W Hotel Bogota [Master Thread]
 

I haven't found a master thread or any reports on this hotel. Anyone care to post their experiences. Moderator if I have missed a thread please combine or delete.

I think you do have the power to create one for a new property if there isn't an existing one.

Just name it "W Bogota [Master Thread]" and fire away...

As a big fan of the brand I look forward to getting down there and party :D

Seems to be so new that not much experiences available! I'm really looking forward to my stay there, but that won't be until August.
The few reviews on Tripadvisor are very positive.

Hate the brand (W), love the fact Bogota is blowing up - in the best sense of the word - with new hotel options. Add in the two new Four Seasons and BAM, Bogota has an international hotel scene. Happy for the city on the rebound. Can't wait to re-visit.

I would expect this property to be excellent, the GM has plenty of W experience and from my personal dealings with him in the past has an excellent way of getting the most from the staff in the property working as a team which I always find makes such a difference to the experience guests have!

Can anyone comment on Platinum recognition and breakfast at this property? I realize it is brand new.

Seconded (thirded? fourthed?) the request for any experiences here.

Staying here tomorrow, will report.

Please do.

Anything to report from your stay? I'll be heading here in late February and am very curious.

Eagerly awaiting a review as well! Seems decent :)

I previously staid at this hotel when it first opened last December.

Check-in: Small lobby on the first floor with two check in counters. Very friendly staff who spoke perfect English. The 2nd floor is more of the lounge / lobby area that had a restaurant and their concierge desk.

Room: I was upgraded to what I believe was a marvelous suite using a SNA. Very nice room with a full bathroom and a half bathroom. Full size bottles of bliss products, two vanity sinks, full bathtub and separate shower. The living room was nice as well with a sectional type couch and small bar area. Only complaint is the standard W room type with everything fairly open however most frequent W guests will know what they are getting into.

Breakfast: Standard breakfast fair for platinum amenity: fruit, cured meats, cheeses and pastries/breads. The breakfast was served in the restaurant area. Not sure if they had additional options as my waiter had limited English (frequent in Colombia).

Gym: I am a gym rat and usually hotel gyms do not fit my needs. At this hotel this was not the case because there was a full size gym and decent indoor pool that you can do labs in. Also has a "studio" that you could stretch or yoga. Also, there were a couple of trainers that asked if I need help.

Staff: Staff was great during my stay. The lady at the concierge desk was able to get a car for me and charge it to my room which is very nice in Colombia (Bogota also has Uber). Overall most of the staff spoke perfect English minus the wait staff at the restaurant.

Area: The hotel is in the Usaquen area. I go to Bogota maybe 2-3 times a year and the Usaquen area has always been described to me as an up and coming area with a lot of great restaurants that rivals Zona Rosa. The hotel is across the "Septima" (highway/major street) from all the restaurants and bars. I would feel comfortable walking around the area but locals may advise against it. Overall safe area but one should always be cognizant of petty crime.

Overall great hotel. I am usually not a big W fan having staid at their locations at Lake Shore Chicago, Dallas and New York. This hotel felt a little more personal, boutique like and not so beaten up as the previous Ws I have staid at. As I mentioned the room was a little awkward with the open bathrooms but still comfortable.

Here is a video of the room I staid in:

https://vimeo.com/140464056

Great review, I was waiting for one for Bogota. Thanks! ^^

With regards to your comments re: the W brand: You mentioned NYC and Lake Shore... You know what.. These are some of the worst W in the world. Do not give up on the brand just yet.

Hollywood, New Orleans French Quarter, NYC and Chicago Lakeshore do not do the W brand justice.

If you try St Petersburg, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Quebec and Austin, TX you will probably love it.

Do remember that many of those were built/refurbished as the original W properties before Starwood recognized that the rates they commanded made them more appropriate for the luxury segment. As a result, Starwood has been on a tear since 2012 and again in 2014-2015 to renovate and restyle many of the original roster of W properties:

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4065212.html

San Fran already looks much better and has had quite a service boost, IMO. Hollywood needs a big shake-up, but many of the tired N. American W properties are looking to be much improved. Westwood's plans look fantastic, and Seattle (the very first built to suit W hotel) is getting a facelift for all of its rooms this year.

I tried using the reply with hotel review tab but it wouldn't allow me to click submit new thread, but here's my review of the hotel:

Check-in:
Check-in and check-out was on the slow side - I don't know if it's due to the fact that Colombian hotels have many systems to deal with. But besides that, the service was great.

Room:
I booked a Wonderful room and was upgraded to a Fabulous room at check-in. No suites available as the hotel was quite busy (2 rock bands were staying in my hotel too!). The rooms are decent in size and the bathroom has an "open concept". You could draw a curtain between bedroom and bathroom, but there isn't any physical door. See-through glass for the toilet and shower.

