guest at most brands but the W.

Similar non recognition of elite status at check in (ditto) .
The trade offs were a great location, public space and restaurant.
A recent dining experience confirmed that the dining here and service is better then ever.Though f&b were always fairly good in the past.
I consider the food reason enough to return.
The restaurant with all their brilliance never bothered to post my Starpoints.One day I will fax it in when I take the time.

If I were you I would speak too or send the concerns to Corporate Services with the hope that down the road they will work on the details.
If you choose to return to the property I would open up the dialogue with GM directly(as others have said) and see if that individual in charge can make it better.
If at that point on your next stay the situation doesn't dramatically improve I would move on to greener pastures by all means.
I know that Starwood does value your business and any talented GM would rise up in the given situation and fix as many or all the problems possible as you outline.
You seem to have have some very valid concerns that concern guest satisfaction.The hotel needs to know
I plan to report a few of the concerns over on the SPG Advisory board.
Best Wishes