kzybulew

Any recent opinions/experiences with the Westin Providence? How about the Westin Providence Airport Hotel?

skibum_nj

I stayed at the Westin Providence one night last fall. I thought is was way overpriced for the room and service that they offer. The rooms are small and the connecting doors to the next room allow you hear your neighbors as clearly as if it were a curtain between you. Try to get a corner room if possible. Free internet in the rooms.

There have been been past reports of front desk attititude. I sensed a little of that with the guy that started to check me in, but luckily he was tapped on the shoulder to go handle another issue and the second guy was excellent.

The Providence Airport hotel is actually a Sheraton, not a Westin; and it is in Warwick, RI (approx. 20 miles south of Providence). I've stayed there many times and would characterize it as your standard, run of the mill, convention style hotel. The hotel looks worse from the outside than it actually is. The fourth floor is the club floor. There aren't many suites (2 per floor?), but the rooms are comfortable and clean. The club lounge is nothing special and no alcoholic beverages are available. If you're on a short business trip, you shouldn't be disappointed there. I would not stay there if vacationing with the family.

The rooms at the back side of the hotel overlook the PVD tarmac.

Sam P. Goodman

Stayed at Westin Prov. about a week ago. The location is decent (i.e. proximity to downtown, adjacent mall, etc.), but the hotel isn't anything special. We were only there for a night as we were passing through from Boston/Cape on our way to Philly. The parking situation is lame (adjacent lot not affiliated with hotel). Room was decent, with all the typical Westin ammenities, but not as contemporary as many newer Westins. Windows opened, which I always appreciate, but adjacent freeway can be noisy. We got a hotwire rate of 112 so I felt like it was a good value, but had I paid the 225 they wanted on spg.com, I would have felt taken.

PremEx

My review from another so-so stay of about 5 months ago, is Post #5 of this existing thread on the Westin Providence:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337232

jenn_1K

I stayed there for about two years and can say that at the time it was the best hotel in Providence. Now granted, that's not saying a whole lot. But between the courtyard, biltmore and marriott, I'll take the Westin anyday.

Parking is steep - $20 a day. The rooms are average and like any hotel depends on what room you get. The higher floors I never heard the freeway noise. Compared to the other hotels though, this is a huge improvement. I've stayed at them all, and would choose the westin over any of them any day.

There is a new hotel in downtown that's not affiliated with a chain (I think its Hotel Providence) that shows promise.

As for the staff... the regulars were always nice to me. Yes, there were a few that drifted through that weren't, but they were the exception, not the rule.

BigBopper

My problem with the hotel when I stayed there last summer was that the tubs all seemed to have brown streaks in them. When I checked in I was given a room and the tub was horrible, it looked like someone had an accident and didn't clean very well. I switched rooms and the second room also had the brown streaks but to a lesser extent. The front desk manager assured me it was hard water stains but it still wasn't very pleasant.

Skiba

The Sheraton at the PVD airport is OK. The club room is actually on the 5th floor and sometimes the have booze, but mostly not. It is an older hotel but the rooms have been updated within the last 4 or 5 years. Not bad to spend a few days at if the price is right. Be wary of staffing though, they tend to be VERY short staffed. The airport is right behind the hotel but it is surprisingly very quiet unless the planes are using the crosswind runway, which is not often. It's about a 10 minute drive to downtow, and is more like 7 or 8 miles to the city, not 20.

Downtown the Westin is nice and is a typical Westin, but they were just sold. Not sure how this will affect things.

There are some other hotels downtown, the Biltmore, Courtyard, Hotel Providence, and a new one on Federal Hill I think is called Hotel Dolce Vida (it'sa small boutique hotel).

