Starwood Preferred Guest - Westin St. Maarten, Dawn Beach [Master Thread]

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051201/20051201005625.html?.v=1

Press Release Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts' Worldwide, Inc.

New Westin Resort and Residences to Grace the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten
Thursday December 1, 11:45 am ET
Located on the Dutch side of the Island, The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa And The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Residences are Slated to Open Fall 2006

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 2005--Starwood Hotels & Resorts' Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT - News) upper-upscale Westin brand continues its expansion in the Caribbean with the recent groundbreaking of The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa and the adjacent Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Residences on the scenic island of St. Maarten. Slated to open Fall 2006, The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa will offer 310 luxurious guest rooms, suites, oceanfront dining, a full-service spa, casino, a wide array of amenities and expansive meeting and event venues. The 99-unit Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Residences will be located on the resort grounds offering owners full access to the resort's services and amenities. The property will fly the Westin flag under a license agreement and is owned and managed by Columbia Sussex, owner, developer and operator of more than 85 hotels around the world.

"This hotel will be a welcome addition to Westin's Caribbean resort expansion in choice destinations and we are thrilled to have a presence on St. Maarten, one of the world's most popular tropical vacation spots," said Sue Brush, Senior Vice President, Westin Hotels & Resorts. "St. Maarten, like Westin, carries a rich history and we're delighted to be able to offer our guests the Westin experience on this lovely island."

"We have successfully built and operated properties in the Caribbean, as well as gaming properties in the U.S., said Columbia Sussex President, William Yung. "Our new St. Maarten resort and residences will allow us to leverage our extensive experience in developing resorts and gaming hotels with the same unparalleled attention to detail bestowed upon our other developments, including The Westin Casuarina Las Vegas Hotel, Casino & Spa, which for the past quarter has ranked #1 of all Westin hotels in North America in customer surveys, and The Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa Grand Cayman."

Situated on the Dutch side of the island and high up on one of the island's pristine 37-plus beaches on just 37 square miles, The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa and The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Residences will be a luxurious tropical paradise in a scenic setting. While most accommodations boast ocean-views, all of the exquisitely appointed guest rooms and suites will feature balconies with French doors, upscale amenities and oversized bathrooms. All of the resort's guestrooms and the residences will feature the Westin brand's signature Heavenly Bed® and Heavenly Bath®. Guests of the resort will be able to enjoy the WestinWORKOUT® Powered by Reebok fitness facility and recently introduced WestinWORKOUT® Rooms, giving them the opportunity to work out in the privacy of their own rooms. Additional guest services include WestinKid's Club® for tiny travelers three to 12 with activities, both on and off property.

Resort dining and entertainment will fuse local island flavor with uncompromising service and quality, with spectacular ocean views at every dining outlet in the resort. Whether guests prefer to spend their days soaking up the island's sun as they lounge by the turquoise Caribbean waters or testing their luck at the full-service on-site casino with slots and all table games, The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa will have something for everyone. Amenities also will include a luxurious, full-service, European-style Hibiscus Spa, several retail shops with duty-free shopping, fresh water pool complete with swim-up bar and whirlpool, 18-hole golf at Mullet Bay, and water sports galore.

The resort will boast more than 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor flexible meeting and event space, including a 10,000 square-foot ballroom, making it a popular destination for weddings and honeymoons as well as business conference venues.


Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts' Worldwide, Inc.

Great news. Starwood's presence in the Caribbean is weak. Here's a LINK (http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/431930/page/0/fpart/all/vc/1) to some discussion regarding the construction, with some pics. Fall '06 seems overly optimistic.

This is great. Starwood appears to be expanding in the carribean.

This is great. Starwood appears to be expanding in the carribean.

Where is this property going to be located in relation to the fabulous beachfront SXM airport?

Meridien had a beachfront secluded property on the French side near Grand Case that my wife and I loved. When Starwood announced the purchase of Meridien, we had visions of staying at this resort again. However when we checked the Meridien web site, this property was not among the Hotels listed.

For those unfamilar with St. Maarten, it has the second largest airport in the Caribbean in terms of numbers of landings, with 747s and other widebodies regularily flying in from Europe. Almost all the major US airlines fly in from the mainland, making it easy to reach.

This is great news although I wish it were on the French side near Marigot or Grande Case. This section of the island is close to Phillipsburg and there are a lot of problems (robberies) on the road at night - its a fairly well known problem. Columbia Sussex should have bought the old La Belle Creole (formerly a Conrad before one of the hurricanes - can't remember which one - heavily damaged the place about 10 years ago). Unfortunately my loyalty won't be enough to overcome the shortcomings of the location...I'll continue to stay at Le Esplenade de Caribe

Another poster mentioned the airport...one of the most awesome spots to watch planes come and go. Sit at the sunset beach bar (www.sunsetbeachbar.com) and watch the planes fly come in less than 100' overhead. Its also fun to watch the occasional idiot stand on the sand when one is about to takeoff.

Dawn Beach is not particularly close to Phillipsburg and it right on the border with the French side. Dawn's a great beach, and this area is pretty close to the most popular beach on the French side, Orient. All in all, I think this is a good location for the resort and a great addition to the starwood family!

I'd estimate 45-60 mins from the airport depending on traffic....this area is much quieter than the area around the airport (Maho/Simpson Bay) in terms of nightlife, but the casino may change that! :)

Of course it is nice to have more starwood options in warm, tropical places. I hope that construction and business is done with environmental concerns in mind -- this sounds like a large resort and sustainability is a real concern on relatively small islands.

Of course it is nice to have more starwood options in warm, tropical places. I hope that construction and business is done with environmental concerns in mind -- this sounds like a large resort and sustainability is a real concern on relatively small islands.


Like all large corporations I'm sure *Wood and Columbia Sussex will go out of their way to destroy the environment. :rolleyes: The island is what most people go there to see, don't you think *Wood and CS know that and will take steps to make sure they preserve the environment and the surroundings?

Small island? Yes its small but no matter how big they build the resort it won't have that much of an impact on "the island". Any impact at all will be limited to a very small area.

When will Starwood start taking reservations for this property???

It's too bad Le Meridien lost L'Habitation on the French side; always made a nice stop for me on the way to St Barth's. Near Grand Case, the restaurants were quite good. I don't anticipate near so good possibilities for the location on the Dutch side.....

Like all large corporations I'm sure *Wood and Columbia Sussex will go out of their way to destroy the environment. :rolleyes: The island is what most people go there to see, don't you think *Wood and CS know that and will take steps to make sure they preserve the environment and the surroundings?

That's an awfully broad brush, don't you think? I work with a lot of developers in my business, and the vast majority of them go out of their way to preserve, and even rehabilitate the environment in and around their projects...are you in the industry, or just making a broad based foolish comment?

That's an awfully broad brush, don't you think? I work with a lot of developers in my business, and the vast majority of them go out of their way to preserve, and even rehabilitate the environment in and around their projects...are you in the industry, or just making a broad based foolish comment?

He was just being sarcastic.

He was just being sarcastic.


Thank you, sarcasm is sometimes difficult to convey in writing...I thought the sarcastic face ( :rolleyes: ) would have done the trick.

It's too bad Le Meridien lost L'Habitation on the French side; always made a nice stop for me on the way to St Barth's. Near Grand Case, the restaurants were quite good. I don't anticipate near so good possibilities for the location on the Dutch side.....


Precisely! The restaurants in Grand Case are some of the best on the island.

Thank you, sarcasm is sometimes difficult to convey in writing...I thought the sarcastic face ( :rolleyes: ) would have done the trick.
gotchya! Sorry for the confusion....I wasn't aware what the faces meant until I put my cursor over it...Never mind! :-)

I called SPG and they don't have any info. on this property yet.

How far out do they typically start taking reservations?

I called SPG and they don't have any info. on this property yet.

How far out do they typically start taking reservations?
The hotel's page on starwoodhotels.com says opening Jan 8, 2007. A press release back in May about the new Wyndham properties (http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=hot&script=410&layout=6&item_id=849964) mentioned St Maarten opening in Aug 2007.

I found a page for a conference booked there in April 2007 (http://www.mer.org/seminarinfo.cfm?sid=1000075). (I'm not so sure that will happen.) Regardless, the conference details cite the following conference rates, taxes, service fees, and and resort fees:
"The discount rate at the Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa in St. Maarten (Dutch) is $248.00 (single or double occupancy) per night for a resort view room. All guest rooms are subject to a 10% government tax and a 10% hotel service charge (subject to change). The hotel service charge includes porterage and maid gratuities. There will be a $4.00 per room per day charge added to the above rates that includes the following: in room coffee, in room safe, unlimited local calls, use of the beach chairs and beach towels, unlimited use of the health club."

And a little interesting is the webcam (http://islandcam.columbiasussex.com/view/index.shtml) that I found on the developer's site. It doesn't show much of interest other than that the buildings still have a long way to go but that there are workers there that are actively working. (A password is required in order to reposition the camera. It's really not that exciting of a view.) This same developer, Columbia Sussex, (http://www.columbiasussex.com/cscbybrand.lasso) also owns those Wyndhams that are switching to Starwood.

...This same developer, Columbia Sussex, (http://www.columbiasussex.com/cscbybrand.lasso) also owns those Wyndhams that are switching to Starwood.

As well as The Westin Casuarina Resort in Grand Cayman and The Westin Casuarina, Las Vegas...among others. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

A friend of mine (and former Starwood Plat) was vacationing at St Maarten a couple weeks ago and went by the Westin construction site. He said that completion appears to be a long way off. He talked with one of the contractors there that explained that some redesigning had to be done. According to the contractor, the original plans were for a 5-story building. But after construction began, homeowners on the hillside behind the property complained that their oceanview would be obstructed by the height. The plans were revised for a longer, shorter, 4-story building. Among other things, that required the purchase of some additional land.

Nonetheless, I think that the official word in press releases is still that the hotel will open by early Jan 2007.

Like all large corporations I'm sure *Wood and Columbia Sussex will go out of their way to destroy the environment. :rolleyes: The island is what most people go there to see, don't you think *Wood and CS know that and will take steps to make sure they preserve the environment and the surroundings?

Small island? Yes its small but no matter how big they build the resort it won't have that much of an impact on "the island". Any impact at all will be limited to a very small area.

http://sxmprivateeye.com/node/4104

http://sxmprivateeye.com/node/3230

Well, sludge and explosives aside, I was able to redeem startpoints for 8 nights here next year in February. I've been all over the Caribbean--except for SXM and St. Barts, so I'm curious.

Looking forward to a crisp, new, heavenly bed...

Looks like this property is a long ways from being completed:

http://sxmprivateeye.com/node/6833

The construction trash on the beach and in the ocean is nice.

Doesn't look like 150-200 feet setback either. Poor turtles.

Oh well, hopefully they'll have the Heavenly Bed and a good lounge!!!!111

Yes, that site certainly has an agenda. :rolleyes: I think you would be hard-pressed to find a construction site without some trash and some minimal environmental impact.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061106/20061106006126.html?.v=1

Press Release Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Westin Hotels & Resorts to Open Resort Property Featuring Condo Hotel Residences on the Caribbean Isle of St. Maarten
Monday November 6, 2:19 pm ET

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.® (NYSE:HOT - News) announced today that the new Westin® St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa will open on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten on December 13, 2006. The property will fly the Westin flag under a license agreement and is developed, owned and managed by Columbia Sussex, developer, owner and operator of more than 85 hotels and seven casinos around the world.

The resort will offer 317 guest rooms and suites (most with ocean views), multiple oceanfront dining options, two lounges, a full-service spa, a casino, retail shops, the island's largest freshwater infinity pool with 17 pool side and beach cabanas, a hot tub, swim-up bar and expansive meeting and event facilities. Ninety-nine for-sale condominiums are located on the resort grounds and comprise The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Residences. The condominiums are currently under development and range in price from $895,000 to $2 million. Owners will enjoy full access to all of the resort's services and amenities.

"Expansion in the Caribbean is key to our growth strategy," said Sue Brush, senior vice president of Westin Hotels & Resorts. "A resort of this caliber on the magnificent Dawn Beach is an ideal addition to our global collection of hotels. In keeping with the Westin brand promise, guests at The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach will benefit from relaxation and personal renewal."

Situated on Dawn Beach, the best of the 37 pristine beaches on the 37-square-mile island, the resort and condominium homes feature balconies, French doors and oversized bathrooms. All of the resort's guestroom suites and residences feature the Westin brand's signature Heavenly Bed® and Heavenly Bath®. Guests of the resort can also enjoy the WestinWORKOUT® Powered by Reebok fitness facility and WestinWORKOUT® Rooms, for those who prefer to exercise in the privacy of their own room.

Resort dining fuses local island flavor, uncompromising service, quality and spectacular views. Five dining options exist and include "Ocean," the indoor/outdoor casual dining restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily; "Aura," a French/Vietnamese fine dining restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating; "Liquid," the swim up bar and an oceanside deli. Ocean views are a feature at all resort restaurants. Additionally, 24-hour room service is available.

The 10,124 square-foot Hibiscus Spa, specializing in massage, is the largest and most luxurious on the island with 13 treatment rooms. Facials, manicures, pedicures and body treatments are offered, as well. The spa features the Decleor product line which uses aromatherapy and the most active extracts of aromatic plants and essential oils for skincare.

The resort can accommodate events both large and small with more than 20,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space. Features include approximately 10,000 square feet of outdoor meeting space, three boardrooms and a 10,000 square foot ballroom that can divide into five separate rooms -- eight rooms total making it an ideal destination for weddings as well as business conference venues.


Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Every time that I look at the webcam for this property (see my July 28 post above), I'm amazed that they still say that this is on track to open this year. It still appears that there is major construction at this site. OTOH, I see lights on right now that leads me to believe that they are at least continuing to work after sundown. (See webcam photos from today in the Flyertalk Photo Gallery (http://gallery.flyertalk.com/gallery/SPG).)

Is anyone here planning to be a guinea pig there in their first few months?

Every time that I look at the webcam for this property (see my July 28 post above), I'm amazed that they still say that this is on track to open this year.

Boy, you're not kidding. We're already knocking on the middle of November and this place looks a little like a warzone. Open in a month????

Well, maybe some of it, but you can bet your bippee that there will be major construction still going on and lots of the hotel not yet open.

In a word, wow.

I have a reservation there in March. Fingers are crossed that the property will actually be open!

I have a reservation there in March. Fingers are crossed that the property will actually be open!

I just found this thread (after I posted to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=609678 )

I was in SXM last week, and not knowing about the Westin being built, wandered over to visit Dawn Beach for a nice quiet day. Needless to say (as can be seen by the pictures earlier in this thread), things are a mess and it was just about impossible to even get there.

From my view up the hill, this place is far from being complete.

When I first heard about a Westin being built in St Martin, I was happy to hear about on of the major's (Starwood, Hilton, Marriott) finally having something here. Now that I see it in action, I'm not so sure it is a good thing. Dawn Beach was a beautiful place, even with just shells of buildings (all that was left from the 1996 hurricane). Palm trees, a stream going to the ocean, and the beach itself was just..well...so relaxing. Now, it looks weird with this huge complex stuffed into that little valley.

This is a worry as I booked a room for the week of Valentine's Day. Glad that I used miles so I can move my trip. I might have to reconsider if it doesnt look better soon.


Any idea what they do if the hotel is not completed on time?

The hotels' website still says it opens 12/13. :( From the looks of things, there is no way in hell this property will be open 15 days from today.

When I first heard about a Westin being built in St Martin, I was happy to hear about on of the major's (Starwood, Hilton, Marriott) finally having something here. Now that I see it in action, I'm not so sure it is a good thing. Dawn Beach was a beautiful place, even with just shells of buildings (all that was left from the 1996 hurricane). Palm trees, a stream going to the ocean, and the beach itself was just..well...so relaxing. Now, it looks weird with this huge complex stuffed into that little valley.

Small island? Yes its small but no matter how big they build the resort it won't have that much of an impact on "the island". Any impact at all will be limited to a very small area.

Anyway, who cares about environmental/cultural impact. When will the hotel be open ? How big is the lounge? Is there any way to keep the natives away from the pool???

Has anyone heard some news if things are okay for this property??:confused:

I am booked the 2nd week in Jan07.

The drawings look really nice

You may be guinea pig #1 from this board. My stay isn't until the end of February. Please be sure to post how everything was when you get back.

Considering an award stay here. SPG says that a deposit for the full rack rate over the course of the stay will be charged to my card, and refunded after the stay. Does that make sense? Haven't come across it before.

Considering an award stay here. SPG says that a deposit for the full rack rate over the course of the stay will be charged to my card, and refunded after the stay. Does that make sense? Haven't come across it before.

I booked an award here and wasn't charged a deposit (but then again, I don't recall if that language was present when I booked). Sounds like a glitch to me.

Some glitch! They deduct my points and say they're going to charge me a refundable deposit of over $1k on a 3-night stay which I'll get back "in 30-45 days" after my stay. :td:

SPG rep said this is one of 4 properties with such a policy, they mentioned that Westin St John and St Regis Aspen do this as well on awards.

I don't recall reading this before. Either they're incorrect, or I have a really poor memory today. :confused:

Some glitch! They deduct my points and say they're going to charge me a refundable deposit of over $1k on a 3-night stay which I'll get back "in 30-45 days" after my stay. :td:

SPG rep said this is one of 4 properties with such a policy, they mentioned that Westin St John and St Regis Aspen do this as well on awards.

I don't recall reading this before. Either they're incorrect, or I have a really poor memory today. :confused:

I've redeemed awards at both of those properties as well (although STJ was a long time ago) and was never required to make a deposit.

Im booked for late december - should I be very worried ???

OK, I contacted the property manager regarding my stay in Febraury and got a response that basically said the hotel will be open and their may be major construction on the condos. She really didnt answer my question if all hotel amenities will be available? Will they move our room if the noice is load? What are the hours of construction? Refund our money if things are a mess. Any ideas? Past experiences with similar situations. What I thought would be the perfect trip seems as if it may be a nightmare.

SPG rep said this is one of 4 properties with such a policy, they mentioned that Westin St John and St Regis Aspen do this as well on awards.

Not true at St John's. I've got an award-suite reserved in May before my nephew's wedding and they did not require a deposit.

It is meant to be a bit of a special occassion, and now it seems the hotel may be a building site..I was going to ring the manager, but after the last post....doesnt seem any point. all flights are booked, and non changeable - plus we are coming from Australia - JUST GREAT !!!!!

aSome glitch! They deduct my points and say they're going to charge me a refundable deposit of over $1k on a 3-night stay which I'll get back "in 30-45 days" after my stay. :td:

SPG rep said this is one of 4 properties with such a policy, they mentioned that Westin St John and St Regis Aspen do this as well on awards.

I don't recall reading this before. Either they're incorrect, or I have a really poor memory today. :confused:
I have a reward stay booked at the St Regis Aspen Dec 23 -28. Only points were deducted from my account. No amount charged to my CC. This does not sound correct. SPG has the points deducted from your account. Why would there be any additional requirement?

After reading your comments, I was able to book a 5 night award stay at this property (Westin St. Maarten) and did not encounter any statement where my credit card would be charged.

It's just a CSR, I believe, who doesn't know what they're talking about and a supervisor they consulted who doesn't as well...! Though my confirmation says "deposit has been satisfied" rather than a comment just about forfeiture amount for cancellation. Credit card has not (as yet) been charged.

I may be the guinee pig, I am checking in on December 23rd. What happens if I get there and the place isn't done yet? Will they put me up at another hotel?

It's just a CSR, I believe, who doesn't know what they're talking about and a supervisor they consulted who doesn't as well...! Though my confirmation says "deposit has been satisfied" rather than a comment just about forfeiture amount for cancellation. Credit card has not (as yet) been charged.

I think you are correct. I booked 2 award rooms at this property on line. I had to change the dates on one reservation so I called. On line, there is no mention of a deposit. When I called, I was told that there would be a deposit. My on line confirmation says nothing about a deposit. My telephone confirmation says that my deposit has been charged to my credit card, but no charge has appeared, and it has been 5 days since my telephone call.

BTW, both confirmations say that there is a $5 resort fee/day, 5% tax, and a 15% service charge. I understand the resort fee, but I wonder what the tax and service charge will be based on. Rack rate? The rate SPG is paying? My rate ($0)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3OHSm5ljg8

Very compelling video, we are cancelling our trip to St. Martin.

Beach and Construction Site
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3OHSm5ljg8

View of Hotel and contruction manager
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2if5ZoJrU0&mode=related&search=

Yes, that site certainly has an agenda. :rolleyes: I think you would be hard-pressed to find a construction site without some trash and some minimal environmental impact.

Very compelling video, we are cancelling our trip to St. Martin.

Beach and Construction Site
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3OHSm5ljg8

View of Hotel and contruction manager
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2if5ZoJrU0&mode=related&search=

If you are really cancelling your trip b/c of these videos, I would suggest you stop traveling. If you think for a second that 90% of these sites don't face the same "environmental issues" as this one, then you should remove your head from the sand.
While I certainly would hope that this resort is living up to it's environmental promises (and by all measured accounts it is), I don't know that I'd go cancelling my trip over it...

If you are really cancelling your trip b/c of these videos, I would suggest you stop traveling. If you think for a second that 90% of these sites don't face the same "environmental issues" as this one, then you should remove your head from the sand.

With all due respect, I couldn't disagree more. Anyone who has been to Dawn Beach knows the reality of the situation after watching the video. It's a small little area which, because of the hills and other natural features, is very environmentally sensitive. It's not a 10-mile long beach like you find in the SE U.S.

While I certainly would hope that this resort is living up to it's environmental promises (and by all measured accounts it is)

On what are you basing this factual assertion? Does debris in the water and on the beach = "living up to it's (sic) environmental promises?" How about clearly violating the terms of the permit regarding how close to the high tide line the construction zone will be?

Yes, that site certainly has an agenda. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a construction site without some trash and some minimal environmental impact.

You and I have a difference of opinion on the word "minimal." How would you describe the "agenda" of the website? How much construction trash going in the ocean is an acceptable amount to you?

With all due respect, I couldn't disagree more. Anyone who has been to Dawn Beach knows the reality of the situation after watching the video. It's a small little area which, because of the hills and other natural features, is very environmentally sensitive. It's not a 10-mile long beach like you find in the SE U.S.



On what are you basing this factual assertion? Does debris in the water and on the beach = "living up to it's (sic) environmental promises?" How about clearly violating the terms of the permit regarding how close to the high tide line the construction zone will be?



You and I have a difference of opinion on the word "minimal." How would you describe the "agenda" of the website? How much construction trash going in the ocean is an acceptable amount to you?

I'm not going to bicker here, b/c we have two very contrasting views...let's just say we'll agree to disagree.

I'm not going to bicker here, b/c we have two very contrasting views...let's just say we'll agree to disagree.

Fair enough, I can understand wanting to avoid an argument.

You did make state this as fact:

While I certainly would hope that this resort is living up to it's environmental promises (and by all measured accounts it is) (emphasis mine)

Without getting into a discussion, could you cite your source for your statement? Some of the links above have shown in pretty stark terms (quoting from the development agreement and then showing actual photographs) that, on at least some issues, they are not. So I'd be interested in hearing where your facts come from.

oh well.

I've heard that construction materials make excellent reefs. ;)

Fair enough, I can understand wanting to avoid an argument.

You did make state this as fact:

(emphasis mine)

Without getting into a discussion, could you cite your source for your statement? Some of the links above have shown in pretty stark terms (quoting from the development agreement and then showing actual photographs) that, on at least some issues, they are not. So I'd be interested in hearing where your facts come from.

I was looking at going here in Feb (ended up booking Cancun instead) Let's just say that I work in the environmental industry, and as stated previously in this thread, I work with a lot of developers. Our east coast office handles this developer and made some calls in regards to the availability of the resort in Feb...they said it would be open, but not "beautified" yet.
So anyhow, we made them aware of this thread, and they said they were aware of the slander (<--their term) against them...anyhow, they have all sorts of literature on how they are indeed following their contract...good enough?

So anyhow, we made them aware of this thread, and they said....
Some other folks in this thread might be unwilling to stay there regardless, but I would probably welcome a Familiarization trip on TA rates in exchange for my promise to post a fair and objective Trip Report following my stay. Whomever you made aware can send me a PM.

So this place opened unbeautified today, right? FWIW, I do look forward to visiting it someday. But not at normal rates with the current condition. This isn't the only hotel that I think has opened sooner than it should have.

Really looking forward to reports from the property.

I was looking at going here in Feb (ended up booking Cancun instead) Let's just say that I work in the environmental industry, and as stated previously in this thread, I work with a lot of developers. Our east coast office handles this developer and made some calls in regards to the availability of the resort in Feb...they said it would be open, but not "beautified" yet.
So anyhow, we made them aware of this thread, and they said they were aware of the slander (<--their term) against them...anyhow, they have all sorts of literature on how they are indeed following their contract...good enough?

