Westin Sendai, Japan [Master Thread]
 

Photo link

Web link

Total number of rooms: 292 including 1 Presidential suite and 1 Imperial suite
No of floors: 37

Restaurants:

Symphony

• 26th floor
• offers three meals a day
• serves beverages and snacks at all hours
• start your day with a sumptuous buffet breakfast
• lunch is a choice of buffet items or meals served a la carte
• afternoon teas and beverages, complete with cakes or light meals

Horizon lounge

• 26th floor
• for sipping all your favorite drinks and local brews while savoring views of the city

Ichimuan

• 37th floor Japanese restaurant
• open for lunch and dinner
• vista stretches from the distant mountains to the Pacific ocean.

Location:
Located in the center of Sendai on the Higashi-Nibandori Street

JR Sendai Station 1.0 km/0.6 miles

Click here for its map.

For those who have never been to Sendai, here is one main attraction you can consider, Aoba Castle which is just 2.0 km away from the property.

Opening offer

Grand Opening Special- Find renewal with a Superior room inclusive of our opening special dinner and full breakfast package.

To book, visit this page for a stay on and after August 1, 2010.

Feel free to leave a message if you require any other information. Or let me know how you feel about this property from the details I have provided.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Could have used this in 2007...
 

I went to Sendai to see where my Grandpops served after being shifted from Europe. No decent hotel options, so I ended up staying in a hostel. Good to know there will be a presence in Sendai I guess, but it would be better if Starwood had more options in Tokyo and South Africa (!!!).

Anyone stayed here yet? Looks pretty nice. Overall from the website it looks like a hotel I would like to stay and plan to early next year.

http://www.westin-sendai.com/guide/notice1103.html This hotel is closed for now due to earthquake. No reopening date is given :( God Bless Japan.

I just stayed one night in this hotel and it appears will be the first FTer to have done so. My overall view: if you should ever have a need to go to Sendai, you absolutely MUST stay at this hotel. Even without seeing other hotels, I have absolutely no doubt that it is not only the best hotel in town, it's very likely the best hotel in the region.

Note that Sendai is not particularly close to the Fukushima da-ichi reactor and I did not see any visible damage left over from the earthquake and tsunami two years ago, including at the airport (I flew in).

As a mere Gold, I was upgraded to a stunning, large junior suite and offered a 4pm checkout (which I didn't need) without asking. Sadly, in a country where the vast majority of hotels offer free internet, the Westin still charges so I burned my Gold amenity on that.

Hotel rooms start on the 26th floor and have great views, although the blackout shades are not perfect. That was the one defect in an otherwise great stay. There was turndown service, the entire place is meticulously kept, and the room had a huge bathroom with separate tub and shower overlooking the city.

The sad problem they face is there really isn't much, if any, touristic reason to visit Sendai. But if you've gotta go -- you really need to be staying here!

Thanks for that.We will be staying there in September.
Mrsdrron does our research and we are using it as a base for some day trips using our JR pass.Plus she likes her shopping and already knows where all the 100 yen shops are!

Well we are in the Westin now.Having a great time.Today we visited Matsushima Bay.Fantastic.Caught the train to Shiogama.Went to the Shiogama shrine.A peaceful and beautiful place.
Then to the ferry terminal and got a ferry to Matsushima.The bay is littered with islands.Has been voted the third most scenic spot in Japan.I am not doubting that.
Just across the road from the ferry is Zuigan-ji.A zen temple dating from 826.Peaceful and different from other Japanese temples we have visited.
Then went to a seafood restaurant on the second floor of the building 2 down when you turn right from the temple.It really was good and the local speciality fried oysters fantastic.
Back to the Westin.The Concierge Naohiko Wako is a gem.Came from the Hyatt in Tokyo.Friendly and great advice.So definitely there are tourist things to do in Sendai.Looking forward to this weekends Autumn music festival.

An update.My 5th and last night here tonight and have thoroughly enjoyed it.
No service failures.Mentioned the wifi in the room was slow and a little while later a fellow brought up a router for the room and now fine.
Had breakfast in the restaurant the first 3 days.The place is hopping for the weekend-Monday is a public holiday so had breakfast in the lounge.Nearly the same choice as the restaurant.
Cant get photos to stick here but a review + photos on AFF-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer.c...dai-62922.html

Spent one night at the hotel on points. Used an SNA to upgrade to a corner suite. Amazing room with an amazing view.
I got both the points and breakfast at the restaurant as a platinum. Not sure if this was related to the SNA.

The bar on the 26th place is a great place to enjoy the night view with a drink.

Like the previous poster we had some issues with the internet. Got a router in the room and had no issues after that.

The distance from the JR Station to the hotel is walkable depending on the amount of luggage you have ;) You can see the hotel from the West Exit and I guess it's about 10 minutes walk to the hotel.

Great Hotel
 

<note I originally wrote this under the review system - but gave up in frustration - so that's why it's sort of step by step>

Check in
Getting to the hotel was a breeze. Came up from Tokyo in Gran Class on the Train and upon exiting at the West Exit from Sendai Station the hotel was clearly visible on the skyline an easy ten minute walk away. Upon arriving I was greeted by the numerous ground level bell staff and escorted to the lift leading to the lobby on the 26th Floor. On the 26th Floor I was greeted when exiting and taken to the lounge which was also on the 26th Floor. I was also informed that the Hotel had been contacted by the Westin Tokyo and told that my luggage had missed the cut off for delivery that day which led to many apologies from the Westin Sendai - even though it had nothing to do them.

Check in at the lounge was fairly painless - however what was slightly annoying that nobody was checking in at reception but someone else was checking in at the lounge. This led to a short wait which could have been avoided if I was just checked in at reception. Nothing major in the scheme of things though.

