Stayed here for Labor Day Weekend. First, the good:
- Great beach
- Nice staff
- Good breakfast (chosen as my Plat amentiy, definitely worth it)
- Good location
The bad:
- Arrived at 1PM; told room wouldn't be ready until after 5PM
- Hotel under major construction
- "Resort fees" don't really get you much
- Additional 10% "Service Charge" added to your daily bill in addition to resort fees
- Mattress/pillows very worn/uncomfortable; hopefully fixed in renovation
To the first point above, after putting up a minor stink they upgraded me to an available suite. This is notable, as others earlier in the thread say suite upgrades rarely, if ever, happen. They had originally allocated me room 204 (and I paid for beach front, so this is not really any sort of upgrade - even though they made it sound like it was).
The entire fifth floor of the hotel was closed for construction, but to their credit they did a good job of making it non-intrusive.
The resort fee is hokey. They don't include wifi and when we went to the mostly empty beach and asked for an umbrella, we were told "Sorry, they're all taken - but you can buy a cabana if you want". For contrast, our friends were staying next door at the Ritz and asking for an umbrella netted 5 people falling all over you to make sure you had shade. I recognize they're two different classes of hotels, but given that the Westin wasn't even 50% full I can't see how they'd run out of umbrellas - unless it's a tactic to sell cabanas.
Speaking of tactic, I'm not sure what the "10% service charge" nets me. Everything at the bar/restaurant has 16% added to it and I'm already paying the resort fee. I hate to say it, but had I known I was getting that tacked on I likely wouldn't have tipped the maid (which I always do).
All of that said, I did enjoy the stay and am looking forward to returning when the renovation is done. I think it's going to look great.