Land-of-Miles

I had a complimentary night to use at the W London as a result of having a booking for the original opening in October 2009 which was subsequently delayed until 14th February 2010. I opted to use this free night for the opening on the 14th Feb as a good excuse to take Mrs LoM away from home for a romantic evening in town.

As time has gone by I had been wondering if the opening would proceed as scheduled but it seems there was no serious reason for doubt, it has however been a real struggle trying to book the Hotel Restaurant (Spice Market) as they were not taking reservations until 5 days prior to the opening. I had arranged an alternative at the Restaurant in the National Portrait Gallery and am taking my life in my hands switching the reservation as Mrs LoM was quite keen on Plan B.

I had an opportunity to check in just after Midday so wandered over to the property to avoid being one of the last guests to arrive (which has led to some dubious room allocations in the past). As a Platinum I was hoping for an upgrade but unsure whether this would be possible. Upon entering the elevator lobby I was met by quite a large number of staff, it felt like the approach to a busy bar on a Friday night being greeted by very well dressed doormen.

The real Lobby is on the first floor and I had to fight off an attempt to take my Tumi carry on away from me for the 2 metre walk to the check in podium area. There appears to be 3 Podia for check in however one was undergoing some emergency IT surgery upon my arrival, so I had to wait for one of the 2 working staff to complete checking in other customers. I noticed that the guest in front of me was also an SPG Plat and I groaned inwardly thinking they might have got the only upgrade of the day.

I was greeted after a few minutes by a cheery welcoming lady who seemed to be struggling to allocate me a room. I was told I would be “upgraded” and they just needed to check the room was ready (which I thought rather odd in a newly opened property). I was taken to the bar and offered a complimentary drink whilst waiting, as I had a meeting to go on to, I stuck to diet coke. This arrived after around 5 minutes wait in the main bar area and only 3 minutes later I was informed that my room was ready. I was less successful in fending off the assistance of a staff member this time and was escorted to my 6th floor room.

Upon arrival at the room I noticed immediately that it was not a corner room, I had thought the corner rooms offered the best potential upgrade option I would get so was somewhat concerned as to what I might find. I entered a very nicely designed but small room with a King bed, central sink/workspace and a mirrored cupboard containing a toilet and shower. I have to say that I don’t really like the room at all so far which seems to be a continuing theme with W hotels I have experienced (the excellent W Hong Kong aside).

I am now awaiting Mrs LoM’s arrival and to hit the bar and restaurant to get a more complete view of the property and continue with Part 2 tomorrow.

PaxCGN

So I trust the 30min queue I was stuck in at the reception wasn't caused by you.
That was before I was complimented to the bar for a free drink whilst they were preparing the room.
Seems there was some party yesterday before the official opening with invited guests that didn't clear the rooms fast enough. And one of the three reception desks was still down for maintenance.

But: they are open, I got my room (which I believe is an upgrade but fits your description) and everyone here is trying really very hard (probably a bit overenthusiastic as you already wrote).

I'm impressed how they are coping with today's problems. The location is great. The lobby-bar area is nice. No more to write about the room, you already brought it to the point.

Astrophsx

Please post as many photos as possible or link to a photo album. I'm interested in seeing the new W ^

DCBob

Did either of you who checked in yesterday even ask if an upgrade to a standard suite was available? I ALWAYS ask and half the time they change my room to a suite. Last time this happened was at the W Foshay in Minneapolis. Only failure to garner a suite at a W has been at the W San Francisco and W New York Downtown.

Land-of-Miles

I was specifically told I was upgraded when this turned out to be untrue. I would have been reasonably happy with a corner room but was very unhappy with the room I had. By the time I got to the room I had to drop my stuff and be elsewhere. Had I been paying I would have argued about the room and/or immediately checked out.

Land-of-Miles

Mrs LoM was interrogated upon arrival when she told the doorperson she was joining her husband and was asked for my name etc. before being allowed up to the Lobby. I thought this was pretty silly as the Lobby is a public area containing the bar and no access could be gained to rooms above the lobby level without a key card. I waited around like something of a spare part in the Lobby for a little while before she joined me and we went for a cocktail in the main bar (there appear to be 2 bars both with very different vibes).