Service:
Service was great. However, I think it was a new housekeeper but she took my iPhone charger while I left the room for lunch. Due to some communications barrier, I ask the housekeeper if she saw my iPhone charger and she told me yes and she returned it to me. That's rather odd, but I told the front desk about it and they told me the housekeeper mistakenly took my charger because she thought I loaned it from the front desk (doesn't make much sense but nothing else was missing).

Dining:
Dining is decent for the breakfast platinum amenity. Fresh selection of fruits, yogurt, some local breakfast food (no made to order eggs station IIRC) with fresh fruit juice.

Location:
It's located in the upscale Usaquén district of Bogota with Hacienda Santa Barbara right across from the street. It's surronded by a few new office buildings. Takes about 40-50 minutes to get to El Dorado Airport and cost around 270,000-300,000 COP to the airport (via Uber or taxi). Very convenient to restaurants in the Usaquén districts (5 minutes walk).

Is that right? 270000 Colombian Peso equals 92.45340 US Dollar!!!!!!! Think you have too many zeros :P

Currency fluctuations :p

But yes, I had one too many zeroes! Same problem when I was in Seoul whilst paying for my cab. I was like $100 USD for a cab ride until I realized it was only $10! :D

The taxi to the airport usually goes between COP 23k and 28k. It does take around one hour in non-peak hours during the day. From 7-9am and 5-7pm or rainy days, it takes between 1:20 and 1:40 (Bogota traffic sucks). All Uber (the normal one, not UberX) rides from this area to the airport cost exactly 40k.

Usaquen is well known for its restaurants. There are lots of good (and expensive) restaurants. IMO don't walk to/from after 7pm. It's better to take a taxi even if it's -that- close to the hotel.

I don't know if this is a good deal or not @ the W Bogota but I just booked a online promotion with them for $114.00/night upcoming January.

Prolly worth checking out for those coming to Bogota early next year

Did you guys have to pay VAT? If not how did you guys get exempted?

Rate code and/or details, please.

A great deal. Depends if you use a corporate rate. If you are just using the best available rate, then no VAT as long as your passport is stamped for tourist purposes. You'll have to ask them to take it off when you check out.

I've seen those prices a few times and my stay in October was less than $100 (it really depends on the day - some days it's $250 and the next is $100).

Had a great stay at the W Bogota ... your24 was confirmed and marvelous suite was available at 10 am (reservation reflected suite upgrade 3 days prior), friendly staff all around (front desk, concierge, spa, restaurant), small welcome amenity in room (3 bottled beers).

The only issue I had was during check out - 16% IVA tax was included on both my bill and my friends room although we are exempt, make sure if you're a non-Colombian resident they don't include the tax on your bill!

Swank style, amazing concierge team, service & air con, but major F&B issues
 

Introduction My friend and I stayed at the W Bogota for 4 nights this past weekend. We would have considered the new Four Seasons Casa Medina property, but it lacks air con. Overall, the W Bogota is an excellent property with swank, eclectic rooms/suites, ana amazing concierge team, great air con, but major issues with its F&B team--both in the restaurant and with room service. Check In Check in took longer than it should because of a needless line and people seemingly "hanging out" by the check in desks. Once I got to the desk, however, check in was quick and easy. A bellman actually noticed me coughing while waiting, and offered me some water--a very nice touch. Room CON: No electrical outlets by either side of the bed--a big no-no.PLUS: Air con worked great. Very stylish suite/rooms. Big TVs in both living room and bedroom. Wifi was very fast. Bed was super comfortable. Bath products. Nice water pressure for shower. My friend's corner room was laid out similar to my spacious bedroom/bath area...but without the closet. That would be more than sufficient for one person, IMO.The Marvelous Suite is very nice, with spacious living room and desk, a separate entry bathroom with toilet and sink, and a spacious bedroom with bath area and closet space. It is weird t Mohave the bedroom and bath areas open to one another, but as I was alone in my room it wasn't an issue. It would be an issue were I traveling with my husband.  Service Service with room in room dining was POOR, but it did get better. For breakfast, service was consistently POOR--missed orders, incorrect orders, missed items, etc. I called to complain and got my first breakfast comp'd after they delivered only half the order and got even that wrong! Dining in room almost always took exactly 35 min, and often my meal was only warm to lukewarm, never hot. For dinner room service on our last night (while watching Oscars), delivery was prompt, food was warm to hot, and the order was spot-on. Makes me wonder if they aren't well managed for breakfast room service but are better equipped for dinner room service. Service with the restaurant was TERRIBLE on our first morning breakfast--so bad that we did not return at all. Missed orders, long waits, missed requests, one after another, it was terrible. Service generally was outstanding, including concierge, bar, and general. The Concierge team may have been the best I've ever experienced at any hotel in any city anywhere! That's saying something, considering I usually stay at St. Regis, Four Seasons, Aman, Mandarin Oriental, Ritz Carlton, Luxury Collection, etc. type properties! Dining The bar service and drinks were fantastic.Food and beverage for the restaurant and in room dining for breakfast need a LOT of work to be brought up to standard for W. inhad in room dining for dinner in my last night--and it was perfect.I had in room dining for breakfast the rest of my 3 mornings. The first was another disaster, where they forgot items and got the items wrong they brought! The second and third in room breakfast were better, but they still got missed little things (no hot milk for coffee, no extra ice, Swiss cheese instead of cheddar) consistently...and food was warm to lukewarm. Food tasted good, though.Again, we dined in the restaurant only for our first breakfast, which was a disaster (see service). But the food was good! Location Location was pretty good...about 30-45 min drive from-to airport, depending on time of day. The best restaurants were closer to the FS Casa Medina, and took about 20-30 min drive. There were many nice restaurants in our vicinity, but the very best were closer to the FS. For our city tour, it didn't feel like we traveled too long to get anywhere, though we had better traffic conditions on a weekend. First r a weekday, traffic is a mess and will be a factor. Overall Overall, we loved the W and were very impressed, barring the room service and restaurant problems. They should install electrical outlets by the beds, though! We'd stay here again.