I'd bet that a lawyer didn't use the word slander. ;)

Anyway, it's fine if you want to take the developer's word that they're complying with the permit; I guess you're free to do so. It seems a bit to me like taking the foxs' word on the state of the henhouse.

But hey, you can see a scan of the permit yourself: http://sxmprivateeye.com/node/6436

From page 6 of the permit:

Along the Dawn Beach a general construction setback of minimum forty five (45M) meters from the coast line should be maintained within which no construction will be allowed.

Take a look at the pictures

http://sxmprivateeye.com/node/7214

They're not 45 meters from the water line. They're not even 45 feet from the water line.

Gracing the island indeed.

Opening day pics:

http://sxmliving.blogspot.com/2006/12/opening-day-for-new-westin.html

Wow. And I was planning to go there in a month. :eek:

Opening day pics:

http://sxmliving.blogspot.com/2006/12/opening-day-for-new-westin.html


Thank goodness (sincerely) for the warnings we get on junk like this - how dare *swood open this hotel in this condition.

Unless I misread the picture I saw, there is a bulldozer parked next to an empty pool with no water in it...????

While it may be "open," it does not look Open!:td:

Man, would I be PISSED if I was staying here...this resort is still 3 months away from opening if it were in the states...6 months on SXM time...this PR nightmare will only get worse for them...

I'd be pissed if I was living there...

Im staying there in two week. Non refundable airfaires payed for, and no other options on St Maarten for any reasonable price. so will just have to hope they sort it out in two weeks.

Shame, as its a special occassion......we shall have to see.

If anyone has any advise on situations like this appreciated. Using points for 75% of the stay, and paying for the rest.

Very dissapointed. I was sure they wouldnt open it until it was atleast mostly ready. My wife is going to kill me !!!

Very dissapointed. I was sure they wouldnt open it until it was atleast mostly ready. My wife is going to kill me !!!
If they didn't open until it was at least mostly ready, then you might not have a place to stay at all.

Take your camera. If you wish to file a complaint with Starwood during or after your stay, some photos might be helpful.

Despite earlier comments, I would call the hotel to get their story before arrival.

Well, the website does say, "Limited Facilities until December 22, 2006", but I doubt this is what they meant....

Seriously, I would negotiate with hotel management and SPG customer relations to get a discount on points and cash. Capture evidence as sc flier recommends. Depending on how much is still unbuilt, I'd press for a complete refund of points and a big reduction in the rate.

At the same time, try to enjoy St Maarten/Martin as much as you can. I've been a couple of times and didn't spend too much time at my hotel. The beach looks pretty good, and the pool could be finished soon. If your room is in good shape and the service is good, it could be a nice visit.

Somehow I don't think they will be finished by December 22nd. :eek:

http://bp0.blogger.com/_S6q2MQhZQgo/RYPuMugFzxI/AAAAAAAAACE/w4tHDaHRVHA/s1600-h/westinarticle.jpg

200 of its 310 rooms completed
Eighty percent of the available inventory has already been booked for Christmas weekend. All available rooms are fully booked for New Year's weekend.
slated for completion in spring 2007.

I'd be pissed if I was living there...

Yes, those people in that newspaper article above sure do look like they are pissed off about the hundreds of new job opportunities at a world-class resort.

:rolleyes:

Everybody needs to understand that most of the construction photos and videos are shot in an effort to make the Westin look as bad as possible.

slated for completion in spring 2007

I believe that reference was to the time-share units.

More info @ TripAdvisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147346-i222-k907674-Westin_Opening_anyone_have_any_info-St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

And more pics from today: http://sxmliving.blogspot.com/2006/12/i-guess-westin-is-open.html

Any reports from anyone that has visited the property yet?

Hi - I am looking to vacation at this property next Spring and would like some info from recent visitors on how the trip was? Was the hotel completely finished and is there any construction going on? Thanks

We stopped by there this evening to check it out, and wandered a little bit. Once you are inside, and at the pool area, it is nowhere near as disastrous seeming as it looks from above. I did not see any rooms however. Walking around it is easy to see the rush - there are fixtures missing in the hallways and bathrooms, half the machines in the casino do not work, I saw an elevator or two that were closed off, and areas that are unfinished cordoned off.

And lots of pictures, too.

http://sxmliving.blogspot.com/2006/12/picture-tables.html

Thanks...it does look like signficant progress has been made, although they probably could have used another few weeks before the soft opening to get everything in tip top shape. Nonetheless, I think this will be a beautiful resort when all is said and done, and probably a Cat 5 on Feb 1!

Well, my wife and I will be there for 3 nights from Jan 11th - 14th. I'll be sure to post a trip report when I get back. We used StarPoints so hopefully the 10k per night will be worth it.

I was looking at going here in Feb (ended up booking Cancun instead) Let's just say that I work in the environmental industry, and as stated previously in this thread, I work with a lot of developers. Our east coast office handles this developer and made some calls in regards to the availability of the resort in Feb...they said it would be open, but not "beautified" yet.
So anyhow, we made them aware of this thread, and they said they were aware of the slander (<--their term) against them...anyhow, they have all sorts of literature on how they are indeed following their contract...good enough?

The developer is your "measured account"? You've got as equally a biased opinion as MeNoSay (who in fact has cited to a clear violation of the building permit).

We stopped by there this evening to check it out, and wandered a little bit. Once you are inside, and at the pool area, it is nowhere near as disastrous seeming as it looks from above. I did not see any rooms however. Walking around it is easy to see the rush - there are fixtures missing in the hallways and bathrooms, half the machines in the casino do not work, I saw an elevator or two that were closed off, and areas that are unfinished cordoned off.

And lots of pictures, too.

http://sxmliving.blogspot.com/2006/12/picture-tables.html

The follow-up on this is worse:

Anonymous said...
I am staying at the hotel and am actually in the first picture of the lobby. The hotel is NOT ready, my family had 3 rooms reserved and it took us over 2 hours to finally get taken to 3 rooms that were all cleaned and ready. One of the rooms we were taken to was not finished and had no furniture in it. Worse than the facilities is the staff, who do not understand how to operate a hotel. None of them are able to follow up with requests or able to recommend any local area attractions (since most are not from the online). We were suppose to stay until the 3rd but have cut our trip and are planning on returning to the States before New Years. We paid for our hotel using starwood points and the hotel has agreed to refund them.

Jess, if you have any restaurant recommendations we would love to know. The dining at the hotel is impossible and you can not get through a meal without a very large headache due to the staff.

December 28, 2006 12:33 PM

This is again from the same URL as cactuspete cites above.

Based on everything I see, I would not want to stay here even if they gave it to me for free. Indeed, I dont care for how they have treated the local people or the environment. Moreover, if they have that disregard for others, whats to say that they will be any better to guests. Frankly, I am surprised Westin has let things go this far off course. Good luck to everyone that plans to visit and beward to those who have not yet booked.

Here's a trip report with a fairly comprehensive (and positive :eek:) review of the current status of things at the Westin:

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=609350&an=0&page=0#Post609350

The controvery of this thread peaked my curiosity. I checked out of an Atlantic Suite at the Westin Rio Mar (another disfavored property) and checked in here yesterday.

There are pluses, and there are minuses. Right now I'm sitting in the lobby where there is currently free wireless internet... because wired internet in the rooms don't work. Just had the concierge make dinner reservations for this evening, but have to stop back by the desk later to confirm as the phone message system isn't yet working properly either.

This is going to be a very beautiful property. Emphasis on going to be. The small strip of beach in front of the hotel has great white sand. The color of the water is beautiful. The views from the balconies are great. And the hotel is "new Westin"... corridors are pretty much what you would expect from a Westin built over the past 18 months (drop me in the Westin Arlington Gateway and the interiors are similar).

But the hotel just isn't finished, not even close.

The entrance to hotel looked like a war zone, but you oly really see the entrance coming and going. No worries. Perfectly functional.

Upon checkin I was given an oceanfront king. No suite, but not sure how many this property has and how many of those are even yet functional. All fine. Bellman helps me with my bags but mrs. gleff and I wound up carrying them upstairs ourselves because... the elevators didn’t work. (They've since been repaired.)

Lots of work going on all around, there were beds in the hallways as the staff prepared to bring more rooms online apparently.

This morning we got up and wanted to go sit outside at the Ocean restaurant and drink coffee… but outside seating was closed because construction was working (we sat outside last night, and this morning we were told “maybe tomorrow” it would reopen).

People seem very friendly. But not always on top of things, they seem rather resigned to problems. Since I couldn't sit outside at the restaurant and enjoy my coffee, I rang up room service... I asked for skim milk for my coffee… $5 charge appeared on the bill for skim milk. I called down to ask about it, service express said they’d “investigate” and call me back (over $5??). They called back and said because I asked for skim rather than 2% milk they were charging me. Weird. I’d have been fine with 2%, they certainly didn’t suggest that one was $$$ and the other was not. I explained this and they offered to “call back room service and get back to me.” Over $5?? I told her not to bother having another round of phone calls, the runaround was more aggravating than the money.

The Resort & Spa apparently doesn’t yet have… a spa. No gift shop, either. They're still building most of the ground floor retail.

The balcony is relaxing, except the furniture doesn't fit. And watching workers outside littering coke cans isn't great either.

Developing...

Have lots of pictures, both of the beautiful parts and the rough spots, and will share those upon my return (didn't bring the camera connector for my laptop).

gleff - what are the rooms like? is the gym open or is it part of the spa? did they say when it will open?

My wife and I are booked for the middle of April. I'm hoping that the problems with the hotel are better by then. We're using gifted Starwood Points so it won't cost us and $$$ to stay there. I'm just hoping it will be worth it.

gleff - what are the rooms like? is the gym open or is it part of the spa? did they say when it will open?
May post more from the US club at CLT this evening, but in the meantime I was misinformed at the dtart of my stay - both spa and gym are open, located next to each other on the 3rd floor.

- The elevators which had been fixed broke again and repairmen were called out.

- During the stay housekeeping came in and put the little inserts onto the phones which indicate what button does what. An improvement! But the messaging system still does not appear to be functioning properly.

- Lack of in-room internet is quite frustrating, I'd rather pay than have to go to the lobby for free. (And you can't access the wireless signal but a few feet off the lobby). Unfortunate that the rooms aren't very technological... Internet is going to be wired, though no big deal for me as I travel with a wireless router. TV is a nice flat panel (32"?). No DVD or CD player though.

Room itself is a nice size. Entryway with mirror on one side and large bathroom on the other (two doors open into the bathroom, toilet and large glass shower on left... Tub on right... Large wooden vanity though only one sink bowl directly ahead)... Small closet and just past that three drawers/minibar underneath the TV, then a desk and some space followed by the balcony. Bed is standard Westin fare and there's a nice leather and weave lounge chair inside. Outside furniture is two upright wooden chairs with a seat cushion and a wooden table. No room for lounge chair.

The hotel itself is looking a bit better than when I checked in, I wonder whether that's a function of checking in midweek and they put much of the construction away for the weekend when occupancy is higher. Maid checklist showed all but one first floor room was either occupied or to be gotten ready for an arriving guest (one room was out of service). I didn't look further, but it appears from the workment that several rooms in the 2100 block are out of service and several 3rd floor rooms as well. But that's just a guess.

My room really wasn't ready, although the hotel doesn't as yet realize it apparently. The shower leaks water substantially onto the floor... The shower head isn't properly attached to the wall...

This is going to be a very nice hotel. And frankly I enjoyed my stay. But not quite ready for primetime, and they don't appear to be making accomodations or apologies for it, at least not unless pressed to do so. In other words, no break on food pricing or promotional offerings to proactively compensate.

The resort has (4) sources of food... Room service, poolside (there are 3 attractive attendants who did a wonderful job serving all guests as well as offering cold towels), and two restaurants... Ocean is the casual restaurant serving breakfast (off the menu and buffet), lunch, and dinner, and Aqua is the 'fine dining restaurant' offering dinner only. I enjoyed an evening meal my first night at Ocean. It wasn't great but seemed outstanding compared to the food at the Westin Rio Mar where I had just come from. The breakfast buffet was good the one morning I tried it, but missed being able to sit outside which was impaired by construction.

I was going to eat at Aqua, their 'nicer' restaurant (which is quite expensive, entrees in the $30s and $40s, appetizers hovering around $20, dessert $15, and the menu set up to recommend five courses in total). But when I was talking to one of the concierges they actually recommended against it -- they've gotten complaints that the food is rather bland. It's nicely presented but nothing special, apparently. And St. Maartne does have some wonderful restaurants, so why bother? Perhaps the kind of feedback that actually has a hotel concierge recommending against the property will spur them to improve. (Admittedly, the concierge likely gets a kickback from other options they recommend though not from their own hotel restaurant, so this may be biasing them.)

It was nice to be at the resort (1) midweek into the early weekend and (2) before it's up to full capacity, it made for a much more relaxed atmosphere than the Westin Rio Mar that I had just come from. I wonder, though, once it's up to full speed how easy it will be to get chairs out at the pool during weekends over high season... The pool area isn't that large for a hotel of 300+ rooms. I'd hate for this to become another property where folks get out at 8am to reserve chairs... :(

For now, one positive is that there are plenty of staff to guests, that the staff are friendly, and that in spite of the hotel's problems the water is just beautiful...

Btw, I used the 50% off award redemption promo here, so 5k points/night. The SPG internal reimbursement rate was originally on my folio, no problem having it taken off. For the curious, SPG is paying $88/night. Fits my theory of between 0.8 and 1.1 cents per usual redemption point (cat 4 would have been 10k points).

To Gleff: I don't know if you are still at the resort, but I noticed that there are residences there as well. Are those ready? Have you met any the the condo owners? Are they happy? I ask these questions because we are considering a purchase of a condo in ST. Lucia. It will be a bit different as there are only the condos, villas and custom home sites. There won't be any actual hotel rooms( this is what they are telling me.) The room availabitly will be from the condo owners who put their unit into the rental program when they are not visitng St. Lucia.

To Gleff: I don't know if you are still at the resort, but I noticed that there are residences there as well. Are those ready? Have you met any the the condo owners? Are they happy? I ask these questions because we are considering a purchase of a condo in ST. Lucia. It will be a bit different as there are only the condos, villas and custom home sites. There won't be any actual hotel rooms( this is what they are telling me.) The room availabitly will be from the condo owners who put their unit into the rental program when they are not visitng St. Lucia.

The condo office was open, with a big billboard in front 'starting at $899k'.

The woman staffing the office showed several folks the property while we were there.

I did not look into this further, but I assumed the condo was (if facing the beach) on the right side of the property and in an earlier stage of construction from everything else. But I didn't look into this any further so don't have definitive answers for you.

Thanks Gleff!

- The elevators which had been fixed broke again and repairmen were called out.

- During the stay housekeeping came in and put the little inserts onto the phones which indicate what button does what. An improvement! But the messaging system still does not appear to be functioning properly.

- Lack of in-room internet is quite frustrating, I'd rather pay than have to go to the lobby for free. (And you can't access the wireless signal but a few feet off the lobby). Unfortunate that the rooms aren't very technological... Internet is going to be wired, though no big deal for me as I travel with a wireless router. TV is a nice flat panel (32"?). No DVD or CD player though.

Room itself is a nice size. Entryway with mirror on one side and large bathroom on the other (two doors open into the bathroom, toilet and large glass shower on left... Tub on right... Large wooden vanity though only one sink bowl directly ahead)... Small closet and just past that three drawers/minibar underneath the TV, then a desk and some space followed by the balcony. Bed is standard Westin fare and there's a nice leather and weave lounge chair inside. Outside furniture is two upright wooden chairs with a seat cushion and a wooden table. No room for lounge chair.

The hotel itself is looking a bit better than when I checked in, I wonder whether that's a function of checking in midweek and they put much of the construction away for the weekend when occupancy is higher. Maid checklist showed all but one first floor room was either occupied or to be gotten ready for an arriving guest (one room was out of service). I didn't look further, but it appears from the workment that several rooms in the 2100 block are out of service and several 3rd floor rooms as well. But that's just a guess.

My room really wasn't ready, although the hotel doesn't as yet realize it apparently. The shower leaks water substantially onto the floor... The shower head isn't properly attached to the wall...

This is going to be a very nice hotel. And frankly I enjoyed my stay. But not quite ready for primetime, and they don't appear to be making accomodations or apologies for it, at least not unless pressed to do so. In other words, no break on food pricing or promotional offerings to proactively compensate.

The resort has (4) sources of food... Room service, poolside (there are 3 attractive attendants who did a wonderful job serving all guests as well as offering cold towels), and two restaurants... Ocean is the casual restaurant serving breakfast (off the menu and buffet), lunch, and dinner, and Aqua is the 'fine dining restaurant' offering dinner only. I enjoyed an evening meal my first night at Ocean. It wasn't great but seemed outstanding compared to the food at the Westin Rio Mar where I had just come from. The breakfast buffet was good the one morning I tried it, but missed being able to sit outside which was impaired by construction.

I was going to eat at Aqua, their 'nicer' restaurant (which is quite expensive, entrees in the $30s and $40s, appetizers hovering around $20, dessert $15, and the menu set up to recommend five courses in total). But when I was talking to one of the concierges they actually recommended against it -- they've gotten complaints that the food is rather bland. It's nicely presented but nothing special, apparently. And St. Maartne does have some wonderful restaurants, so why bother? Perhaps the kind of feedback that actually has a hotel concierge recommending against the property will spur them to improve. (Admittedly, the concierge likely gets a kickback from other options they recommend though not from their own hotel restaurant, so this may be biasing them.)

It was nice to be at the resort (1) midweek into the early weekend and (2) before it's up to full capacity, it made for a much more relaxed atmosphere than the Westin Rio Mar that I had just come from. I wonder, though, once it's up to full speed how easy it will be to get chairs out at the pool during weekends over high season... The pool area isn't that large for a hotel of 300+ rooms. I'd hate for this to become another property where folks get out at 8am to reserve chairs... :(

For now, one positive is that there are plenty of staff to guests, that the staff are friendly, and that in spite of the hotel's problems the water is just beautiful...

Btw, I used the 50% off award redemption promo here, so 5k points/night. The SPG internal reimbursement rate was originally on my folio, no problem having it taken off. For the curious, SPG is paying $88/night. Fits my theory of between 0.8 and 1.1 cents per usual redemption point (cat 4 would have been 10k points).

Thank you for sharing answers to the questions we have all been wondering. My girlfriend and I were booked to go here in February and cancelled given the construction delays, the attitude of people we contacted at the hotel and the such. Reading your report, I am glad we cancelled and don't think that I would want to visit any time soon.

Reading your report, I am glad we cancelled and don't think that I would want to visit any time soon.

:confused: I thought that gleff's report ooverall was pretty positive. What did I miss?

I very much enjoyed my stay. Let's just say that despite some minor inconveniences, no complaint email sent to customercare@starwood.com... And certainly no complaint spending 5k points per night (w/ the 50% off redemption promo) for an oceanfront stay during high season in St. Maarten.

It is rough around the edges. And there were some annoyances (I'm still irked about the extra $5 for skim milk with my room service coffee!). But it was a very nice, relaxing getaway. The hotel will only improve and is improving every day. My only long-term concern is that the pool area seems small relative to the total number of rooms once they're all online, so weekends may be quite crowded in the pool area. But there weren't too many people on the beach during my stay, and plenty of beach chairs, so perhaps the combined beach + pool will be able ot handle it all. Time will tell.

Lovely setting, and the rooms are quite large with a nice very spacious bathroom with large glass shower and separate tub. Sure, I wish the bathroom had two sinks.

I guess one could read my review either as positive or negative, depending on how much certain issues bother you. I go back and forth on it myself. Let me post some pictures on my blog in a bit and perhaps that will help.

Not to go too far off topic, but gleff you refer to a the 50% off redemption promo...what is this? I am a SPG PLT and am unfamiliar. Is this the 50% off certificate I get in the mail for my SPG AMEX every year, or something else? (if it is the cert, I was unaware that it could be used with points stays)

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

Not to go too far off topic, but gleff you refer to a the 50% off redemption promo...what is this?
50% off redemption promo.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=641557

Thanks

gleff I don't know if you drink, but I owe you a beer.

I never got the 50EPR promo in the mail, but thanks to you I called, found out I was eligible for it and should have received it, and was able to change my upcoming stay at this property...saving myself 15,000 *points in the process! ^

Thanks!!!

Happy to help - exactly what I like to see folks getting out of FT! ^

My wife and I returned from a 3 night stay here from Jan 14th - 17th. I agree with much of what was said here that this will be a great hotel when it is done, but is definitely is not done yet. For example, there are no umbrellas at the pool or the beach. We found this quite odd seeing the caliber of the resort. Also, there was still construction going on during most of the day. We didn't stay at the pool and visited nearby beaches, but I could see this as a little annoying. Also there is no ATM on property and the gift shop was not open (Actually it opened the last day we were leaving). If you are driving (Which I recommend having a car on St Martin) it was somewhat difficult to find the hotel. A nice local at a gas station let us follow him and pointed us in the right direction, but the hotel is a good 40+ minutes from the Airport. The less expensive restaurant was good, but St. Martin has a lot of great dining so get out and try some local places.

The staff is very friendly, and helped out when they could. they have brought in some help from the US to assist with some things, and they readily admit they opened to early. For example, checklists can bee seen hanging from some doors to indicate what is missing from certain rooms. Our first room was being cleaned when we arrived, so we went back downstairs and they gave us another room and apologized. Again, nice service, but they are still figuring things out. Also, Music from the Hotel and other areas can be loud, especially if you are facing the pool. There was supposed to be a 'Dancing under the stars' event one night from 10pm-2am, but luckily it got rained out as the noise echoes in the pool facing rooms. The rooms are comfortable with heavenly beds, showers and LCD TV's.

We used 10K Star points per night and I thought that was high seeing some of the issues, but I would have no reservations at 5k.

Finally got around to putting photos up:
http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2007/01/the_new_not_qui.html

Cant wait to go!!

I just found on the web some info given by a recent visitor which could be of interest for forthcoming customers...



"The hotel is divided into two wings, one much larger that the other.

On our floor (the second), rooms facing the courtyard are 2117 (near a stairwell that is currently used heavily because the two elevators near there are not yet working), 2119, 2121, 2123, 2125, 2127, 2129, 2139, 2141, 2143, 2145, 2147, 2149, and 2151 (near an exit that takes you, the back way, to the parking deck).

Rooms facing a dusty hillside, and thus, should be avoided, are 2130, 2132, 2134, 2136, 2138, 2140, 2142, 2144, 2146, 2150, 2153, 2155, 2157, 2171, 2173, 2175, 2177, 2179, 2181, 2183, 2185, 2187, and 2189.

Ocean front rooms are even number rooms from 2168 through 2194, and in the smaller wing, 2041, 2042, 2043, and 2044. The presidential suite is 2164 and what looked like a two-bedroom “parlor suite” is 2154.

Those facing the pool include 2156, 2162, and even number rooms from 2114 through 2126.

Those facing the pool and having an ocean view are 2003, 2005, 2119, 2121, 2123, 2125, 2127, 2129, 2131, 2133, 2135, 2137, and 2139.

Some other rooms, whose numbers I forgot to write down (sorry) face the construction of the new Westin condos. For now, you can see some ocean, but you’ll be looking into the condos in a few months. "

I canceled, not because of the so-so reports. Needed to cut my vaca short due to work. Went to Tuscon for record cold weather to La Paloma. Nice lobby. Rooms are in need of a redo.

Still would like to visit this property (Westin St. M.)

My wife, 1yr old, 3yr old and I just got back from 5 night stay. Used the 199/night offer. Was upgraded to ocean view before even arriving (probably coz spg gold). Some minor inconveniences but on the whole very pleased

Room was good incl 32"LG flatscreen to plug portable dd in for kids. Food was good esp breakfast buffet - dinner was slow but went out every nite but one.

Lovely pool. Beack small, water rough for little kids

Service a bit mixed - very pleasant but took a while. Plenty of ex pats helping out who were great. Ordered room service while packing up that took 1hr 20 instead of promised 30 so was a little harried at end - mentioned at checkout and was compd

Had second "official" opening on 21st so laying sod and planting palm trees while we there - otherwise construction were at fringes and didn't bother us

Currently (March 3/07) at Westin Dawn Beach on an extended stay and will be here another week or so. While we have had virtually no issues or complaints and are really enjoying the property, many guests I have spoken with would not share that perspective - I suspect that this will become one of the more controversial *wood properties.

I will post a trip report on our return but if anyone has questions in the interim let me know and I will try to answer or get answers.

As it has been said, this may become a great hotel, because the infrastructure is good. Excellent beach. Big pool, although I could live without the constant blaring of generic "happy beach" music. Rooms are nice, although hallways are long, so when you get to the pool and leave something in your room, you take a moment to evaluate whether it's really worth going back for.

