controller1

Any update on this property such as breakfast offering for Platinum and up? 2017 seems to be the latest info and I have a reservation in early September for three nights.

ryw

Quick stay report from November 2019. Got "upgraded" to a larger king room on a higher floor, but was up on the 19th (out of 20) floors, which in the end wasn't that great. While the room itself was nice, I was there on a Friday evening, and the bass vibrations from the rooftop bar/club music could be felt in my room until about 1am or so. I suspect Sunday-Thursday nights, this might not be a problem.

I did enjoy their platinum and up breakfast benefit though. No lounge, but I chose the restaurant breakfast my platinum welcome gift. The restaurant, Stella San Jac was quite good! Plats and up get a voucher that's good for 2 people to each get coffee, a plain glass of juice (excludes fresh pressed juice/smoothies), and 1 entree. Either from the breakfast menu on weekdays or the brunch menu on weekends. Also the FDA at check in and waiter at breakfast were both very clear that the voucher gets you 2 entrees, regardless of how many people in your party. So if you're dining alone (as I was), you can use the voucher to get yourself 2 entrees, or get a second entree to go.

CarNut

Any recent stays here? Have 3 nights booked at the beginning of October.

ElevatorEnthusiast

Stayed in 2020 sometime - no real upgrades on Friday or Saturday nights (only to higher floors). The FDA said they will upgrade guests on other nights to corner rooms/suites, but you have to pay on Friday or Saturday night. I did not argue.

I was not a huge fan of the room decor, and I remember the bed being kind of hard (some Westin beds are great, some are old and hard - this was on the old and hard end of the spectrum).

Despite this, this property has one of the best Elite breakfasts I have had (the Otis up by UT is also delicious - best pancakes I have ever had). 2 full entrees + drinks (for two people, but one person could just get two meals, as I did) - the restaurant had delicious chicken (and waffles? - I think) and lemon ricotta pancakes.

This isn't a bad property, but if you don't mind being around UT, The Otis blows it out of the water on room quality and recognition (I actually got a suite upgrade there).

ElevatorEnthusiast

If you're looking for other options, here are my opinions (pretty much all of the downtown Marriotts in ATX are owned and operated by White Lodging, except for the W and Sheraton):

Otis - best overall (room quality, comfort, breakfast, service), but less ideal location
JW - best shower pressure
Marriott - newest, attractive design, bed a bit hard for my taste

DELee

Hmmm. How can we be sure that the hotel you've identified is "best overall" and not because of its namesake....

David

ElevatorEnthusiast

Too right, David - I need to check my biases at the door :-) Although, if I was picking based on elevators, the Marriott would have my pick with its Otis Compass destination dispatch elevators with lovely chimes on the bottom 7 floors.

Back to the original topic of the Westin, I've stayed in most of the full-service Bonvoy properties in Downtown Austin (except the W, Sheraton, and Proper), and while they all have their pros and cons, the Westin would definitely rank at the bottom of my list. Even without weird date-based upgrade policies, there aren't many non-standard rooms here for possible upgrades, some of the decor looks and feels cheap (both in the room and throughout the hotel), and the beds just aren't comfortable. There are many better Bonvoy options, such as the Marriott or JW, within just a couple of blocks if the location matters to you.