omegadeal

The hotel as reopened as an Aloft, and I'm on my second stay since the reopening. Overall it looks to be the same property with a nice refresh of the carpets, rooms, etc.

Just a few comments / thoughts...

- No room service anymore, which I used to use, but there are still plenty of places nearby

- The snack bar where you can buy drinks, sandwiches, etc. is behind the front desk, so it is a bit hard to browse

- No real update to the gym, which is what I was really hoping for

- I hope they participate in the Smart Check In program at some point

- Rooms are pretty much the same with a refresh, so the rooms are quite nice / large for Aloft

365RoadWarrior

Thanks for the bummer! (Seriously, saves me a drive-by or disappointment&early check-out.)

Wingtipflyer1

Nice hotel but needs some paint & TLC. Hope the renovation does it.
I will go back to this property as an Aloft.

LIH Prem

Nice job on the mostly soft refurb, pics here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1066814...eat=directlink

New carpets in the hallways, new light fixtures in hallways, room carpets look new, new paint and finishes throughout, new shades, blinds, furniture finishes, coffee makers are back in the rooms now. Logo/lobby updates and signs on and outside the building all updated. TV had the new remotes and all digital and HD programming. Free water for all (Nestle). I got two bottles, FDC said they are refreshed daily.

Overall, a positive refresh of the property IMO.

No change to the hard product, same bathrooms, kitchenettes, room layouts, etc. (though the toilet may have been replaced in this room, not sure.)

The rooms are still huge here as noted above. The standard room is an L-shaped studio suite.

ETA: Same breakfast buffet .. continental is $15. Coffee is still good and free at the breakfast buffet.

I think the main change for me is 250 points welcome amenity points instead of 500 when it was a W.

-David

yvr76

This property used to charge for receiving packages when it was a W. Can anyone who has stayed there confirm that incoming packages are now complementary?

Starwood Lurker

I don't think the package handling policy changed when the brand switch occurred. I found this on the Aloft Silicon Valley Announcements page:

Package Handling Policy
There is a package handling fee for all incoming and outbound packages. Please contact the hotel directly for the exact fee.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

yvr76

Yes, that's why I was wondering if anyone had first hand experience. I called the property directly yesterday and someone at the front desk told me there was no fee.

Hopefully that announcement is left over from when it was a W.

yvr76

Just wanted to confirm (after a couple stays) that there is indeed no package handling fee with the new Aloft re-branding. A welcome change! ^

yvr76

Room service is available. I used it a couple times on my last stay. Maybe they didn't have it initially available?

The gym will apparently be getting some new equipment.

Smart Check-in will eventually be coming as well (many of their doors have mag-stripe card reader issues and I was told by the front desk they don't want to bother replacing them until they move to smart check-in).

omegadeal

Did they happen to indicate when the gym would be updated? I've been staying elsewhere, but really like this place especially for longer stays and will probably head back once the gym is updated.

365RoadWarrior

I visited about a month ago. They had swapped out one funky treadmill for a Life Fitness elliptical. Not sure about further changes.

yvr76

I think they indicated that everything would be moving to Life Fitness. I'll take a look next week to see if that has happened or not.

omegadeal

I decided to try out this property again, and yes they did swap out one elliptical, but the gym is still the same overall. Its a shame because I really like this property and the gym is the the only reason I've been staying elsewhere.

I did get some good runs in this past week though in the neighborhoods around the hotel.

sink

Stayed here on a saturday night early August. Checked in around 10PM. It is odd that all calls are routed to the front desk. Plenty of calls were for towels. Was not upgraded to the larger "suite". Is two towels standard practice for Aloft properties? I called down for extra towels as well. After about half an hour, no towels. Called down again, and requested if I can stop by the front desk to pick some up. Anyhow, the security guard brought up the extra towels since housekeeping is busy.

Platinum guests can have continental ($15 value) for up to two guests instead of the 250 SPG welcome points.

It seemed that the hotel is not adequately staffed.

The assistance hotel manager did contact me afterwards to find out more about my experience and provided 5,000 goodwill points (related to the service issues; had a terrible time at breakfast).

applecow

The staff here is awesome. I used to stay here quite often. I hope they retained their staff.

I'll kind of miss the Whatever, Whenever that came with it being a W though. They went way above and beyond for me. I desperately needed to get a book that was only at a bookstore in Berkeley (~50 minutes away), run lots of errands and make a flight on the same day. It would have been impossible for me to do all three by myself.

I asked if they could help me get the book and without hesitation, they said yes. I came back from running errands and found the book sitting in my room. I was charged cost of book and the bridge toll only. Of course the guy who picked it up for me got a nice tip, but I don't think I've experienced anything close to the level of customer service I've received here. The fact that they would even do it for at all, not to mention for free, is the just one of the many reasons I'd come back whenever I'm around the area.