Originally Posted by
ElevatorEnthusiast
I thought this hotel was fantastic. I would 100 percent come back here. Here are my impressions and photos:
Pros:
- Upgraded to a Premier Suite and placed on the top guest floor (29)
- Bed is comfortable - medium slightly plush yet supportive mattress, plush pillows, plush enough covers
- Shower pressure is good (I used the rainfall) - plenty of water flow
- Beautiful views
- Great welcome gift of chocolates - talk about a win for yours truly
- Offered late checkout proactively - no issue with requested 3 PM
- Staff was really friendly and kind at the desk - there is a normal desk, sit-down Ambassador desk, and club check-in, I believe - I just did normal check-in as there was no queue and Ambassador desk check-out as there was a queue for the normal desks
- Lounge on floor 30 is truly fantastic - massive - great offering
- Afternoon service had macarons and great chocolate cake along with yummy tortilla chips
- Evening service had lots of options - great truffle potatoes au gratin and black pepper beef - great smoked salmon and good guacamole with tortilla chips - lots of other options, too, and plenty of spirits (I didn’t partake) - I actually skipped dinner, which I never do
- I picked restaurant breakfast as my welcome gift - benefit is that the restaurant does barista coffees - loved the New Year design on my cappuccino - omelets were good, delicious hashbrown, great smoked salmon and grilled salmon
- Lounge breakfast (I went to check) has egg chef but no barista coffees, I think
- AC does work (though, is a bit slow to cool down during afternoon sun)
- The main gym is massive with so many options (I only used one of the many treadmills)
Neutral:
- Property needs destination dispatch elevator system so that you don’t get the crowding on the lobby floor - not horrible, but it would help
Cons:
- I don’t like the published no suite upgrade policy, but they did upgrade me, so….
I would come back. The lounge mixed with the hard and soft products make this a really easy sell.
Photos (please expand the Spoiler tag):
What the.... looks like somebody read the Marriott manual to this property regarding upgrades finally. I'm jealous!
Also you got the city side room which honestly isn't a bad view at all. Funny, I pointed out Josun Palace directly across the park to my wife also. I think the 1910 bar at Josun Palace directly faces back to the Westin.
They definitely got dinged after my visit from Marriott because neither myself (Plat) or my friend (Ambassador) got welcome gifts during our stay.
We were flabbergasted at no upgrades and no gifts. Glad to hear they course corrected.
I think the buffet restaurant barista also upped their game, I remember getting generic heart shaped cappuccinos and it seemed to take them forever to bring to my table.
To be fair they had just opened in September a month before my stay.
You also forgot to take pictures of the fitness center... lol
That place is massive right? There were at least 5 personal fitness trainers at the ready for anything I needed.
I felt bad because they were just standing around and probably paid on some kind of quasi commission system and all I wanted to do was use the treadmill.
But they had legit olympic training equipment the fanciest Technogym equipment there is. You could just push your badge to it and it would begin learning your physic and training goals. Very impressive setup.
The only weird thing was the shoe shine guy was inside the gym area. I assume people buy a membership and have their shoes shined as they work out, but still odd.
I am definitely coming back to this hotel later this year.
Josun Palace is really nice, but they don't have a lounge and convenience is mixed. I still might come back someday but the Westin Parnas is only a stones throw away.
The JW Gangnam and JW Dongdaemun do not hold a candle to this property. Sure their lounge rules are much more relaxed, but unless I have a distinct need for their location I just dont think I would return.