Just checked in. Cost 38,000 pesos via Uber Black to the hotel from the airport (about $13 USD) and took less than 30 minutes without traffic (shocked there was no traffic).

Was upgraded to a Fantastic Suite which is a nice large loft style suite. Check in was super friendly and fast. I went to the bar tonight and had a few drinks. Loud club style music with DJs but you could chat at the bar. Martinis were about $10 ea. Beer is cheap-ish in comparison.

Room has a comfy bed and has an iron and safe and huge bathtub. The lighting leaves a lot to be desired, took me 10 minutes to figure it all out. But otherwise I'm pretty happy. Left a plate of fruit as Plat amenity. Only 2 small bottles of free water. Hopefully they refill daily.

I used the book 2 get 3 rate (Z3H) and it only cost me $80 USD + taxes. Can't beat that rate!

Haven't had breakfast or used the gym yet. Will report back re that. Sadly to get breakfast had to give up Plat 500 pt amenity.

Internet is decent but less than 5 Mpbs up/down. It's $12 a day (free for Platinums).

Try to request for extra bottles of water, see if there are any charges.

Hopefully it's buffet breakfast like most Asian properties.

They refill the two bottles of water daily. Still wish it was more than 2.

As for breakfast, it's a lovely full buffet with made to order omelettes, fresh fruits and fresh squeezed OJ.

The gym is decent too. Not the largest or best equipped I've seen but you can get a nice workout done in there. Pool is quite small however. Not really a place you want to sit and relax.

Sounds good, if only more bottles of water are available.

Used a SNA to get a Fantastic Suite. The room was very nice. Did not like the pillows all that much but that was the only shortcoming. The breakfast buffet was good. The restaurant has a separate vegetarian and vegan menu for dinner which can be requested. Food quality was good and the staff was very friendly and attentive as well. There are also a few smoothie bars and vegetarian restuarants within walking distance a few blocks north. The Sunday market with lots of local items is a few blocks away near Hacienda Santa Barbara. From 7AM-2PM on Sundays Carrera 7 is closed to cars which was great. There are free bike rentals at a few locations and a few miles down there were dance classes in the park and other things going on.

The pool is small but is actually a giant jacuzzi. The regular pool transforms into one so it was quite relaxing as the walls have steps to sit on complete with warm water jets.

The concierges were all really helpful.

VAT laws were changed a few months ago. Tax has to be paid now unless a package room rate is purchased.

To get Uber from the airport, you need to get it on the departure level.

Has anybody else had trouble getting the double points from AMEX at this hotel? My charge came through as S/BARBARA INVESTMENTS SUC COL - BOGOTA D.C. and thus AMEX did not recognize it as a Starwood hotel.

Is that what they told you as justification for charging you IVA? The regulation has said that forever. It is not enforced and virtually all Colombian hotels waive it for tourists.

Add this property to the very small number of Colombian hotels that makes tourists pay IVA. (Hilton Bogota also does it.)

I was told I could add breakfast for $10 a day for them to waive the VAT... whatever, it ended up saving me like $10 a night. I am platinum so I should have had it free anyway.

Also, be careful with rates at this hotel. They use an inflated currency conversion to show their prices in USD on the SPG website. This makes the prices look artificially low. They are using $1 = 3250 COP which added about $60 to my "prepaid" rate over 4 nights.