Room

During my stay I spent one night in a Deluxe Room and four nights in a Prestige Room. I had no problem with the Deluxe Room but wanted a North Facing Room which wasn't originally available when I checked in. A room change was proactively offered during check in when I expressed a preference for the North View. The Prestige room was marginally larger and being on the corner had views from both the bathroom and bedroom. The bathroom was significantly larger in the Prestige room. However to be honest I would choose my preferred view over a preference for a deluxe vs prestige room. With the hotel starting on the 26th Floor and no other tall buildings around the views from the room were absolutely stunning.

Executive Lounge

Being a Platinum Member I was also granted access to the Executive Lounge which was a very nice space. Plenty of seating and a great view out of the huge full length windows. Like all the staff at the hotel the executive lounge staff were great and the senior concierge who was very friendly and proactive appeared to be based out of the lounge.



The large Fridge contained self service drinks all day (Orange Juice, Tomato Juice, a selection of beers, soda and mixers) and a small mixture of snacks was also available all day (nuts, fruit etc). Mid afternoon a selection of scones and sandwiches were also available. Evening drinks also added a selection of wines and spirits as well as a limited but good quality selection of cold hors d'oeuvres. and selection of good quality salads. I recognised many of the items from the Restaurant menu - the terrine and beef tongue selection especially. The lounge was never crowded and was very relaxing.
Breakfast is also served in the lounge on weekends - but I didn't get a chance to try it.

Service


As is expected in Japan service was perfect. All staff members were excellent and very proactive. Every staff member appeared to take great pride in their work and the hotel and were a pleasure to deal with. It did get a bit overwhelming after a while. A quick trip to the 7-11 would result in greetings and bows from 6 - 10 staff members only to be repeated five minutes later on the return.

A full turn down service was also provided.

Restaurants

Platinum members can take full breakfast in the main Restaurant - this is not instead of the platinum amenity. For me this didn't get off to a good start on my first Sunday morning with the staff really struggling with a very full restaurant - however things improved on subsequent mornings.
The Breakfast was a fairly standard buffet - offering typical western fare, a good selection of Japanese food and a very nice choice of Salads. All framed - like everywhere in the hotel - by huge windows with stunning views.
I also had an enjoyable meal at the Japanese restaurant on the top floor. The food was very good, however I did find it somewhat overpriced - basically Tokyo five star hotel prices. Something is slightly out of wack when lunch costs more than the room!
Basically the hotel has three restaurants: Sympathy: The French Style Restaurant (where breakfast is served), a Japanese Restaurant on the top floor and a casual cafe style restaurant on the 26th Floor.

Location

Sendai is a fairly compact city as far as sights are concerned so I found the location very good. An easy 5 to 10 minute walk to the main station, shopping district etc. Also easy walking distance to the Castle Ruins various temple/shrines etc.

Conclusion

I was pleasantly surprised by Sendai and the region and was genuinely blown away by the quality of this hotel. It was inexpensive and the rooms, public areas and staffing were great. By comparison I put it several tiers above the Westin Tokyo, where I bookended this trip. Unfair to compare prices as the local market values are very different - but this hotel was great value.

Wifi issues already mentioned by others still remain


TLDR: Find a reason to go to Sendai and stay here.

Anybody stay here recently?

stayed here in last december
anything you would like to know?

I spent three nights here over a recent holiday weekend. I had low expectations of Sendai, but decided to stay here anyway because I could get a very reasonable 13k yen BRG (weekend rates in Japan tend to be crazy, and lots of hotels are sold out if you book on short notice). I'd say for a first time visitor to Japan, you wouldn't want to spend 3 nights in Sendai, but I'm on my, who knows, 40th or 50th trip, and enjoy looking at the second and third tier attractions. I found Sendai to be a very pleasant city, with a good energy. Matsushima nearby is worth a visit, and I did a daytrip to Morioka, which was also a positive surprise.

Anyway, the Westin. It's gotta be one of the best Westins in the system. It occupies the top floors of a business tower in Sendai. Check-in, the lounge, and restaurants are on floor 26, and rooms are above. The hard product is excellent for a Westin; it's on par with Conrad/GH Tokyo or SR/IC Osaka. The staff are outstanding. The head concierge, who for some reason seemed to be in charge of the lounge, is a gem. Other staff were also very friendly and helpful.

The hotel was sold out due to the holiday, but I did receive a small upgrade to a corner room. Very nice room, about 50sqm. I was offered to move to a suite for my last night, but didn't want to go through the hassle.

Sadly, the one area that's a bit subpar is the lounge offerings -- cold stuff only, not very inspired, and strangely, lots of repetition. A cold seafood pasta dish, smoked salmon, and a mixed salad were out three nights in a row. This was a busy weekend, so mostly, dishes sat empty and when a refill came, guests descended upon the buffet and cleaned everything out within a few minutes. The desert situation was bizarre -- one night, there were cookies and tiny chocolates, but they ran out in seconds and were never refilled. The next night, there was a basket with croissants (cut in small chunks) and other baked goods that looked like leftovers from breakfast. All that said, the physical space of the lounge is impressive, and while the food is not worth stopping by, the lounge is a nice place to sit and sip a drink. Breakfast can be taken in the lounge or restaurant. I never checked out the lounge, but the restaurant buffet was fine -- omelet station, some Western and Japanese dishes.

Great review!
​​​​​​Only stayed here for two nights in 2016 but we enjoyed our stay a lot. Very nice hotel. Sendai and its surrounding area I'd say is underrated. Would love to come back some other time and stay for another 4-7 nights. Low rate as well so you get your money worth.
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Any recent post-covid reviews?
Is the executive lounge functioning?
Additional benefits for Titanium?
Considering a stay here in October if Japan opens for tourism.
Thanks in advance.