Life_Platinum
Oct 18, 05, 9:23 pm
We just returned from Germany and as promised I thought I would review our stays at Starwood. Of the 15 nights we spent, Starwood had 4 hotels at our chosen location on 9 of those nights, and so our second prize went to Marriott who had 3 hotels where Starwood did not have properties. Starwood blew us away with the accomodations and service they offered us. My wife said she will never forget this trip, because Starwood folk did such a good job of looking after us. Sure there were glitches, but they were minor. Our first stop on our Starwood tour was at
1. Dresden where we stayed at the Westin Bellevue. We had trouble figuring out how to drive our car to the front of the hotel, as I ended up being trapped in the hotel parking lot a few paces from the front of the hotel. Because Mrs. L.P. travels with full, heavy suitcases, it was important for us to pull up in front of the hotel to unload. I walked the 30 paces to the hotel, and was given directions how to have the parking lot gate lifted to pass. We were given room 327 in the older part of the hotel which was build by the East German regime for their bureauocrats in the mid-80s and Westin later came in and added a major addition and conference center about 8 years ago. Our corner suite consisted of a study and large living room, our bedroom, and a very modern bath with a view overlooking the Elbe about 100 feet away, and the old town just across the river. Upon inspection, the room, the hall, and the public rooms felt as if they were just finished and we were the first guests using the facility. This was the largest room (suite) we had during our Starwood tour. Because there was no concierge lounge, breakfast was included in the main dining room with our room, and it was outstanding. There were two minor glitches, one which I have reported on the thread about ammenity points. I was expecting to ask and to receive 500 points for my stay as a Platinum member, but upon checkin, this was not a choice, and I settled for a bottle of Chilean Sauvigenon Blanc. We asked about an activity we hoped to do, and were referred to the Concierge who turned out to be a hired gun in the office of a travel agent just down the hall. We were not warmly received and left feeling that this agent resented being asked if she was the concierge, and that she did not have information that we wanted. A second visit found this person slightly more friendly, but that was in the presence of her boss. The front desk staff, the bell staff, and the very busy dining room staff (there must have been 4 bus loads of tourists all having breakfast at the same time and leaving at the same time) provided exceptional service. Dresden has a wonderful old town with lots of cultural activity, and those of you who might be considering a visit, should be encouraged to do so and to visit a number of spectacular tourist attractions. We decided this town is going to be a hot spot for tourists when more of the reconstruction is completed, and the Westin Belluvue is well situated to capitalize on future developments.
2. Westin Berlin Grand Hotel. Another property that knocked our socks off! We arrived in early morning, and our room wasn't ready, so the hotel staff checked our luggage, and later delivered it to our room, which was recently renovated. We were given the J.S. Bach suite, room 436, in the old part of the hotel overlooking Friedricksstrasse. Next door was the Goethe suite. This suite consisted of a wonderful bathroom, a large living room, and a bedroom, and a entrance hall. Breakfast was not included so we tried the ala carte menu, and sat outside. One of the memories of this hotel was a large indoor swimming pool. We used the concierge to obtain opera tickets and Berlin Philharmonic tickets, and he came through with fine seats for both performances. This hotel is well located in the former East Berlin, and has a long heritage, with the Broadway show, Grand Hotel, set here at about the turn of the century. Again, like Dresden, this hotel was a model for the East German Communists who remodled and built a couple of additions. One of the features we liked was the roof cam which focused in on the nearby Brandenburg gate as well as the skyline of the city dotted by numerous cranes tasked with constructing an entire new city. Here we had the bell staff park our car in the garage across the street. Many fine eating establishments dotted the nearby street, and Checkpoint Charlie was about 5 blocks further down Friedricksstrasse. Negatives were hard to find, but again I was dissapointed as the 500 point Ammenity offering was not available and we opted for another bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Lots of tours use this hotel, so the breakfast room was quite busy early in the A.M.
