Originally Posted by
bhrubin
I think a lot of people here aren’t part of the W target audience and don’t know what they’re taking about. W is a LUXURY brand, whether people want to recognize that fact or not. It may not suit the versions of luxury each of us may prefer, but that doesn’t change that it’s a luxury brand. The Atlanta property is known for being subpar...so I’m not surprised it isn’t impressing our OP. The Four Seasons Sydney is horrible, but I doubt that makes everyone think Four Seasons hotels everywhere are as poor. I think we know better. Prejudice is a dangerous thing.
The W Boston is fantastic. The W Washington DC is wonderful. The W Hong Kong is fantastic. The W South Beach is legendary if you like that scene. The W San Francisco is good. The W Seattle is good. The W Los Angeles/W Beverly Hills is a nice one, though I’m not a fan of its HVAC. The W Scottsdale is supposed to be great. The W Chicago City Center and Lakeshore have better service than the JW. The W Mexico City is nice. The W Maldives is legendary for being wonderful. The W Bogota is pretty amazing. Most people I know like the W Barcelona.
I'll echo those comments 100%. The DC property is great, and I when I stayed at the Seattle W on a Luxury Privs rate I thought both the hard and soft product were nice. Oddly, I've never seen a Courtyard participate in the luxury privileges program...
The broader point seems to focus on specific properties and cities instead of drawing broader generalizations about brands. I've never stayed at the W in Atlanta, but I've spent time at both the RC and Aloft in the city. The RC's hard product came in below expectations, but was still a nice property and provided a good upgrade on an FHR rate. The Aloft went above-and-beyond with excellent service-for-price and provided a 7am check-in which I greatly needed that morning. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to make a very specific assertion between my socioeconomic status and a stay at the Aloft.