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Westin Kansas City at Crown Center [Master Thread]

Westin Kansas City at Crown Center [Master Thread]

Old Apr 14, 2002, 11:37 pm
  #1  
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Arrow Westin Kansas City at Crown Center [Master Thread]

Heading there this weekend for Red Sox-Royals series. Any tips on upgrades (ie.- who to talk to to get the famous PLanigan Presidential Suite upgrade?)

Any tips on things to do in K.C., restaraunts, BBQ, etc., would be greatly appreciated.

Also, still sniffing out the best seats for the series. Anyone know of someone with season seats who can't use them or wants to dispose of them for any of nexzt weekend's games? If so, drop me a line.

Thanks.
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Old Apr 15, 2002, 3:22 am
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Hi BoSox Fan,

I received the infamous suite on a recent trip to K.C. (March 20th). When I called my wife from the room, I played her a song on the piano and she couldn't believe I was calling from the room! I didn't do anything special and was just upgraded upon check-in. My guess is that it was a slow night.

As for BBQ, if you don't mind going out of your way and you want what I consider THE BEST BBQ in K.C., try L.C.'s BBQ. It's probably a 20 minute drive from the Westin but, in my opinion, is well worth the jaunt.

DawgmanOH
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Old Apr 15, 2002, 7:04 am
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The Country Club Plaza is not too far and has many good choices for dinning. Bucca's is a good Italian place but the portions are outrageously big (family style) and the sauce a little too salty. Coming from the east you'll likely want BBQ or steak. Plaza III comes highly regarded but I've never been there.

Personally I'd rather stay on the Plaza (Sheraton or 4 Points) than at the Westin. Crown Center just isn't nearly as much fun. (I think the Westin goes for about $48 on priceline, FYI.)

Of the touristy things to do around Crown Center, I enjoyed the tour of Union Station the best. It's a short walk attached to Crown Center by elevated pedestrian walkway.

You can likely scalp decent tickets at the game for face value.
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Old Apr 15, 2002, 8:59 am
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If it will be adults only, I too would recommend the Sheraton Suites on the Country Club Plaza (the world's first shopping 'center"). So many great restaurants and shops right there at your feet. Best BBQ on the Plaza (IMHO) is KC Masterpiece. However, for character, try Gates BBQ. There is one located on Main Street between the Plaza and Downtown.

All the rooms are basically the same at the Sheraton Suites and I don't believe I have ever been upgraded to anything there.

Avoid the 4 Points. It is really not on the Plaza.

With regards to the Westin Crown Center, I would advise working directly with the front desk if you call for reservations to get an upgrade. Finally, not to split hairs, but the piano is in the "Royal Suite" and not the "Presidential Suite". My favorite room there for views and layout, however, is the "Liberty Suite".

Finally, I do believe there is a bus that leaves the Westin for Royals games and cost $3 or so. A real bargain.

Go Royals!


[This message has been edited by PLangian (edited 04-15-2002).]
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Old Apr 15, 2002, 10:53 am
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The last time I was at the Westin Crown Center I had to go up to my room and then call down to a manager, because the desk clerk assured me that it was impossible to upgrade me to a suite. Well, after a brief talk with the manager I was in a corner suite (2large connecting rooms, one with a Murphy bed). It wasn't a renovated room, but was very large and quite comfortable.

The Japanese Restaurant in the Crown Center, just outside the connecting doors of the hotel, Kabuki, is terrific. http://www.kcrestaurantguide.com/kabuki.htm

Lidias is in KC. http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/ka...10/story2.html
Their Sunday brunch is fantastic. Less than $20. All the Caeser or Fruit salad you can eat. A fantastic choice of entrees. And a dessert buffet that INCLUDES as much of her fantastic Tiramisu as you'd like. Buca di Beppo is horrible. The food was already unappealingly described above. Add to that the long lines at this KC outpost for a national chain (yes, they just brought this crap to Hawaii!!!!)

Old time Steak House nearby is - Hereford House. Old, crowded, big, reasonable. Love it. http://www.kcrestaurantguide.com/herefordDT.htm

I went to KC one year ago for the first time. Been back 5 times since to eat, eat, eat. Have a great weekend!
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Old Apr 24, 2002, 11:00 am
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Here's my abridged trip report.