They just need to train their people and get more of them. The resort needs more staff to meet the needs of resort guests. There is very limited service around the pool. The "service Express" button is a little more like "Service Local". They make it sound like everything will be taken care of but give you no sense for how long it will take. We checked in at midnight, waited 10 minutes at the desk, and we got to the room, we realized they had not included our rollaway bed. We called "Service Local" three times over the next 45 minutes waiting for the bed. I basically fell asleep in the arm chair waiting.

Also, please note that it takes between 30 and 60 minutes from the main airport to get there and costs $60-$80 one way. Every taxi ride seemed to be at least $35 to leave the hotel.

Also, bottled water is a luxury item. A large Fiji bottle in mini bar is $8. Sounds normal, but that's the cheapest on property. You need to walk down the beach to a very nice little grocery store near the marina to load up on affordable 2 liter bottles.

fwiw, I recall cab from the airport being ~ $30, not $60 or $80. And when I was there housekeeping put complimentary water bottles in the room, though perhaps that's changed.

Does anyone know what car rental company is onsite at the Westin?

Does anyone know what car rental company is onsite at the Westin?

It's called Prestige Value Car Rental - http://www.valuecarrental.com - 1-800-650-9394 -- I don't have the direct number for the hotel location but I think if you call the hotel they would put you through to the rental desk. Ask for Sheldon who is there 9-5 except Thrusdays. We had no issues renting on short notice even when the hotel was at 100% occupancy -- $30/day++ for a Corolla -- they have a good selection from jeeps to Lexus -- -- Parking at the property is currently free -- (taxis on this island make Los Cabos look like a bargain - airport to Westin is $30) Traffic on St Maarten can be a nightmare.

This is a very long review -- I put in some headings that may help if you are looking for something specific -- hopefully combined with other reviews it will help to give a sense of what to expect.

Recently returned from the The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach – While intent had been for a five night prelude before moving on to another island, circumstances changed resulting in an extended stay. In summary we really enjoyed the property so much so that we would have extended even longer had we been able to.

The reason we had a great time is in large part due to the staff at the hotel – enthusiastic, eager to please, friendly – they will in my opinion contribute to this hotel eventually becoming a prime “sun/beach” destination for Starwood. With maybe one exception not only were they genuinely nice but they were interested in trying to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable. While not polished like one might find in some Euro hotels, the place is just a couple of months old and with experience and continued good management I suspect that the owners will be able to leverage their team to fully exploit the potential of this property and make this a top destination even with some of its physical shortcomings.

This review will be from our (biased) perspective but I will try to also provide an unbiased picture to allow those who read this to get a sense of what to expect.

The Room

See below for detailed descriptions, but ours was – Direct Ocean Front – constant surf – beautiful views of Beach, Ocean and St. Barths 15 miles to the East – no where near the most luxurious room we have enjoyed but probably one of our favorites – in fact I suggested to Ms. S. that we maybe see if we could upgrade to a Pres suite for a few nights – she said why bother and I agreed.

We had reserved garden view so our Plat status and a kind reservation person secured the direct oceanfront accommodation for us such that there were no issues at check-in – this is one of the very very few times I have not asked to see other rooms before moving in.

The Beach

Picturesque and maybe a half mile long – public but dominated by the hotel – the water is warm and great for swimming, body surfing, snorkeling (best on the island – though island not known for this), full service e.g. towel, beverage & food (but don’t expect Four Seasons level, this isn’t a 5* property nor intended to be), canvas beach huts/shelters available for rent @ $20 per day and are worth it e.g. trade winds and sun protection – The beach hut and activity concession is contracted out which I suspect was a stipulation for the development, but you can charge to your room and the concession operator has the same great attitude that the full time hotel staff have – (note that beach towel service and food are run by the hotel, only the huts and activities are independent) – The hotel provides lounges for the beach – there must be 600 at least so no chance of a shortage. The waters off Dawn beach are in an environmentally protected area and therefore no motorized water sports such as jet skies are permitted.


The Pool

Much larger than it appears at first – about 120 teak lounge chairs supplemented by regular lounges – full service (as above) – pool area design is very nice as it terraces down to the beach – no umbrellas (see below) but Pool cabanas including seven beach front ones are available at $150 per day soon to include TV, fridge etc

The Food

We are not foodies so take all comments with that in mind – With a couple of exceptions food quality was high as were food prices –

Breakfast - We were disappointed with the breakfast buffet ($21) but after the Schloss Fuschl this past summer we are spoiled – The buffet area was cramped and located in the main restaurant (called Ocean) – only one egg / waffle station e.g. lineups – broken toaster - limited fruit and pastry –frequent out of stocks – we did it twice and then opted for cereal and fruit in the room – Outside seating area in the restaurant is limited and inside over air conditioned – Outside area very nice to look at but it seems the architect went for form over function as only half the tables are protected from the sun and the canopy is so high that if there is rain/wind – most of the tables are impacted

Lunch - Served in the main restaurant (Ocean) or at the beach / pool restaurant ( called Liquid) – we only ate lunch at Liquid and in my opinion the best value for food in any hotel we have ever stayed at --- $10 for the best club sandwich that could feed two people with leftovers – great server staff very attentive and friendly but not overbearing

Dinner - Again we are not foodies so we did not eat at Aura the fine dining option- The nights we were going to eat there it was closed for private functions (odd to do that in a hotel with just two restaurants). We spoke with many who did eat at Aura and reviews were mixed- biggest complaint high prices and small portions – having said that it appeared to always be full . We ate at Ocean – which conveniently had a take away option as well – Food was great – dinner for two with a glass of house wine ($13) and bottle of water ($8) = $150 with gratuity– Take-away maybe a couple of salads and a pasta dish -- $50 For either restaurant you will need reservations if you want to sit outside and on the evenings that Aura is not open or available it can play havoc with staffing and service at Ocean which a little bit of planning by the hotel could easily solve. The servers and particularly the hostesses at Ocean were outstanding.

Room Service -We did not take advantage of it but observations were that it was prompt – in fact I have never seen a hotel that is as quick to clear used room service/ carts and trays from the hall ways.

Other - We took advantage of the local Dominos delivery (hotel does not have casual foods on its adult menu) In the area known as Oyster Pond adjacent to the hotel (but you can’t walk there unless you scramble over the rocks at the end of the beach or scale the hill) there are a couple of dining options that are good quality and less pricey (breakfast, lunch and dinner) as well as a Pizza place there that does gourmet pizza eat in or delivery. Dining on the island is good but you need to drive e.g. outstanding restaurants in Marigot and Grand Case

The hotel desperately needs an additional food outlet(s) e.g. a deli etc that offers causal dining – Though we did not have issues with the food many I spoke with did with the number one complaint being price and limited selection.


House Keeping

No complaints though on a couple of occasions the room was made up late in the day – other than that it had the efficiency of a military operation with the ladies who supervise the floors seasoned pros and their staff friendly and helpful – to give you an example, on one of the “late days” I asked one of the ladies if she knew who was doing our room – she said yes but that she would be happy to take care of it which she did – The rooms (including the balcony and even the balcony windows) were kept spotless. Turndown service available every evening – without exception .


Reservations/Front Desk / Concierge / Bell Staff / Activity desk

We made our reservations through the plat line but as usual also contacted the hotel directly – the reservations manager was pleasant to deal with and clearly someone who knew their profession well – there were no surprises and requests were dealt with in a prompt and thorough manner with no need for follow up – given our extended stay this was a godsend .

I am not a hotel designer but the layout of the lobby and reception area is odd – Picture if you can a typical hotel entrance area with a large circular drive and pillars supporting a roof high overhead -- The main doors are awkward and the lobby area is oddly cramped with the lobby bar as soon as you walk in and most of the lobby taken up by bar seating – there were numerous posts at the front desk and in my time there I never saw a lineup of more than one person (even when the hotel was at 100%) – Front desk staff were polite, efficient and helpful (professional) – We almost always saw Bell staff on duty genuinely friendly and helpful and prompt – Concierge desk was very busy and helpful – Activity desk same comment -- they took care of our bookings without issue – – The part of the lobby not taken up by the lobby bar is the Casino – which except for a small railing is totally open to the lobby – it consists of slots (90%) with a few tables roulette etc – The walk to the elevators is as long as any hotel I am aware of.

Business center / Spa / Gym /

Business center - consists of 2 computers with internet and a printer – in a small cramped room with a glass wall - It is free for now but I was told that eventually it would be pay per use – They need a bigger business center – there was almost always a line up (especially with the corporate group demographic)

Spa – Located on the third floor it is contracted out – we are not spa people but compared to what I have seen at Blue Palace and the Schloss this one is located in an interior space without windows. Having said that we required some information from the Spa manager and she was as helpful and friendly as you could want – guests who did utilize it seemed quite pleased.

Gym – Located next to the spa also in a windowless room – maybe 1500 sq ft – lineups for equipment - seemed way too small – especially when corporate groups were in house.

Transportation

Because the hotel is located at the beach surrounded by large hills you can realistically only access by car. So while the little area of Oyster Pond is right next door a Taxi will charge you $8.00 for the 2 minute ride – we seldom saw either local or tourist walking this road–just goats You can walk on the beach to Oyster Pond but you will need to scramble over rocks. Parking at the hotel is free for now and car rental is $30/day++ -- We took a pre-arranged taxi from the airport for $30.00 –- ended up sharing with other guests who also had to pay $30 -- there would have been no problem getting a cab at the airport so we wouldn’t pre arrange again. Taxis are prohibitively expensive on this island. The hotel has apparently looked into providing shuttle service / private service to Philipsburg which is maybe 20 minutes away but were not allowed by the authorities – there is no local bus service that serves the area. As a manager mentioned the hotel has a high capture rate e.g. guests without a car can’t get off the property – I suggested for that reason that it was all the more important to have additional food options on site.


Management and Staff

I had heard some guests comment that management was invisible – Probably because they don’t fit some peoples image – Management is young – I think they are top notch – and once I knew who they were I noticed them day and night – often just walking the corridors or the perimeter of the property – best example – the general manager mid-afternoon with a broom in hand sweeping up some broken glass in a hallway – I wish I had had my camera – Not only was he “sweeping the floor” but was doing so when a housekeeping lady was two doors away tending to a room --- Leadership by example – I can’t think of a better image --


The owners (Columbia Sussex ( http://www.columbiasussex.com/ )- same as Westin Casuarina in the Caymans and a stable of other hotels and casinos of many brands). The management are business people and are keenly aware of profitability, and to that end the concept of value (this is generally a good thing though not if you like bottled water). Senior management and some middle management are employees of Columbia Sussex. Their values of service and profitability appear to be widely disseminated amongst the staff – everyone is aware of occupancy and staff are reputed to be the best paid (including full benefits) on the island.


Plat/Gold treatment

We were upgraded to direct ocean front – suites are very limited – and while I am normally quite aggressive on the suite upgrade thing – for some reason it just didn’t matter for the this trip – I don’t know how they will handle the inventory of residences but I suspect they will be excluded from upgrade inventory. Was offered the usual bar credit or points at check in – didn’t receive the usual bottle of wine – though later in the stay the manager kindly provided that and a cheese plate.

Corporate Groups

The hotel is a convention destination –likely 1/3 of its annual occupancy will be derived from that segment (closer to 50% in high season). High season goes from mid December through mid-April and while the hotel will be open the full year many operations in this part of the world close down in the September-October hurricane period. During our stay there were small medium and large groups in house – this in no way interfered with our enjoyment of the property – though I suspect in certain room locations e.g. facing the pool area or the courtyard my comments might be different. Like with many hotels corporate group functions utilize portions of a property’s common areas – There are three primary outdoor common areas at the hotel – the pool deck (as in pool view), the courtyard (as in courtyard view) and a terrace on top of the reception area (no rooms nearby). With the exception of the latter, when functions take place on the pool deck and more so in the courtyard, the rooms with those views are impacted – e.g. breakfasts (6am set up), dinners, evening entertainment.


Weather

The hotels’ orientation is to the east – The winter months typically include the trade winds and thus a moderate to fresh breeze is to be expected much of the time 15 knots– with temperatures ranging between 75 and 85 degrees the climate is quite agreeable – note however that there is a phenomenon known as the “Christmas Winds” which if you are familiar with the Meltemi in Greece or Mistral in Southern France you can relate – it’s a very very strong trade wind 35 knots that frequently occurs around Christmas (but can occur anytime from Dec-Feb) and can last for a number of days.

These are some good weather sites for this area in my opinion:

http://www.weather.an/forecast/sxmtf.asp
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/carb/loop-vis.html
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/productview.php?pil=SJUAFDSJU&version=0

Climate Stats & tropical storm/hurricane info

http://www.weather.an/climate/mrt.climsum.htm
http://stormcarib.com/climatology/TNCM_all_isl.htm
http://stormcarib.com/index.htm#reports

A good Map
http://www.gobeach.com/sxmmap.htm

Google Earth of the hotel under construction (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=k&om=1&msid=110163651309144452035.00000111c39f1f2e190ed&msa=0&z=16&ll=18.048044,-63.017621&spn=0.009752,0.014462&mid=1175808437)

The Westin Residences

I won’t spend much time on this other than to comment that at $1.6m (reduced from $2m) for a 3 bedroom Oceanfront with Westin décor -- and $699 for a unit facing a hill side – only 5 of 99 are under contract – They have received lots of feedback suggesting fractional ownership as an alternative – Biggest issue I see is lack of a separate pool area and less than luxury décor (also units cannot be subdivided into smaller configurations)

http://www.westinstmaartenresidences.com/


General Information on Rooms

There are 302 regular rooms plus 9 that can also function as part of a suite. In total there are 15 suites: 3 presidential, 3 parlor, 6 studio and 3 one bedroom. Only the presidential and one bedroom suites are direct ocean front. Of the regular rooms 60 are direct ocean front**, 80 are pool/ocean view, 39 ocean/residence view, 42 court yard and 81 garden/hillside view. The regular rooms are for the most part identical in configuration though due to hotel design, some have a bit extra space and some a little less averaging around 500 sq ft, all with 9 foot ceilings. The rooms are well appointed with a good size ceramic tile entrance. The bathroom is mostly ceramic tile and is approximately 8x14 with a 5x5 glass enclosed shower, regular tub and single sink. It’s nothing fancy but the space and shower are great (I suspect the maintenance of the ceramic will become a nightmare down the road no matter how much effort housekeeping uses to keep the grouting clean). The room itself is carpeted and is sparsely furnished with a heavenly bed, a large faux marble topped dresser and matching large desk. Other than the night stands and desk chair there is only one other chair with ottoman in the room and an odd (useless) little table. The balcony has large French doors spanning 6 ft that open outwards such that the large (heavy) teak chairs on the balcony must be moved. Most rooms except on the main floor have windows adjacent to the doors making the rooms very bright. The air conditioning works well, water pressure is excellent and the rooms have adequate lighting and a ceiling fan. If you like fresh air the balcony doors must be left open as the windows are non operating. Balcony styles vary with most main floor units having smaller ones, aprox 7x5 and the upper floors 14x5. There are three outside corner rooms that have large wrap around balconies. With a couple of exceptions the balconies are separated from adjacent ones with solid 7 foot walls – the railings are either solid, aluminum rod or decorative. The top floor balconies are not fully covered except with a wooden trellis type configuration. With doors closed e.g. no sound of surf there is some sound transmission e.g. Television through the walls and also you can sometimes hear talking through the bathroom vents.

A comment I thought I should add is that the feel of rooms even though identical in layout can be completely different. For example, when one compares a garden view or even pool view room to a direct ocean front room, you would swear the rooms are totally different even though they are identical. I had taken the time late in the stay to check out the different room types and found myself having to do a double take. Separately, The one bedroom direct ocean front suites are okay (perhaps 800 sq ft) but nothing over the top e.g. same bathroom -- little sitting area - but lots of windows and wrap around balcony as they are on a corner. Pres suites were nice - maybe 1500 sq ft with kitchen and huge wrap around balcony -- but bedroom faced the pool --@ $1700/ nite good value in my view.

The hotel is 600 feet from end to end – with the adjacent residences taking up an additional 200 feet of frontage – Going anywhere in the hotel if you are at one of the ends takes a few minutes.

**(NOTE: the hotel appears to take a liberal interpretation of the term Ocean Front such that they include rooms that also overlook the pool in the Ocean Front category) The 60 direct Ocean Front rooms are along the east side of the long north wing and the east end of the smaller south wing. The room numbers are identified in an earlier post but I will restate here for convenience:

Direct Ocean Front regular rooms are at the east end of the south wing -- 1040, 1041, 1042, 1043 (1044 is a suite) with the first digit being the floor number e.g. 1040 is on the first floor and 3040 the third floor.

Ocean view (residence construction view) rooms are along the south side of the south wing 1014, 1016, 1018, 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028, 1030, 1032, 1034 along with the second and third floor equivalents. The lower numbers are furthest from the Ocean and closest to the construction.


Direct Ocean Front regular rooms are along the east side of the north wing -- 1096, 1094, 1092, 1090, 1088, 1086, 1084, 1082, 1080, 1078, 1076, 1074, 1072, 1070, 1068, 1066 (1064 is a Pres. suite) with the first digit being the floor number e.g. 1082 is on the first floor and 3082 the third floor.


Local Area

There is an excellent corner store in the adjacent timeshare property just over the hill in Oyster Pond – also a laundry. About a 10 minute drive away is a good grocery store (Middle Region next to Dominos) and about 25 minutes away in Phillipsburg a large grocery store with as good a selection as home (even better). There are lots of great beaches on St. Maarten from the hyper busy Orient Beach to the more remote Plum/Prune Beach and Long Beach on the other side of the island. It’s a duty free haven from Tiffany’s to specialty stores – I broke my custom clip-ons day two and had them replaced within a day. Traffic is a nightmare on the island – get a good map there are some good shortcuts – avoid bridge times as it can add an hour to your 30 minute journey. (the airport is on the other side of the bridge)

The airport is brand new – including an exec lounge $20 admission or free with priority pass. Even though new, Saturday afternoons are a one hour immigration bottleneck and even longer for luggage. Service from major US and European cities as well as direct flights from Canada.

Ferry to St. Barths leaves Weds and Sundays from the adjacent Oyster Pond – 45 minutes and daily from Marigot (75 minutes). If you have a weak stomach bring an empty bag along. Ferries to Anguilla are much tamer and cheaper and leave every 30 minutes from Marigot.

Currency – US dollars accepted just about everywhere on the island both the Dutch and French sides. Having said that the French side prices are stated in Euros which is its official currency though a lot of places will take the US$ at par. Most non-tourist establishments on the Dutch side have prices stated in Netherlands Antilles Guilders e.g. gas or groceries – We paid for gas one day thinking it was US$ and the (honest) attendant handed me back change from of the US $40 I gave him for what I thought was $40 in gas–


Some Challenges with the property

To try and provide some balance to the above comments the following outlines what I perceive as some challenges with the property.

The design of the hotel as outlined above has a high proportion of rooms without an Ocean view e.g. compared to Westin Los Cabos where even the worst rooms have a bit of a view (though these rooms are much bigger than Los Cabos). The hotel from the top of the hill looks like an industrial park- a vast white roof like a blight on the landscape – a horrible first impression, which I imagine is a sentiment shared by some of the folks in the villas that surround it.

While it is only three floors stairwells are your typical fire exit configurations so if you are located at the end of one of the wings – it’s a long two minute walk to an elevator and another couple of minutes to the lobby or to the beach – while it doesn’t sound like much – it’s a long walk --- some strategically placed exits and stairways would have made a big difference. Elevator service is fine never much of a wait.

The corridors are extra wide, carpeted and well air conditioned – if you let your imagination go to work you could be on the 20th floor of the River North in Chicago.

In the pool area there are no umbrellas and the 47 Date Palms have a few years to go before they will provide adequate shade. Moreover the 120 teak lounge chairs are not sufficient when occupancy is high – e.g. reservation at 7:00am by the book and towel method. The hotel is situated on a beautiful beach and while the pool design takes full advantage of that – for some reason they like the music loud – from Hip Hop to Country Western to Heavy Metal and favorites from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s -- I commented more than once that it evoked the image of a $499/week all inclusive instead of a $499++/night **** Westin especially in a setting where the natural sound of the surf crashing on the offshore reef could be such a plus . Cabanas both pool and beach side were almost always occupied such that reservations should be made well in advance. For some reason the beach side showers did not function thus lots of sand in the pool area. The swim up pool bar often had a good crowd in the late afternoon which combined with the constant music was I’m sure good for beverage sales.

At 100% occupancy the pool area was crowded, once the 99 residences are complete – (they won’t have their own pool area) the pool area will be very very busy (they need another pool area) --- The Hot Tub was gigantic 20’ diameter but as one six year old shared with me – there’s pee in here you know --- e.g. no age restriction on the hot tub

As indicated in other reviews the furniture on the balcony does not fit properly making it awkward to open/close the doors (the chairs are comfortable though compared to many hotels we have stayed at)– Other silly things are the placement of the in-room safe bolted to the floor so you have to get down on hand and knees to open – we screwed up the combination at least twice because you can’t see what you are doing. The bathroom as mentioned is great but only one sink – makes no sense – The balcony doors open nice and wide but for an extra few hundred $$ they could have installed multi-function Euro doors/windows – The rooms have space for a small couch and coffee table but they opted for a single chair – we ended up commandeering a room service table which we kept in the room for the duration.


Kids Activities – I had heard from various guests that there was not much for kids to do other than pool and beach (and hot tub) – There is a Westin Kids Club but it did not seem that busy though there were a few days when the pool area was active with games such as Marco Polo – When I compare this to what I observed at the Westin Dragonara in Malta – I was not impressed

At the beach there are currently 9 beach huts and no umbrellas – soon there will be 20 beach huts and no umbrellas – At 100% occupancy the beach is busy – while there are more than enough lounges, beach huts not only will clutter the beach but you will need to reserve them. If you leave your hut for any length of time without clearly indicating that it’s occupied chances are squatters will move in (usually guests from the hotel looking to escape the mid-day Caribbean sun) – The landscaping once it matures will be fantastic with what appears to be at least a 150 coconut palms on the beach – I suspect the architects intent is for shade to be provided naturally – it will be nice when it all grow in though the trees may end up obstructing some of the views.


Drinking water – The tap water is fine to drink – desalinated – Bottled water is $8.00 per litre and while they provided a free bottle per day – it is not sufficient – we purchased water at the local grocery store – my suggestion is that the hotel should not use bottled water as a profit center to the extent that it does – lots of folks I spoke with really were ticked at this. There is complimentary (3 packages) in room coffee (Starbucks) but they will soon charge for extras – the coffee machine at the entrance to the restaurant is a $1.50 per cup – complimentary would have been a nice touch.

Comments that I heard from the numerous guests I spoke with ranged from the worst hotel experience they had ever had to we don’t want to leave this place. I remember one conversation where a fellow guest was comparing the property unfavorably to the Ritz in Naples and Four Seasons in Nevis – so expectations I suspect play a role. I think a lot of the negative comments stemmed from glitches related to the hotel being brand new – With few exceptions the guests I spoke with had nothing but good things to say about the staff with a recurring comment that there should be more of them. There is no question that the hotel was not ready when it opened just before Christmas. By the time we departed it was in my estimation all but complete with just minor finishing touches. The construction of the residences is well underway and I would expect that they will be ready for occupancy by the end of the year.

Bottom line is that between corporate group and leisure travel, I suspect that it will be tough to get a room in this hotel during high season. Imperfections and all the Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach is one of our favorites in the Starwood group. A definite return to destination for us. I suggest you book reward travel quickly as it will surely be a Cat 5 by this time next year – if not it is one of the best point bargains in my opinion.

I also just returned from a 7 night stay at the Westin St Maarten. Scavenger's trip report was excellent, so I won't repeat anything that he said. For the most part, I completely agree with his sentiments.

Couple quick notes:

Housekeeping
Our housekeeping experience wasn't quite so exceptional. I'm not sure why, but our housekeeper did not like replacing the soap and shampoo. She even went as far as scraping off the last remnants of the soap from the shower floor and putting that in the dispenser next to the sink. We ended up just "stealing" a few items as we walked past the maid cart. This was a very minor nuisance.

Safety
When we were there, one of the female guests was mugged on the beach fairly close to the hotel. It was around 2am and you could hear her screams in the guest rooms. We called downstairs to report the screaming, but they said they were aware of the situation. I spoke to several of the staff about it, and they said the beach tends to be fairly dangerous late at night and recommended not going out there after dark.

Concierge
The concierge was for the most part extremely friendly. As a factor of the hotel and the staff being so new, I think they weren't extremely useful, but they did try. The only complaint I had was that we tried to make a reservation at a restaurant that came highly recommended to us, but the gentleman at the concierge desk said they had numerous complaints with the restaurant and refused to make the reservation for me. I ended up getting it done by someone else the following morning, but it was pretty strange.