There were several changes made to the IVA law that were effective 1 Jan 2017. There was also a deal AirBNB made with the government to start collecting IVA from all lodging transactions as well.

I didn't have the exchange rate issue. They used 2890 for me.

it's not the rate they are charging me it's how they display the prices on the website. For instance, if you see $100 USD on the SPG website they are going to charge you 325,000 COP because they charge in local currency not usd. When they charge you 325,000 your CC company will use the correct or current rate of let's say 1 USD to 3000 COP making the charge actually $108 USD. If you stay multiple nights or your price is higher this will add up and cause a significant difference from the price you booked at.

I went back and forth with them and they kept telling me various reasons for the discreapancy of what the prepaid should have been and what I was actually charged. Finally they told me they use the 1 to 3250 rate.

The "paquetes" language has been in there since something like 2007.

Most hotels do not charge tourists. Here's what Hilton Cartagena currently says on their website:

Many chain hotels display the rates in US$. If you switch on the SPG site to another currency, this just gives an approximation. My rate was correctly converted.

But the new law encouraging tourism exempts only those traveling on packages, not those booking the room alone. I will see what they say at the Hyatt Cartagena in a few weeks.

I've been visiting Colombia since approx 2009. And I just don't know how to say this any more clearly: During that entire time, the DIAN regulation has said the IVA exemption only applies to "paquetes." To repeat, most hotels do not collect it from tourists, despite the language of the regulation which purportedly limits the exemption to "packages."

In dozens of stays throughout Colombia, the only hotels that have ever insisted on collecting IVA from me are Hilton Bogota and Alfiz in Cartagena. I won't stay at either of those again.

any recent reports? planning first ever trip to columbia and this place is $100/night cheaper than the jw. we are fine taking uber or public transit tbh, and actually prefer being in residential areas where locals hang out over in the thick of a tourist area. only requirement for bae is a hot breakfast. plus we are staying friday-monday so the park and open streets on sunday sounds lovely.

wow quite the back and forth over the vat.

fortunately in year 2019 the hotel website and marriott.com make it crystal clear: "Please note - 19 percent VAT will be added to room rate for Colombian residents. Foreign nationals exempt on stays of 90 days or less."

how is vat calculated on a points booking from a columbian resident or someone staying 91+ days?

ok so we just stayed here 3 nights. marriott plat, cash prepaid rate.

having used my suite night upgrades i thought a cool corner suite was superior to a marvelous or fantastic suite (i was fooled by the photos) and i was wrong. the room was nice but also had no bath tub so i called down right away and asked to be changed to a better room and they got it done. which was great. especially on 6pm on a friday for a 3 night stay.

our marvelous suite had the bathtub in the living room which with bae was amazing. we loved the open concept, way more than we love the confusing way w name these suites. but the living room was quite weak, it's very stiff hard furniture. a regular room would have been just as nice as we never wanted to sit in that stuff. we like sitting on nice comfortable couches, not vinyl hard furniture. but also our room had a bath tub in it so we loved that. and everything else with the room was 100, although a few outlets and a lamp were broken. same went for the lounge/bar area on 3F, this was a bit disappointing, we like sitting in comfortable couches. so maybe w concept can improve on that. but everyone in the bar/lounge area were so kind and nice and the drinks were AMAZING so we got over that.

everyone at this hotel was amazing. as plats we got full breakast buffet and full huevos menu, and bae even ordered fresh (instead of buffet) waffles and that was comped. i think this is a ymmv situation but i do know eggs to order are covered. the staff were so nice, and the spread at breakfast was lovely. all the fruit and cheese and hot items you want, although colombians overcook eggs and omelettes imo. so it was nice having benedicts every am.

as plat we got 2 free premium plat cocktails every night which amazing. they were stiff.

also our ambassador a------a was also super nice and gave us some drink chits which was above and beyond. she was also super helpful when i realized i should have suite-nighted for a nicer room with a tub maybe. she got it done and everyone at the front desk was super chill and gracious about it.

the gym is amazing, there are at least 2 coaches here running classes and you can easily get in one of their HIIT classes. the pool is like a warm-ish hot tub so it's worth doing and of course you have access to the spa/steam room after the gym which is nice.

this property is just terrific.

everyone here was amazing and great, we had such a great stay.

we wish we were closer into all the sights but it was nice being in this neighborhood. if you walk 3 blocks towards the little restaurant district and try your own little spots (instead what the concierge says, and they do recommend good spots btw), you can find some good stuff. taxis are cheap and we had such an amazing time here.

consider the location, which is not thick of things bogota wise but on weekends taxi only 15 mins to bolivar plaza so we had no stress. we just loved it in bogota.