May 28, 2019, 5:19 am
Westin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia [Master Thread]
Oct 7, 2016, 3:57 am
There's been a lot of up-and-down movement in availability, with the search frequently showing no suites available, only to have suites show as available days or weeks later. Sometimes when suites are available they only show up under a special suite package and not for a flexible rate; other times they show up on all rates.
Any idea if this is likely to reflect true changes in inventory, or perhaps does the website sometimes/frequently not show the true extent of suite availability at this hotel?
Dec 13, 2016, 7:08 am
My SNA did end up clearing, which was nice. No idea what was going on with availability in the run-up, but the website did show 1 suite available before my SNA IIRC and then none afterwards, so glad I made the SNA request.
Club food offering is pretty good, not a full restaurant meal and not up to the standards of many Asian properties (including the Middle East) but pretty good for a non-Asian hotel club lounge. Breakfast included a few hot items -- scrambled eggs, breakfast meats, etc. -- cold cuts, smoked salmon, cheeses, yogurts, breads, etc. No pancakes/waffles that I recall and not a huge variety but otherwise I'd call this as good as a small-scale restaurant breakfast buffet. And Club staff were excellent.
Suite was good, exactly the same as I remember from last time I had one 6 years ago. One major annoyance was the complete absence of power outlets near the bed. Not sure if the regular rooms are different in this regard but the only accessible outlet in the bedroom that we could find was on the other side of the room on a random spot on the wall. Hotel could really use some attention to this, for example at the very least buying some bedside lamps with built-in power plugs (or even just USB plugs).
Jan 8, 2017, 8:22 pm
Jan 9, 2017, 7:33 am
You could also contact the hotel and ask if there is a cash buy-up to a club room on top of your (I assume) points booking. Most likely would be the difference in cash price between a standard room and a club room for your dates.
Not sure how many rooms you have but note that club access is for 2 people per room, there may be an additional fee if you need it for a third person (assuming you have two rooms).
Jan 9, 2017, 9:13 am
You could also contact the hotel and ask if there is a cash buy-up to a club room on top of your (I assume) points booking. Most likely would be the difference in cash price between a standard room and a club room for your dates.
Not sure how many rooms you have but note that club access is for 2 people per room, there may be an additional fee if you need it for a third person (assuming you have two rooms).
Jan 9, 2017, 9:35 am
Really the club is nice but not sure it's worth a tremendous amount of extra effort for it. There are plenty of restaurants and grab-and-go food places nearby the hotel where you could also get breakfast. But up to you.
Jan 9, 2017, 12:49 pm
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Jan 9, 2017, 4:27 pm
Cheers,
Jan 29, 2017, 10:56 pm
My email booking confirmation showed:
The hotel reluctantly agreed to refund the fee, but indicated that it was not a mistake and was their standard practice.
Surely it is not legal to charge my credit card with a different rate from the one that I have authorised?
Jan 30, 2017, 12:56 am
My email booking confirmation showed:
In fact, on 4 December, a charge of AUD 307.93 was made to my SPG Amex. I cannot find any reference in the booking process or on the hotel's webpage to the fact that a credit-card surcharge will be applied.
The hotel reluctantly agreed to refund the fee, but indicated that it was not a mistake and was their standard practice.
Surely it is not legal to charge my credit card with a different rate from the one that I have authorised?
Checked SOTP and it was the same.
Jan 31, 2017, 2:02 am
The only indications of the charge come AFTER booking. The email confirmation says:
I understand that the check-in form also includes a reference to the cc fees buried in several paragraphs of text, printed in a very tiny point-size. Of course, on a prepaid rate, telling you about the cc fee after you've paid is not helpful.
Jan 31, 2017, 2:57 am
Hyatt announces it during the booking process as well as in the email confirmation.
*wood, Hyatt and Hilton as well as most hotel chains now do this because they legally can according to the Reserve Bank.
Feb 4, 2017, 9:13 pm
May 13, 2017, 10:21 pm
The Westin Sydney
159 Pitt Street Sydney, NW AU 2000
Disappointing stay for leisure travelers--in serious need for refurbishment (11 Photos)
The Westin Sydney
I brought my mother with me to Australia to celebrate her upcoming 70th birthday and a slightly early Mother's Day. We started with a 4 night stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney, followed by a 4 night stay at The Louise in the Barossa Valley, and ended with 2 nights at the Westin Sydney.
