rhermoso

Has anyone stayed here yet? I'm considering it for a September visit but am afraid there will be no heavenly beds or other Westin amenities yet.

Racefan6

We had dinner on the island on 7/8. During the boatride to and from the island, we noticed a nicely groomed beach area on the island in front of the restaurant. I believe there were some beach lounge chairs and/or umbrellas. I thought that they were for use of the occupants of the cottages. Maybe this has changed since they have changed hands.

Racefan6

And there was no beach that we saw near the hotel on the mainland. The area is mostly docks.

idahost

We stayed there over the July 4th weekend (as Hilton Diamonds) and were upgraded to a named 2BR suite. My wife commented these "beds look just like Heavenly Beds"...lol they were the Heavenly beds. I can't vouch for the regular rooms.

As Hilton Diamonds they had a great free breakfast. I like the place and the location can't be beat. My teenage daughter loved having her own bedroom...we liked it even more.

Snow Goose

I am happy to report that I have now made a reward booking for early 2007 at the sunset key cottages - definetly the best value per point redemption I have ever made at an SPG property. The cottage I have booked at 20k points per night is currently running at $1375 U.S. plus 11% in State taxes! Looks like a fantastic property.

SG

Starwood Lurker

I need to correct this previous posting. Apparently, the resort has reviewed the room types with SPG and it has been determined that the award redemption for this resort will be for SPG6 suite awards, not standard Category 6 as I had thought earlier on.

My apologies for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Tmpy

We stayed at the Westin Key West 9/30 for 4 nights. This was an award stay that was booked through Hilton when they were running the hotel. Due to my Starwood Platinum Status, we were upgraded to a two room suite. The room was very nice and the Heavenly beds were in the room. Bathroom was a little worn and small but overall I’d give it a 5 rating on a scale 1-10. Balcony was tiny and hot due to the air conditioner blowing on the bottom of the plastic chair. Not much room to move away from it. Staff at the front desk were very friendly and the location of the hotel is great.

One day they informed us by letter under the door that the pool, bar and deck area were going to be closed for the day. We were issued passes to ride the boat to Sunset Key to use their facilities. There was a small beach area right down from the restaurant by the dock with lounge chairs and swimming allowed. It was beautiful there and the pool was so peaceful with wonderful mats for lounging in the pool and thick pads on chairs around the pool area. We used the pool for a few hours and there were only about 10 people there all from the Westin not Sunset Key. The grounds were immaculate, very quiet and the cottages were quaint.

The only downside I see about staying there is the transportation issue. The boat only runs certain hours of the day and you must make a reservation at night to use it. I would hate to be tied down to a time I had to return to Sunset Key. I guess I’m too spontaneous. I only saw one restaurant and the prices were very high. Now I know resort prices are higher than I like to spend at resorts, but a small Margarita at the pool along with a bottle of Corona added up to $20 and that was me going to the pool bar, no beverage service.

I’m sure it is a lovely place to relax and I'm glad I got the chance to see the property. It's probably a great place for a quiet or romantic get away, but to me it’s just not worth the price, points or trouble to use the water taxi.

Snow Goose

Thanks for the update, William, even though I am sorry to hear of the point price change .

I currently have six reward nights booked for February at 20k points per night and I am really looking forward to the trip. I hope that I DON'T enjoy the place so much that I feel compelled to burn 2x the points the following year!

SG

BeantownFlyer

William, it is unfortunate that the hotel has chosen to make a change without notice or warning. Based on your past postings - which were clearly made in good faith and based on accurate information - I set my sights on getting to the 80K level and being able to redeem a 5 night award. Many others have made such redemptions as evidenced by the postings - so there was no misunderstanding by you, rather there has been a change by the hotel.

I got my balance up to 79K, and as of Friday, October 13 the hotel was still participating at the 20K per night level. I initiated a transfer of AMEX Membership Rewards that Friday, and when I checked availability the following Monday, October 16, the hotel had removed all spg awards from booking availability.

The Platinum concierge called the hotel on my behalf, and there was no mention of any change. The revenue manager simply stated that he had reloaded all rates and the system should be available for booking shortly. Unless the Platinum concierge misunderstood the revenue manager, his statements were misleading at best.

Only later did the website get changed to say "Limited Participation" for the property, with a comment that award levels would be above a standard SPG6 level.

The Platinum concierge group is attempting to address my somewhat unique situation (perhaps this is how it came to your attention that there was a change) and I still remain optimistic that I can be accomodated given the timing and what I hope is a desire by SPG to treat me fairly.

I think it is also strange that at the same time the hotel moved to double redemption levels, they also apparently cut in half their rack rates for most dates, with rooms that were going for $1300/nt plus now available for most dates for $650/nt and even lower with corporate discounts.

In any event, this change is essentially the movement of a property from one redemption level to a higher level. Historically this has only been done with notice and as of January 1. Deviation from that practice is a very unfortunate and inequitable change. While I acknowledge that the T&C say you can change hotel categories whenever you want, here the hotel was already in the highest award category. In any event, SPG has always handled program changes in a fair manner with good communication despite the broad flexibility they have to do a host of things under the T&C. That sure didn't happen here.

ILUVSPG

Dear Snow Goose:

Having previously stayed at the Sunset Key Cottages under Hilton Management, I can guarantee that after the first glorious night, you will be crying the other five nights about never being able to use 20K for a night at this property again.

As stated in earlier threads, 20K for a night was the best Starwood Deal ever. But now, with the reward level changing, you can join me in crying my eyes out above never ever having the chance again..

broadwayblue

does Sunset Key now require 40K points/night, or is the increase going into effect in February? I'd like to take my gf to KW for a few days at the end of the month and was wondering which *W property would be the way to go.

BeantownFlyer

Its 40K now, and goes higher in February.

broadwayblue

wow, talk about point devaluation. from 20k to 40k to ??? in 6 months or so? hardly seems right. guess that's out of my budget then.

anyone recommend either of the other *W properties in Key West?

Snow Goose

Based upon "relative worth", this property was a steal at 20k, market average at 40k, and a rip-off at 70k. Cottage rates currently run in the $1000+ per night range, although some better deals can be found from time to time. Comparative category 4 hotels (10k starpoints) would run in the $250 to $300 per night range.

Of course, this assessment is based on today's rates. If all the current Category 4 hotels jump a category, the 70k per night may shift from "rip-off" to simply "overpriced".

SG

Snoopyo

I was in Key West staying at a Hyatt timeshare in a 2bdrm unit and went walking around the Westin Key West and it was niceish but not superb.

Did not get a chance to visit the SunSet cottages but I would be very reluctant to use 40K-70K a night for that property from what I have heard and what comparable values that are available at other SPG properties and other properties.