airpaco

just got back from a business trip from the W dallas and can't give it a very high review. no plat recognition, no amenity offer (have to email it in), newspaper didn't come everyday, and worst of all...there is a big sewage problem there and the place smells like a septic. it was horrible. at least the smell didn't seep into the rooms but the hallways smell like .... overall i give it a 3 out of 10. and that's being very generious!

Snow Goose

I had a so-so visit there a couple of weeks ago (first W experience). I DID receive a plat amenity, but no room upgrade. The hotel was fairly full, so it is possible that there simply weren't any rooms to upgrade to, but it would have been nice if the front desk mentioned this. No sewage issue at that time. Staff were generally pleasant. Room service food was good. I found the hallyway paint job and lighting a little depressing (but maybe that is just a W thing). Room was fine and W "cool", but not overwhelming considering the price I paid.

I did not visit the ghost bar, but it certainly was a happening place.

SG

Anglo Large Clawed Otter

I'm waiting for the prices at this W to fall from astronomical to reasonable rates before giving it a try. Considering you can have a phenomenal weekend at either New Orleans W for $129/night, W Chicago City Center for $179/night, or W Mexico City for $199/night...Paying $300+ for a night in Dallas (even on a weekend) seems a bit absurd. Perhaps it's just my Anti-Dallas Houstonian sentiment kicking in.

high_flyer

I stayed on points over the Halloween weekend. It was a hopping place. Food service sucked and wrote to the GM. Never wrote back or even recognized the issue. Oh well.

Rode up the elevator with Nick Lachey for what it's worth. The Ghost bar is a very hopping spot. Lots of short black skirts and glittery tops.

The place is packed all the time. Talk about a hot spot across from American Airlines arena. That whole Victory area is pretty upscale and I don't think they'll be dropping their prices anytime soon.

Overall an O.K. experience. For "clubbing" in Dallas, it's acceptable. For a stay in Dallas, 4 blocks away is the Sheraton Market Center with you can generally get a room for about $89.

SpeedRicer

It's not just Houstonians, this Californian finds the prices to be a bit too high as well. As of late I've been visiting Dallas frequently for work, and I usually hit up GhostBar on Thursdays (one of the better weeknights, IMO). But at the room prices they charge (even on my corporate rate), I think I'd rather skip the SPG points and go with the better deals to be had at the Fairmont, Magnolia or Zaza.

sdix

Just stayed at the W. Other than what seemed to be a ridiculously high rate for Dallas, it was a decent experience. The food is EXCEPTIONAL. We ate in the Living Room, Craft and Room Service. Wish we could have made it across the street to 9 Steak house which is always a good meal. No Plat amenity offered and no upgrade offered. I booked a Corner Suite at $699 expecting a suite - silly me..... While the room was larger than normal and had a great balconey overlooking the AAC it was not a suite. Then they had the nerve to charge me $25 a night for a rollaway bed!

Location will be great in a few years after the area's built out. Right now other than AAC and a Quicksilver store there's nothing much there.

Great people watching at the Ghost Bar.

elihu1991

i was just at the w victory in dallas this week and have to agree that the place was not all that great, especially in light of the prices. my reservation was messed up and i didn't get the mega room i had reserved. the next morning, the shower literally was on and off, making for a rather unpleasant bathing experience. the people were nice and friendly, and ghost bar was certainly happening, but i'm not sure if i'll be going back again anytime soon. it's really too bad since my other alternative in the city, westin city center, is showing it's age. of course there, my shower has always worked.

WineIsGood

I'm with you - not a fan of the W Dallas. At all.

So many complaints, so much talking, so little action.

I've got platinum status done for the year, so whenever I'm in Dallas I stay at the Crescent or Zaza. I just can't cope with the constant bad service at the W anymore. It's not worth the points.

couscous

Well, I was there a couple of weeks ago for three nights and it was one of my best W experience in quite some time.. got a great suite upgrade, service was simply marvelous.. what gives ?

seawolf

The W Dallas is not that bad if you are into the whole concept. The rooms are nice with the exception on the lack of lighting.

Anglo Large Clawed Otter

Sorry for the delay in posting this (admittedly brief) review, as I've just now gotten the pics from my October MR uploaded to flickr from my old-school Sony Mavica Digicam (which writes to CD-Rs). If you want to skip the written bit and go straight to the pics, click here. Note that this set also contains pics from the Westin DFW (another hotel I stayed at during this MR).

The front desk staff was very polite, and appeared to want to be helpful, but had the most difficult time fathoming that a Plat might actually want to be upgraded. After much cajoling and gentle prodding, I managed to get them to turn loose what they called a "suite." Having familiarized myself with the various room categories from the hotel website, I'm fairly certain what I received was a Kool Korner room (more like a Junior Suite). However, by the time I reached the room, I was no longer interested in haggling for a "proper" suite. Regardless, I quite liked the room I was given.