I got to KC about 5:45 on Friday. Checked into the Crown Center. The hotel knew that we wanted a suite with 2 beds, if possible, and they more than took care of us. They gave us the "Plaza Suite", which had two bedrooms. The suite was very large - each bedroom was more or less a normal guest room... the one with two doubles has an Eames chair in it. I always thought they looked cool, but had never sat in one before. The central room was enormous- maybe 60 feet long- clearly meant for entertaining. 3 bathrooms- all standard bathrooms, but had not yet been updated to have a heavenly shower.. A small wetbar. A full kitchen.
The suite was furnished in a sort of Asian style, but with a lot of light colors. It was kind of strange for KC. It had a big stereo, but the stereo only had a tape deck with it.... strange. The TV was a standard 19 incher- could have been bigger. But we were very happy with the upgrade- particularly that they were willing to pre-block it for us.

I got to KC in time to see the Friday game (Pedro). As my buddy was not there yet, I just picked up the best available single seat right before the start of the game. Not bad... for $21 I got in the 7th row on the 1B side right next to the batter's box. Pedro was disgusting... he doesn't have all the rust off yet, but had he not flubbed a toss to first in the 4th, he could have had a perfect game. Let me explain. He retired the first 11 guys. Then Carlos Beltran hit a sharp ground ball to Tony Clark at first, who flipped to Pedro who dropped the ball while covering first... E1. next batter is Mike Sweeney. Sweeney gets his bat snapped on a fastball, and hits a bloop to center. Damon charges, but not too hard, and the ball drops for a single. Pedro then retired the next 13 batters before leaving after 8.

Had Pedro not dropped the toss to first, Damon probably would have caught Sweeney's hit. It hung up for a while and he would have had a very good shot at it. but given that it was a scoreless game, Damon did the right thing by keeping it in front of him so the runner on first didn't have a chance to score.

Anyway, KC is alright. Weather was lousy. Rain washed out Saturday's game. We ate at Gates' which was pretty good.

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Old Mar 31, 2007, 5:49 pm
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Kansas City Westin Crown Plaza [Master Thread]

Just had a three night stay here for a meeting. Hadn't been here in two years or so and I don't see any real information out there for this property for quite some time.

Here are a few of my thoughts about this hotel quickly:

- This place will never seem like a Westin to me. It seems more like a suburban shopping mall that might've been built in 1974. Think massive quantities of poured concrete making up the walls of the cavernous lobby flanked by a soaring wall of plants (made to look like a jungle, sort of) with a loud waterfall. (See what I mean about being like a mall from the 70s?!?)

There is lots of woodwork in the lobby area, but it all looks very dated to me and very 1970s. A far cry from the cool look Westin works hard to achieve for their brand. One evening sitting in the lobby with colleagues, we were enjoying cocktails for a few hours but we all felt very warm the entire time.

Front desk staff, on this visit, was characterized by lots of new hires and agents who had trouble with the most simple of requests. They were all pleasant enough and, ultimately, helpful -- just not the definition of polished efficiency.

I was surprised to see that the rooms have still not been renovated to what I would call an acceptable standard. They've had the Heavenly Bed, of course, for many many years. BUT, the room carpeting continues to be a bizarre medium blue (hello?!?!?) and the soft chairs in the room are a wide cordouroy light blue (hello?!?!?), which is about as un-Westinlike as I can fathom. Window treatments are still the old kind that we all knew well in the 1980s.

This hotel has an unusual room ventilation system -- there are not individual room units, but rather a master system whereby the guest can adjust room temperature to his/her liking, but the airflow is very low and runs out of a room long slot that hovers near the ceiling. This is important to know for a few reasons. One would be that, if a guest were chilly upon arriving in the room, it would take a considerable time for the room's ambient temperature to reach the bed level. Seriously. As it was, I needed to cool my room down from the 72.5degrees I found it in when I arrived and it took perhaps 2 full hours to get the room to 69. Dang. But, the most important thing about this ventiliation system is that it provides absolutely NO WHITE NOISE since there is no fan unit for each room. That means if you count on that little fan noise to block out hallway noise, slamming doors, etc, you will be sorely disappointed here. The ventiliation system is virtually silent. Some might love that, I hate it. I slept very poorly the first night since I could hear water running in the walls and the elevators going up and down. (Nevermind the ice machines down the hall. UGH!)