We tried what I think was the W Bar (see pictures here http://www.flickr.com/photos/2848548...7626054521106/). I struggled to attract any attention from the roaming waiting staff and went to the bar to order a Champagne cocktail (Mr Winston) and a Watermelon and Tequila cocktail both of which were enjoyable but a little pricey I thought at almost £30 inclusive of the compulsory 12.5% service charge (even ordering at the bar) and they had the cheek to leave a tip box open in addition.

We then went back to the room to have a shower and change prior to Dinner. The design of the shower room arrangement irritated a little here. Given the shower is essentially in a large cupboard/wardrobe like structure within the room it may have been sensible to have a sliding door rather than a door which opens outwards as this renders it impossible to keep a shower mat/Towel in place outside the shower to avoid standing on relatively slippery tiled flooring.

In addition gaps in the shower enclosure also caused water to escape onto the flooring of the room. Whilst this wasn’t a huge amount of water it was noticeable and it was difficult to avoid treading in this as it was a part of the “living space”.

We then hit “Spice Market” which in my view is the high point of this property.. It is in many ways a very brave choice to open an oriental fusion restaurant on the edge of Chinatown with its many established restaurants (fusion and otherwise) covering a broad swathe of South-East Asian food. I was unimpressed by the initial seats offered as it was by the entrance to the restaurant both from the hotel side and from the street. We were moved upstairs to a better if not ideal table and as it became obvious that the restaurant was not fully booked I wondered why they hadn’t picked better tables to allocate in the first place

The menu is not currently available online (it seems the website is still in design) but is rather similar to the menu in New York (but by no means not identical).
We had:-

Poppadoms with curry dip (complimentary appetiser)
----------
Thai Slaw (very authentic according to Mrs LoM who know’s her Asian food)
Chinese Steak Tartare
Spiced Chicken Samosas
Salt & Pepper Squid
-----------
Turbot Cha Ca La Vong
Beef Shortrib with Spicy Onion
Ginger Rice
Green Curry Vegetables
-----------
Fruit Platter with Thai Spiced Lime Salt (complimentary I think due to a cock up as we didn’t order it)
Ovaltine Kulfi with Caramelised Banana and Chocolate Ganache

This was washed down initially with an awesome Ginger Margarita and an interesting Kumquat Mojito and later a bottle of Gruner Veitliner which perfectly complemented the food once it had warmed a little.

The food is served sharing style and the portions are huge. A quick peruse of the NYC menu suggests that US prices have been translated $ for £ to the UK. Service was pleasant but very slow which is a slight worry given that the place was around 50% full. A large contingent of suited men rushed around constantly looking important but seeming to actually do very little. The serving staff were charming and helpful.

We enjoyed most of the food although we left a lot as the portion sizes were more American sized than typical Asian sharing dishes. The Beef Tartare was lovely, the samosas were good if slightly soggy, the Salt and pepper Squid was OK but not unlike any other I have eaten. The starting poppadoms were nice and moreish and the accompanying curry dip was addictive.

The beef was much better than the fish being perfectly cooked, the Turbot was a little overcooked and dry for my taste. The contrast with the accompanying herbs was interesting and would have worked much better had the fish been less well cooked. The ginger rice was amazing and the green curry vegetables were good. Mrs LoM said the fruit platter reminded her of her childhood and we had probably eaten too much to enjoy the Ice Cream based dish as much as it deserved.

The final bill came again with a 12.5% service charge and open tip box (usually a major no no for me). I rounded the bill up to £190 and thought it good value overall. One very large negative however apart from the speed of service is the strong breeze blowing through the restaurant all night. I think this was a direct consequence of situating Spice Market between 2 separate entrance doors. I thought the dining area felt chilly and noticeably draughty all night.

We then went to bed. The limitations of the surroundings became clear when we were woken at 03:00 by noise from a group of people in the square “celebrating” enthusiastically. I found I didn’t like the bed either. It seems lower than a standard W bed with no divan underneath (presumably to make the room appear more spacious) but as a result was far less comfortable than a standard W bed. It was much too firm for my liking.

The following morning after showering and skating around the room on the resulting wet floor we checked out, this took some time as the person who dealt with it seemed to still be undertaking training.

My overall impressions were that this is a great place to visit for a meal or a drink but not to stay. The room resembled in my mind at least an upmarket take on a typical Holiday Inn Express room. Some parts felt cheap (why the Phillips iPod dock for instance rather than the better quality ones usually found in a W?). The worst was the room size and layout though, it just felt too small and claustrophobic and had serious design flaws.

