FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - W Montreal, Quebec 2007 on [Master Thread]
Old Jun 25, 2007, 9:13 am
  #10  
fly co to see the yanks
Suspended
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 13,536
returned from a weekend stay at this property. i hadn't stayed at a W in a couple of years. my favorite W is Seattle and i haven't been there in a while.

after this stay, i remembered why i generally dislike W's.

cons:
1) i hate coming back to the hotel at night and having to show a key so that one of the huge bouncers can open the velvet rope. this is montreal, mind you...not exactly NYC, LA, or London. once you enter, more velvet ropes guide people to either the "club" or the elevator banks for room access. i got back 1 AM'ish saturday night (primetime for clubs) and, from what i could see as i passed, there were about six people in the "club" and there was no line to enter. as with most "things W," this "scene" was more flash than substance.

2) the gym was pretty pitiful. the room itself was tiny and under-equipped. if i had time to work out, i would have had to go to a private gym.

3) there are only two elevator banks and no staff elevators (or, as they call them, "lifts"). so, elevator waits could get pretty bad.

4) the rooms were small with virtually no drawers for clothing, etc.

5) there were no coffee pots in the room.

6) way too much room was designated for bars. there were three freestanding bars and a restaurant with a bar area in the first two floors of the hotel.

7) the business center has two computers and a printer. even though the front desk knew the toner cartridge was out on friday, the hotel couldn't replace it until monday even though there was a computer store about two blocks from the hotel. the mouse on one of the two computers needed a battery and was basically inoperable during my entire stay.

8) i generally don't like rain showers. i prefer speakman showerheads. it's really tough to direct the showerhead when it's on the ceiling. you get much better pressure and versatility from the westin speakman set-up. if a hotel is going to have a rainshower, they should also have a speakman, as i have seen at some properties.

9) the room set-up had the bathroom as soon as you enter the room on the right....then the see through shower....then the bedroom. you could see all the way through the shower to the bathroom from the bed (i.e., the wall between the bed and the shower was glass and there was only a curtain blocking the toilet. so, if someone gets up in the middle of the night, it's hard to block the light. again, fun to look at but not super practical (the calling card of the W).

10) the bed is platform style and is dark wood to match the basically pitch dark nature of the room. even with all of the lights on, the room is very dark. but, the corners of the platform bed stick out. so, given the small size of the room, it is very easy to stub one's toe (as i and my companion did several times) walking around the bed.

11) for such a hip hotel, the TV was gargantuan tube style. how old fashioned.

12) no wifi in the rooms. how old fashioned.

13) the hotel tries too hard to be cool....and rarely succeeds. but, simple things like room service fail to deliver. my saturday morning delivery was a disaster. i ordered two omelettes, one with cheddar and ham. well, the omelette came up without cheddar even though the order was repeated back to us. also, we received an english muffin instead of the requested bagel. and, the coffee came up without cream. and, there was no cream cheese which was requested and repeated when the order was read back. a call to Service Express resulted in the bagel and cream appearing in about 15 minutes....but no eggs. the agent had no idea that the eggs were wrong. 15 more minutes resulted in the egg delivery. but, at that point, the bagel was cold. and the coffee wasn't super hot after having to wait for the cream. and, the first person had to eat alone or the other omelette would have been cold. so, all-in-all, i took about an hour and twenty minutes for the full order to arrive from placement to final delivery. and, mind you that this was an $80+ breakfast order.

pros:

1) the concierges were nice and helpful...particularly hugo.

2) the staff was very helpful.

3) free wifi in the lobby and (tiny) business center.

4) free bottled water as we were leaving.

i guess i am much more of a westin guy. but, i find W's to be LOTS of show and little substance. i wouldn't race back to this property.

Last edited by fly co to see the yanks; Jun 27, 2007 at 3:13 pm
fly co to see the yanks is offline