The bathrooms are also unique. They have a domed ceiling which is essentially impossible to describe here, so I won't attempt to. The wallpaper is an odd, foil paper that looks, again, very 1970s. Silver foil wallpaper with triangular red accents doesn't seem very Westin to me at all. These bathrooms have NO ventilation system whatsoever, so if you don't want the mirror to fog, leave the door open....... Housekeeping did NOT replinish any of the room toiletries on the second day, despite the shampoo's being nearly gone and the lotion completely gone. That's maddening to me.

Breakfast in the downstairs restaurant was okay. I waited for four or five minutes to be seated, yet there was no hostess and I was about to get really frustrated when a hotel employee walked up and asked if I had been helped. I told him no and he immediately led me to a table and presented me with a menu. As I was sitting down, I looked up to note that his name tag listed him as "Manager." I asked if he were the GM of the hotel perchance and he replied that he was. I was quite impressed that the GM had taken it upon himself to see that I was accomodated as a matter of his regular rounds. We spoke for 2 or 3 minutes and I learned that he takes 1-2 hours a day to simply walk his property and work the public areas. Very nice and very impressive. All too often, I never see a GM anywhere -- even at hotels where I stay a LOT. I thanked him for his attention.

In sum, however, I have to say this is a Westin that falls at the bottom of the Westin heap. It's somewhat comfortable, but quite dated, in my opinion. It shows a fair amount of its 1970s vintage and without significant cost, I don't know how you can change that. The room's softgoods are simply out of date and I don't know how they've been allowed to keep such a dreadful room look and conform to Westin's brand standards. One hopes that a substantial rooms renovation is around the corner.

In all, I'd say a C+.
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Old Mar 31, 2007, 6:16 pm
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You'd be surprised but this Westin has typically been one of the higher rated Westins in the chain (based on guest satisfaction scores). Also, its up to Hallmark to get the hotel renovated as they own the property and the whole Crown Center complex. You'd think Hallmark would have enough money to do that.
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Old Mar 31, 2007, 6:17 pm
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But it is near the new Sprint Center correct?
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Old Mar 31, 2007, 11:20 pm
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Originally Posted by auh2o
But it is near the new Sprint Center correct?
The Sprint Center is located at 13th and Grand. The Westin Crown Center is about 23rd/24th and Main. It might be the closest Starwood hotel to the Sprint Center, but it's not right next door.
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Old Apr 1, 2007, 7:43 am
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The Sheraton Overland Park is the closest to the Sprint campus and is a relatively new, modern hotel with very nice suites.

The Crown Center is in mid town and across the street from the renovated Union Station. The Crown Center has had its' glory days in the 70s and 80s when the Royals were competitive and Oleta Adams ruled the bar downstairs. I agree that it is dated but I do not see this property becoming a "modern" looking Westin anytime soon.
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Old Apr 1, 2007, 12:25 pm
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I would recommend staying at the Sheraton Suites on the Plaza versus the Westin Crown Center. nicer rooms and basically the same bed
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Old Apr 1, 2007, 12:27 pm
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Originally Posted by cdfev
The Sheraton Overland Park is the closest to the Sprint campus and is a relatively new, modern hotel with very nice suites.

The Crown Center is in mid town and across the street from the renovated Union Station. The Crown Center has had its' glory days in the 70s and 80s when the Royals were competitive and Oleta Adams ruled the bar downstairs. I agree that it is dated but I do not see this property becoming a "modern" looking Westin anytime soon.
He is talking about the Sprint Center not the campus in OP.



http://www.sprintcenter.com/index.php
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Old Apr 1, 2007, 6:54 pm
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Originally Posted by AA Novice
He is talking about the Sprint Center not the campus in OP.



http://www.sprintcenter.com/index.php
Correct. I will be attending the concert for the opening night at Sprint Center...not Sprint's corporate campus.
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Old Apr 1, 2007, 7:02 pm
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OOPS....my bad

I keep forgetting that the new arena is indeed called the Sprint Center
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