3. Weimar where we stayed at the Elephant, a Sheraton property that formerly was a Kepinski Hotel, and in the more distant pass, housed Adolf Hitler who addressed the crowds from a hotel balcony overlooking the town square. This hotel began serving travelers in about 1536, and was a jewel in a jewel of a town. Mrs. L.P. still raves about the breakfast, and the dining room was superb, providing fine dining one evening, and on the other evening when it was closed ate in the Rathskeller. The Bauhaus movement originated in Weimar, and so the hotel was decorated in the Bauhaus style, as was our suite, room 318. Our room consisted of a living room, and a bedroom, both rather large, as well as a bath. Like Dresden, this hotel was maintained well. I asked about the 500 Point ammenity, and in typical East German folklore, was told that the manager knew nothing about the 500 point ammenity upon checkin, and if the manager did not know about it, it did not exist and it would not happen! This made was some fun conversations we had with the desk clerk during our stay! Again, a top flight hotel that was deserving of its reputation as the best in town. We enjoyed our two nights in this property.
4.Nurnberg Arabella Sheraton Hotel Carlton. We had trouble finding this property, even with our map, as we drove down some of the less desirable streets around the railroad station before we found the hotel. I began having second thoughts, and was sent on an errand by Mrs. L.P. I was pleasantly surprised that if I walked around the side of the hotel, and walked 1 block down the street, I was at the gate of the old city. However, when we returned to the hotel late at night and walked from the old city, we did have some concerns for our safety and walked briskly and looked over our shoulder. Again we were given a suite, room 724, with a large dining room, a large bedroom and a very modern bath. Of the 4 hotels, we thought this was the least impressive of the group, but our comparison group was three other superb properties with generous, well maintained rooms. This hotel was also well kept, and had a parking lot across the street, and a fine pool. We went swimming one evening, and after relaxing in the hot tub, I chose to go to the sauna. Upon entering two naked Germans asked me to leave because they said that "textiles were not allowed in the sauna" (I had my bathing suite on, and carried a towel). Here also the hotel staff was very attentive, but because we did not have breakfast included and we ate at too many breakfast buffets, we chose to eat outside the hotel.
I'm a Life Platinum in the Marriott program, but when we compared our treatment at our 3 Marriott properties compared to the 4 Starwood Properties, our Starwood hosts treated us far better.
If we had to recommend a hotel in each of the four cities were we stayed at Starwood properties, we stongly would recommend these properties to any of you based on location, service, and membership benefits.
1. Dresden where we stayed at the Westin Bellevue. We had trouble figuring out how to drive our car to the front of the hotel, as I ended up being trapped in the hotel parking lot a few paces from the front of the hotel. Because Mrs. L.P. travels with full, heavy suitcases, it was important for us to pull up in front of the hotel to unload. I walked the 30 paces to the hotel, and was given directions how to have the parking lot gate lifted to pass. We were given room 327 in the older part of the hotel which was build by the East German regime for their bureauocrats in the mid-80s and Westin later came in and added a major addition and conference center about 8 years ago. Our corner suite consisted of a study and large living room, our bedroom, and a very modern bath with a view overlooking the Elbe about 100 feet away, and the old town just across the river. Upon inspection, the room, the hall, and the public rooms felt as if they were just finished and we were the first guests using the facility. This was the largest room (suite) we had during our Starwood tour. Because there was no concierge lounge, breakfast was included in the main dining room with our room, and it was outstanding. There were two minor glitches, one which I have reported on the thread about ammenity points. I was expecting to ask and to receive 500 points for my stay as a Platinum member, but upon checkin, this was not a choice, and I settled for a bottle of Chilean Sauvigenon Blanc. We asked about an activity we hoped to do, and were referred to the Concierge who turned out to be a hired gun in the office of a travel agent just down the hall. We were not warmly received and left feeling that this agent resented being asked if she was the concierge, and that she did not have information that we wanted. A second visit found this person slightly more friendly, but that was in the presence of her boss. The front desk staff, the bell staff, and the very busy dining room staff (there must have been 4 bus loads of tourists all having breakfast at the same time and leaving at the same time) provided exceptional service. Dresden has a wonderful old town with lots of cultural activity, and those of you who might be considering a visit, should be encouraged to do so and to visit a number of spectacular tourist attractions. We decided this town is going to be a hot spot for tourists when more of the reconstruction is completed, and the Westin Belluvue is well situated to capitalize on future developments.
