Took a family vacation to these two properties last week of July; had an excellent (W-KL), and then superior stay (S-BH), respectively as follows:

Westin Key Largo - had a paid TH, free FRI stay - excellent out of box experience, from the time we drove up in rental car...concierge (female) warmly welcomed us, ushered me right to front desk, where they had upgraded us (PLAT) to a suite that. Hotel immediately and courteously recognized SPG PLAT status, and handed me the card to pick my PLAT amenity. FWIW - while literally the last room down a long hallway...this suite was magnificant in view of the bay and size of room, to include a whirlpool bathtub that offered this same super bay view. Since we had young kids, the walk to our room, and then back to the main part of hotel was not a big deal, though this would have been a problem had some of my relatives been w/ us. Again, the size and room view was magnificant and off-set any negatives I could come up with.
Major upside(s): quality and view of room; quality of beach-side concession/operations was excellent, and we para-sailed and had a good time.
Moderate upside: HIGH-SPEED (waypoint) internet access for $9.95/day. Yes, I will 100% use high speed if available. Excellent dining facility and a beautiful private raised-boardwalk walkway all along the beach
Moderate downside: SIZE of the GULF-SIDE beach was very small and almost constricted. Hotel won't be able to fix this, since there appeared to be private property on both sides. I had heard this complaint before, so expected it . To be technical, the beach could almost be considered *private and secluded*, which to adults may well be considered an UPSIDE, but our kids wanted to run along the beachside and build sand castles, etc...and this was not the best beach for these activities. For a couple on a honeymoon...this would be fine if not preferable though. Size of pool I thought was smallish for a property this size, and instead of capturing a location overlooking the gulf, they sited the pool and hot tub (HUGE hot tub btw) on the backside of the hotel behind a parking lot. Again, not a major downside, and liveable, but I would have done it differently if I were the architect (lol).

Did not try the upscale dining on property, as we had several off-site FL touristy-things to do that always seemed to compete at similar times, so not able to comment.

Would I go back ? maybe, maybe not - no major disappointments and everything went well and if I *had* to stay mid-Keys anyway, I would certainly be happy to repeat here. Just would preferentially try something different perhaps further down the keys. Wish Starwood had a ocean-side resort somewhere on the keys.

IN THE PERECT WORLD, COSTS NOT BEING AN ISSUE, THIS PROPERTY SHOULD: double the size of their beachfront and bring in more sand and remove some rocks from the immediate beachfront.
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Sheraton Bal Harbour: "WOW" sums up this experience. Exceeded expectations is another way to say it. Need to mention that many of us are aware that "Jimat theBeach" both posts, and monitors spg-related postings here in the spg thread, and he is a senior-level manager at this resort (I apologize, Jim, I don't recall specifically your title there) - and this is a GOOD thing for we flyertalkers.

Stayed 2 nights on a FREE SAT/paid SUN. Check-in was quick and professional, again staff recognized SPG status, and room was about 30min from being ready when we showed up (earlier than 4PM, so we expected this). I was meeting an old Army friend/West Point classmate & his family there, and had worked diligently to get him a nice room, ideally a suite alongside mine. Was blown away when I got not one, but two calls at my office weeks prior to my stay from this property, checking to see what type room I desired, if I had any special needs, etc. Can honestly say in my years of traveling this has never happened. So, this was a "first" on this basis alone. Clearly, "Jim-at-the-Beach" caught one of my postings from this thread somewhere along the way where I mentioned I was headed his way, and proactively had his assistant research his future reservations against a TX resident, to deduce who I was. Clever. Extremely insightful and pre-emptive, considerate action. -> But - his business card doesn't say "black belt - Sigma Six" - for nothing. -> Thus, on my last discussion w/ the hotel staff (not Jim) prior to my arrival, I asked about the possibilities of upgrading my friend, who admittedly is not a spg fan (nor is he aligned w/ any hotel affinity program for that matter) - and they said they would see if it could happen but no guarantees, which was all i could hope for. (Hey - the army makes these guys stay on tight budgets, and cheapest price usually is where he is forced to stay, affinities notwithstanding.) So, I was elated when I arrived to see we both had magnificant, elevated (11th floor I think they were) ocean-front views. In fact, this hotel has some special corner suites which are spectacular in/of themselves...and then also happen to adjoin a slightly-smaller suite, but uniquely both suites open into an also-lockable vestibule...designed such that (my guess) parents can stay in one room of this quality, yet kids can stay in an adjoining room of almost-equal quality, and BOTH rooms can be left open because they are accessible through an OUTER lockable vestibule. Nifty layout IOW for a family that needs two rooms. Have not seen this type layout before. The suite itself - impressive sq footage and bathroom facilities were ornate and upscale, and wow, the ocean views were specatular. Staying in a room this nice was also a first for me as a relatively-newly-annointed PLAT traveler w/ spg.