My mother and husband only stayed 1 night at the Westin Sydney, while I remained for 2 nights. As this trip was for leisure, we used 12K SPG points for each of our room nights.
Check In
Check in took a long time...and turned into a bit of a mess. My mother's room was checked in pretty quickly, though the front desk agent seemed uncertain as to which room was hers and which was mine and my husband's (despite my Ambassador clearly having already added our names to the reservations). Eventually, my mother got her key and we sent her on her way.
My room took much longer--because somehow they had me in a connecting room to my mother's room. That was neither requested by me nor should have been organized by the hotel, since I already had requested an upgrade for my room through my Ambassador. Since the staff has such trouble deciding which room was my mother's, and since my Ambassador never lets me down, I knew it was poor hotel staffing and management which resulted in this error. The hotel was sold out...but the error clearly has been made in advance.
After quite a while on the phone, the front desk agent told us we had been assigned a Tower premium upgraded room on the 16th floor. I was pleased and we took our key and up we went--to discover a room with 2 double beds. Now I was pissed.
After several calls through Guest Services, and terrible comprehension for both calls, and a trip to the front desk and dealing with 2 managers, we finally got to our final upgraded Tower Premium room 2204. We had been here for over an hour at this point. TERRIBLE CHECK IN.
Room
Our room was pretty much a standard room, just on a higher floor. Superior tower rooms (like my mother's) are floors 3-7. Deluxe tower rooms are floors 8-13. Premium tower rooms (like ours) are floors 14-27.
The bathroom:
Single vanity bathrooms are largely unacceptale for any reasonable upgraded room at a premium hotel--the first sign of a drastic need for refurbishment.
The glass wall near the door to the toilet room was a hazard--one that I constantly bumped into when lighting was on, and almost killed myself a few times in the middle of the night. Definitely something needing to be resolved during refurbishment!
From the tub you could see into the bedroom area, unless you lowered the blind--a slightly odd arrangement, but one that mimics what we had with the sliding door in our room at the Park Hyatt.
The lack of plugs--and their density, not allowing adapters for more than 1 adapter--was another serious problem. These 2 plugs were the only ones in the bedroom area!
No plugs on either side of the bed? A tragedy...and the manager admitted as much. So why did they not put extension cords with extra plugs in every room as they did for me (see above) upon my request? Bad management or cheap ownership.
The manager did admit they were planning to address those issues on refurbishment, but didn't say when that would be.
The view was not bad:
My biggest problem with the room aside from the lack of plugs was the air conditioning. It turned off whenever you left the room. See service.
Service
Service was a problem throughout my stay. Aside from the obvious screw-up with check in and room assignment for my room, I encountered language and other service problems.
The manager who checked me into the proper room was definitely trying to be helpful. But he wasn't always available--even as he asked me to always ask for him.
The Guest Services line had various female agents, not a single one of which was able to properly understand me. I had to repeat myself several times for every single call, no matter what they request. Whether it was housekeeping, room service, a call for adapters, a call to maintenance for air conditioning, it didn't matter. There is a serious English language issue for the hotel.
Everyone on staff seemed to be Asian--which is fine by me. I do live in California! But it's an American brand for an American company in an English speaking nation. I understand that the clientele may be Chinese now. But there should be some reasonable English proficiency for Guest Services at least. That was not the case at all.
The manager was present to help fix the air conditioning problem--turning off whenever I left the room. He had an engineer meet us in the room. They told me it would stay on after we left. On our first night returning, it was off. I called them again. They said they fixed it. On my second night returning, it was off again. As I was leaving the next morning, i didn't bother again. Since I wouldn't return anyway.
Dining
Food and beverage, on the other hand, were outstanding. I ordered room service breakfast on my first morning, and room service lunch on that same day. Both were delivered promptly and correctly...and the food was great.
We also all had dinner with a Sydney friend in the nearby Intermezzo Italian restaurant located just outside the hotel in the adjoining indoor mall. Very convenient.
Location
Location was fine! Right in the middle of the CBD. A very easy 20-25 minute drive (without much traffic) to the Sydney airport.
Overall
Overall, I expected much more from a Westin. I do believe I would never stay here again--opting instead for the Sheraton on the Park or one of the Marriott properties. Or the Park Hyatt if I had the points! The service letdowns were constant, the lack of plugs by the bedside a tragedy, and the language issues a constant source of irritation.