Taking a Saturday night in late March the W costs £80 plus VAT more than the LM Piccadilly. At the LM there is a lounge as well as a reasonable chance of Platinum upgrades. At the W there is just a small room which is noisier than any I have had at the LM. At over £335 you can expect a better room than this in London (and indeed find many better options).

burnsy0118

Staying at the Wow Suite now. Definitely the best Wow suite I've stayed at out of all the Ws. 10 floor to ceiling windows in the living area offering view of Piccadilly Circus. I also took a tour of the basic room (Fabulous) and the unfinished Extreme Wow. The Extreme Wow is at least twice the size of Wow and a 100% party pad. Overall very happy with my stay, don't even want to leave the room. Everyone I've encountered was pleasant. Will have some more detail reports when I return home.

Land-of-Miles

The basic room is a "Wonderful" room and there is nothing Wonderful about it. Will amend my earlier report shortly to contain a link to pictures so other readers can judge. It is possible that I may have had a one category upgrade to "Spectacular". The only difference seems to be higher floor and window configuration.

I too would have been happy with a Wow Suite, was that an upgrade or did you pay for it?

It seems all room types up to the level of corner room have the same floorspace at 26 square metres. I am not at all sure that my room was that large it felt like about 6 metres by 3 metres in total dimension, but I didn't have a tape measure with me. No matter what there is no way I would ever be happy with a room like that for the cost relative to the alternatives, even the SPG alternatives.

PaxCGN

No, I didn't specifically ask for an upgrade. At the end of the day I was simply happy to get a room and to move away from the lobby, where I was constantly and very politely asked, if I need help, which obviously I did as much as all others. But my faith in the persons handling my room problem was justified, so it was good I didn't get everyone involved.
At the bar again I must say I had absolutely no problem being served prompt and even to be involved into a little chat about the drink. Probably was simply lucky with the time I went there.
LoM has already said everything that needs to be about the room. I also didn't sleep good in the bed, which was also due to the blue night illumination hidden under the combined desk and washbasin in the middle of the room and which you look into directly from the bed.

AZ Travels the World

Pre-opening discussion regarding this property can be found in this thread.

-AZ
Moderator

Land-of-Miles

To be fair it is possible to turn this off. That was perhaps the value point for having to give a fiver to the guy who took my Tumi to the room

For others the controls to turn off the purple (in my case) lighting were with the lighting switches besides the bed. It wasn't especially intuitive though. The switch didn't make the bed any more comfy either

Part 2 of my Mini TR now contains a link to some pictures taken with my iPhone.

FlyingDoctorwu

wow looks incredibly cozy. This is an upgrade?

A little too open concept for my taste...
The sink/desk combo for sure...

FDW

Land-of-Miles

Unless someone can point out otherwise it looks like the first 3 categories of room are in fact identical in layout the only difference is the floor and the aspect. The Wonderful room is I think lower floor, the Spectacular room higher floor with better aspect and the Fabulous room which has more windows it would appear. Otherwise the room descriptions appear the same as do sizes. So it is possible that I did get an upgrade from Wonderful to Spectacular. I am not sure many would notice the difference

Cool corner rooms are where the room descriptions and sizes seem to differ. The Cool Corner Room seems to have up to 33% more space. The floorplan in the photos I linked shows how many corner rooms were on my floor. My guess is 2 with 2 studio suites/suites.

LovetoTravel83

The bathroom is as big as the bedroom. Sheraton Park Tower looks a bit more spacious than the W.

Thanks for the photos.

Land-of-Miles

The bathroom (toilet and shower together, but they are separated by a "narrow wall") take up approximately 4 square metres.

A standard bathroom at the SPT would occupy most of the room at the W. The regular room at the SPT is considerably larger than that at the W. Officially the W standard rooms are 26 square metres. I find that rather difficult to believe and must include the wardrobe and a 1 metre square entrance area seperate from the room proper. The SPT room is 31 square metres but the difference feels much greater than 5 square metres.

A typical room at the LM Piccadilly is around 25 sqaure metres and those rooms feel much bigger than those at the W. My guess is at the least the SPT and LM measurements do not include the bathroom as it is a separate space, whereas the W measurements do include it because it is part of the room. I couldn't swear to it because it has been a long time since I tried a standard room there, but I don't think that a standard room at the Park Lane is markedly different in size to those at the W.