Originally Posted by heakja

We just finished a two night stay at Westin Resort Costa Navarino. As it was the beginning of April, the Romanos was closed. We initially wanted to stay there, but even without kids or a golf interest, we decided to try the Westin.

All in all, we had a fabulous stay at what we think was the best Westin we have ever stayed at.

The drive from Athens took about 4 hours, it was pretty easy, but a lot of toll booths (six or seven), so bring Euros with you!

Upon arrival (4pm-ish) we were told that the room would be ready in a few minutes, and we were given free beverages at the bar while waiting. We had booked the lowest category room, and was upgraded to a Family suite. I asked about an upgrade to a Premier suite because I really wanted to be seafront (it was too cold to use the outside pools, so any room/suite with an infinity pool was not interesting), but was told firmly no – unless I wanted to pay an extra 120 EUR per day.

It is unclear to me what the standard platinum upgrade is, but I did notice online that we were initially pre-upgraded to a premier infiniy room (not a suite). It may very well be that we only got the Family suite because we asked for a real suite at check-in. The hotel is so spread out that is really difficult to know where the different room categories are. But one advice: Most rooms/suites with infinity/private pool are not private. I would check those ones first before paying top EURs. And very few rooms/suites are seafront - though a lot have partial sea view.

The Family suite was elegant, almost W-like. Very tastefully decorated living room and bed room, with two baths and rainforest showers. Large balconies. Not sure about the "family"-name, though. The bedroom and main bathroom has no divider, and there is a bath tub in the middle of the room (similar to the apartments at W Ft Lauderdale). So not much privacy if you want to take a bath etc.

We were on the second floor, and it was fairly quiet from above. I did however hear those carts they use to bring people and stuff around, so if you are noise sensitive, check if you room is facing one the small roads and/or is on the ground floor next to them. They sound like small cars, and are in use day and night.

We had lunch twice at hotel - once at the bar next to the reception ("1827") and once at Flame. Reasonably priced, but the food was nothing special. If you have a car, go to Pylos instead. Very charming small town, with a lot of restaurants.

As others has mentioned, there is no real system at breakfast. You just find a table and wait for someone to serve you coffee. No problem in April, but I can imagine that the area will be a zoo in August.

Gym was nice - and there is a heated indoor pool.

This resort must be a haven for kids and golfers, but is also suitable for couples when the Romanos is closed. However, you really need a car not to get bored after a few days, especially off-season. It was really exciting to explore the surrounding area, which has a lot to offer historically.

All in all, we would return to this hotel complex in a heartbeat. It is a little challenging getting to and from Costa Navarino, but Arion in Athens as a stop-over at the beginning and end at trip was also very nice.