It should be known - this is a HUGE, sprawling beach resort hotel right on the Atlantic ocean with impressive, LARGE (Hurricane harbor-style) fresh-water pools (yes, more than one) one of which has a slide for the kids, hot tubs (two or more), a large drinks/lunch cabana sited in the middle of it all, basically exactly what my family was looking for. We literally checked in, and did not take the car out of parking until we left two days later, though my young kids (15, and 6 and 4) were not too much into being IN the ocean (there were jellyfish in the area when we were there). They loved running along the beach, building sand castles, etc..and this beach supports it all; nice white sand, expansive, well-groomed, etc. Coincidentally, we did not partake of any of the beach-side concession activities (jetski, etc) like I thought we might before going. Lack of time to try these beach-side activities mostly and the allure of the fresh-water pool activities kept us mostly inside the property security-protected gates.
Had an exquisite MON AM brunch before leaving, also in their ocean-side restaurant, and regretably did not get a chance to try their upscale dining restaurant. Did not get a chance to go in their exercise facility, so can't comment there, except that it appeared to me to be larger than typical, representative of a RESORT-class hotel versus an inland hotel. So let me condense comments into categories:
MAJOR UPSIDEs: 1) recognition and contact made weeks before we arrived; a first in all my years of traveling to be contacted ahead of a stay, not once, but twice 2) clearly this resort "aimed to please" and did so. Refreshing "can-do" attitude at all levls of staff and suppoer personnell; also rarely seen. 3) facility siting, room size and location, property size, amenities catering to vacationers and family guests (versus only directed to business travelers) was OBVIOUS....these guys were prepared to make one's stay an out-of-the-park experience, and then they proceeded to pull it off. and finally, 4) the consideration this hotel paid to my special request to accomodate my friend, who had no spg status exceeded expectations.
MODERATE UPSIDE SURPRISE(s): respectable shopping in the basement of this hotel. Was surprised to see a bowl of fruit show up, even though I had chosen points for my amenity (this was courtesy of Jim also). High-speed access also present and working without a hitch, at $9.95 a day, and I always get this as mentioned before. Am now starting to target only properties that offer it...ie this almost has a higher value to me than hotel location. Location of the Bal Harbour shops across the street was also a nice surprise for spouse and our friends.

MAJOR DOWNSIDEs: None
MODERATE DOWNSIDEs: Swimming pool KID SLIDE seemed to close early, especially given these were SAT and SUN (weekend) evenings. I think it was 6PM, when there was an hour or more daylight. Kids were just a bit disappointed. In the overall scheme of things, almost ridiculous to mention this.
CONCLUSION: What a nice place to stay; would absolutely stay here again, and will preferentially target this resort when we visit FL again.
Disclaimer : I had a chance to call Jim-at-the-Beach when I was at the hotel, though because of timing issues, I could not thank him in person...and I mentioned I was going to post this positive experience on flyertalk...BUT then I had the thought I should perhaps not be so effusive, as it would only "set him up" by other flyertalkers if/when they were going to visit this property. Ever the professional, he said for me not to worry about that and he welcomed the high standards. True story.

IN THE PERECT WORLD, COSTS NOT BEING AN ISSUE, THIS PROPERTY SHOULD: build a lazy river around the perimeter of the entire complex
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Both stays re-confirmed my choice of Starwood as my preferred hotel brand and spg as my choice of affinity programs (to include airline and AMEX MR). With over 100K Hilton HHONORS points sitting in my account, I can't imagine when, if ever, I'll be able to use them now...to Hilton's detriment and Starwood's benefit.

[This message has been edited by ILUVCITIBANK (edited 08-09-2002).]