aussieinsf

Stayed here for 2 nights in mid December as an SPG Plat (50+).
I really wanted to be positive about this place as we really like the Westin over at Avon/Beaver Creek but we did not like the Westin Snowmass.

- Apparently the hotel had a big group from ski.com staying for one night (the first night of our stay). This meant being asked numerous times if we were with the ski.com group (no we weren't) and also that the hotel could not provide any upgrade let alone a deluxe room with our bedding preference. They "pre upgraded" us into an accessible King directly facing the pool (ie. on the ground floor) and could not offer us a room with a King bed on a higher floor so we switched to two queens on the fourth floor facing the slopes.
- No upgrade (busy with ski.com group). The standard room was nothing special although the partial view of the slopes was nice. Bathroom was most unimpressive (small for nth america, little counter space).
- I went down to ask again for an upgrade and showed them that they still had standard suites showing for revenue sale online. They in turn walked me around the counter to show me their internal inventory on the check in computer showing no standard suites in available inventory.
- I asked what would happen if I booked a revenue suite. They said they did not know.
- The agent checked with her supervisor and they then offered to upgrade me to a larger suite (above standard suite) if I paid the room rate difference. No amount was quoted so I presumed they were not encouraging me to do that. They offered to upgrade us the following night (and did) but waiting for hours in the middle of the day for the 2nd room to be ready hardly made it worth it.
- Their were plenty of people around but the service level overall was pretty inexperienced. No greetings in corridors, double doors were never opened by staff even when moving our luggage through etc... They said they were overwhelmed with the check outs they had to process when the ski.com group left and said they had no cleaning staff scheduled that day. Maybe teething problems.
- Hotel location is excellent for downhill skiing and ski valet on ground floor is ideally located.
- Two property negatives (at least for us). I hesitate to mention this as it sounds petty, but it really does ruin a lot of the ambience they are trying to create with the remodel:
1. Lighting - just horrible - bright white fluorescent throughout made more painful by the very low ceilings in the hallways to rooms. Don't picture yourself wandering back to your room dozy and ready for bed after a digestive - the journey down the low ceilinged bright corridors is more like a couple of minutes in a doctor's waiting room. This is not about environmental choices - there are warm CFLs - somehow they chose white, cold lights and fixtures.
2. Lobby Ambience - not only lighting but just an open, empty feel rather than a cosy one. Not even close to the amazing feel of the Westin at Avon. More like the Westin at Mammoth with the plus that there is a bar directly connected to the lobby (unlike at mammoth).
- you can self park for $30 a week about a 2-3 minute walk down the snowy road (or valet at a per night charge)
- was not offered and did not ask for alternative platinum amenity (same at Mammoth - is asking for this a requirement?).

Bottom line - overall attitude to a Platinum guest was not positive/welcoming and that set the tone for the stay. It didn't feel like they tried particularly hard to look after me (surely they could have found a King on a higher floor and pre-blocked that at least). This was yet another hotel where despite only just opening the training seems to be to enforce minimum benefits to Plats. Unless the ski.com group all paid for their suites it was clear they were more important to the hotel than I was. My rate was not a rock bottom opening special.

Overall I understand hotels getting weary of "demanding" Plats - but surely as hoteliers and hosts its better to at least deliver for Platinum members staying or exceed their expectations then it is to have your frequent guests stay and feel their expectations were not met. The Platinum program creates an expectation of being treated well and when the attitude feels more like "you are lucky to get anything" the value of the program is diminished. It is possible to avoid this and I've stayed at lots of SPG hotels that achieve very positive treatments of Plats with a welcoming attitude and a little flexibility even when upgrades are not available.

I don't understand the revenue availability of suites via the SPG booking engine but not being able to get one on upgrade (maybe someone can explain).