Other than these minor quirks, our stay was excellent. I've stayed at Rio Mar, the Caymans, and St. John and I feel that this hotel was at a minimum on part with the other Caribbean properties and will obviously continue to get better. I was very impressed with how everyone was genuinely friendly. By the end of the week, I felt like I knew most of the staff and they knew me.

I heard a few people complain about the prices of drinks at the pool. Maybe I'm a bit jaded by living in NYC for years, but I felt that $5 for a beer and $10 for a frozen drink was a bargain.

I neglected to comment on safety issues in my review and in reading the above post I thought I would add a couple of observations for those who might be interested.

The hotel is situated in such a way that even though its beach is public, access by the public is extremely limited. The beach is effectively private by virtue of the placement of the hotel and the topography. (check it out on journeysearcher.com or this link to a google earth map of the Westin Dawn Beach during construction (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=k&om=1&msid=110163651309144452035.00000111c39f1f2e190ed&msa=0&z=16&ll=18.048044,-63.017621&spn=0.009752,0.014462&mid=1175808437), though the image does not adequately convey just how steep the surrounding hills are)

The portion of the beach that the hotel is on is defined by two rocky points; one totally impassable and a smaller one part way down the beach that is difficult to traverse in the day and I would suggest virtually impassable at night. The latter route leads to the remaining few hundred feet of the beach (that itself has limited public access) situated on a little peninsula that consists of some new beachfront villas, a couple of restaurants and a timeshare facility. (Anecdotally we met a couple at the hotel who had been coming to the area for many years – they had recently purchased one of those new beachfront villas ($2m), the living space/terraces are at beach level with no gates or fence separating them from the beach.)

There are a number of affluent areas in St. Maarten including Dawn Beach, for most of the surrounding hillside villas and from the road, the only access to the beach is through the hotel itself except for villas adjacent to the hotel that have paths that lead down to it (there is talk of a right of way but for now that’s through the hotel). Getting to the beach through the hotel is a good five minute walk from the main entrance, past the front desk down a long hall that’s open to the casino, down another long hall past the restaurant and then down the full length of the pool deck.

During our extended stay we never saw a beach vendor, in fact the few non-hotel guests on the beach appeared to be residents from the villas or people attracted by the snorkeling. The expanse of the hotel property fronts much of the beach, which at night is partially illuminated by the landscape lighting. At night on the beach or from our direct oceanfront room (notwithstanding the loud and constant surf) we never saw nor heard any untoward activity. Perhaps because of the casino there always seemed to be a good number of security personal on duty along with what I was told was a very sophisticated security system.

Having said all of that, venturing on foot (if one was up for scaling the big hill) off the property at night towards the area where the restaurants and timeshares are located probably would not be advisable or practical - in fact shortly after our arrival I had asked (ambitiously) how long a walk it would be and it was strongly suggested that at night one should either take a taxi or drive and that even during the day the road is so narrow and steep that one should not attempt to walk it (though we saw a few who did).

The bottom line is that we felt safe and secure day and night on the hotel property and on its beach. Moreover we explored many parts of the island that were well off the beaten track, without issue. Of course this is just our opinion based on our experience and observations, St. Maarten like just about anywhere else is obviously not crime free and as a tourist it is always prudent to be aware of one's surroundings.

For what it’s worth here is a link to a local St. Maarten tabloid http://www.thedailyherald.com/ including the good the not so good of the island – the archives have lots on the Westin development -

scavanger, great report!!! ^ ^ ^

My wife and I will be staying there in a couple weeks and I am glad to hear things have improved at the hotel. We are looking forward to our time at SXM.

Thanks for all the reports. I've booked a points stay for August. They said I would be charged a $780 deposit. Has this happened to anyone yet? I saw earlier in the thread that they threatened Gleff with this. Did they go through with it?

Is August a good time for St. Maarten and St. Barts?

Thanks to all -- great reports!! One question though, I thought I'd read somewhere that this was one of those Starwood properties that doesn't participate in giving points and stays credit ??(ie the Lanesborough in London). Is that true?

They did not charge me the deposit.

But anyone concerned that they might ought just to book on the website where no deposit rquirement is disclosed.

They did not charge me the deposit.

But anyone concerned that they might ought just to book on the website where no deposit rquirement is disclosed.

I tried booking on the web but it said no availability. So I called SPG and they found a room for me at 10K per night. No higher level rooms were available.

Is August a good time for St. Maarten and St. Barts?

Never been there in August but here are some additional weather links and a google earth image I added to the above review. If it were me I'd just make sure I had an exit strategy just in case. I think the hurricane risks are more in the Sept-Nov period but I'm not a Meteorologist.

Climate Stats & tropical storm / hurricane info

http://www.weather.an/climate/mrt.climsum.htm
http://stormcarib.com/climatology/TNCM_all_isl.htm
http://stormcarib.com/index.htm#reports

A good Map

http://www.gobeach.com/sxmmap.htm

Google Earth of the hotel under construction (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=k&om=1&msid=110163651309144452035.00000111c39f1f2e190ed&msa=0&z=16&ll=18.048044,-63.017621&spn=0.009752,0.014462&mid=1175808437)

Any plats ever stay here? What was the amenity options? Anything special during the stay or at check in, check out cause of plat status?

How is the SXM Westin coming along? Debating between this and St. JOhn (with 2 kids). Any new food options? Quiet? Safe? Feedback?

Phenomenal Report. Without a doubt the best I have ever seen on FlyerTalk.

Thank you sincerely for the fantsatic level of detail.

Couple of quick ?'s:

1. How was the TV? Are there a lot of channels? I assume they are getting some channels from the U.S. (i.e. ABC, NBC, - East Coast somewhere)?

2. Are there pay per view movies available in rooms?

3. Average room service price for lunch? Dinner?

You should seriously consider a career as a travel writer...

:) :) :)

This was a duplicate post - please delete

Phenomenal Report. Without a doubt the best I have ever seen on FlyerTalk.

Thank you sincerely for the fantsatic level of detail.

Couple of quick ?'s:

1. How was the TV? Are there a lot of channels? I assume they are getting some channels from the U.S. (i.e. ABC, NBC, - East Coast somewhere)?

2. Are there pay per view movies available in rooms?

3. Average room service price for lunch? Dinner?

You should seriously consider a career as a travel writer...

:) :) :)


TV variety limited (maybe 20 channels in total) CNN, MSNBC etc - and the major network affiliates from the North East - No pay per view but they said it was coming - Flat Panel - positioned directly in front of bed - therefore not comfortable to watch except from the bed (a second TV in the small sitting area or TV on swivel would have been appropriate)

Room Service Menu almost identical to main restaurant. Price +- a couple of $ plus the normal 15% service charge -- as I recall - salad maybe $15 - entree $18-$50 - water $8/litre (33oz) - kids menus chicken fingers $8 etc (but no pizza) -- Alternative the local Dominos $23 for two medium three toppings --

Your comment on travel writer a good idea - e.g. junkets -- there was one there during our stay -- I spoke to a lady journalist who was freelancing for a business travel trade publication -- she was real negative on the place - I found myself in the position of trying to defend it -- She was really ticked off at the bottled water price, low percentage of direct ocean front rooms, limited food options - and the general inaccessibility without a car - but she loved the staff - at that point she had not yet decided if she was going to give it a good or bad review so hopefully I was able to influence her -- It is amazing how these writers/reporters get the red carpet treatment - one of the nights we were going to go to Aura (the fine dining restaruant) but they had closed it for a private party with the folks on the press junket -- on another evening it was a pool/beach side reception -- Maybe we all should get business cards or press credentials stating that we are FT Contributors -

Does anyone know how far this is from SXM airport? I'm thinking of going here in about a month.

Thanks!

Does anyone know how far this is from SXM airport? I'm thinking of going here in about a month.

Thanks!

It's about as far away as you can get without crossing over to the French side of the island. Now, it's not a big island, but traffic can be quite bad. Roughly speaking half an hour, though it can be a little less or more in bad traffic.

It's about as far away as you can get without crossing over to the French side of the island. Now, it's not a big island, but traffic can be quite bad. Roughly speaking half an hour, though it can be a little less or more in bad traffic.


Thanks for the quick reply. Planning on visiting Maho Beach by SXM and taking some pics while I'm there :cool:

any more updates?

FYI -
just checked.

I am on points (40k for 5 nights)

But my spg50 certificate would make the rate $130/NIGHT. Whoa. That is cheap. Need to decide whether points or cash here.

There are some pretty good summer/fall specials going on now for the off-season.

http://specialoffers.starwoodhotels.com/Westin_StMaarten/so.htm?EM=TZOO_JUNE07_SOP_1770_FLC

Thanks for all the reports. I've booked a points stay for August. They said I would be charged a $780 deposit. Has this happened to anyone yet? I saw earlier in the thread that they threatened Gleff with this. Did they go through with it?

Is August a good time for St. Maarten and St. Barts?

I made an award reservation for February. Plat concierge told me I would be charged a $1300 deposit (yikes!), but the charge has not been applied to my card (reservation was made almost three weeks ago). Fingers crossed!

Surely someone has an update on a recent stay?

Has anyone stayed on points yet? Can someone explain how much they were charged per night when staying on points? Here is what my confirmation says:

Resort Charge of USD 5.00 Per Room / Per Night is not included in the rate.
Service Charge of 15.00% Per Room / Per Night is not included in the rate.
Room Tax of 5.00% Per Room / Per Night is not included in the rate.

Given the lowest going rate of $199, that's an additional $45 a night not included in the rate?? I think that's absurd. I don't mind paying a $15/night resort charge, but a 15% service charge per night is excessive.

Also I know the 14 day cancellation policy is a glitch on the website, so I called in the award reservation and I have an August 1 cancellation date for an August 16th stay, a 15 day cancellation. The lady on the phone assured me that was what was in her system and that it was not an SPG website bug. Sure enough, the confirmation email says I have until August 1 to cancel. I'm already having a bad feeling about this resort...

Has anyone stayed on points yet? Can someone explain how much they were charged per night when staying on points? Here is what my confirmation says:

Resort Charge of USD 5.00 Per Room / Per Night is not included in the rate.
Service Charge of 15.00% Per Room / Per Night is not included in the rate.
Room Tax of 5.00% Per Room / Per Night is not included in the rate.

Given the lowest going rate of $199, that's an additional $45 a night not included in the rate?? I think that's absurd. I don't mind paying a $15/night resort charge, but a 15% service charge per night is excessive.

Seeing as you will pay $0 for room rate when using points, then I don't think the 15% service charge nor the 5% room tax is going to add up to much. ;)

Also I know the 14 day cancellation policy is a glitch on the website, so I called in the award reservation and I have an August 1 cancellation date for an August 16th stay, a 15 day cancellation. The lady on the phone assured me that was what was in her system and that it was not an SPG website bug. Sure enough, the confirmation email says I have until August 1 to cancel. I'm already having a bad feeling about this resort...

Sorry about the bad feeling, but the hotel can set the time frame for cancellation. Usually, in peak periods, resort properties tend to run earlier than normal cancellation deadlines.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thanks for the clarification William. Wouldn't it just be easier to say the tax and service charge ARE included in the rate? I know this has been the case for some of my other award stays at other properties.

I was not charged the resort fee at all.

Took the family to St. Maarten for five night / six days.

I forgot how far the Caribbean really is. A good seven hours (via a connection).

SUMMARY: Pardon me, but your poverty is infringing on my luxury.
It has been 15 years since I have been to St. Maarten. I have been to Campeche, Belize, and Cozumel recently. But I think the islands are really struggling from an economic standpoint compared to Mexico / Belize. Lots of loiterers, people drinking, etc. To be fair, most everyone is friendly. The island is still beautiful, the beaches great, the food wonderful. St. Maarten is “built up”, but that actually works to your advantage - - better restaurants, things to do, etc.

HOTEL BACKGROUND: Stayed at the Westin Dawn Beach. Brand new / less than a year old. I was going to stay for free, but decided to save my points when they offered me a rate of $130 (through a 50% off certificate). Upgraded to the largest suite they had / ocean view. Very very nice room. So my viewpoint is slanted a bit, because they spoiled me. The hotel as a whole is very new modern Westin and not necessarily very island themed. Which is good and bad. No pineapple carpet everywhere, but the hotel just as well could have been in Denver. Still, incredibly maintained, friendly staff, and luxurious. It is on Dawn Beach, which is a very nice area with a good beach. VERY uncrowded. At times, I think we were the only ones on the beach or in the pool. The pool was very large and nice. Hotel may still have a few wrinkles, but at this point they are very minor. For instance, while we were there, they brought a shaving mirror to the room, apparently they just received them. We were placed right next to the construction zone for the new residences, and only heard a truck once, for 10 seconds. Nothing else, and they are getting closer to completion.

TWO SIDE NOTES - The interior of the hotel is very clean and appealing (like any Westin). However, the exterior / architecture to this Westin though lacks in my opinion. Almost like a La Quinta in the states, just a three story stucco building - - especially when you drive into the property - all you see is a parking garage. This is only a sidenote, because the beach / ocean / pool are all gorgeous, just wanted to mention I was a tad disappointed with the architecture. It really did NOT affect the vacation in any way. Second, the casino detracts from the lobby. Oversized and like any casion, too obnoxious. I think I saw two people in the casion the 6 days I was there. Again, I just walked by it, it never really bothered me, but it somewhat the eyesore.

SERVICE: They are some very friendly faces here. And some that are a tad indifferent, but nothing rude. The doormen are always friendly (Eugene especially). Nadine at the front desk was exceptional. The concierges are very good with directions, not always full of detailed info on excursions or restaurants. I would tell them exactly what you want, or do research in advance if you are paticular. Housekeeping was good, but quirky. Often came very late. Told them I get bottled water as a platinum, they brought me a bottle. Two days later, after I had not been brought another bottle, I requested again and , yes, was brought one bottle the rest of my stay. Not that big of a deal. They would also not always refill the sugar and cream for some reason, just the inroom coffee. But these are minor complaints. They also left a gift each night (I FINALLY got a Westin duck after 75 stays!).

BEACHES: there are a slew of beaches, each with their own personality. Really liked Mullet Bay Beach. Maho Beach with the planes landing directly over you is a must see (and then must leave). Pinel Island was very cool. A ferry ride, then fabulous snorkeling and light hiking. Very quaint. Very European feel (on the French side of the island). NEVER ONCE SAW A BEACH VENDOR. This is worth noting.

ACTIVITIES: A very relaxing vacation overall. Lots of hanging on the beach, helping the kids boogieboard, etc. We did go to Loterie Farm / Pic Paradis. Highest point on island. Amazing restaurant. And a zipline course. Best thing about zipline course, they had one for kids under 48”. Never seen that. And my kids LOVED IT. Guide was very good and filmed took pictures of everyone. Again, Pinel Island is a very good day trip. Phillipsburg (Dutch capital) which is hailed as a shopping mecca disappointed greatly. A very typical cruise ship stop – lots of t-shirt shops, etc. Alcohol is as cheap as I have seen. I bought a $75 bottle of Scotch for $30.

RESTAURANTS: St. Maarten has some great restaurants. We had two kids under 8, so fine French dining was not high on the priority. The Loterie Farm restaurant (Hidden Forest?) was very very good. We tried two of the lolos - - the Caribbean roadside BBQ joints. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Went to Talk of the Town in Grand Case and Jonny Bs under the tree in the middle of the island. Great ribs and lobster at both. Great environment at Talk of the Town. We saw sunset there. Grand Case seemed like a nicer town by SXM standards, but we did not spend time there. The hotel restaurant was average, so we stocked up at the local market (Grand Marche). Grand Marche is a Whole Foods / Sprouts / Kroger mix, so it was great to get snacks / breakfast items for everyone and save a little bit of $$ ($21 per person for a breakfast buffet every day? No thanks).

HOTEL FOOD: Ate at Ocean. Overpriced. Respectable, but nothing worthy of return.

TRANSPORTAION: Rent a car from the airport. Why rent at the hotel, when you will have to pay for airport transfers each way? A Corolla from Hertz for a week costs me $165 after all fees and taxes. Being able to drive to Pic Paradis, the Pinel Farm ferry, Maho Beach, the grocery store, etc on my own schedule was absolutely worth it. Be prepared though, island driving is aggressive and traffic can be a bear.

Again, the island is beautiful. The food is top shelf. The activities of the island are great. Just be prepared for third world poverty feel (felt like what I imagine the Dominican Rep or Haiti to be). Which surprised me. The Westin itself is a very strong property in my view. Crystal clean (it is less than a year old), very good location, good platinum treatment, and very affordable.

Oh yeah, parking is still free. Pleasant surprise.

One more plug -
Again, this alone does not make it a first class hotel, but it really helped the perception of service:
Whenever we called the Service Express line, teh phone ang no more than a single ring, sometimes a half ring. Immediately they woudl say "how can I help Mr. Objective Traveler?" After they realized the whole family was with me, they woudl ask "How can we help the Objective Traveler family?"

Always very responsive. My wife asked me if I noticed it, because the one time she called it happened to her too.

Just returned from a 4 night stay there. As a *G, I was upgraded to an Ocean Front room (but I did ask via email beforehand). The room was very nice with an LCD tv (which did swivel), free bottle of water every day, turn down service with chocolates every day, and amenity on some days (fruit plate, seltzer soap, and a Westin ducky). The room was large and the view was incredible (could see the beach and ocean from bed). Parking was free, casino is tacky and it's prominence in the lobby is a minus. Beach was fantastic and not crowded at all - at times, we were the only ones there. I can't seem to understand why people come to a beach resort only to spend all their time at the pool, but their loss, my gain. The hotel was not that full as it is hurricane season. There are coral reefs right off the beach, but the snorkeling on SXM in general isn't that great.

The island itself does seem to be pretty impoverished. Since everyone describes SXM to be "built up", I was not expecting to see such poverty throughout the island and the roads are horrendous. Food was ok, but nowhere near what I had expected, this being the "Culinary Capital of the Carribean". Maybe the chefs are on vacation during low season, I don't know, but we went to Spiga, La Pressoir, La California, and Talk of the Town Lolo, which are all highly rated, but nothing wowed us. Best meal we had was at the Pizza/DVD place up the road in the Oyster Pond area of the French Quarter.

My wife and I just returned from our vacation at the Westin St. Maarten. While I travel approximately 150 nights a year for business, this was actually the first vacation that my wife and I have had without the kids in 6 years!

I have stayed at many of the 4-5 star resorts including several of the St. Regis locations. I can honestly tell you that I have never been treated as incredibly well as I was at this property. As a Starwood Platinum Member, the hotel really went out of their way to treat us like VIP guests. I redeemed points for the entire stay and the hotel management greeted us with an upgrade to an incredible room!

Upon arrival, we had lunch at Oceans restaurant and the Executive Chef came out to personally introduce himself. Throughout our entire stay this gentleman was so kind and gracious to us, that we left feeling like we had truly made a friend. The GM was also so incredibly caring and generous with us, that he will also be a part of the magical memories that we have of our visit to St. Maarten.

As we arrived at our room, we were greeted with an amazing amenity and welcome from the entire executive team. This hotel is new and I read about the initial reviews of this property. I can honestly tell you without hesitation that their whatever minor opening issues they had are long gone and the entire property is so clean, beautiful and an oasis on an amazing private beach.

Having just returned, we went during the "low season" and we were so happy that we did. The hotel had limited occupancy which actually added to our enjoyment. The weather was perfect and we relaxed by the pool daily without the typical fight for a lounge chair or noisy pool, that you find at most resorts.

As a SPG Member this hotel really goes out of it's way to acknowledge your loyalty to the SPG family. Each night a little thank you amenity was waiting for us after turndown service. When you travel as much for business as I do, I can't tell you enough how much this hotel did to express it's appreciation to members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program. The housekeeping staff was wonderful as each day we returned to our beautiful room.

While we did do some fun offsite activities, we also enjoyed an amazing couples massge at the Hibiscus Spa at the Westin. Our neverending gratitude will be especially reserved for the GM and the fine team members of the Food & Beverage Department. The Director and the Executive Chef honored us by helping me arrange a private dinner for my wife and I on the beach. Thanks to the Westin and our personal server, this was quite frankly the most romantic evening my wife and I have ever had.

In closing, if you are considering a vacation to St. Maarten, I strongly suggest that you stay at this wonderful hotel and enjoy the amazing treatment from the entire staff.

Glad to see the tide is turning so to speak on this place...the wife and I are headed down 2/14-2/17 for a quick adult weekend...couple of quick questions:
How far is Dawn Beach from Orient Beach and Grand Case? Approximate cost of cab ride would be appreciated as well.
How "private" is the beach out front? My wife is french and enjoys "european" sun bathing which I know is allowed on Orient, but what about the beach/pool area of the hotel?
Are there any suites in this hotel, or is the best upgrade you can expect an ocean front room?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Glad to see the tide is turning so to speak on this place...the wife and I are headed down 2/14-2/17 for a quick adult weekend...couple of quick questions:
How far is Dawn Beach from Orient Beach and Grand Case? Approximate cost of cab ride would be appreciated as well.
How "private" is the beach out front? My wife is french and enjoys "european" sun bathing which I know is allowed on Orient, but what about the beach/pool area of the hotel?
Are there any suites in this hotel, or is the best upgrade you can expect an ocean front room?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Orient Beach is probably about 10-15 minutes away and Grand case is about 20-25 minutes away. Don't know how much cabs cost b/c we rented a car ($75 for 4 days).

I don't know what the official policy is, but I did not see any "european" sun bathing around the pool, but did see some on the beach, but they tended to be waay off to the side.

Yes, I did see some suites there. On my floor,there was a presidential suite and also a smaller one, don't remember what it was called.

I will be going to Westin Dawn Beach November 10th and we plan to rent a car. I know there is a car rental on property, does anyone know the name of the company? Is it an American company? We don't want to rent the car until we get to the hotel, we rented a car in Aruba from a local company and was not pleased at all. Car was in terrible shape, couldn't get the window to wind up after we put it down, tires looked like they needed replacement, finally took the car back and was able to rent with Hertz, for double the price but it was well worth it. Hertz gave us a new car that was safe, reliable, and it came with a CD player (Sometimes I do think that you do get what you pay for) :)

Where did you end up staying and how was it? I have three young girls under 5 and were looking at St. Johns. On one hand I have heard its great for kids, on the other the review have been luke warm on the beach, food and accomodations. I will be using points and I am plat.

Appreciate getting your view.
Regards,
Bill

tbertz,
who are you asking where they stayed? pjrice isn't going until November, and I won't be there until Feb?!?!?!

Where did you end up staying and how was it? I have three young girls under 5 and were looking at St. Johns. On one hand I have heard its great for kids, on the other the review have been luke warm on the beach, food and accomodations. I will be using points and I am plat.[QUOTE]


Stayed there on my honeymoon last year and really loved it. The beach is on the small side but has lots of beach activities for kids.

We were up graded to a 3 bedroom villa....fabulous!

I just made an award booking at this hotel for January 2008.
Apparently they only offer standard rooms for the requested period.

Do you think I should send a mail in advance requesting for a sea view room (and paying with additional points) ?

My husband and I just returned after spending 7 wonderful nights at the Westin Dawn Beach. We enjoyed our stay and would go back in a heatbeat! My husband got comped Gold through American Airlines and they gave us a great room. We got a good rate, upon checkin we were informed that they did not have an ocean view room but did upgrade us to a "Studio",

The room was huge, with a sitting area, king size bed, walk-in shower and plasma tv. There were double French doors that led into another room that had a sofa (with pull out bed) 2 chairs, desk, plasma tv, dinning table with 4 chairs, sink, dishwasher, microwave oven and a refridgerator.

The resort was spotless, huge infinity pool, hot tub and the beach. Parking was free and we rented a car at the hotel. I was unable to use my cell phone (AT&T} while I was in St Maarten/ St Martin, so we rentd a phone at the hotel for $10 per day.

The service was wonderful, staff extremely attentive and polite. I would recommend this resort and we will definately return. ^

We just booked a 6 night stay at the Westin March 19-25 using points. We will be traveling with our 7 year old little girl this time (we usually go to Cap Juluca in Anguilla- will be there in 12 days)... question.. I heard the Kids Club at the Westin was good .. does anyone know anything about it?

Thanks for all the info.

Gigi

Has anyone heard about bed bug problems associated with this hotel? I recently read a report on TripAdvisor where a couple of different hotel guests got bitten by bed bugs and were upset because hotel management seemingly downplayed the problem. I've been attacked by bed bugs before (at a Hilton hotel in Belgium) and still have the scars to prove it. It's one of the things that will really put me off from a hotel, so if anybody can please provide some input, it would be very much appreciated. I have a trip planned for April, but if the reports are substantiated by a couple more people, I'll switch to a different resort.

Has anyone heard about bed bug problems associated with this hotel? I recently read a report on TripAdvisor where a couple of different hotel guests got bitten by bed bugs and were upset because hotel management seemingly downplayed the problem. I've been attacked by bed bugs before (at a Hilton hotel in Belgium) and still have the scars to prove it. It's one of the things that will really put me off from a hotel, so if anybody can please provide some input, it would be very much appreciated. I have a trip planned for April, but if the reports are substantiated by a couple more people, I'll switch to a different resort.

