See pics:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/560...xvhSGJ?start=0
After having a direct but cramped flight with Transavia Airlines I was picked up for the transfer to the hotel. The hotel arranged this for me. However the hotel charged me extra money for the transfer, it seemed the driver had to wait for me. It was strange since the flight was not delayed.
The Westin Valencia is housed in a beautiful old factory building. See my pics. When entering the hotel some refreshment is offered.
Check-in was ok, though the woman seemed rather formal/arrogant. During my stay this woman seemed to be more or less unfriendly of even arrogant in the way she served the guests.
I did receive an upgrade! The room was not ready yet, and personnel was busy with filling the jacuzzi on the terrace with water. I bumped into a very friendly German woman who recently joined the personnel of the Westin Valencia. She apologised for the inconvenience that my room was not ready yet.
The interior of the room was more or less in brown colours, it seemed not very spacious. Since it used to be a factory, you will not find any windows. Except the terrace door has one. The room was large enough for two Heavenly beds, a small sitting area and a working area. The bathroom was very stylish with a separate large shower area and separate toilet.
The stylish bathroom table appeared to be smallish and not practical. Once my favourite bottle of Davidoff eau de toilet slipped of the bathroom table . It fell through the small opening on the side of the table, and broke!
The terrace of the room was quite nice, and sitting outside in the jacuzzi after a long day is very relaxing. I enjoyed it very much.
Concerning the Heavenly beds, since it was so hot outside I wonder why the bed has so many warm layers on top of it. The only way to sleep is to strip off the layers and turning the AC max. which makes no sense. Furthermore it contributes to the costs of electricity and to the global warming effects !
Public areas of the hotel are well maintained and during the day you can notice the cleaning ladies.
Since I like to work out, I visited the Spa.
The fitness area was smallish with no windows, not an attractive area to do your workout, in my opinion. Still I could find some excellent machines for a workout.
The swimming pool area was great. The pool was large and excellent for a good swim. Besides the pool you can find a kind of rainforest shower.
The Spa offers several treatments and after your massage you can relax in a beautiful designed relaxing area.
The hotel offers two restaurants, they both have a terrace in the garden. One of these is Rosmarino Restaurant. In the morning breakfast was served inside, and outside on the terrace. I preferred to have it outside with a nice view of the garden.
The range of products of the breakfast buffet appeared to be rather limited. It was hard for me to find the healthy, low fat products.. For instance every morning I had to ask for the low fat yoghurt. There was one small table with some sort of muesli however.
In general, the quality of the products is very good. They do serve a delicious cappuccino in the morning. Service was friendly, though not all the personnel could speak English.
In the evenings I have had many dinners on the terrace of the Rosmarino restaurant. Service was great, friendly an efficient. However the quality of the served food was very low and the portions minimalistic. The restaurant hardly serve any vegetables. If you do want some vegetables it is sliced in very tiny slices with almost not taste.
One evening I had a steak, which appeared to be of such a low quality I had to give it back. The kitchen agreed with me when they tasted the steak themselves!
One of the waiters, Sergio, did his best to compensate for the lack of quality of the food, f.i. he served some extra good wines, ordered vegetables for the next day and made me feel at home while waiting for the food. Without this, I would have been looking for another restaurant in town. It seems to me, he is one of the stars of Starwood!
In the stylish bar you can find a small library with interesting books. You can have a comfortable sit inside, or on the nice terrace with a view of the garden.
The location of the hotel is in a quiet neighbourhood and close to the city centre. In 10 15 you can walk to the city. The excellent and modern underground is 5 minutes away from the hotel.
Would I go back? I do not know:
The gym area is not attractive for me, and I like a good gym. The pool was very nice however.
Concerning the quality of the food and drinks, I always have my dinners in Starwood restaurants since in general they serve food and drinks of a high quality.
However, the food in the restaurant was very very disappointing: the lack of quality, the very small portions, no paella to order, the lack of vegetables and the relative high prices for this kind of food! Compared to the overall quality of the hotel, Starwood should be ashamed for a restaurant serving this kind of food! However, the wines tasted very good and the service was perfect and friendly
Furthermore, the rooms are in my experience not very luxurious. I did like the jacuzzi and terrace. I do not like the layout of the room however. There is the lack of windows and a nice view.
The service in the hotel was very friendly, and it made me feel at home.
See pics:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/560...xvhSGJ?start=0