2. Westin Berlin Grand Hotel. Another property that knocked our socks off! We arrived in early morning, and our room wasn't ready, so the hotel staff checked our luggage, and later delivered it to our room, which was recently renovated. We were given the J.S. Bach suite, room 436, in the old part of the hotel overlooking Friedricksstrasse. Next door was the Goethe suite. This suite consisted of a wonderful bathroom, a large living room, and a bedroom, and a entrance hall. Breakfast was not included so we tried the ala carte menu, and sat outside. One of the memories of this hotel was a large indoor swimming pool. We used the concierge to obtain opera tickets and Berlin Philharmonic tickets, and he came through with fine seats for both performances. This hotel is well located in the former East Berlin, and has a long heritage, with the Broadway show, Grand Hotel, set here at about the turn of the century. Again, like Dresden, this hotel was a model for the East German Communists who remodled and built a couple of additions. One of the features we liked was the roof cam which focused in on the nearby Brandenburg gate as well as the skyline of the city dotted by numerous cranes tasked with constructing an entire new city. Here we had the bell staff park our car in the garage across the street. Many fine eating establishments dotted the nearby street, and Checkpoint Charlie was about 5 blocks further down Friedricksstrasse. Negatives were hard to find, but again I was dissapointed as the 500 point Ammenity offering was not available and we opted for another bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Lots of tours use this hotel, so the breakfast room was quite busy early in the A.M.
3. Weimar where we stayed at the Elephant, a Sheraton property that formerly was a Kepinski Hotel, and in the more distant pass, housed Adolf Hitler who addressed the crowds from a hotel balcony overlooking the town square. This hotel began serving travelers in about 1536, and was a jewel in a jewel of a town. Mrs. L.P. still raves about the breakfast, and the dining room was superb, providing fine dining one evening, and on the other evening when it was closed ate in the Rathskeller. The Bauhaus movement originated in Weimar, and so the hotel was decorated in the Bauhaus style, as was our suite, room 318. Our room consisted of a living room, and a bedroom, both rather large, as well as a bath. Like Dresden, this hotel was maintained well. I asked about the 500 Point ammenity, and in typical East German folklore, was told that the manager knew nothing about the 500 point ammenity upon checkin, and if the manager did not know about it, it did not exist and it would not happen! This made was some fun conversations we had with the desk clerk during our stay! Again, a top flight hotel that was deserving of its reputation as the best in town. We enjoyed our two nights in this property.
4.Nurnberg Arabella Sheraton Hotel Carlton. We had trouble finding this property, even with our map, as we drove down some of the less desirable streets around the railroad station before we found the hotel. I began having second thoughts, and was sent on an errand by Mrs. L.P. I was pleasantly surprised that if I walked around the side of the hotel, and walked 1 block down the street, I was at the gate of the old city. However, when we returned to the hotel late at night and walked from the old city, we did have some concerns for our safety and walked briskly and looked over our shoulder. Again we were given a suite, room 724, with a large dining room, a large bedroom and a very modern bath. Of the 4 hotels, we thought this was the least impressive of the group, but our comparison group was three other superb properties with generous, well maintained rooms. This hotel was also well kept, and had a parking lot across the street, and a fine pool. We went swimming one evening, and after relaxing in the hot tub, I chose to go to the sauna. Upon entering two naked Germans asked me to leave because they said that "textiles were not allowed in the sauna" (I had my bathing suite on, and carried a towel). Here also the hotel staff was very attentive, but because we did not have breakfast included and we ate at too many breakfast buffets, we chose to eat outside the hotel.
I'm a Life Platinum in the Marriott program, but when we compared our treatment at our 3 Marriott properties compared to the 4 Starwood Properties, our Starwood hosts treated us far better.
If we had to recommend a hotel in each of the four cities were we stayed at Starwood properties, we stongly would recommend these properties to any of you based on location, service, and membership benefits.