Didn't hear of any problems with bed bugs during my visit in November, hope you have a good visit should you decide to stay there.

For all that have been to this hotel:

I am looking to make this hotel our Honeymoon spot in January of 2009. A few questions about this hotel for a honeymoon destination.


Has anyone been there for a honeymoon?
For those that have been there, how easy are upgrades?
I want to use points for the stay, but also want to get the best room available for the occasion.
Last, as of now, I am not able to book this hotel for January of 2009. I am assuming that they haven't opened up reservations this far in advance, can anyone confirm that?


Thanks in advance,

Eric

Has anyone heard about bed bug problems associated with this hotel? I recently read a report on TripAdvisor where a couple of different hotel guests got bitten by bed bugs and were upset because hotel management seemingly downplayed the problem. I've been attacked by bed bugs before (at a Hilton hotel in Belgium) and still have the scars to prove it. It's one of the things that will really put me off from a hotel, so if anybody can please provide some input, it would be very much appreciated. I have a trip planned for April, but if the reports are substantiated by a couple more people, I'll switch to a different resort.

We'll be staying there in a few weeks time. Hopefully this bed bug problem was just an accident...
Since I seem to attract any insect/mosquito/bug, :( I will report mid-January...

Im thinking of renting a car from the airport to the hotel. How easy and how far is it to go from the hotel to St. Martin for the day? or to the ferry dock to Anguilla?

Im thinking of renting a car from the airport to the hotel. How easy and how far is it to go from the hotel to St. Martin for the day? or to the ferry dock to Anguilla?

Riding from the airport to the hotel is about 20-30 mins, traveling slow on winding roads (make SURE you have good maps and I don't recommend doing it at night time) From the hotel to St. Martin, it's about 2 minutes down the road before you cross the "border"!!! The hotel is on the northern part of the St. Maarten border and keep in mind, there is no passport display or change of guard as you cross between the two. You may not even realize that you are now paying Euros prices until you get the bill. The gastronomical feasts are in Grand Case (about 15 mins from the hotel).

To get to Anguilla, you need to get to Marigot Bay, take the ferry from there. And, I HIGHLY recommend going to Anguilla, checking out Shoal Bay and/or the Cuisinart or Cap Juluca beaches---the BEST in the Caribbean and I've sailed ALL of the lesser Antilles evaluating them!!!! The beaches in Anguilla are like no other--they remind me of baking flour, just incredible. You WILL need your passport to check-in at both the Marigot dock and at the dock in Anguilla.

I love St. Barts too, but the ferry ride is a bit longer, and you can spend $300 for lunch at Nikki Beach!!!!

Needless to say, I'm heartbroken the property on Anguilla is no longer SPG :(

Is gas expensive on SXM and does an American driver's license suffice on both sides of the island?

Is gas expensive on SXM and does an American driver's license suffice on both sides of the island?

US Driver license: OK on both sides of the island. Not sure about gas prices. You'll be shocked at the customs/immigration process at the Dutch airport--very lax. In fact, I don't even think there was a customs search, only a brief passport review.

Thanks...what I remember from my last trip through the Caribbean was that each airport socked it to you with a departure tax...will be at AXA, ANU and SXM on this trip. I hope they accept credit cards!

Does anyone have any recommendations for golf? Also will I need to convert to Euros or are American dollars accepted? Do Golds have any experiences with upgrades other than the recent poster? Is February a good time weather wise? TIA

Ive found the wifi here to be terribly slow...do you have to request turndown service to receive these lovely Platinum goodies? No gifts as mentioned by others have come by to my room in the evenings.

I just came back from St.Marten last night. Had a lovely stay at the Westin for 6 nights. It's interesting that experiences seem so uneven. I'm Plat and was upgraded to Oceanfront room, but alas not suite. Not a surprise, since it's busy season. however, when I asked about a suite at checkin, I was told "we don't upgrade Plats to suites". this called for a manager, who clarified that there were no suites available. hmmm..
no evening amenities at all. bottle of water 4 out of 6 days. had to call to have coffee machine restocked with coffee, sugar, etc. the hotel is beautiful, but i felt no warmth toward Plats, only the minimum required by the book. we rented a car at the airport from Budget. Renting a car is the way to go. just the ride alone to the hotel (about 20-30 min) is worth it. plus Westin is a bit out of the way and it's a 15-25 min ride to restaurants. Enjoyed the island and the beach in front of Westin is great. Snorkeling was very bad, but maybe we didn't find the right spots.
one thing that really pissed me off - they absolutely refused late checkout! i understand they are not required, and I spoke extensively to the manager, but not to even meet me halfway! my flight was at 6pm and we had to leave the room at 12. for that alone, i will not go back there. Westins in Aruba and Grand Cayman are good enough of substitutes.

I just came back from St.Marten last night. Had a lovely stay at the Westin for 6 nights. It's interesting that experiences seem so uneven. I'm Plat and was upgraded to Oceanfront room, but alas not suite. Not a surprise, since it's busy season. however, when I asked about a suite at checkin, I was told "we don't upgrade Plats to suites". this called for a manager, who clarified that there were no suites available. hmmm..
no evening amenities at all. bottle of water 4 out of 6 days. had to call to have coffee machine restocked with coffee, sugar, etc. the hotel is beautiful, but i felt no warmth toward Plats, only the minimum required by the book. we rented a car at the airport from Budget. Renting a car is the way to go. just the ride alone to the hotel (about 20-30 min) is worth it. plus Westin is a bit out of the way and it's a 15-25 min ride to restaurants. Enjoyed the island and the beach in front of Westin is great. Snorkeling was very bad, but maybe we didn't find the right spots.
one thing that really pissed me off - they absolutely refused late checkout! i understand they are not required, and I spoke extensively to the manager, but not to even meet me halfway! my flight was at 6pm and we had to leave the room at 12. for that alone, i will not go back there. Westins in Aruba and Grand Cayman are good enough of substitutes.

Bummer. I would generally agree with you but keeping in mind that:

* the property is a steal at 10,000 points per night (cat 4 for now compared to GCM cat 5)
* there are only a few Ocean Front rooms (4 per floor as far as I could tell)
* there aren't any suites at all, except for the Presidential (not confirmed, but certainly couldn't book a suite online, even checking rack rates--would like someone to confirm this)
* St. Maarten has so much more to offer with ferries to St. Barts and Anguilla, and the excellent cuisine in Grand Case
* Much better lobby than GCM with the bar, nightclub, and "just right" sized casino
* never been upgraded to a suite at GCM, apparently there are only two and no plats get them
* fresh rooms with flat screens/leather chairs (GCM rooms are getting tired)


Don't get me wrong, I love Grand Cayman too and have been many times but for my beach fix, I'm back to SXM every time. Funny, I believe both properties are owned by the same guy in Cincinatti (Columbia Sussex).

As far as snorkeling, you were at the best spot on the island (Dawn beach)! The island is definitely not very good for snorkel/scuba.

I think time of the year makes all the difference. When I went in August (low season) as a Gold, they seemed to really spoil us. There are definitely more than 4 ocean front rooms per floor. When facing the pool from the beach, the wing to the right has the Presidential Suite at the corner, and then the whole way down the building are all oceanfront rooms. From my pictures, I can count at least 15-16 on all 3 floors. Then I think the other wing mirrors it.

Thor17,
We are headed there in April...do you have your pics posted anywhere that we can view them?

There is a small writeup in this month's Conde Nast Traveller about the Westin St Martin building condo suites and offering attractive lease back terms.
I called the number listed and found out that you can buy a 3 Bed/2 Bath suite from $650K to 1.5M (depending on view) and all you have to do is put down 25%. The Westin finances you the rest at 6.75% for a standard 25 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage and then leases the property back from you for a price equal to your monthly mortgage payment as well as any maintenance charges. Also you can use your condo for 4 weeks a year (2 weeks off season and 2 weeks peak season). Ofcourse there are some blackout dates too like Xmas and New Years.
Anyone biting on this?

you have it exactly right. there are 4 buildings. one building is directly on the beach (all those units are $1.5m). the other buildings are up on the hill at various angles to the water. short walk down to the beach. all units are 3bd/2bath. lease program is guaranteed for 5 years. furnishings in rooms are great (dark wood, leather lounge chair, fantastic bed, plasma tv, huge bathroom with small bath and huge glass shower). i imagine condos will be even nicer

What's the deal with being charged a $10 resort charge for award rates? They dont even tell you what it is for?! What a ripoff!

weird. our resort charge was $5. i was going to fight it, but I already had enough arguing with front desk over late checkout and wrong telephone charge that i didn't have the mental energy for it. annoying.

I think the resort charge was 5 Dollars in 2007, and is now 10 Dollars (2008), so a 100% increase... :rolleyes:

We will be checking in tomorrow... we'll see how it goes!

my stay was 100% in 2008 (jan 2-8) and it was $5 resort charge.

Why is this not waived for award bookings?

Why is this not waived for award bookings?

Because, by policy, resorts can charge resort fees on Preferred (free) Night Awards. Says that in the Terms and Conditions of Membership.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Because, by policy, resorts can charge resort fees on Preferred (free) Night Awards. Says that in the Terms and Conditions of Membership.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com
In other words, because they can. It's $15 pp in the Bahamas for a lesser resort.

Now we are back. Here is a short report.

Resort tax was 5 US Dollars per day! ;)
All in all a good resort but the architectural style looks a bit weird (to our eyes) on Dawn Beach, since this is not at all in the Caribbean style.

We had to wait at check-in to access our room (we arrived a bit early). No upgrade ("sorry we are fully booked"), and we even had to change rooms as the first night was almost sleepless due to interconnecting room and poorly insulated doors... with neighbours talking until 2 AM.... We were given a room overlooking a patio with a fountain on the second floor.

We explained the noise problem and changed room immediately the next day, but this time with a view on the back (hills and nearby road)...

This second room was not a connecting one, and therefore quieter, although the room entrance door is not well insulated either, and you can enjoy guests conversation in the corridor at any time of day and night...
This was a room on first floor, and the A/C was freezing. It actually seemed to be blocked... We solved the problem by switching it off. But the room remained very cool during the three days.

Rooms are very large, nicely-sized bathroom + shower.
Small problems with housekeeping: room not made at 4 PM, no refills of toiletries or water. Coffee was regularly refilled though!

We tried the Ocean restaurant, good quality food and good wine list, the same as Aura restaurant, the gastronomic restaurant, which we also tried and which was excellent. ^

The pool area is nice, but the lack of umbrellas/shade is unbelievable.
The expensive cabanas were never rented during our stay, and customers were "roasting", happily certainly, under the sun. :td:
The growing palm trees are providing some shade, but not much...

Staff was very cheerful and efficient for most of them.

Due to our room problems, we managed to obtain a late check-out at 2 PM, which was apparently an achievement, since we could hear before other customers complaining they could not get it. This is true that the resort was very full with two conventions and their delegates within three days.

One point I thought a bit annoying: the resort sometimes rent the pool area for private dinner parties in the evening, but staff gets there at 4 PM and starts installing tables, chairs, buffets, etc... while the pool area is officially open until 7 PM... :( and since the open space around the pool is not very large, you just feel you have to leave the pool to make space for installations, and this at 4.00 or 4.30 PM which is very early...
This happened twice (during our three night stay).

The resort seems to be working very well. The teething problems mentioned last year by other posters seem to have disappeared, but there are still some "youth mistakes" to be solved (for instance pool/beach area and shade problem).

Well, I wanted to stay here during an upcoming vacation, but although spg.com shows rooms for sale, I can't book any of them using points since the only available rooms are "partial ocean view" or "beach/pool view."

Apparently only "resort view" rooms are available using points, even if you're willing to spend more than the standard 10,000 per night.

:td:

Now we are back. Here is a short report.

Resort tax was 5 US Dollars per day! ;)
All in all a good resort but the architectural style looks a bit weird (to our eyes) on Dawn Beach, since this is not at all in the Caribbean style.

We had to wait at check-in to access our room (we arrived a bit early). No upgrade ("sorry we are fully booked"), and we even had to change rooms as the first night was almost sleepless due to interconnecting room and poorly insulated doors... with neighbours talking until 2 AM.... We were given a room overlooking a patio with a fountain on the second floor.

We explained the noise problem and changed room immediately the next day, but this time with a view on the back (hills and nearby road)...

This second room was not a connecting one, and therefore quieter, although the room entrance door is not well insulated either, and you can enjoy guests conversation in the corridor at any time of day and night...
This was a room on first floor, and the A/C was freezing. It actually seemed to be blocked... We solved the problem by switching it off. But the room remained very cool during the three days.

Rooms are very large, nicely-sized bathroom + shower.
Small problems with housekeeping: room not made at 4 PM, no refills of toiletries or water. Coffee was regularly refilled though!

We tried the Ocean restaurant, good quality food and good wine list, the same as Aura restaurant, the gastronomic restaurant, which we also tried and which was excellent. ^

The pool area is nice, but the lack of umbrellas/shade is unbelievable.
The expensive cabanas were never rented during our stay, and customers were "roasting", happily certainly, under the sun. :td:
The growing palm trees are providing some shade, but not much...

Staff was very cheerful and efficient for most of them.

Due to our room problems, we managed to obtain a late check-out at 2 PM, which was apparently an achievement, since we could hear before other customers complaining they could not get it. This is true that the resort was very full with two conventions and their delegates within three days.

One point I thought a bit annoying: the resort sometimes rent the pool area for private dinner parties in the evening, but staff gets there at 4 PM and starts installing tables, chairs, buffets, etc... while the pool area is officially open until 7 PM... :( and since the open space around the pool is not very large, you just feel you have to leave the pool to make space for installations, and this at 4.00 or 4.30 PM which is very early...
This happened twice (during our three night stay).

The resort seems to be working very well. The teething problems mentioned last year by other posters seem to have disappeared, but there are still some "youth mistakes" to be solved (for instance pool/beach area and shade problem).


Joelle,
Thanks for the report...the wife and I leave for this hotel in Mid Feb...one question...in regards to your upgrade request...are you platinum, or do you have any spg status?

i was there jan2-8 for a stay on points. I'm Plat. Got upgraded to Oceanfront room. It was very nice, on the top floor in the middle of the U. there were no suites available. One thing to watch out for - on the phones in the room they have a button for "westin reservations". I called it to check about suites. at checkout, there was a $20 bill for a 4 min conversation. I had it removed since there's absolutely NO disclosure that "reservation" button is a long-distance call. beware. they didn't fuss with the removal though - i think they get it often enough.
enjoy!

Joelle,
Thanks for the report...the wife and I leave for this hotel in Mid Feb...one question...in regards to your upgrade request...are you platinum, or do you have any spg status?


My husband "lost" his Gold status last year, so he now is just a poor basic "preferred" SPG member, but in general, he still gets regular upgrades... so, as he says, it does not hurt to ask... ;)

However we discussed with Canadian guests at the hotel, both SPG members (I don't know which level though), and one of them was lucky and got an upgrade to Ocean Front room, while the other one did not. And they were both part of the same convention.

My husband "lost" his Gold status last year, so he now is just a poor basic "preferred" SPG member, but in general, he still gets regular upgrades... so, as he says, it does not hurt to ask... ;)

However we discussed with Canadian guests at the hotel, both SPG members (I don't know which level though), and one of them was lucky and got an upgrade to Ocean Front room, while the other one did not. And they were both part of the same convention.

Joelle,
Thanks for the update...I'm with your husband and it defnitely NEVER hurts to ask. I'm surprised one of the folks got upgraded as part of a convention...it has been my experience that I stand a much better chance of an upgrade if I am traveling outside a big group, by YMMV.
thanks and here's hoping using points I get upgraded!

Another quick question...can anyone tell me what cab fares/availability are to/from the airport and to/from Grand Case?
We currently have a car rented, however, my wife and I like to enjoy wine with dinner and don't want to be limited on how much we enjoy...:-)
that being said, how much is cab fare to Grand Case, and are they easy to get coming back to the hotel?

I visited the Westin in Aug 2007. First, after purchasing drinks from the pool area bar right after our couples massage, pedicure and manicure we were forced to leave the pool area because we had brought our own sandwiches. We then moved onto the public beach and walked far away from the pool area and sat on the chairs to eat and drink. Then an employee came out and told us that if we were not over night guest of the hotel then we could not sit in the chairs and they are not even for rent. We explained that we were guest of the hotel spa and restaurant and we just spent hundreds of dollars here and was considering spending much more that week including staying for an event at the hotel that night. We even explained that we were shown the model of the condo-hotel earlier that morning, because we were in the market for one and it did not mean anything at any of the hotel staff. The only thing they seemed to care about was making sure we knew we weren’t welcome there. We asked to speak to the manager and instead they called security on us who insisted that Westin did not want us on their property. The manager never came. We ended up sitting in the sand to finish our drinks and then we left the premises, while security breathed down our necks.

My husband and I left the Westin St Maarten feeling unwelcomed, unwanted, underappreciated and visibly upset. I wished we had never spent any of our time or money there. There were plenty of other spas and other restaurants we could have gone to locally or on any of the surrounding islands. By the way, my husband and I had the spa entirely to ourselves for the three hours we were there and only a handful of people were on the beach occupying chairs. If our experience was any indication of the customer service others get when they visit the Westin St. Maarten then its understandable why the place was so empty.

I email Starwood customer service and I got absolutely NO RESPONSE!

:td::td:

I can answer about snorkeling. If you are looking for good snorkeling, your best bet there is to walk to the northern end of the beach (you usually have to wade into the water a little bit to get around the outcropping of rocks in the middle of the beach--either that or climb over the rocks) and head over toward the Oyster Bay Beach Resort (which used to be Oyster Pond). Off of the Oyster Bay resort, there is a nice reef, which, because of the rocky cliff on which Oyster Bay is built, does not have a lot of sand kicking up in the surf which obscures your vision. (That, in my experience, is what makes the snorkeling too difficult over at Dawn Beach).

So, if you snorkel offshore of that area in front of Oyster Bay, it's pretty good I think. You can look at the area on Google Earth and see what I mean, and the reef area to which I am referring.

I have just completed a wonderful nine night stay at the Westin Dawn Beach resort with my wife and my two children ages 6 and 10. I am a Starwood Platinum SPG member for nine years in-a-row and have stayed at virtually all Starwood resorts in the Caribbean and many others in the USA and Europe. I am a Global Software Sales Manager with extensive multinational business experience.
I had read most reviews of the Westin Dawn Beach on Trip Advisor along with FlyerTalk before my stay began and was unsure on how enjoyable my stay would be.
As a nine-year Platinum member, I maintain a personal zero-tolerance policy in dealing with rude, indifferent or underperforming staff members. Trust me, I am the first one to point out deficiencies to management and demand goodwill Starpoints compensation.
I am truly most pleased to share with you that I experienced only the finest of friendly, sincere and world-class service from all staff members and am in a position to state that it was truly of SPG Category 6 - St. Regis brand caliber. A beautiful resort!
Here are my comments and insights presented on a general category basis:

PROPERTY
The resort is nestled between scenic hills containing luxury homes and a beautiful beach. It is a 30 minute drive from the Airport but only a 10-12 minute drive from the Phillipsburg town waterfront (Front Street) where all the duty-free shopping is located. Since Phillipsburg is where the action is, I would not label the resort as being remotely located. You only make the journey to/from the Airport only one time. It is by far the most expedient to take a van taxi each way for $30 to $40. This is key if you have luggage since the average local rental car won't be large enough to hold more than two passengers and multiple pieces of luggage. The taxi driver will make things much easier in finding the resort property. Upon arrival at the resort, you travel down a steep hill and enter via a motor entrance. The spacious parking garage is attached to the back of the hotel building, allowing for an easy 30 second walk from a side door in the hotel lobby right to the cars. Given the physical architecture of the property, both the entrance and garage are properly situated and work real well.
LOBBY/FRONT DESK
You enter the hotel into the lobby area with the casino in front of you and the Front Desk off to the right side. The lobby has an upscale feel to it. Given the physical dimensions of the property, the casino right behind the open lobby area makes sense. You walk in the corridor alongside the casino and hotel shops to the guest rooms, restaurants and beach. The layout is fine.
FRONT DESK STAFF
My experience during my entire stay in dealing with the front desk management and staff was extremely positive and pleasant. The Front Office manager Sean is a most friendly and gracious person and is a true perfect gentleman! The same for the managers on duty Victor and Vijay. Nadine the reservations supervisor is also a most fine and lovely individual! All showed me and my family the highest levels of respect, politeness and courtesy. I was provided with beautiful and spacious oceanfront accommodations fitting for long-term SPG Platinum members.
ROOMS AND SERVICE RESPONSE
The guest room hallways are wide and tastefully done in yellow pastel colors with dark brown wood frame foyers outside each room. Hallways are tastefully done and very well-maintained. Not per say Caribbean themed, but who cares? The guest rooms are spacious, well-decorated and in excellent physical condition. I made an array of routine requests during my nine night stay to various departments within the hotel and in all cases, service response right to my door was five minutes or less. This is clearly Category 6 - St. Regis level service. Most impressive! I also requested from the start that my room be cleaned by 11:00am each morning and it was perfectly cleaned each day, without ever asking again. The air conditioning system works very well. I never saw any crawling insects, be it inside or outside during my entire stay.
DINING
The breakfast buffet at the Ocean restaurant was indeed excellent in terms of food quality and selection and staff service was outstanding. The restaurant is also very clean and well maintained. The secret of success here is the hands-on management style of Daniel the F&B Director and his three managers Brian, Iliya and Paul. At most times two managers are present and working alongside the serving staff. True leadership by example here! All are most friendly and are perfect gentlemen. I was always addressed by name and given a big greeting! The value in terms of overall quality for price paid was also excellent. For instance, the cost of $8.50 per child is a great deal and so for the adults having the cold buffet. Save your efforts by going out for breakfast at nearby restaurants such as Big Fish or Mr. Busbys. You won't save any money due to their a la carte menu pricing. The lunch options are also broad and excellent in that you can order either takeout from the Ocean restaurant or order from the poolside menu.
Most lunch menu choices are between $7.50 and $10.00 and the food tastiness ranges from very good to excellent. Again, save your efforts, the hotel offers better quality and value when compared to the nearby restaurants.
DINNER DINING
I did not dine at the fine dining restaurant Aura which has an intimate atmosphere but discourages children under age ten. I only heard highly positive comments from guests who did dine there. Menu prices are competitive with the fine dining restaurants on both the Dutch and French sides of the island. Dinner dining at the casual Ocean restaurant is perfectly fine, very well-managed and kid friendly too.
OFF-SITE DINING
St. Maarten is one of the culinary capitals of the Caribbean. If you like fine dining, then St. Maarten is for you! The hotel is adjacent to the Dutch/French border. The Grand Case dining district on the French side is a 20 minute drive. The French side capital Marigot is a 30 minute drive. The best and most scenic dining is on the French side. Given that taxis are expensive, renting a car is a must in terms of value if you are up to driving on the island's narrow and winding roads. There are several nice restaurants in Grand Case that overlook the ocean and are charming. Joseph the Concierge who is a very fine and even-tempered individual can assist with all reservations. The two best restaurants by Marigot that are worth the 30 minute drive are La Santal and Mario's Bistro. Excellent food, service and fine atmospheres overlooking the water. Tip: On the French side, a good idea to check beforehand which restaurants are offering a 1 euro = $1.00 exchange rate. Makes a big financial difference! The best nearby (3 minute drive) restaurant to the hotel is Big Fish, offering very good food, service and scenic dining overlooking the Oyster Pond marina. Across the street is Mr. Busby's/Daniels restaurant which is OK, but not as nice.
POOL AND BEACH AREA
The hotel has a beautiful swimming pool overlooking the ocean and patio for sunbathing. There is limited shade. Luckily, there is a constant sea breeze which keeps you from overheating, even after sitting out in the sun all day. The beach is very nice with clean white sand. The beach is effectively private since on both ends are cliffs that prevent outsiders. This adds to overall hotel security. There are no beach vendors hawking merchandise, unlike at other properties. Poolside service for chairs, drinks and food is excellent; service staff is always present and very friendly. The pool area music is purely American, the best of the 1950s right through the present. No Caribbean music played. It was very nice.
RENTAL CARS
If you are up to it, renting a car will really make your visit to the island most enjoyable. Road quality on the island greatly varies and you need to be careful at all times. Adaptive driving is the secret to getting around the island. It is very prudent to first drive during the daylight to familiarize yourself with the narrow, winding and hilly roads to Phillipsburg and Grand Case/Marigot. It is well worth spending a few hours doing the entire around the island drive. Having lunch at the Sunset beach Grill watching the airplanes land at the beginning of the runway is quite nice and your kids too will enjoy it.
NIGHTLIFE EXPECTATIONS
The primary night time activities are fine dining and the casino. If you have kids between 10 and 18 years, their exceptions must be set beforehand that family time dining together is the primary activity for the evening. Nothing like nice and quiet family evenings out! Any other nightlife expectations are not realistic. For couples, fine dining, the bars and the casino are your main options.
CONCLUSIONS
If you are a fan of beautiful, new, extremely well-run and deluxe American-style resorts that excel in overall service, dining, cleanliness and sanitation, the Westin is clearly for you. If you are looking for low-brow, local-themed Caribbean resorts with non-American standards, than the Westin may not be for you. I recommend the Westin without hesitation or reservation to anyone seeking a world-class and relaxing Caribbean vacation. I will most certainly be returning!

