DrMaturin

It appears that the Westin GDL is finally open so I hope it's not too presumptuous of me to start a master thread for this hotel. My wife and I travel to the city a couple of times a year to visit family and see the sites and we've previously been staying at the Crowne Plaza or the Hilton. I've been disappointed at the lack of *wood choices until now but this has apparently been rectified. Has anyone stayed at this hotel or had any experience there? Is the hotel mostly business-oriented or is it also comfortable for tourists and non-business visitors? Thanks in advance.

As an aside, we were in GDL just a little while ago (stayed at the Crowne Plaza which my wife loves but I don't) and everyone we met was raving about the Hotel Riu, which certainly looks spectacular from the outside. It's gratifying that GDL has so many new, modern hotels. Despite all the bad publicity Mexico gets in the States Guadalajara at least seems to be doing well.

Sam P. Goodman

Your post piqued my interest in this property. I've never been to Guadalajara, but have a United voucher that needs to be used soon so this could be a good candidate. I just looked the Westin up on Trip Advisor and noticed that Walter Harbich is the the GM. He was the GM of the Haciendas for several years and if that's any indication, I'd say this hotel is in good hands. I'd be interested in hearing from those familiar with Guadalajara regarding the location of the hotel (and any tips on visiting the city).

cmhua777

As the previous poster mentioned, if anyone could comment about the hotel's location that would be excellent. I am planning a stay in GDL next month and am not familiar with the city.

DrMaturin

The hotel is adjacent to the Expo Guadalajara center, the site of large conventions and other gatherings. It's also very near the Hilton. It's a good location. For example, my wife is planning on attending the next Book Fair, the second largest in the world, which is being held at the Expo. It's a great location for that sort of thing.

I'd also check out the Hotel Riu, which as I mentioned above everyone seems to be raving about. I'm torn between it and the Westin for our next visit to GDL, which will be for pleasure, not business.

jammanxc

i'll be staying here in 2 weeks! Will be back with a full report after June 26th of checkout

jammanxc

sorry for the late review, but stayed here for 2 nights , booked the lowest category room using cash, as a SPG Plat, I received:


- Upgraded to a 1 bedroom corner suite
- Free wifi (just room charge it)
- Breakfast daily (platinum amenity)
- 4pm late checkout was offered(not needed)

the SUITE was HUGE!! very nice decor and the bathroom has a huge open view of GDL. I thought I was at a 5 star hotel when I walked into the lobby, even though it's a category 3. Everything from the service to the rooms felt like 5 star to me.

Easy of access from the airport.. $20 cab ride (all the cabbies know the Westin since it's the best hotel in GDL) Again, cab rides are going to cost $10-15 to the city center each way, so please be prepared to pay a lot of taxis as this hotel is nowhere near walking distance of anything. I walked a mile to Plaza Del Sol a few times which is Highly Recommended! It's a shopping plaza with tons of cheap eats. I felt safer walking day and night in GDL & the city center than in Los Angeles.. **GUADALAJARA IS VERY SAFE**

woke up late 2nd day for breakfast and had an early flight the morning of checkout, so I advised front desk, and they said they would give me the points. (was not able to utilize the breakfast)

I would definitely recommend this hotel for Platinum guests since the treatment was phenomenal.

morerainplease

Any thoughts on staying here with a couple of little kids? Other than lots of Taxi rides, are there any other downsides to consider? Is there ANYTHING to do in the immediate neighborhood (walks, parks, churches, food, etc...)? Thanks in advance.

jammanxc

there is absolutely nothing around walking distance of the hotel except the EXPO, hilton hotel, etc. The mcdonalds is a mile away walking distance.. I dont consider this a family hotel at all. It's more businessy

DrMaturin

jammanxc, thanks for the review. Tell me, is it true that the Westin doesn't have a pool? This would be a dealbreaker for us since my wife is an avid swimmer. We stayed at the Riu Plaza on our last trip to GDL in May and they have a very nice pool.

gabo02

Sorry to break it to you. But there's no pool there.

DrMaturin

. Hard to believe. We could rack up a lot of nights and points at this hotel if it only had a pool. My wife will be going to the book fair next month and the Westin would have been the perfect place. Oh, well.

ITguy

I stayed at the Westin Guadalajara for one week and the neighboring Hilton for one week. The Westin is hands down the better property - everything looks new and shiny, unlike the significantly older Hilton. The lobby and restaurant area are very nice and quite impressive considering the price (about $120/nt). The food and drink are about the standard hotel price though I would rate the meals above average in terms of taste and presentation.

As an SPG Plat, I booked was booked on the cheapest breakfast package room but was upgraded to one of the corner suites. The living room area was decent-sized, enough to have a few people over for drinks. There was a separate half bathroom as well.
The Westin also had a pretty nice gym with slightly newer equipment and a bit more room... It seemed like I was the only person who used it though and would have to make sure to take a walk around the room as the lights would turn off after 10 minutes unless you triggered the motion sensor.

Definitely no pool, unless you count the decorative "bubble bath" as one

morerainplease

Does anyone have a contact for Walter Harbich? Thanks in advance.

morerainplease

FYI, Señor Harbich is no longer the GM here. Hopefully the excellent service didn't go with him.

TallestHotelInJapan

Why "rack up" nights in THIS hotel?