Originally Posted by
Nagasaki Joe (Post # 43)
This was my first trip to Guam since 1983 . . . . I was also able to use four SNAs to get upgraded to a suite for our entire stay. The taxi ride from the airport to the Westin cost $32 (the return trip cost $30), about half the cost of the Westin’s airport bus. . . .
Dining
The only meals we ate at the hotel were . . . evening food and drink at the Club Lounge during cocktail hour from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Club Lounge
The club lounge is probably the best thing going for this hotel. It is spacious and comfortable with the front of the lounge providing a nice ocean view but against a bright setting sun, so I needed to lower the curtain to sit there.
The food offering is pretty substantial and can replace a regular meal, but the food quality was generally poor, especially the pizza, yet there were some decent dishes, and the desserts were especially good. The lounge’s strong point, though, has to be its beverage offering, with bottled Heineken beer along with Asahi and red and white wine of variable quality but the sparkling wine was especially good. There was also a selection of canned club soda, tonic water, and other non-alcoholic drinks. All drinks were promptly replenished.
Service
Service was very good, and the staff was uniformly friendly, especially the front desk staff. The concierge at the club lounge entrance was also very good and answered our questions and handled issues that arose. . . .
I visited later in December to use up an expiring 40K Free Night Award (FNA). After considering a 37K date, I settled for 34K based on J class flight availability from SPN.
Although the Lounge is open from 17:00 to 19:00, there is a mad rush at the onset. A few months ago, I showed up at 18:40.
See Post # 41,
supra. This month, little did I know that by 17:15, the fish with imitation crab, the Buffalo chicken wings, and the pizza would all be gone, the latter never to return.
My last visit, I checked in at 15:00. This time, I showed up at 12:00, expecting to hang out in the lobby. The front desk told me I could get a Lounge key card at 14:00, which was nice of them (though the only things available there were cookies and non-alcoholic beverages). They brought up my room card at 15:00.
After dinner, I tried to schedule my 05:15 wake-up call, only to learn that there was no phone service to the rooms on that entire floor.
I went to the front desk and, after the agent consulted the manager, I was moved a few floors up to a non-ocean view room near the elevator. The wake-up call was my priority, so I could return the rental car, visit the United Club for breakfast, and make my 08:00 GUM-SPN flight that always leaves 15 minutes early.
SeveraI months ago, I had been facing south, a few floors below the Lounge. This time I was facing north like
Nagasaki Joe (albeit a dozen floors down), that is, until my room change.
I have no doubt I will be back, unless my travel picks up enough that I supplement my no-annual-fee Hilton AmEx with a similar fee-based co-branded card, in which case I may go back to the Hilton (at the south end of Tumon Bay) for my Guam trips.
Again, the Westin Guam Resort personnel are as friendly and helpful as ever, however physically tired the property may be.