Nice post and a great contribution. Welcome to FT!

Nice detailed trip report. I do have to say though, it seems odd for a first post. In any case, welcome to FT.

Very ODD indeed! This post sounds like a walking talking Westin commerical.

SPGPlatinumMember you may think it was wonderful and I wish you the best when you return. Perhaps the Westin management finally realized how to treat Platinum members. Glad we all helped you out by putting up with the nonsense prior to your stay. By the way how did you get to know (on a first name basis) all the so called wonderful managers both at the front desk and restaurants inluding F&B Director? Also did they have your coffee service refilled in your ocean front room by 11:00 or did you have to call every single day and request it?
You rate it as "truly of SPG Category 6 - St. Regis brand caliber" unfortunately you are the only one. Tripadvisor blasts the Westin Dawn Beach and I as one agree with most posts after being a guest there and having first hand experience of their treatment of Platinum guests.

Perhaps it's a slow night at the Westin Dawn Beach.

I call bs.

I have just completed a wonderful nine night stay at the Westin Dawn Beach resort with my wife and my two children ages 6 and 10. I am a Starwood Platinum SPG member for nine years in-a-row and have stayed at virtually all Starwood resorts in the Caribbean and many others in the USA and Europe. I am a Global Software Sales Manager with extensive multinational business experience.
I had read most reviews of the Westin Dawn Beach on Trip Advisor along with FlyerTalk before my stay began and was unsure on how enjoyable my stay would be.
As a nine-year Platinum member, I maintain a personal zero-tolerance policy in dealing with rude, indifferent or underperforming staff members. Trust me, I am the first one to point out deficiencies to management and demand goodwill Starpoints compensation.
I am truly most pleased to share with you that I experienced only the finest of friendly, sincere and world-class service from all staff members and am in a position to state that it was truly of SPG Category 6 - St. Regis brand caliber. A beautiful resort!
Here are my comments and insights presented on a general category basis:

PROPERTY
The resort is nestled between scenic hills containing luxury homes and a beautiful beach. It is a 30 minute drive from the Airport but only a 10-12 minute drive from the Phillipsburg town waterfront (Front Street) where all the duty-free shopping is located. Since Phillipsburg is where the action is, I would not label the resort as being remotely located. You only make the journey to/from the Airport only one time. It is by far the most expedient to take a van taxi each way for $30 to $40. This is key if you have luggage since the average local rental car won't be large enough to hold more than two passengers and multiple pieces of luggage. The taxi driver will make things much easier in finding the resort property. Upon arrival at the resort, you travel down a steep hill and enter via a motor entrance. The spacious parking garage is attached to the back of the hotel building, allowing for an easy 30 second walk from a side door in the hotel lobby right to the cars. Given the physical architecture of the property, both the entrance and garage are properly situated and work real well.
LOBBY/FRONT DESK
You enter the hotel into the lobby area with the casino in front of you and the Front Desk off to the right side. The lobby has an upscale feel to it. Given the physical dimensions of the property, the casino right behind the open lobby area makes sense. You walk in the corridor alongside the casino and hotel shops to the guest rooms, restaurants and beach. The layout is fine.
FRONT DESK STAFF
My experience during my entire stay in dealing with the front desk management and staff was extremely positive and pleasant. The Front Office manager Sean is a most friendly and gracious person and is a true perfect gentleman! The same for the managers on duty Victor and Vijay. Nadine the reservations supervisor is also a most fine and lovely individual! All showed me and my family the highest levels of respect, politeness and courtesy. I was provided with beautiful and spacious oceanfront accommodations fitting for long-term SPG Platinum members.
ROOMS AND SERVICE RESPONSE
The guest room hallways are wide and tastefully done in yellow pastel colors with dark brown wood frame foyers outside each room. Hallways are tastefully done and very well-maintained. Not per say Caribbean themed, but who cares? The guest rooms are spacious, well-decorated and in excellent physical condition. I made an array of routine requests during my nine night stay to various departments within the hotel and in all cases, service response right to my door was five minutes or less. This is clearly Category 6 - St. Regis level service. Most impressive! I also requested from the start that my room be cleaned by 11:00am each morning and it was perfectly cleaned each day, without ever asking again. The air conditioning system works very well. I never saw any crawling insects, be it inside or outside during my entire stay.
DINING
The breakfast buffet at the Ocean restaurant was indeed excellent in terms of food quality and selection and staff service was outstanding. The restaurant is also very clean and well maintained. The secret of success here is the hands-on management style of Daniel the F&B Director and his three managers Brian, Iliya and Paul. At most times two managers are present and working alongside the serving staff. True leadership by example here! All are most friendly and are perfect gentlemen. I was always addressed by name and given a big greeting! The value in terms of overall quality for price paid was also excellent. For instance, the cost of $8.50 per child is a great deal and so for the adults having the cold buffet. Save your efforts by going out for breakfast at nearby restaurants such as Big Fish or Mr. Busbys. You won't save any money due to their a la carte menu pricing. The lunch options are also broad and excellent in that you can order either takeout from the Ocean restaurant or order from the poolside menu.
Most lunch menu choices are between $7.50 and $10.00 and the food tastiness ranges from very good to excellent. Again, save your efforts, the hotel offers better quality and value when compared to the nearby restaurants.
DINNER DINING
I did not dine at the fine dining restaurant Aura which has an intimate atmosphere but discourages children under age ten. I only heard highly positive comments from guests who did dine there. Menu prices are competitive with the fine dining restaurants on both the Dutch and French sides of the island. Dinner dining at the casual Ocean restaurant is perfectly fine, very well-managed and kid friendly too.
OFF-SITE DINING
St. Maarten is one of the culinary capitals of the Caribbean. If you like fine dining, then St. Maarten is for you! The hotel is adjacent to the Dutch/French border. The Grand Case dining district on the French side is a 20 minute drive. The French side capital Marigot is a 30 minute drive. The best and most scenic dining is on the French side. Given that taxis are expensive, renting a car is a must in terms of value if you are up to driving on the island's narrow and winding roads. There are several nice restaurants in Grand Case that overlook the ocean and are charming. Joseph the Concierge who is a very fine and even-tempered individual can assist with all reservations. The two best restaurants by Marigot that are worth the 30 minute drive are La Santal and Mario's Bistro. Excellent food, service and fine atmospheres overlooking the water. Tip: On the French side, a good idea to check beforehand which restaurants are offering a 1 euro = $1.00 exchange rate. Makes a big financial difference! The best nearby (3 minute drive) restaurant to the hotel is Big Fish, offering very good food, service and scenic dining overlooking the Oyster Pond marina. Across the street is Mr. Busby's/Daniels restaurant which is OK, but not as nice.
POOL AND BEACH AREA
The hotel has a beautiful swimming pool overlooking the ocean and patio for sunbathing. There is limited shade. Luckily, there is a constant sea breeze which keeps you from overheating, even after sitting out in the sun all day. The beach is very nice with clean white sand. The beach is effectively private since on both ends are cliffs that prevent outsiders. This adds to overall hotel security. There are no beach vendors hawking merchandise, unlike at other properties. Poolside service for chairs, drinks and food is excellent; service staff is always present and very friendly. The pool area music is purely American, the best of the 1950s right through the present. No Caribbean music played. It was very nice.
RENTAL CARS
If you are up to it, renting a car will really make your visit to the island most enjoyable. Road quality on the island greatly varies and you need to be careful at all times. Adaptive driving is the secret to getting around the island. It is very prudent to first drive during the daylight to familiarize yourself with the narrow, winding and hilly roads to Phillipsburg and Grand Case/Marigot. It is well worth spending a few hours doing the entire around the island drive. Having lunch at the Sunset beach Grill watching the airplanes land at the beginning of the runway is quite nice and your kids too will enjoy it.
NIGHTLIFE EXPECTATIONS
The primary night time activities are fine dining and the casino. If you have kids between 10 and 18 years, their exceptions must be set beforehand that family time dining together is the primary activity for the evening. Nothing like nice and quiet family evenings out! Any other nightlife expectations are not realistic. For couples, fine dining, the bars and the casino are your main options.
CONCLUSIONS
If you are a fan of beautiful, new, extremely well-run and deluxe American-style resorts that excel in overall service, dining, cleanliness and sanitation, the Westin is clearly for you. If you are looking for low-brow, local-themed Caribbean resorts with non-American standards, than the Westin may not be for you. I recommend the Westin without hesitation or reservation to anyone seeking a world-class and relaxing Caribbean vacation. I will most certainly be returning!

Experienced Flyertalkers wipe out the overly positive and negative reviews since they rarely match reality. Especially from a first-time poster.

Based on the prompt comments to my posting of Friday, I wish to set the record straight on why I considered my stay at the Westin Dawn Beach to be of SPG Category 6 - St. Regis caliber.

First, some additional background information on me. As a Global Software Sales Manager, I manage business is over 50 countries worldwide. I primarily work with large Fortune 500 type multinational firms. One of the secrets to my success that I am very focused on providing the utmost global business respect, politeness, sincerity and world-class service to all my software customers. I combine these golden principles with my encyclopedic knowledge of world politics, history and geography. I strive at all times to maintain the highest levels of professional conduct. Do keep in mind that the hotel staff represent dozens of countries. You do experience a very multinational environment during your stay! Be sure to ask yourself, how knowledgeable and effective am I in such an environment?

As I have stated, the management team of the Westin Dawn Beach are true hotel industry professionals. I have witnessed them on a daily basis to be big proponents of hands-on leadership by example. As a nine-year SPG Platinum member, I too like to lead by professional example in all my interactions with hotel staff.

Here are my golden principals for highly successful relationships:
•Be as polite and respectful as possible. Always remember that respect is mutual.
•Address all staff members by name and handshakes.
•Make efforts to get to know staff members. Having broad global knowledge is important. Being an ignorant American is simply not good!
•Present all issues and deficiencies you have during your stay in a professional, business-like manner. Also, propose realistic resolutions. Simply complaining or whining doesn’t cut it.
•Provide business complements, not pleasantries or niceties. (important!)

Summary of reasons of why I stated that my stay was on the SPG Category level 6 level:
•My room was very spacious, in top condition and perfectly serviced. The same for the common areas of the hotel.
•The response time to my door for approx. twenty calls to Service Express over my nine night stay was never more than 5 minutes. Calls covered housekeeping, engineering, room service, security (jammed room safe) items.
•Breakfast and lunch food quality was excellent and so was the service. I was always properly addressed by name.
•The pool area is deluxe and poolside food and beverage service was also excellent.
•All managers and staff were professional, polite and friendly at ALL times to me and my family.

I hope the above helps!

what a crock!

Based on the prompt comments to my posting of Friday, I wish to set the record straight on why I considered my stay at the Westin Dawn Beach to be of SPG Category 6 - St. Regis caliber.

First, some additional background information on me. As a Global Software Sales Manager, I manage business is over 50 countries worldwide. I primarily work with large Fortune 500 type multinational firms. One of the secrets to my success that I am very focused on providing the utmost global business respect, politeness, sincerity and world-class service to all my software customers. I combine these golden principles with my encyclopedic knowledge of world politics, history and geography. I strive at all times to maintain the highest levels of professional conduct. Do keep in mind that the hotel staff represent dozens of countries. You do experience a very multinational environment during your stay! Be sure to ask yourself, how knowledgeable and effective am I in such an environment?

As I have stated, the management team of the Westin Dawn Beach are true hotel industry professionals. I have witnessed them on a daily basis to be big proponents of hands-on leadership by example. As a nine-year SPG Platinum member, I too like to lead by professional example in all my interactions with hotel staff.

Here are my golden principals for highly successful relationships:
•Be as polite and respectful as possible. Always remember that respect is mutual.
•Address all staff members by name and handshakes.
•Make efforts to get to know staff members. Having broad global knowledge is important. Being an ignorant American is simply not good!
•Present all issues and deficiencies you have during your stay in a professional, business-like manner. Also, propose realistic resolutions. Simply complaining or whining doesn’t cut it.
•Provide business complements, not pleasantries or niceties. (important!)

Summary of reasons of why I stated that my stay was on the SPG Category level 6 level:
•My room was very spacious, in top condition and perfectly serviced. The same for the common areas of the hotel.
•The response time to my door for approx. twenty calls to Service Express over my nine night stay was never more than 5 minutes. Calls covered housekeeping, engineering, room service, security (jammed room safe) items.
•Breakfast and lunch food quality was excellent and so was the service. I was always properly addressed by name.
•The pool area is deluxe and poolside food and beverage service was also excellent.
•All managers and staff were professional, polite and friendly at ALL times to me and my family.

I hope the above helps!

Experienced Flyertalkers wipe out the overly positive and negative reviews since they rarely match reality. Especially from a first-time poster.
I also factor in whether the naysayers/cheerleaders have even been to the property in question.

Cheers,

Thank you for including a cover letter and resume with your trip report :rolleyes:

looks like our new member has just joined tripadvisor as wel...this is HILARIOUS!!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147346-d625303-r13766973-Westin_St_Maarten_Dawn_Beach_Resort_Spa-St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

I too just returned from a stay here with my wife over president's day weekend...I will post a trip report with pictures when time allows...while my experience was mostly positive, this is an absolute joke!

looks like our new member has just joined tripadvisor as wel...this is HILARIOUS!!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147346-d625303-r13766973-Westin_St_Maarten_Dawn_Beach_Resort_Spa-St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

I too just returned from a stay here with my wife over president's day weekend...I will post a trip report with pictures when time allows...while my experience was mostly positive, this is an absolute joke!How anybody can read the following and still take the review seriously is beyond me:

"The resort is nestled between scenic hills containing luxury homes and a beautiful beach."

:rolleyes:

I too just returned from a stay here with my wife over president's day weekend...I will post a trip report with pictures when time allows...while my experience was mostly positive, this is an absolute joke!


Definitely:

1) agree with you
2) looking forward to your trip report

The Westin Resort is indeed in a scenic spot on St. Maarten. The Dawn Beach area is one of the top luxury residental sections on the island. For example, another high-end residential section is by the LaSammana hotel near the airport. I would say that most homes in the hills above the Westin are rather large and cost well over US$2 million. Even condo units right by the Westin start at $650,000. When you drive around the island, you will see no shortage of rather poor residential areas. This can be quite startling at times.

There is absolutely no joking with my review. I simply wish to illustrate how SPG Platinum-level senior global professionals conduct themselves and are able to receive the highest levels of service, respect and courtesy.

Bottom line: My stay at the Westin was world-class all the way!

Again, to maximize your stay, always ask yourself......

Which level do I operate on? How do I operate one level up?
How effective am I as a person in a multinational environment?
How professional are my interactions with hotel staff?

I hope this helps!

SPGPlatinumMember

I just returned from SXM Sunday. Clearly you never saw Dawn Beach before Westin raped the land and built this butt ugly hotel. I'm no tree hugger but I almost cried when I saw what was left of Dawn Beach. Beside paving over the turtle nesting area, the buildings look like they belong in an industrial park.

I just returned from SXM Sunday. Clearly you never saw Dawn Beach before Westin raped the land and built this butt ugly hotel. I'm no tree hugger but I almost cried when I saw what was left of Dawn Beach. Beside paving over the turtle nesting area, the buildings look like they belong in an industrial park.

What's LEFT of Dawn Beach is...wait for it....the beach! I was there after the hotel opened and the beach is still there--nice pretty white sand in fact.

I am curious as to where the OP stayed while on the island--a treehouse made from sustainable forestry? I assume they took a jumbo jet to the island and didn't row in on a canoe. BTW, by island standards they paved an extra long concrete runway in SXM just for the big planes!

SXM is one of the most developed islands in the Lesser Antilles. If the OP is REALLY looking for a more back-to-basics locale in the islands, check out Dominica and Guadeloupe.

My wife and I are headed to St. Maarten for a week in April, so I'm looking forward to more recent stay reports.

Also, I'm curious what is recommended as far as car rentals on the island. Are you guys renting them right from the airport and driving to the Westin or are you renting them once you get to the Westin? I'm assuming the hotel can arrange car rentals.?.

we rented at the airport for the whole stay and drove to westin ourselves. you really need the car for the whole stay since you have to drive for dinner and taxi will add up. car rental is so cheap (ours was $30 total per day from budget) that it's not even worth paying for a taxi to get to westin. plus, airport gives you bigger choice of agencies. there's car rental office onsite at the westin, but don't remember which company.

I think the name of the car company at the Hotel was Prestige, they were OK... we did not rent the car until Day 2 of our stay. This worked better for us.....yes I agree you Need a car while staying at The Westin. For us it was better to take the cab from the airport (I think around $30.00?) we did not get in SXM until late and it would have been much too stressful for us to arrive late afternoon, and drive in the evening traffic, especially when we didn't know where we were going. We got the " Lay of the Land" in the cab to the hotel and rented the car the next day.

I also loved the fact that the Westin has a garage and it was free to park the car.

Have fun:)

I call bs.

This guy must work for the hotel. He put the EXACT same post on TripAdvisor as well.
I am at the hotel currently, and this hotel is dreadful. Full report coming soon upon my return. Worst Platinum stay in my 7 years as Plat. BEWARE!

I am at the hotel currently, and this hotel is dreadful. Full report coming soon upon my return. Worst Platinum stay in my 7 years as Plat. BEWARE!

Great!:td::( Staying there for a couple nights in May 08 after visiting Anguilla. But would still love to hear your full honest report. ^

I haven't been getting a good picture in my mind recently about SXM anyways (as it relates to my preferences) and may decide to spend the whole time on AXA.:D

To TravelingGnome, Joelle and Colin:

I hate to disappoint you all but I don't work for the hotel or any hotel company. As previously stated, I am a Global Software Sales Manager in the world of messaging solutions for large multinational firms. I did also post my comments on Trip Advisor.

Bottom line: There is no "bs" with my postings! I call it like it is, using facts and comparative figures. I did have an outstanding stay at the Westin Dawn Beach and was royally treated as a nine-year SPG Platinum member. I am completely honest about this. Did you carefully review and reflect on my posting on golden rules for successful relationships? How do you approach and resolve issues that arise during your hotel stay? Are you global economy professionals? Which level in the global economy do you operate on?

Bottom line: There is no "bs" with my postings! I call it like it is, using facts and comparative figures.

I believe a lot of people here are skeptical of your praise-heaping review because: (1) despite your supposed being a SPG Plat member for the past nine years, this is your first post here, (2) during all that time, you've never posted a review (positive or negative) of any number of *W properties you surely must have visited until now -- guess you've been lurking all these years only to finally break out, (3) or you just now discovered FT and have a very strong compulsion to provide a lengthy review as your first contribution, (4) and despite all the mixed reviews here and on TA, including those of other Plats, you deem this property to be St Regis caliber. Now that was way OTT (over-the-top). There's a big difference between a Westin and a St Regis, and anyone who's been a SPG plat for the last 9 yrs would know that.

With such a glowing report, who knows? maybe you're just honing your 'skills' as a "Global Sales Manager"! because it sure sounds like you're trying to sell the resort as if it were a timeshare.

But if it was an honest post, thank you for your contribution but know that we all take everything with a grain of salt here.

I think you would lend a lot more credibility to your postings if you were to provide your self-proclaimed "comparative figures" by comparing and contrasting the Westin St Maarten at Dawn Beach with your other favorite *W properties you've been to during your nine years as a SPG Plat. At least then, we can sort of gauge the authenticity of your experiences.

Thanks for your comments. I wish to put the following points on the record.
As I stated up front in my original post, over the years I have been to most Westin resort properties in the Caribbean. I am comparing Westin Dawn Beach against these. The Westin Dawn Beach excels in overall service response, food quality, value and efficiency.

My comments regarding Westin Dawn beach to be SPG Category 6 – St. Regis caliber is referring to the world class service response and the highest levels of treatment and respect I received. I am not saying that Westin Dawn beach is more grandiose, opulent or deluxe than any St. Regis properties. Every property has its own unique merits based on facility quality and location. As we know, there are not many St. Regis resorts. I am using the St. Regis Monarch Beach in southern California as a comparative resort reference point. I can honestly state that my overall stay experience was equal to or better than at Monarch Beach. I am strictly comparing overall service and guest treatment. (I can also do comparisons with a bunch of Luxury Collection properties in Europe)

I have looked at Flyertalk from time to time over the years and did do a full read-through before my stay at Westin Dawn Beach. I was quite concerned that the Westin was an uneven resort with indifferent, sub-par service. Thus, to my utterly pleasant surprise and enjoyment, I had one of my best stays ever at any Starwood property. That is what prompted me to author a lengthy forward-looking review for year 2008. The past is the past. It may seem a bit over the top, but I am calling it like it is. Royal Platinum SPG treatment is royal treatment anywhere! Sorry for your skepticism!

I have always had ZERO personal interest in time shares. I earn enough Starwood points each year via stays and credit card spending to take several nice vacations. I am sure that I receive better treatment and accommodations as an SPG Platinum member than as a timeshare purchaser. I like to vacation at any time where I want and with no terms or conditions.

To TravelingGnome, Joelle and Colin:

I hate to disappoint you all but I don't work for the hotel or any hotel company. As previously stated, I am a Global Software Sales Manager in the world of messaging solutions for large multinational firms. I did also post my comments on Trip Advisor.

Bottom line: There is no "bs" with my postings! I call it like it is, using facts and comparative figures. I did have an outstanding stay at the Westin Dawn Beach and was royally treated as a nine-year SPG Platinum member. I am completely honest about this. Did you carefully review and reflect on my posting on golden rules for successful relationships? How do you approach and resolve issues that arise during your hotel stay? Are you global economy professionals? Which level in the global economy do you operate on?

To SPGPlatinumMember - your comment of "what level in the global economy do you operate on" is one of the most offensive comments I've ever seen on Flyertalk. Everyone's opinion on this site is valued. But since this seems to matter to you, I am a consulting professional for one of the world's top global management consulting firms and my wife is an attorney. I do 200 nights/year on the road (domestically and internationally) and stay at the full spectrum of Starwoods, Hiltons, Marriotts, and Four Seasons. Enjoy:

A precursor to this report. Yes, I am bitter that as a Platinum I had a “resort” view room that looked smack dab into a barren hillside. I hope that you all find my report useful/cautionary and think twice, nay three times before staying at this hotel. I am fairly certain that this hotel will soon be as despised as the (no longer in Starwood) Westin in Puerto Rico. I've now stayed at both and would have rather been back in PR.