The room had a long combined bedroom/sitting area, with an approx. 42" LCD TV on a swinging wall-mount. A door at the end of the sitting area led out to a very spacious balcony, looking directly out over American Airlines Center arena. To the left of the room's entryway was a closet, next to a single washbasin. From there, a small corridor led into the bathroom, which contained a separate soaking tub & glassed-in shower (no pics of these, unfortunately).

I was also impressed with the floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom/sitting-area, which gave an unobstructed view of the Dallas Skyline (though the view is even more impressive from Ghost Bar on the top floor). Ghost Bar itself was fine, if pricey (big surprise). It was worth going up just to have a look around, and to enjoy the view, but I doubt I would spend the $$$ for a repeat trip to that venue.

davidee

I will be there on the 30th through the 1st (I live in dfw but am doing the new years gig there).

I have had a small snafu regarding points and the reservations (that I discovered this evening after calling spg). Hopefully all will go well and I'll post an update.

I'll have to say that the staff is pretty personable there and helpful (I did the new years thing there last year as well). The only complaint that I had last year was the ghostbar. they were more concerned about the exclusivity as opposed to the experience (I hear this time it has been remedied).

More to come later!

-ee

Anglo Large Clawed Otter

What experience? It's just another overpriced nightclub trying its best to be uber-trendy, that happens to have a great view. Just because they say it's cool doesn't change the fact that it's... in Dallas. From the way the bouncers act at the elevator downstairs, you would think they were working security for the world economic forum in Davos, or personal detail for Mick Jagger.

By the time you pay the silly cover charge, stand in line for an inordinate period of time, then arrive upstairs to an S.R.O. club where half the choice tables are "reserved" (but unused for the entire evening ), and pay for grossly overpriced cocktails, it loses its allure rather quickly. Even the parade of freshly-plasticked D-list Dallasites and the view hardly makes up for it...

davidee

So by experience I meant some level of exclusivity with tasteful (pussycat doll burlesque show) entertainment and some less than totally packed to the windows # of people.

well that is where they failed.

- they were (originally) limiting the # of people that were supposed to be bequeathed access to said bar. by the time 12 came about it was way packed.
I swear more than firecode but that could never happen

- entertainment. She was actually not bad but she was just as annoyed that it was way too packed. I was right there at the front and it was a good show but impossible to see about 10 feet back as the stage was only elevated about 2 feet and a good portion of that was her sitting or in a bathtub

- drinks. overpriced as any bar. its dallas so weak drinks at a premium <sigh>

- scenery. ya the skyline is well...dallas, its nice but there are better still nice at night from a distance though. the real scenery is inside the girls are doing their best to impress and to be honest it was quite entertaining/amusing.

- "celebs" terrell owens was there everybody was thrilled. I could have cared less (honestly I didn't even recognize him my friend pointed him out). He had a following of less than effective security guards + some of his groupies, they took up one of the large main areas like i said meh...

Keep in mind the ghostbar is a separately managed entity not owned by the "W" apparently.

The Ghostbar was honestly the worst part of the evening, and you were trapped up there once you went up. The girls were cold after we were up there a while and we had to give them our jackets as they took the passes at the door (no stub)

and I guess i'll end the rant there :-)

-ee

zerind

Just wanted to make a quick mention of great customer service from the staff at the W Victory Center in Dallas this past week. Normally we see a ton of threads complaining about things, but not enough praising people for a job well done.

Long story short, I had a stay at the W Dallas this past weekend, and had a less than satisfactory experience with the valets at the hotel. Apparently on weekends, if you aren't going to the Ghost Bar in a Ferrari or Bentley, they want to rush you out of the car and get it put away as quickly as possible. In my haste to get out of the car before the valets literally jumped on my lap, I left my Blackberry in the cupholder. Low and behold, when I went to retrieve it later that night, the Blackberry was gone.

I made a call to the hotel front desk and they put me through to someone in 'Security' who I could tell really didn't care about what I had to say. No sense in wasting my time, so I made a call to the SPG Customer Service line and filed a complaint. I honestly didn't think anyone would call back, and if they did, I would probably receive the same apathetic response I got the first time.

Less than 48 hours later, I recieved a phone call from a gentleman named Rowland who is the Director of Loss Prevention and Security at the hotel. He was extremely apologetic and genuinely seemed to care what I had to say. At this point I knew I wasn't getting my phone back, but I really wanted someone to know what was going on. Rowland listened to everything I had to say with open ears, and said he was going to see what he could do.

The next day he called me back saying that he ran into several dead ends, but as a goodwill gesture, they would deposit 6500 *points into my account. This was honestly more than I was expecting, and the fact they offered it without me prompting was great.

Anyway, the short of the long of it was even though I was inconvienienced, it was nice to see staff members at least trying to see what happened without blowing me off and telling me there was nothing to do. I've never experienced customer service that is as consistantly good as the service I've received at the SPG brand hotels. Its great to see that businesses and the people they hire still care about the customer!

Sorry for babbling!