PVD is a great eclectic city with great restaurants, a good arts scene, and is close to the Cape, Boston and even close enough to NYC.

kzybulew

Our ideal situation is a 1 bedroom suite so that when little kzybulew is sleeping we can still enjoy our evening; however, they don't have rooms like that at either property...
I made a reservation at the Westin for a junior suite and also for a corner deluxe room, but ultimately I will cancel one of those reservations. To book a junior suite at the Sheraton would cost 40,000 points (no 5th night free @ Cat 2). When I called SPG there was some confusion about how much the junior suite is at the Westin (they had #s ranging from 11,500 to 20,000 so they gave it to me for the 11,500 for a total of 46,000 w/5th night free). It didn't seem to make sense to choose the Sheraton over the Westin in that case.
The junior suite is nice because it has a seating area - - more space to play and run around is good with a very active toddler. BUT it is just a large room, no division between the sleeping area and the leisure area. It does not have a connecting door.
The corner deluxe room is 2000 fewer points for the five night stay and it has the capacity to be a connecting room. It would be great to book the deluxe room and a connecting traditional room but $$$! The best available rate offered by the hotel directly was $189, online with a prepaid amex 5 day, 20% off is around $155 not including taxes and fees. It feels pretty steep just to be able to watch TV at night without keeping it on mute, so my next idea is to have the 2nd room for the middle three nights of our stay...

That leads me to my priceline question:
It seems that the Westin Providence is the only 4 * priceline property in Providence, so it is fairly certain that a 4* bid would result in winning the Westin. (Let's think positive thoughts ) Anyway, here's my question: Let's say I won a 3 night stay at the Westin, how likely is the hotel to be willing to assign the priceline room to be adjacent/connecting to the deluxe room? Has anyone ever done this and been successful?
Of course the final option (and the most economical but least appealing) is to just have one room...

Skiba

40k spg points for the sheraton? how man* nights?

kzybulew

5 nights in a "junior suite" Hmmm, now that I think about it, it seems like a lot... double the points for a junior suite? I'm going to call SPG and double check.

Sam P. Goodman

Having just done Hotwire for this hotel, I'd say your chances should be pretty good. I used the same logic you're talking about. Hotwire is affiliated with Orbitz. Westin was only 4 star on Orbitz so I was almost certain I would get it and I did. As for getting adjacent rooms, I would just call the hotel ahead of time so hopefully they would plan accordingly for your arrival and make the necessary arrangements. Doesn't seem like an unreasonable request to me.

kzybulew

I just tried to check Orbitz and no matter the dates I enter it's saying the 4* is sold out.
On hotwire I get the following:
The 4* hotel is $135 for my dates and lists the following as Selected amenities: Suite, Boutique Hotel, Airport Shuttle, Restaurant(s), Complimentary Breakfast, Fitness Center, High-Speed Internet Access, Golf
This amenity list has me worried: suite? boutique hotel? doesn't sound like the Westin.

The 3 1/2 * is $101 for my dates and lists the following as Selected amenities include: Restaurant(s), Fitness Center, Golf Nearby, Tennis Nearby, Business Center.
This amenity list is more like it.

Sam P. Goodman - when did you make your reservation through Orbitz? What are your dates? What star level was it and what amenities were shown?

I've looked on betterbidding and biddingfortravel but there's not much in the way of recent postings for Providence...

JoePilot

Ive stayed here more times than I can count.....its an ok hotel.....nothing special, just the location is good near PVD airport. The hotel beds are great, plenty of parking, free, and near a few good restaurants. The downside is it's not the cleanest place....rooms often semi-dirty and no real frills. Highly recommend an airport view room...its much better than any other view in the hotel. As Plat got upgraded to suite most of the time, as a regular there, but staff never remembered me personally......big turn around in employees. Club lounge has never, I repeat never had free booze......sodas and juice and coffee and some type of hot app and cheese plate nightly, except weekends, when its closed so beware! Lounge is almost Never staffed, access with room key. Bkfst is continental and ok. Nice indoor pool, small gym and free internet in lobby. Ok hotel, but only stayed out of necessity, otherwise recommend Westin downtown!

izzik

I would go with the PVD airport hotel -- it's barely 15 min from downtown and there's free parking.

nologic

The Westin downtown is way overpriced for a hotel like this in Providence, unless you get a hotwire or priceline room, which won't count as a stay.