No respect should have been the mantra of my three miserable days at the Westin Dawn Beach “Resort” and Spa. The word Resort is a surprising misnomer. This hotel is really a convention hotel adjacent to a tiny beach. There were no less than 5 conventions occurring simultaneously during my stay Feb 28 – March 2nd. A computer tech support company and a strip mall brokerage firm were the only companies I was actually aware of. The 5 were stated to me by management upon my complaints regarding my stay. Conventioneers descended upon the resources of the hotel – pool, bar, restaurants, gym, etc like a swarm of locusts – devouring all that was in their path. Simple requests like an outdoor seat at the Sunday brunch became more difficult than a seat at the hottest restaurant in NYC. A simple plea to the front desk to hook up a Platinum with an outside table fell on deaf ears – like any other request made during this trip. It was abundantly clear to me during this stay that the hotel has no interest in attracting and satisfying Starwood Preferred Guests. This hotel is focused on its conventioneers (maybe). As this hotel becomes a Cat 5 on March 3rd, it becomes an even worse value prop for the Flyertalk community.
The hotel does not allow reward reservations to be booked for anything higher than a resort view room. I always, when given the opportunity, plunk down the extra points to ensure I get an ocean view room. Ocean view is critical to the enjoyment of my vacations. If I didn’t need an ocean view, I would go to my second home in Florida that is a .8 mile walk to the beach (which is a MUCH nicer beach than Dawn Beach). I went to St. Maarten to look out at the water and enjoy some new culture and (positive) experiences. I was using my Platinum 50POR award (or whatever it’s called this year). Apparently, the hotel was full, or near full and there were no ocean view rooms available, let alone a suite). When I checked in I asked if upgrades were available and a simple, no we’re full was all I got. No apology. No extra welcome gift. No call from the manager. Nothing. I recognize that the hotel did not violate any SPG policies, but I made the reservation at least 9 months ahead of time and if the satisfaction of Platinum guests were even a remote concern of the hotel they could have held an ocean view room for me. So, I got exactly what was guaranteed – a “resort” view room which consisted of looking straight into a barren hillside and if I panned to the left I was able to look straight down a service road running alongside the parking deck. Ahh…paradise (I’ve attached a picture of my “resort” view).
The moment that made me the angriest occurred early in the stay. We returned to the room and found the maid finishing up the room. My wife stated to her, “are you done, this is our room?” The maid smiled and OPENED THE DOOR ALL THE WAY OPEN AND POINTED US INTO THE ROOM. I was flabbergasted. I was staring at my computer and cell phone on the desk. Anyone could have taken it. I find incidents like this to be an unbelievable violation of trust between hotel and guest. And no, my computer does not fit in the safe and according to a guest on TripAdvisor who claims he was recently robbed out of his safe (who I believe after my time at the hotel) – I don’t believe for a second that the safe in this hotel is secure for anything of real value.
The room and the hotel, in general, seem to be poorly constructed. Sound definitely travels through walls and especially through the doors. With all my complaints about the room, I am grateful that I did not get one of the dreaded adjoining rooms. I can only imagine how loud that would have been. The room had some shiny features – large frameless shower, very pretty bathroom vanity top, and a (tiny) flatscreen TV. It also has the most befuddling French doors you'll ever encounter - that lead out to the patio. If you use it, you’ll understand. However, it is already apparent that after being open 12 to 18 months that the hotel is already beginning to fall apart. The tile job in the bathroom was an embarrassment. Cracked floor tiles in the bathroom abounded. The shower fixture was coming loose and was staining the tile with rust marks. Grout along an entire wall in the bathroom was cracked floor to ceiling (obvious sign the building is settling). Carpet in the hallways is starting to pick up at the seams and seems to be dirty 99% of the time. I wish housekeeping and maintenance a lot of luck.
I have to agree with some of the previous posts regarding the hotel design and the casino. I could care less about the entrance to the hotel (yes, it’s hideous), but the biggest complaint I have about the design is how it discourages you from going outside. To me, the best resorts constantly pull you outside. The lobby should be looking out at the ocean. To get to guest rooms you should have to walk outside (covered) to remind you that you are in a beautiful place/resort. One could easily walk from the lobby to my room (at the far end of the hotel) and walk for over 5 minutes without ever seeing the ocean. We might as well have been in Pittsburgh (my hometown – so please no nasty PMs). The casino is…well…depressing. It reminds me of the lesser casinos in Tunica, MS. It also reeks of smoke, so I assume that they allow cigarette smoking in the casino which I believe to be generally against the Westin smoke-free policy.
The service, while probably much improved from the well documented snafus at the opening of this hotel, was still awful – even by Caribbean standards. The only exception was at their “upscale” restaurant Aura. Our waitress was very attentive and competent at Aura. Twice we sat down for lunch (once at the beach restaurant Liquid and once at the casual restaurant Ocean) where wait staff walked by us a dozen times as if we were not there. The only way we got service was to flag them down. At Ocean it took us 20 minutes to get service (no exaggeration, we timed it).
In general the food was a mixed bag, but generally uninspired – especially compared to the culinary treasures available on the French side of the island. Our first meal was at Aura. I would describe the meal as good, but not great. However, we’ve got 30 restaurants in Atlanta that we can walk to from our house that are better than Aura. Pricing was slightly more expensive than Atlanta. About $35/entrée. However, to be fair, Aura is a bargain compared to the much better restaurants available on the island – so we found the value-prop at Aura to be fair. The restaurant is rated 4 stars by AAA, but so is the hotel. The 4 star rating of either seems about as believable as Ted Williams being reanimated in my lifetime. Our second meal at the hotel was seated at the extension of the poolside bar – Liquid. The food was, at best, tasteless. Or at least my meal was (Jamaican steak Panini – somehow served cold!). Mrs. TravelingGnome could only describe her lunch as gross (shrimp cocktail). The fruit cup that came with my Panini was dreadful – unripened and (again) tasteless. Liquid only has white wines available, no reds. My wife is a red wine drinker (only) as are about 80% of our friends. I had expected at least (the very bad) typical Westin cabs and merlots. Third meal was lunch at Ocean, the casual restaurant. Have to say that we were very happy with the food, although not the service. At the hostess station we asked for an outside table. “Are you cheatin’ on me asked the waitress next to the hostess?” “Pardon me,” I responded. She then repeated herself again. I gave her a very blank look (as we had not met this waitress before) and she said “well at least I got to serve you guys yesterday.” Um….no you didn’t…. Overall, Ocean presented reasonable value. No complaints minus the crazy waitress and the (previously stated) fact we had to wait 20 minutes to get any service. At least the view is pretty. The biggest and best surprise was our last meal at the hotel – the Sunday champagne brunch. The brunch has a wide array of cuisines that were generally done very well – Indian (chicken and vegetable curry), pasta station, omlet station, Greek (not done very well accoring to the Mrs.), dumplings, Sushi (very basic rolls), salad, huge desert bar, gelato, and I probably missed something. The (cheap) champagne mimosas flowed non-stop and our primary server was a very jovial and pleasant fellow. It was a great deal at $48/pp.
The pool is nice in a “don’t use me kind of way.” There is no shade at the pool and I’ve never seen so many patrons of a hotel burnt to a crisp at once. Apparently, the ever present trade winds make it seem like you’re not being burned (trust me, you are). Two words for everyone – sun screen, please! The pool side lounge chairs are cheap plastic pieces of junk. The tables and chairs around the periphery of the pool are nice wood numbers. It’s a shame they had to cheapen the pool with the white plastic junk. There’s a swim up bar as well as a stand-up bar (Liquid) that are back to back. There are cabanas available for rental along the sides of the pool. They're really cheap metal and canvas numbers (at least they provide shade). The kind they sell at Target for $199. There’s also a hot tub (filled with lonely conventioneers – enter at your own risk). The beach is a small stretch of beach that is enclosed by rocks on each end that keeps the beach private for the hotel. The privacy may be nice for some, but based on sand, view, and ability to walk on the beach I give the beach a 3 out of 10. If you want a gorgeous beach, I suggest you take your rental car (a must to escape this hotel) and drive 15 minutes to Orient Beach. It’s gorgeous. Some might see it as too crowded, but along the water for walking I didn’t find it to be crowded at all. The north half of Orient Beach is clothed (although about 1 in 3 women are European sunbathing) and the South half of Orient Beach is clothing optional. The beach is 2 miles long, so there’s plenty of room to roam for everyone. You can rent a chair, umbrella, and towel for 9 bucks at one of the many beach clubs lining the beach and they throw in a free drink at well.
The Concierges were extremely unhelpful and rude. In general, all tasks and questions had to be handled on their terms and in their preferred manner. My wife asking the concierge “we’re looking for something to do” resulted in the following answer. “Ahh…there’s so much to do here. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Why don’t you look through the activities book over there (as she pointed to the adjacent activities desk).” The book consisted solely of excursions the hotel was selling which were not at all what we were looking for. When we inquired about the fine gourmet dining of St. Martin, the concierge recommended “Big Fish” which appeared to be middle of the road family dining and “La Santal.” “La Santal” had a tremendous ambiance (right on the water) and wasn’t too expensive (about $100/pp and took 1 Euro =$1) but the food wasn’t half as good as the meal we had at Le Pressoir in Grand Case (which I has selected over the objections of the Concierge and ran us about $175/pp). Asking for directions to La Santal over the phone resulted in “come down here and I’ll give you directions.” Upon my response of “I’d like to get the directions over the phone so I don’t have to wait in line in the lobby” resulted in “well I don’t know how you’re going to get there without me showing you.” Sure enough, after some arguing I got my directions over the phone and got there just fine. We asked for our dinner reservation confirmations to be emailed to us (since we’d get them on our Blackberry’s without being confined to our lovely resort view room). The concierge got nervous and insisted that she just leave a voicemail in our room. We insisted we wanted email. Well, the emails never came. The voicemails did, though.
I’m pleased to report that the “Spa” part of the hotel’s name does ring true. My wife was very happy with her spa treatment and reported that the “best employees in the hotel are clearly working at the spa.” She described the Spa as very serene and that it had lots of great fresh fruit.
The gym is standard Westin Workout. Number of treadmills, one elliptical, and two exercise bikes. A small Universal machine and free weights up to 50 lbs rounded out the rest of the equipment. Plenty of issues with the gym. Because of the conventioneers (who to their credit work out more than people on vacation – at least in my experience) the gym was also crowded. I believe the conventions can also be thanked for the two different creepy guys two days in a row who hit on Mrs. TravelingGnome after I finished my workout. On the third day, I felt compelled to stick around for the entirety of her workout. Additionally, The TV feed to the bike I used each day was out. Management also needs an education on what it means to clean a gym. The floor of the gym appears to be regularly mopped, but the exercise bike had the same garbage in the cupholder on the 2nd day that was there when I sat down the first day. I threw out the garbage on that 2nd day, but left a few small items in the cupholder to check on day 3. Sure enough, it was still there in the cupholder. Clearly they are not cleaning the equipment which is borderline unsanitary.
Internet Access at the hotel ran $14.95 per 24 hour period and the speed was very acceptable. Phone calls in St Maarten were free. Calls to the US – yikes! I believe they ran $6/minute. We used our cell phone for calls. My cell phone provider offered calls to the US for $1.49/minute. Unfortunately, Mrs. TravelingGnome had two negotiations she needed to tend to, so I am waiting with trepidation for our cellular bill.
Parking at the hotel continues to be free. There’s a parking deck (that many “resort” view rooms get to look at. Among the dozens of hotel design flaws, you can’t walk from the lobby to the parking deck without getting wet if it is raining. All they need is about 15 feet of covered walkway to get the job done.
I was charged a resort fee of $5 per day. Each day we had one small bottle of water and coffee delivered to the room. Not sure if this was a SPG or Plat amenity. Thankfully, they were not stingy on the coffee (the usual Westin Starbucks packs).
Sundries at the resort store were highway robbery. A 4.8 oz toothpaste cost $10 (even though toothpaste was on the “free” list that would be delivered – two calls did not yield the complimentary toothpaste). A large bottle of water was $8. Turns out the large bottle of water in the room at $7.50 was the better deal. Needless to say, we stocked up on supplies during our first trip outside the resort.
Our lovely trip was capped off with a silky smooth check out process. No preview folio was sent to the room – so at the front desk I went to check out. After waiting five minutes for a front desk associate, I gave her my room number, and she printed out the folio. She immediately started stuffing the folio into an envelope and asked “charge to the same card?” “Um, no I responded – I want to review the folio.” She gave me a frustrated look and I reviewed the folio. All wrong. Wrong room! She finally printed out MY folio and, of course, the Sunday brunch was not on there. I refuse to leave hotels (especially those that can’t do seemingly anything right) without a zero balance so I stood there for (at least) 10 minutes while they tried to get the charge onto the folio. Eventually, they just asked me what the total charge was (which I told them) and they added it to the folio. The entire checkout process took 30 minutes and almost caused us to miss our flight out. A fitting cherry on top to of a hotel experience best now forgotten.

Final comment 1: It seems that all of the best parts of St. Maarten/St. Martin are on the French side of the island. The resort is very close to the French border. Run for the border!

Final comment 2: Ecta (sp?) from the front desk called me the last night of our stay to ask how it was. I was brutally (surprise) honest with her. She stated that she was sure that if they did not have 5 conventions my experience would have been very different. Yeah? Well they did have 5 conventions, and my vacation, if not ruined, was a sliver of what I had hoped it would be. Mrs. TravelingGnome said that if she had to stay at the hotel one more night she would have gone insane.

Enough said.

Final Note: Pics to be posted soon

Follow-Up: I forwarded this review to Starwood Customer Service and the hotel management. I received relatively prompt response from management that actions were being taken regarding my stay. I have every reason to believe those actions are taking place. However, if you are Platinum I would NOT count on a room upgrade in high season. There was no mention in their reply to me that they would revise their policy regarding the use of points for anything but a resort view room.

"Are you global economy professionals? Which level in the global economy do you operate on?"

SPGPlatinumMember - You really need to get over yourself!

Thanks for the review TravelingGnome! I was thinking about a vacation there with Mrs. DUF and micro DUF but I guess now it will only be a short overnight stay on our way to St. Barts....

Thanks TravelingGnome for the detailed review.

Like DownUnderFlyer, it will only be a short stay (2 nts, if that)...just after visiting Anguilla for a week.

Thanks for your comments. I wish to put the following points on the record.
As I stated up front in my original post, over the years I have been to most Westin resort properties in the Caribbean. I am comparing Westin Dawn Beach against these. The Westin Dawn Beach excels in overall service response, food quality, value and efficiency.

My comments regarding Westin Dawn beach to be SPG Category 6 – St. Regis caliber is referring to the world class service response and the highest levels of treatment and respect I received. I am not saying that Westin Dawn beach is more grandiose, opulent or deluxe than any St. Regis properties. Every property has its own unique merits based on facility quality and location. As we know, there are not many St. Regis resorts. I am using the St. Regis Monarch Beach in southern California as a comparative resort reference point. I can honestly state that my overall stay experience was equal to or better than at Monarch Beach. I am strictly comparing overall service and guest treatment.


I believe a lot of people here are skeptical of your praise-heaping review because: (1) despite your supposed being a SPG Plat member for the past nine years, this is your first post here, (2) during all that time, you've never posted a review (positive or negative) of any number of *W properties you surely must have visited until now -- guess you've been lurking all these years only to finally break out, (3) or you just now discovered FT and have a very strong compulsion to provide a lengthy review as your first contribution, (4) and despite all the mixed reviews here and on TA, including those of other Plats, you deem this property to be St Regis caliber. Now that was way OTT (over-the-top). There's a big difference between a Westin and a St Regis, and anyone who's been a SPG plat for the last 9 yrs would know that.

I think you would lend a lot more credibility to your postings if you were to provide your self-proclaimed "comparative figures" by comparing and contrasting the Westin St Maarten at Dawn Beach with your other favorite *W properties you've been to during your nine years as a SPG Plat. At least then, we can sort of gauge the authenticity of your experiences.

Very good points Globetrotter. I am from SoCal and have stayed at the St. Regis Monarch a number of times. In no way whatsoever would the descriptions of the Westin Dawn Beach compare to this property. The St. Regis is in a beautiful part of So Orange Cnty and is a rock's throw from the 4 seasons. It shares many of the same qualities as the 4 seasons. Now, is SPG Plat Mem trying to insinuate that the Westin is comparable or better than the 4 seasons?

I have only been a plat for 3 years now but have had many stays at *wood properties around the world as a gold. Even though I have only been a FT'er for a few weeks, I have shared my personal experiences with over 40 posts.

After reviewing SPG Plat Member, how could you be a plat for 9 years and the only time you speak up is for one out of 800+ *wood properties? A property that has continually received negative reviews.

I have been to dozens of Starwood properties ovr the years both in North America and Europe.

Please keep your reply focused on overall service and guest treatment!

AGAIN, I am not saying that Westin Dawn beach is more grandiose, opulent or deluxe than any St. Regis properties. Every property has its own unique merits based on facility quality and location. As we know, there are not many St. Regis resorts. I am using the St. Regis Monarch Beach in southern California as a comparative resort reference point. I can honestly state that my overall stay experience was equal to or better than at Monarch Beach.

I am strictly comparing overall service and guest treatment.

I am not comparing southern California to the Caribbean. Way different.

I am using the St. Regis Monarch Beach in southern California as a comparative resort reference point. I can honestly state that my overall stay experience was equal to or better than at Monarch Beach.

I am strictly comparing overall service and guest treatment.


SPGPlatinumMember,
I received a suite upgrade along with BUTLER service during my last stay at the St Regis Monarch Beach on a C&P stay. I don't know of any Westins with butler service.

I'll be thrilled at the Westin St Maarten Dawn Beach if I even get half of the treatment I received at the St Regis Monarch Beach. After reading TravelingGnome's report and most others, I highly doubt it. But if my experience turns out like yours instead in May, I'll come back here and vouch for you. Sound fair?

I stayed here last weekend. Overall it was decent, but I probably wouldn't pay $500/night including taxes for it.

-First, to address the "St. Regis" comparison - this stay was on points accumulated from being holed up at the St. Regis in NYC for much of last August. This hotel is solid, but not comparable to a Ritz/Four-Seasons/St. Regis. The staff was great, but the hotel is a Westin
-I had hoped for a room upgrade, and emailed SPG & the hotel in advance letting them know it was a special trip for me (have never asked them in advance before), heard back that they'd figure it out at check-in. Fair enough, I'm SPG gold, that's their policy. At check-in I was told I was "upgraded to an ocean front room". Turned out to be a pool view room (#2039). I guess if you stick out and crane your neck from the corner of the balcony maybe you can sea some ocean, ocean view would be misleading if I'd paid cash for an upgrade. It was still an ok room, huge bathroom, good fixtures, though the room or hallway carpet seemed badly in need of cleaning
-It was early March, but still pretty windy, especially last Friday. Lowers the potential of the location since it can get in the way of the beach experience, though it improved as our stay progressed
-Nice pool, though the water was cold. Almost no one in the pool the whole weekend, though good temperature for doing laps. The swim-up bar was missing its potential
-There was a shortage of the padded pool seats because people were reserving them (putting their stuff on a seat without being there for most of the day). There were empty seats with towels on them reserving them but the majority were unoccupied. Without reserving seats, there wouldn't be a shortage, so the hotel should just stop people from reserving and that would fix the problem and still satisfy everyone
-The concierge wasn't very helpful in providing restaurant recommendations on the French side ... tried asking a couple of them. Other than this the staff was great, very friendly.
-Room service was prompt, though though the guy lingered while I signed the bill (filling out the total, with optional further tip, after the $3+20% is already in there) in a way that makes me uncomfortable. I like the approach at the St. Regis in SF where that part is done after the guy has left
-After I checked out ($93 incidentals), they hit my Amex for another $26.50 that turned out to be someone else's lunch. They should have checked the name on the bill. I called SPG and also the hotel and they emailed me 36 hours later saying it was an incorrect charge and they'd refund. Hasn't hit Amex yet.
-Not sure how the math works that I ended up with 171 starwood points (114 + 57 GLD) on $119.50 charged to my amex. Seems like its off by a factor of 2.
-That resort fee is silly. Come on guys. That's not classy. You're charging $500/night incl. tax/mandatory service charges already because its a resort, and people will further tip housekeeping on their own the same either way

And some island stuff:
-Rent a car. Its a good idea. And pretty cheap. Especially with free parking at the hotel
-On the way to the hotel stop at the grand-marche by the roundabout and get some water and fruit etc.
-Be wary if you deal with Thrifty rental cars. They were 3 mins from the airport, call it 10 including waiting for the ride. They made me sign, "just in case, because not taking the insurance", two blank Amex authorizations and also a blank "I damaged the car form". I called BS on it but they said I had to to get the car, I didn't want to make a scene to start a short weekend trip so I just noted on the damage form that it was blank when I signed it so they couldn't forge it later. Hopefully Amex would have had my back, but I returned the car in ok condition and then only charged me about what I expected (though it seemed maybe $3-5 higher than the all-in rate on the website). Anyway, be careful and I'd recommend having your travel companions wait outside in case you need to be firm with them.

I to just got back from a 5 day 6 night stay at this resort. I would agree with Cheap Traveler for the most part and especially with the pool. The pool was freezing and I couldn't stay in it to long. No one was ever in the pool.

The beach is really windy since it is on the eastern side. We rented a car and every day went to a different beach than the Westin. We would have breakfast at the hotel, lounge for an hour or two, then take the car to some other beaches.

The French side had the best beaches. No wind and very calm waters to swim in. Not to mention that the food was infinetly better than the resort food.

I've never been on a vacation to a resort before so I was stunned at how much the food costs at a resort. We went for Dinner on Wednesday and they were having there pirates of the carribbean buffet. It was ok but when I got the bill I found out it was ~40 dollars per person. No way it was worth that.

Overall it was a great first vacation however I would never pay the full price to stay there. Go if on points but otherwise I look forward to trying a new island. You need to rent a car and go to the other beaches. There is a lot more out there than just the resort. If we had only stayed at the resort we would have not had nearly as much fun.

Finally..... Make sure your ready for driving more scary than NY city!

Here's another trip report from last week:

Mrs. JG and I were there Wednesday-Sunday. We had a great time, and on balance liked the hotel. While we agree that it's not in the same category as the St Regis Monarch Beach, for us that's actually a plus, as we prefer a lighter touch. Also, the price was excellent: free. (Well, 40k points). There very well may be nicer resorts elsewhere in the Caribbean, but none that we could book on points, and none that was as easy to get to (4 hour non-stop flight, 30 minute drive).

Some other positives:
1) We were upgraded upon arrival to oceanfront, on the top (3rd) floor in the wing to the left as you look at the hotel from the beach. The room was so good, we actually spent more time on our balcony then down on the sand. (I am platinum because of my spend on the SPG Amex, not because of my SPG stays).

2) The room and bath were lovely and clean. There were a few minor problems with fit and finish that didn't bother us, but may be troublesome as the resort ages.

3) We had consistently good, timely and cheerful service from the front desk, the concierges, and housekeeping. Towels and coffee were replenished twice a day, and turn-down service was consistent.

4) When we bothered going down to the sand or the pool, we had no trouble getting chairs or towels on the beach or at the pool, despite the fact that there were two conferences while we were there.

5) For us, the water (in the pool, and in the ocean) were at a perfect temperature - especially in the early part of the day. By 2pm, when the sun was heading to the other side of the island, it got cool enough so that we didn't feel the need to go in the water anyway.

Some negatives:
1) We agree that the on-site restaurants were expensive for what they offered. There are a few off-property restaurants close by which are less expensive, but quality and service ranged from poor to mediocre. (Busby's: good; Big Fish: bad service and mediocre food; Beau Beaus: mediocre food and karaoke). For a consistently enjoyable dining experience, we agree with the other posters that you really have to go to Grand Case, about 20 minutes away, or Marigot, about 30-40 minutes.

2) We had the same experience with the concierges as CheapTraveller. While they were very friendly and really seemed to want to help, they really had no idea. And they're not so good at follow-through: one fellow told us he had made the reservation we requested, but when we got to the restaurant, they had no record of our reservation. Luckily, we were there early and they were able to squeeze us in. (The maitre d' told us that none of the island's concierges do a good job of follow-through, and that he frequently has to turn away people who thought they had reservations).

There were some food service staff who had been sent to the property from American Westins to help train the local employees. One of them told us the problem is that the locals mostly live close by, rarely go to the French side, and never go to restaurants. She also told us she had to teach the local bartenders the difference between lemons and limes, since they had never seen either one before coming to work at the Westin.

3) We had a really excellent room. But there are many rooms where the view is not as good - they look out on the pool or on the condos, with only a sliver of ocean view. And there are some truly *horrible* rooms - there's a whole wing that looks out on a block wall. If we had been stuck with one of those rooms, there's no question we would not have had such a good time.


Here's a couple of general St Martin observations, not specific to the Westin:
1) As has been note by other posters, it is very easy to get really badly sunburned there, since it's not real hot, and there's always a cool breeze coming in off the Atlantic. We saw lots of tourists with bad burns (and one poor unfortunate with sun poisoning). Even Ms JG got a little burned - and that's never happened in the 20+ years we've been together.

2) Traffic is *awful*. We never got over 40 kph - a good thing since our rental was a tiny Diahatsu that was shedding parts and surely would have fallen apart at higher speeds. The primary roads are only one lane in each direction, with no shoulders, so any little accident can stop up traffic all the away around the island. Also, many of the side roads have not been paved (or repaved), and we saw many flats.

3) To get to the airport from the Westin, you have to go across a drawbridge at Simpson's Bay. It opens every day at about 9:30am, 11:30am and 5:30pm, and stays open until the last boats clear the channel. That may be 5 minutes, or it may be 30. For us, it was 10, with another 20 minutes for the traffic to clear. So allow extra time when you're leaving - we saw people miss their flights because the bridge was open.

4) It's a desert island, with very little rain and no fresh water. (All tap water comes from desalination plants). Additionally, they used to dump raw sewage and garbage directly into the ocean, and although they don't do that anymore, it's still illegal to fish in the nearby waters. So *everything* you eat there is flown in from another island or Miami (or France). As a result, many restaurants seem to slightly overcook the food, or you stand to get a lovely case of Montezuma's revenge. (We experienced both, at the same high-end restaurant).

CheapTraveller's advice to buy some groceries on the way to the hotel is excellent - we made a couple of pretty nice breakfasts on our balcony from stuff we got at the store.

5) On the Dutch side, prices were pretty much always in USD. On the French side, prices were in Euros, with widely varying exchange rates - from $1.50 to $1.00. We used USD travellers checks - many places don't accept credit cards - when the rate was good, and Euros when it wasn't.

I am platinum because of my spend on the SPG Amex, not because of my SPG staysCome again? I thought this was impossible. How much do you charge to your SPG Amex to make Platinum?

