Just finished a one night stay here. I would give it an 8/10 overall. Hard product is excellent but was somewhat marred by the soft product.

I had booked a Wonderful Room with a view of the Cotai Strip for a weeknight. I flew into MFM from SIN and caught the free Studio City shuttle bus. The shuttle stops at City of Dreams first before stopping at the Studio City hotel. The W does have an indoor shuttle bus depot of its own but AFAIK, there isn't a regularly scheduled shuttle from the airport or ferry terminals to the hotel as of yet. At any rate, you can access the W from the Studio City dropoff point by either walking through the Studio City mall (which is well signed) or you can walk outside by walking north on the Cotai Strip and then west for a few minutes along Av. de Cotai. I arrived at the hotel around 20:30. I saw on the app that suites were still available. It's a fairly large hotel, with 430 rooms and 127 suites, but I didn't get a suite upgrade, which was a little surprising considering the time of my check-in, that it wasn't a weekend or a particularly busy time of year. I received the exact room that I booked for, although it was high up on the 30th floor out of 35 floors total. I didn't bring any of this up to the FDA as I was just there for one night and know that there are no guarantees about this kind of thing.

Which brings me to the check-in process. Elite check-in is only done during the weekend so during the week, there is just one lineup for everyone. An employee at the entrance guides all incomers to the queue. I waited about 10-15 minutes before being processed. I don't know why they can't designate one person to handle Elite check-ins like other properties do. Between the loud music playing in the lobby, the FDA's very soft voice, her mask and a bit of an English language barrier on her part, it was a struggle understanding her. She wasn't particularly friendly either. I got to observe all of the FDAs working while waiting in line and noticed that none of them seemed warm or welcoming while checking in guests. It looked like they were hired for their looks (all of them young and beautiful) rather than for their customer service abilities. As the FDA is literally the first point of contact and intended to welcome guests to the hotel, this was disappointing for a hotel of this tier. I would call this level of service perfunctory at best and a far cry from the standard that other Asian properties display. I remember staying at a Fairfield in Indonesia last year that far surpassed this one in level of service. I've read other reviews of this W and this seems to be a recurring theme here.

Thankfully, the hard product is top notch, as is to be expected for a brand new hotel. The elevators are nifty, where you don't even have to press your room floor's button (waving your keycard triggers the destination automatically) and have a neat lighting method to determine whether it's going up or down. This W's aesthetic is a mix between Art Deco and Studio City's "old film industry" motif, and of course the dark and sexy thing that all W hotels go for. My room was gorgeous and generously sized. The view of the Cotai Strip, mainly of the Parisian hotel across the street and its "Eiffel Tower", was beautiful, although the windows have some structural elements that prevent it from giving you a completely unencumbered view. The bed was perfect and the design touches in the lamps, mirrors and even the mugs are spot on. The bathroom is huge, with a separate bathtub, rainfall shower and enclosed toilet. They even have a Dyson hairdryer for you to use. I'll note though that the shower floor isn't quite recessed enough to prevent water from spilling out onto the main floor. No take home toiletries though, unless you want the bar soap. The TV is massive and easily pairs with your smartphone so you can watch whatever streaming services you want. There is a bench at the foot of the bed that sort of doubles as a couch. USB plugs are located on each nightstand and at the bottom of this bench. The little side table by the bench is extremely heavy for its size!

Breakfast is at the Hawker Hawker restaurant on level 2U and is complimentary for Platinums and up. Unlike the FDAs, the staff here is excellent, very friendly, helpful and warm. They even come around offering you little treats that aren't normally served. The breakfast spread is enormous, covering Western dishes, Chinese dishes, and Indian food. There is a noodle cooking station too. I was there before 08:00 and it wasn't busy but it picked up by the time I left.

Just a random note but the Studio City complex was eerily quiet compared to the hustle and bustle at The Londoner or Venetian. The W's lobby is fairly small for a hotel of its size as well.

So overall, I loved the hotel itself but the check-in staff could use some further training. I don't know if this is a Macau-thing as the staff at all these hotels may be accustomed to mainland/HK clientele and their different standards of service.