CLG

Well, I answered my own question. Just called to modify my reservation, and upgraded it as well. Here were the options:

- Classic room -- 10,000 points / night
- Deluxe room -- 11,000 points / night
- Junior suite -- 11,500 points / night
- Deluxe suite -- 20,000 points / night

I went with the deluxe suite, since I have (had) a decent stash of *Points, and will still be Gold so no upgrade, but the inner engineer / el cheap-o in me is wondering if a Jr. Suite would be "good enough" and save almost 43% of the points outlay. Thoughts?

CLG

Seattlenerd

Our "Junior suite" at this hotel was basically a larger corner room with a desk in an alcove by the entry, and a King bed, couch and coffee table around the corner. No separate room for sleeping (typical of many junior suites). It was nice, but if you want more privacy/space, you might consider the Deluxe Suite if it has a separate sleeping room.

flying_q

I'm a platinum checking in later this week using points - currently booked into a regular room with 2 singles.

The hotel is completely sold out as it looks. I'm travelling with 4 people, but it appears none of these rooms accomodate 4 people (as bookable). Has this been everyones experience? Is it worth giving the property a call to see if they have anything that could accomodate the 4 of us (aside from a second room), or perhaps wait to see if an upgrade happens?

I have an extra room booked at the Sherbourne just in case.

stimpy

I was recently upgraded, again, to the Presidential Suite (College). I love this hotel! I even decided to extend my stay and they were happy to let me stay in the suite.

Regarding the question above, even the Presidential Suite only has one king bed. If you really want to squeeze 4 people into your room, don't tell the front desk.

flying_q

Were you upgraded at checkin or did it show as your room type online beforehand?

stimpy

Online was junior suite. Upgraded at check in to the big daddy. The previous time I got this suite, they told me at check in that the hotel was full and there was nowhere else to put me.

Nerfgirl

Just fyi, I'm SPG naive, but figured if anyone had the answers it was Flyertalk. ^

I recently stayed in the Westin Dublin and had a few problems. The person I was traveling with is SPG Platinum; she booked the rooms. We stayed for one night when we first arrived in Ireland and then four nights when we returned to Dublin from driving around the country.

The first night when we checked in we were not upgraded. This would have been fine had the front desk person not volunteered that there was one suite available we would just have to pay for the upgrade, and at that at 200 euros she didn't think we'd want it. She was rather condescending; my friend looked rough around the edges having had food poisoning between India and Ireland.

When we returned we got an upgrade, but had a bizarre experience with the wine coupons left with the welcome note. We went to the bar to use them and the bartender showed us a wine list of those available by the glass. We were drinking and had moved to table when the bartender came back and removed our glasses with a, "my mistake, the free wine was only for our house wine." I was shocked. He actually took the wine out of my friend's hand. I understand offering a limited selection for free, but at that point I would have just taken the hit, rather than taking back wine people were already drinking.

I'm wondering if a complaint is warranted in the first case and who to complain to in the second. My friend has never made an SPG complaint and was unsure of what the complaint/compensation process. Thanks for any help.

RAPC

For the first issue about the suite, unless you know it was a standard suite that was eligible for an upgrade, then it isn't worth complaining in my opinion. The hotel is one of the better hotels when it comes to Platinum upgrades, but there are a couple of speciality suites that are sometimes used for upgrades but may be held back, especially when busy. If it was definitely a standard suite that was eligible for an upgrade to, then there is cause for complaint.

With regards to the second issue, were you provided with a glass of the house wine as a replacement instead? By all means feel free to bring it to the attention of the management to ensure that the issue doesn't happen again as it sounds like they have a training issue if staff in the bar are not fully briefed on what the wine selections should be. The response to take the glass of wine away is very much wrong. Personally, I'd just let it go now. I'd have complained at the time rather than after the event, but that is just me.

Nerfgirl

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm not certain of the suite type, so I'll let the first go. It sounded like a suite that others have been upgraded into before on Flyertalk, but I wondered if this was one of those YMMV calls. With the second issue, we did complain at the time, but due to a very early check-out the next day didn't have time to make sure it was passed up the ladder, so to speak. Guess I'll dig out the spg rep's email since we never heard back from them. Thanks again.

awc4

Staying here for 2 nights now and think that it's a fine hotel, but my bar was a lot higher because everyone kept telling me that this is one of the best Westins they've stayed in. Got upgraded to what I think is a deluxe room, in that the bathroom is quite big and there's this weird area with steps that goes up to a balcony I can't access (the windows are locked with this latch thing that I can't open). The hotel is centrally located, steps from Trinity College and across from Bank of Ireland. It was nice to take the Airlink bus and basically have to just walk down the street to get to the hotel. The great thing about the room is that it is incredibly quiet, despite the fact that it faces Trinity College.

Just wanted to throw out some great restaurants that I've been to nearby, most of which are a walk from Dame Street. Really liked the Whitefriar Grill on Aungier Street (walk down South Great George Street), San Lorenzo's on South Great George Street and then there's Elephant and Castle on Temple Bar (although the crowds there are a bit annoying). I also really enjoyed going into Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer Street and just buying food at the grocery store.

One minor annoying thing is that I kept having to call to get water delivered...but that's a minor issue.

philemer

Is this property worth 12K/night for a standard room (2 twin beds)? I have no status. Valuing pts. at .02 each that's $240/night. There are some decent hotels in city centre for less than $240/night. It will be our first trip to DUB and I'm vacillating between paying cash for a different property & spending 12K/night. I like the location though.

stimpy

If you plan on drinking in Temple Bar, then the location is worth a lot of money. I think I saw a normal room once and it was pretty decent.

philemer

Maybe one or two pints and then back to the hotel. The central location is a big draw.

pwb2103

Is this property pretty small? I noticed that it is already fully booked for the entire week I'm planning to be in Ireland (week of October 1st). I asked if they had a conference and the desk / manager reported there was nothing special going on, the hotel just happens to be fully booked.

They said I could get a room at a rack rate somewhere around 400+ euros a night or something like that.

Vulcan

163 rooms, so small. It is not unusual to find it sold out. It is really pot luck as to what is going on at the time you want. Fri/Sat nights are tough.
That being said, I just booked Oct 11-14 for points, so it can be done.