Come again? I thought this was impossible.

Me too.

They told me at the Westin SXM I was upgraded because "You are platinum elite" and I believed them at the time. (I spend about $25-30k per year on the Amex). But now that you bring it up, I checked the SPG website - it says I'm gold.

Does anyone have experience with Instant Award availability at this property? If so, what types of options were you given? Thanks!

1) We were upgraded upon arrival to oceanfront, on the top (3rd) floor in the wing to the left as you look at the hotel from the beach. The room was so good, we actually spent more time on our balcony then down on the sand. (I am platinum because of my spend on the SPG Amex, not because of my SPG stays).


Is this true, that you can achieve Platinum status via purchases on SPG Amex? I thought you could only achieve Gold status via SPG Amex purchases?

...Is this true, that you can achieve Platinum status via purchases on SPG Amex? I thought you could only achieve Gold status via SPG Amex purchases?

Not that I'm aware of. Officially, the only elite status that can be earned using the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express is Gold at a yearly spend of $30K.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Does anyone have experience with Instant Award availability at this property? If so, what types of options were you given? Thanks!

To close the loop on my question, here is the response I received from the hotel:

"Good morning Ms. X,

To redeem points at the hotel, the conversion rate is $1 to 75 points. The couples massage costs $250 (18750 points) plus 15% gratuity and the breakfast buffet is approximately $21 (1575 points). The champagne breakfast brunch buffet is approximately $49 (3675 points) per person and is only offered on Sundays. I hope that answers your questions. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me

Kind Regards,
Ekta"

IMO, not a great conversion :td:, but I appreciated the timely responses from Ekta and the hotel ^.

Again, to maximize your stay, always ask yourself......

Which level do I operate on? How do I operate one level up?
How effective am I as a person in a multinational environment?

Did you carefully review and reflect on my posting on golden rules for successful relationships?

Are you global economy professionals? Which level in the global economy do you operate on?

Amazing! I have spent about 15 minutes trying to decipher this mumbo-jumbo, and I have failed. I am a management consultant, and I used to think we had a bad reputation for using jargon ("core competence" "paradigm shift" "outside-in full potential assessment" and so on), but I have to say -- the lines above take the cake! Not to mention the sheer b/s-coated arrogance of these statements!

Just returned from a seven day stay at Westin Dawn Beach through points with husband and two kids. Husband is platnum and was upgraded to Ocean view room on the north end away from the condos which was great. Would have been perfect if not for the music emanating from Mr. Busby Beach Bar (more on them later) but thankfully it wasn't a problem at after 5:00 p.m.

Pros with the hotel:

Liked that the hotel was only three floors high
Loved that the hotel was close enough to the ocean that you can hear the waves
Large infinity pool with swim up bar that was never crowded and big hot tub (although it was not warm enough and was over-run with kids;price for going during Spring Break)
Friendly staff
Spacious rooms and bathrooms with two person shower
Received creamers with Starbucks everyday
Received unlimited pool towels without having to sign them out

Cons of the hotel:

Too far from anything! Definitely need a car or else you'll have to take a taxi everywhere. Even the closest restaurants outside of the hotel are at least a 15 minute walk up and down an EXTREMELY steep hill. Faster and easier during the day when you can walk through the surf; less an option at night.

Ugly sprawling concrete hotel especially the facade upon arrival. No warmth whatsoever.

Constantly windy, therefore ocean surf is rough; not suitable for small kids. Actually didn't see many people in ocean.

Convention hotel filled to capacity with conventioneers. If looking for romance forget it. Would not consider it for a wedding.

Pirate Night Buffet on Wednesdays had decent food but lame entertainment. Just an excuse to make you eat at one of their restaurants.

Gym on third floor is too small and merely there as an afterthougt. No windows, few equipments. Should have built something that allows you to view the ocean or at least the grounds while exercising. Truly depressing, did not even use it once from someone who is a regular gym goer. Husband preferred running up and down the MONSTER hills around the hotel which afforded the views that the gym should have offered.

Westin Kids Club room was small and did not see it in operation once even through it was Spring Break. Could be because it looked so depressing no parent would want to send their kids there.

Concierges were not overly helpful with activities.

Basically the thing we hated the most was that it was too far from anything. The only places you can go to besides the hotel property are the few restaurants in Oyster Bay which is still a hike. Otherwise you will need to drive at least 15 minutes to get somewhere else in heavy traffic with narrow twisty roads. Mr Busby is a good option if you don't want to go far. It was voted St. Maarteen's best beach bar 2008 and it offers $0.75 USD Carib beers from 11:00 - 4:00! Other drink specials start after 4:00. The food was also very good. At night it becomes Daniel's By The Sea an Italian Seafood Restaurant which is good but not as good as going to Marigot or Grand Case. Stackable plastic chairs are o.k. during the day but not at night when you're paying mid-$20s++ for entrees.


Grand Case by far has the best restaurants but be prepared to pay Euros in the best places. Some restaurants accept USD at par to the euro but they typically are not as good although we were happy with one such restaurant in Marigot, Arhawark, which while was not fancy or gourmet was a very good meal for the price. In Grand Case be prepared to spend about $200USD for a gourmet restaurant, a lot more if you want a good bottle of wine. Our favourite restaurant was Le Cottage. Le Pressoir was good but there was no "WOW" factor. We also enjoyed the "Lolos" there, cheap local BBQ shacks.
The one find was a great boulangerie or bakery in Orleans whose breads, sandwhichs, and pastries were cheaper and better than downtown Marigot.

Went on a day trip to Anguilla by ferry and was glad we did. Cost $5USD departure tax and $12USD ferry per person each way. Ferry was only 20 minutes and fun. Went super fast so no one got seasick. Disappointed that most car rental places are at the airport and not the ferry docks so a car that I so wanted was not available as the only car rental place dockside called Andy's was sold out. Took taxi to beach and the beach was everything you've seen in fancy travel mags. Truly amazing with the clearest water you've ever seen. Definitely would like to stay here in the future. Too bad there's no Wood property!

While in general we did not really like Westin Dawn Beach (nor hate it) we liked St. Maarteen/St. Martin. There's a lot more to the island than say Cayman Island. Dawn's Beach was a good deal as a level 4 but would we spend the money and points as a level 5? Don't know; guess it depends how much it would cost but definitely won't be shelling out 12,000 point for it.

I know this is very long and perhaps boring with some stuff having been mentioned already but it's Easter and I'm bored at home with time on my hand freezing my butt off and wishing for warmth.

Thanks for the report!

Just returned from a 7 night award stay at the Westin Dawn Beach resort, and were quite pleased with our stay overall. I booked the stay before the category changes so we stayed at the old 10K point/night rate.

If you are going to be staying here, do yourself a huge favor and rent a car for your entire stay, you won't be sorry. You'll spend just as much on taxis if you don't rent. Parking is free at the Westin, and is quite secure in a new parking garage which is guarded at night. It is quite easy to get around the island after just a day or two, as there are only a few main roads around the island to learn.

Upond arriving at the Westin, we were greeted by the reservations manager and were upgraded to an Ocean front room in the north wing, opposite the condos. We were given room #2182, on the second floor, which was perfect, a bit of a hike to the elevators, but the views made up for it. As others have mentioned, nice rooms, flat panel TV's, huge bathroom, walk-in shower, nice balconies, etc... As I mentioned, we were staying on points and had just booked the standard "resort-view" award room, so the upgrade to the ocean-front room was a welcome surprise.

We thought the service was great and the hotel definately likes to make their SPG members feel welcome here. I'm only a Gold, but in addition to the upgraded ocean front room, we also received a few other nice gestures during our stay. One day after spending most of the day at the pool/beach, we returned to our room to find a nice note thanking me for my loyalty to SPG and a Westin Dawn Beach rubber ducky. Which we took home and gave to my three year old, who loved it. A day or so later, another note and a small collection of sea shells, again our three year old enjoyed them. Later, another note and a bath/shower "fizzer", for the wife. And on our last day, we recieved a small bottle of a Guavaberry rum that is made locally on the island. ^ I enjoyed that one.

As far as the Dawn Beach area, we felt it was one of the cleaner areas of the island, seemed a bit safer/more secure than other parts of the island. The safe/secure parking at the Westin is a welcome blessing on this island, imho. As far as other spots for dining near the Westin, we enjoyed Mr. Busby's for breakfast every morning on the beach, along with cheap .75 cent Caribes. Way better than $5/beer at the Westin. Mr. Busby's is "transformed" into Daniels by the Sea at night with a more upscale menu. We enjoyed several meals at this establishment, especially breakfast. Also nearby, just across from Mr. Busby's is The Big Fish, we enjoyed a couple dinners there. Beau Beau's is another spot right on the water next to Mr. Busby's. Also nearby in Oyster Bay is Captain Olivers which has a good all you can eat buffet on saturday nights, including lobster, etc... Also nearby is Mama Pizza which is a nice place to grab a pizza and a couple beers while overlooking Oyster Bay.

Truth be told, we never even bothered with any of the Westin's food other than a few small snack/sandwiches while on the beach or near the pool and a room service snack or two.

As others have mentioned, there isn't a whole lot of shade at the Westin, as the palm trees haven't fully grown in yet, and truthfully I think several need to be replaced completely as they look dead. Even with the lack of shade, we always managed to find shade when we wanted it and never had a problem finding chairs near the pool or beach during our stay. I did overhear a pool area staff meeting where they mentioned the hotel only had a 72%-74% occupancy level during the first few days of our stay, but that went up to over 90% the last few days as at least one drug rep convention descended upon the Westin.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the Westin, but we wouldn't have wanted to stay there all day every day, the rental car was a bip plus in that regard.

It was definately a good value at the old point rate.

SPGPlatinumMember,
...if my experience turns out like yours instead in May, I'll come back here and vouch for you. Sound fair?

Well, I've returned recently from 2 separate stays (1nt for 1st and 2 nts for 2nd) at the Westin St Maarten at Dawn Beach as bookends to a week's stay on Anguilla. Both stays were booked using the SPG50 rate for 2 rooms each.

I won't go too much into descriptive notes on the property as previous posters have already given terrific details.

The first stay started off disappointingly as my Plat status only landed me in 3rd floor rooms (3114 & 3116 I believe) overlooking a service road, large concrete wall and a dilapidated home directly across form the patio:(.

While roaming the pool area in the early evening, a gentleman approached me and asked me how my stay was so far. I explained that the property was nice but that I received the worst upgrade I could recall as a SPG Plat, and that I was considering dropping my planned second stay at the hotel. It turned out that I was speaking with Carlos Sanchez, the GM, and he explained that the property strives very hard to recognize and please SPG elites but due to a large convention group, which was apparent by the arrangement around the pool area, that nearly all of the rooms had been booked up the group including the best rooms. He really wished that I would stick to my original plans for a 2nd stay at the property.

So I can see how prior posters like TravelingGnome were disappointed with the resort. If there are large convention groups present, it can really curtail the possible benefits an elite can obtain and hamper the use of all the facilities and amenities at the resort.

While dining at Ocean restaurant that evening, Shawn Gooneratne, the Front Office Manager, a really friendly and service-oriented individual (had previously been at the Westin Casuarina at Grand Cayman) approached me and told me that should I decide to stay at the property again, they would provide me a much better upgrade since there wouldn't be a large convention group at such time.

When we returned to the property a week later, they had upgraded me to ocean front rooms (3166 & 3168) which was very much welcoming:). Shawn, as always, was there to greet us and check us in. He does a terrific job of running the front desk. Probably the best front desk service I've experienced (even the 1st time around as the 2nd) in my 3 years of frequenting Starwood properties.

We again enjoyed the Ocean restaurant as Wed nights are Pirate Buffet nights - very good variety including seafood and local Caribbean items near the grill with complimentary rum punch. Even included entertainment, but we didn't stick around too late for much of it. And breakfast there was equally good. There is a very friendly manager there to oversee the restaurant at all times, which was very reassuring of the dedication to service. But do take the chance to dine at Grand Case or Marigot as earlier posters have suggested. Grand Case is truly the dining capital of the Caribbean and even has bargain local BBQ stands called Lolo's, of which we tried Talk of the Town (1$=1E). The food at La California, one of the few restaurants in Grand Case that takes 1$ to 1E if paid in cash, was very good. Believe me, I had my share of fine meals for a week on Anguilla (Blanchard's, Straw Hat, Veya, Trattoria Tramonta, etc) and wasn't expecting much at LC considering it typically ranks lower on the list of Grand Case fine dining.

We didn't spend too much time at the beach because of the wonderful time we had already spent on Anguilla's superior beaches. Besides, Dawn Beach seemed to have a constant breeze and resultant small waves during our stays and quite a bit of sea grass debris floating or washed up. Still, it was pretty relaxing there compared to the more-famed and very crowded Orient Beach. The Westin's pool area is quite nice as other posters have mentioned, with two shallow areas (only 6in deep) that my toddler really enjoyed as well as a few other families with young ones.

Lastly, check-out at the Westin was expedient and friendly. Shawn was there again to thank me for visiting and to wish me a pleasant farewell and Carlos dropped by after overlooking the property to wish me a fond farewell as well. It nearly made me sad to leave the resort after such a short but pleasant stay.

Overall, I was very pleased with my stays at the Westin St Maarten and experienced some of the same terrific service that SPGPlatinumMember raved about it. So I'm happy to report here that I don't believe his earlier post was a far cry from reality.

Interesting. I especially appreciate hearing from someone who actually stayed at this resort, since most of the initial negatively seemed to come from posters who had never set foot on the property.

Another example of opinion verus informed opinion.

Recall the initial poster stressed great service, above all, as the reason for the wild praise. This is re-inforced again here, which is valuable information for me, as service is my most valued attribute for my own property decisions.

Cheers,

How long does a taxi take from the airport to the hotel? I saw is costs $30. DOes that include luggage and do you have to pay more for extra people. I am going with my 2 young kids.

Thanks

How long does a taxi take from the airport to the hotel? I saw is costs $30. DOes that include luggage and do you have to pay more for extra people. I am going with my 2 young kids.

Thanks

Could take anywhere from 30mins to an hour depending on the traffic and occassional bridge closures. It will cost around $30 for the 3 of you combined including luggage before tip. It's a regulated set fare and an official will direct you just outside of the airport. It's a real easy process as there's a line of varied-size taxis all waiting at Juliana airport.

But I highly encourage you to obtain a rental with insurance to best explore the island...to roam wherever and whenever you want with the kids. It requires a bit of aggressiveness and stress-handling but shouldn't prove too daunting. You just have to pay particular attention when entering roundabouts and T-intersections. With or without kids, I would try to limit night driving (best to avoid Lowlands and other dark, secluded areas at night). And don't leave anything valuable in the car (including the trunk). Suggest leaving the glove compartment open revealing to potential vandals that there's no use in breaking into your vehicle. Crime happens on St Martin so best to be prepared.

We used Panoramic Car Rental, an Ace Rent-A-Car affiliate on St Maarten, which had some of the lowest rates. They provide very good instructions on their website: www.panoramiccarrental.com (but book through Ace). Minivan rental though wasn't what we had hoped for (some small Hyundai) as it listed a Toyota Sienna on the website. On our return stay, we used Extreme Car Rental at Marigot ferry terminal, who supplied us with a large, modern Hyundai H1 mini-van. Having the minivan allowed us to hit some of the beaches, shop at Philipsburg and Marigot and dine at Grand Case and obtain necessities at the terrific Marches in a very convenient fashion. Dawn Beach is too remote to enjoy the best things St Maarten/St Martin has to offer IF you don't have a car. Taxis fares will soon surpass the cost of a rental if you venture out a bit.

Lastly, there's also a car rental agency at the Westin -- Priority Car Rental, I believe, near the business center and kid's club.

Could take anywhere from 30mins to an hour depending on the traffic and occassional bridge closures. It will cost around $30 for the 3 of you combined including luggage before tip. It's a regulated set fare and an official will direct you just outside of the airport. It's a real easy process as there's a line of varied-size taxis all waiting at Juliana airport.

But I highly encourage you to obtain a rental with insurance to best explore the island...to roam wherever and whenever you want with the kids. It requires a bit of aggressiveness and stress-handling but shouldn't prove too daunting. You just have to pay particular attention when entering roundabouts and T-intersections. With or without kids, I would try to limit night driving (best to avoid Lowlands and other dark, secluded areas at night). And don't leave anything valuable in the car (including the trunk). Suggest leaving the glove compartment open revealing to potential vandals that there's no use in breaking into your vehicle. Crime happens on St Martin so best to be prepared.

We used Panoramic Car Rental, an Ace Rent-A-Car affiliate on St Maarten, which had some of the lowest rates. They provide very good instructions on their website: www.panoramiccarrental.com (but book through Ace). Minivan rental though wasn't what we had hoped for (some small Hyundai) as it listed a Toyota Sienna on the website. On our return stay, we used Extreme Car Rental at Marigot ferry terminal, who supplied us with a large, modern Hyundai H1 mini-van. Having the minivan allowed us to hit some of the beaches, shop at Philipsburg and Marigot and dine at Grand Case and obtain necessities at the terrific Marches in a very convenient fashion. Dawn Beach is too remote to enjoy the best things St Maarten/St Martin has to offer IF you don't have a car. Taxis fares will soon surpass the cost of a rental if you venture out a bit.

Lastly, there's also a car rental agency at the Westin -- Priority Car Rental, I believe, near the business center and kid's club.

Thanks
I would like to rent a car but my flight arrives at 10:30pm and I think all agencies will be closed at that time. I am only spending half a day in ST Maarten. I will be heading to Anguilla the next afternoon.

How far is the hotel from downtown phillipsburg and from Marigot port to get the ferry? Any know taxi prices tothese places?

Thanks
I would like to rent a car but my flight arrives at 10:30pm and I think all agencies will be closed at that time. I am only spending half a day in ST Maarten. I will be heading to Anguilla the next afternoon.

How far is the hotel from downtown phillipsburg and from Marigot port to get the ferry? Any know taxi prices tothese places?

Good decision to spend your vacation on Anguilla...a most blissful island. As you can see, I loved it there:cool:

Westin to Philipsburg: 10 mins to eastern end of Front St
Westin to Marigot Gare Maritime (ferry port building): 30 mins if traveling through the French side
Don't know the cab fares, but it should be a set rate. Call the hotel and ask if you want to know beforehand.

I was looking at this property on spg.com and it says limited participation - anyone know what that is?

I was looking at this property on spg.com and it says limited participation - anyone know what that is?

Yes. When you click on the words Limited Participation, you get a pop-up box that says this:

SPG Participation Policy

Due to unique cancellation policies, all Starpoint Award reservations for this hotel must be booked through your local customer contact center.

Hope that helps.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

I am staying at this property 8/2-8/4. Never been to St. Maarten and very excited. How's the weather this time of year? Hopefully no hurricanes. Also, why the crazy cancellation policy???

See this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=837990&highlight=maarten+cancellation) about their sometimes-strict cancellation policies. :td: (Or is it always strict?)

Yes. When you click on the words Limited Participation, you get a pop-up box that says this:

SPG Participation Policy

Due to unique cancellation policies, all Starpoint Award reservations for this hotel must be booked through your local customer contact center.

Hope that helps.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Perfect - thanks - I didn't realize I could click it and see the reason. I swear just like 2 days ago it didn't say that, but I can't say for sure. :D

I stayed there in late May, this was probably low season.

Service was very friendly and good, I think they have taken the early feedback and made improvements. The rooms are fine, nothing special, just standard Westin with a small couch and one sink. If you get an ocean view/partial ocean (NOT a ocean front) room, you are basically facing the pool with a minimal view of the ocean. If there is a wedding or some type of party in the pool or beach area you will be hearing loud music till late in the night. This was kind of uncool.

The beach is nice, relatively unoccupied, good sand and water, sunny, plenty of chairs, good service. Beach food was just ok.

The resort is pretty far from anything else so you will need to rent a car or get taxis. The wait for taxis can be pretty long, especially on Sundays, so call ahead. Bottled water is extremely expensive ($7/bottle) throughout the resort.

There are 2 types of concierge, the hotel concierge who was great and really helpful, and the other guy who sells excursions, who I think is outsourced and is absolutely lazy and unknowledgeable, worse than your normal "island attitude".

Overall, this is a convention style hotel (there is even a big gambling area between the check in desk and the rooms/restaurant), it is nothing like the St. Regis, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton etc, so don't go expecting too much and you will be fine.

Anyone know how many classes up from a basic award room it would be to get a suite? Thinking of going for our honeymoon early next May and I don't want to gamble at getting a decent room so figure I'll pay the points now - just trying to figure out how many. :D

Anyone know how many classes up from a basic award room it would be to get a suite? Thinking of going for our honeymoon early next May and I don't want to gamble at getting a decent room so figure I'll pay the points now - just trying to figure out how many. :DGood luck. I stayed at this property back in March and was told they only offered the "standard" room for points redemption -- no ability to pony up more points for a better room.

Good luck. I stayed at this property back in March and was told they only offered the "standard" room for points redemption -- no ability to pony up more points for a better room.

That's kind of crazy - I thought you could pay 1500 pts/night for each level upgrade?

That's kind of crazy - I thought you could pay 1500 pts/night for each level upgrade?

Only at hotels that allow upgrade awards to be booked. Not all do. This one, regrettably, does not.

But, to answer the question, a standard suite would usually be 2X the number of points as a standard room.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Only at hotels that allow upgrade awards to be booked. Not all do. This one, regrettably, does not.

But, to answer the question, a standard suite would usually be 2X the number of points as a standard room.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com
How do you know which hotels allow it and which ones don't?

Cheers,

That's kind of crazy - I thought you could pay 1500 pts/night for each level upgrade?

If you are a "lucky" Plat (like me) you'll get a 1 bedroom suite at check-in. ^

Nice suite with large fridge, microwave etc.

One drawback: No windows in the living area. Just a balcony in the bedroom.

Good luck

How do you know which hotels allow it and which ones don't?

Cheers,

You call and make an inquiry. Is this a trick question? ;)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

If you are a "lucky" Plat (like me) you'll get a 1 bedroom suite at check-in. ^

Nice suite with large fridge, microwave etc.

One drawback: No windows in the living area. Just a balcony in the bedroom.

Good luck

I hope so - going there for my honeymoon so wanted to try and make it as special as possible. :) Hopefully they'll pay attention to the comments I'll have put in the reservation when I call and book it. I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to calling in for stuff - I'd so much rather do it online!

You call and make an inquiry. Is this a trick question? ;)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com
No trick question. Since I do all my bookings online, I wondered if there was something I was missing in terms of options or restrictions.

I guess I could stop booking online and call directly as you suggest. Just not as convenient for me, is all.

Cheers,

Try SPG's online chat, then. Or their "Click to Call."

If you do all your SPG bookings online, you're limited to awards for standard rooms. And at this hotel, you're limited to no online award bookings at all. :td:

No trick question. Since I do all my bookings online, I wondered if there was something I was missing in terms of options or restrictions.

I guess I could stop booking online and call directly as you suggest. Just not as convenient for me, is all.

Cheers,

Okay, I thought we were talking about upgraded room awards...which again...can only be booked through the Customer Contact Center and not online.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Stayed here for one night (7/26) on an award after a week on a sail boat charter. Plenty of free and close parking (off-season helped -- $10 valet).Arrived about 10:30 am and was told we were upgraded to ocean front and that the previous guest hadn't checked out yet. Front desk volunteered to hold luggage and would call for us at pool when room was ready. Enjoyed the pool and had lunch at the pool rest. Nothing exciting (about $32.00 for a ham and cheese, a Curry Chicken Wrap, iced tea and a rum punch type drink -- had to pay cash since not checked in yet.). room still wasn't ready and was deciding whether to ask for any room but decided to drive back to Phillipsburg for wife to do more jewelery shopping. Picked up a bottle of wine for the room.

Checked in. Walked the long walk down to 3192 (? - third from end on top flr North bldg). Bellhop brought our checked luggage quicly. Room was nice with King bed and large balcony (only last three rooms had the large balcony) with view of beach. Bathroom had tub and seperate 5x5' walkin shower. Definetly nice after being on the boat for a week.

Walked up over the rocks to Mr. busby's and caught the end of the 75cent Carib's. Beach was rough and windy (felt good on a hot July day). Happy hour had 1/2 price on beers but only about $1 off mixed drinks. Had an early dinner before the "fancy" restaurant started. Decent bar food. Walked back to hotel and caught the end of the MGR's champagne reception at the pool with a Sax player. After watching the sun set (well not really since beach faces east), went back to room and enjoyed our balcony with late night drinks. Next morning noticed that the coffee maker was a pod type but the starbucks coffee was the 4 cup type...we made due. Plenty of packets of coffee but only two coffee mate singles.

All and all a nice stay and we were glad we waited for the upgrade

OK, I just tried to book a free night here in February, and the two weekends I looked at show this property has "limited participation" in SPG...has something changed that I am not aware of?