boston aa flyer

Just stayed there on a 5 night award and i have only one small (TINY) complaint:

1) the hotel is beautiful and in excellent condition... the lobby, living room, restaurant, whiskey bar, spa, gym were all a part of my stay and everything was perfect

2) at check in... plat amenity and suite upgrade were available without me even asking

3) about an hour and a half after check in... room service showed up with a bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and a note from the general manager welcoming me as a platinum

4) Spa service was excellent all the gym equipment was brand new (cardio equipment had the brand new ipod jacks built in)

5) conceirge (luis) was awesome... tons of dinner reservations, breakfast reservations, tour reservations all done in advance with one phone call from me prior to arrival

One tiny complaint... for the first few days, i took them up on their taxi service... everything was at least double the normal price... with no negotiations... once i figured it out... i just started hailing cabs on my own... which is much safer than they say in all the travel books.

abk

i think you got treated exceptionally well. i never get the suite upgrade and get chocolates sent to my room. never champagne. will be there next week for the first time since i received wthecard and will be interested to see if i get treated any better. on the taxi issue you are 100% correct. the only time i use them is to go to the airport or if i want to take someone to garibaldi plaza at night and want them to wait for me ( which is a really fun thing to do especially if you like to drink).

sbtinme

I'm very pleased that you were able to save some money by getting your own cabs on the street and had no safety issues.

That said, as a frequent visitor to DF, MEX, I very much support those fiercely worded warnings to gringos looking to get a cheap cab in the city. Yes, the radio/sitio cabs can be pricey and the upscale hotel cabs are the most expensive of all. However, to throw caution to the wind and hail one's own cabs is a statistically dangerous decision. It's just the reality, no bones about it.

What I've learned to do is to find out where the sitio cabs are lined up around the block awaiting a call and I've approached them and gotten in. That's 10000% safer than hailing a normal cab. Under no circumstances would I suggest anyone other than a Mexican National hailing a green VW cab.

Sorry. I wish it weren't that way, but there are thousands of folks who have scary stories to tell because they wanted to save $7.

boston aa flyer

100% percent agree with you on this.... there were definitely a number of taxis that i passed on... and never a VW....

DesertRat

I just had the W concierge call me a radio taxi every time and they never seemed to mind i wasn't using their service. Much much cheaper than the hotel taxi.

Anglo Large Clawed Otter

Very happy with my stay here so far. Checked in tonight and received a pre-blocked Fantastic Suite, also given Plat Amenity without asking, and found complimentary Voss water waiting in room (W Card Holder Perk).

Here's a Link to some photos I took of the room after checking in. Nice hotel. ^

abk

you are living right. i have been there around 10 times including last month as a wthecard holder and never came close to a suite. if they offered you the complimentary guacamole and beer as an amenity- take it as it was great.

ajnaro

Also at the W Mexico City on a five-night award.

1) My room was clean, but with scuffed and dented walls and furniture. The two rugs looked like something out of a 1970's bathroom. It is strange to find this sort of thing at a very new hotel.

2) No platinum amenity or upgrade offered at check-in. After some negotiation and insistence on my part, the receptionist found a Fantastic Suite. I remembered the Platinum amenity on the second day and asked for it.

3) No champagne, chocolate covered strawberries or a note from the general manager welcoming me as a platinum.

4) Didn't try the spa.

5) The concierge service is pleasant and efficient.

6) As I speak Spanish I had no trouble with taxis.

My comment: the Fantastic Suite is a gross misnomer. It is no suite at all -- everything, even the bath, is in just one room with no divisions of any sort. The only thing that has a door (a glass one at that) is the toilet. There is no dining table and only a very uncomfortable two-place sofa with no back to lean on. To me this hotel is a paradigm case of the Emperor's new clothes. Everyone says how wonderful it is, but when you look there is nothing there at all.

asforza

I just returned from a 6-day business trip in Mexico City, and was very pleased with the W. I was upgraded to a Wonderful Room, and am only a Gold. The room was exactly the same as my co-worker's room, but on a very high floor, which afforded me a great view. The staff is unbelievably kind and knowledgeable, and the hotel is in a great neighborhood for walking. I loved it - I would stay there again in a flash.

gabo02

any recent stays. will be heading in a couple of weeks

boolean64

So I'm heading to Mexico City for a long weekend and want to spend at least one night at the W. Current plan is to spend Thursday night at the Centro Historico and Friday night at the W. But I could easily reverse that. I mainly want to take full advantage of the "W scene" and the Polanco neighborhood in terms of restaurants and nightlife.

FWIW, I'm definitely staying at the Maria Isabel the rest of the weekend.

Thanks!

wizzy

Just finished a 4 night stay at the W. Was pre-upgraded to a Wonderful suite on the 25th floor. This suite has the bed in a loft above the rest of the space. Liked the room a lot, only downside was no hammock!

I took the Bear as my amenity, but it no longer comes with a cowboy hat. When I arrived in my room, I had a plate of 6 chocolates and 2 fuji water's awaiting me.

My rate included continental breakfast, so had that each day. Cereals, fruits, pastries, and juice/coffee. Hit the bar one night, it was pretty busy. Drink prices in the bar seemed high to me, and the selection of tequila's wasn't overly exciting.

As others have mentioned, the staff goes out of their way to be friendly. Plan ahead when checking out, as you have to do that at the desk, and everyone checking out seemed to have at least one problem with their bill.

I haven't seen this mentioned earlier, but there was an insert in my key packet saying that gold/plat are welcome to take one small bottle of water from the minibar each day at no charge.

The W doesn't have an ATM, but there's once next door at the JW Marriott. When you walk out of the W, take a right, and it's the next building. Upon entering the JW, look to your left and there will be an enclosed spiral staircase going down. Head down one level, and the ATM is there.

I didn't get a chance to explore Polanco, but I'll be back again for a few nights next week and hope to check out the area.

ajnaro

Perhaps this suite upgrade is a new policy. When I was at this W in 2008 I was shown the loft suite, but I was explicitly told that it was not available for Platinum upgrade and that I would have to pay a heavy supplement to stay there. I passed because the suite looked very small to me, even though the bed was up a staircase.

As for black bears, I actually got two of them, neither one with a hat.

wizzy

Had another stay last week, this one for two nights. Wasn't upgraded to a loft suite although they showed available online. Was ok with that, but was very annoyed with being "upgraded" into a smoking room. Nothing different about the room except it being on a high floor.

There were several odd things with the stay, starting with my SPG number being deleted from my reservation 4-5 days before the stay. Plat line could online tell me that someone at the hotel had done it, hotel had no interest in following up when I asked about it at checking. Same lack of interest when I mentioned the smoking room at check-out (the room itself smelled fine, but getting off the elevators was pretty stinky).

I'll stay here again, but the stay lowered my overall impression of the place.

wizzy

Just finished another stay. For the second time, I was upgraded to one of the loft suites. This one had a terrace, and was noticeably smaller in the "living" area than my first. Guess that 40 sq ft or so they took for the terrace was more noticeable than I realized.

Found some decent local restaurants. If you go out the front door, turn left and a block down across the street are several places. El Bajio is good for traditional mexican food (great carnitas), and Prego was good for Italian. Beware that Prego will hit you for a $25 peso cover charge. No notice, and all that got me was a piece of bread and some olive oil.