I have a reservation booked for both the Sheraton and the Westin for mid-July. I need to cancel one. Does anyone have recent experiences with either property?

I see airport transfers for the Sheraton are $25/person roundtrip, but $50 for the Westin! Yet they seem very close to each other. What gives? How much should I expect to pay for a cab since there will be 2 of us?

You should e-mail the Sheraton to see if they still offer free airport shuttle transportation for Plats. :)

Unless a property (or both) has moved I think you need to recheck your mapping.

I paid about $20 with tip airport>Westin a few years ago. On a per-mile basis Guam taxis are pretty expensive.

Seriously, this is a Westin?
 

Introduction photos forthcoming Check In When I came back to the Westin, my reservation was screwed up again. This time I was confident it was the hotel's fault because I had taken such great care to make sure everything was in order after my first night's experience. But I am not 100% sure, so i'll give them the benefit of the doubt. However, when I arrived, there was plenty of availability that I was able to confirm on the on-line app. It took the front desk staff 90 minutes to get me a room because the room they wanted to put me in was not clean yet...while I waited, I went over to the "Royal Orchid Lounge" on the first floor (SPG Gold and Platinum members on the front door)--the hostess there offered me an orange juice. None were out and offered and I was not briefed on whether I could hang out in this lounge at any point or take orange juices out of the refrigerator.**They were not able to accomodate me for the next couple of days so i stayed at the Outrigger down the street. If you're coming to Guam and you want to stay in Tumon, the Outrigger is a nice spot with very nice rooms, a great pool, and a much more lively environment.However, it struck me as odd that the hotel was "totally sold out" but I could find available rooms on my phone for the coming days. Maybe the early hours of the night screwed with the system, but it was an odd experience.Inauspicious start--my office messed up my reservation and so westin was not expecting me at check-in. They were able to accomodate me and I appreciated their effort in the wee hours in the night where the only other folks checking in were flight crew. However, no recognition of my SPG Gold status and just complaining that I had to be out of the room by 12 Noon the next day (exactly what you want to hear after a transpac)Arrived at 0130 on a Monday morning after a long-haul and was looking forward to a nice King-sized bed on at least a preferred floor with a decent view of the Pacific. Much like a bad date, this hotel looks better in the dark. Room Looking on-line, there was one night out of approximately 19 where there was not a king-sized bed availability. I realize I'm staying on a negotiated corporate rate, but there's got to be some give and take in this relationship. The reason I stayed at this hotel (of the dozens of hotels on Guam) was to get recognition as a SPG Gold--what did the Guam Westin Resort do for me?I am staying 3 weeks straight at this location. I think it is important to note that I called weeks in advance to ask for a king-sized room--I didn't get one my first night-->stayed at the Outrigger--> now I'm back at the Westin, surely they'll be able to accomodate my request for three weeks for an SPG Gold... nope.  Service Valet service is "temporariliy closed" and there was never a bellhop in sight or offered at any point. The lobby is a ghost - town. The front desk staff = universally obtuse and far below the quality of personnel who I have met at every single other SPG property (ever). I could go on about this, but they just did not get it.The folks who cleaned my room did a good job--very sweet people and made sure to drop off waters every day. Dining Also, the coffee bar in the lobby is a complete rip-off. A single cappucino was over $7. And it was watered down espresso--totally unworth it. Go across the street to the Circle K and get better coffee for less than half the cost. $25 for breakfast buffet might not be unreasonable at another hotel, but here, you really do not get much beyond eggs and (crappy) bacon and other traditional japanese foods. The Taste seafood buffet was actually pretty good--unlimited Heineken beer and a pretty good selection of shellfish which appeared very tasty and fresh. Interestingly, you get the seafood and they toss it all on this big grill. Likely saves a lot on food prep to keep costs down. Again, this was probably the only time this trip I felt like i got my money's worth. I'm still at the hotel--so far, I've eaten at "Taste" a few times. Price was approximately $25 for a weekend buffet and $45 for a seafood buffet. The focus point of the food is on the large numbers of seasonal Japanese tourist. I have not yet tried the other restaurants at the hotel which include a bbq, italian and one other. Location Back in the day, the Westin was really the only game in town. Not so much today--there are probably 12 major resorts in Tumon alone. The "uphill" section of town has a lot of gun-shooting ranges and massage parlors. It's a short walk to the glitzy part of town.  Facilities Room: Actual room was not exactly bad--showerheads a bit rusty, but nothing too out of the ordinary.Lobby: Confusing lobby, poorly laid out. Pool: Not a great pool to begin with, but really needs some major renovations as it appears dated and is just poorly designed. Also, the pool closes at 7 PM--unless there are some real environmental reasons why one cannot keep the pool opened, this seems exceptionally early. Parking Garage: There is trash at various areas in the garage. It also doesn't look like it has been cleaned in years. The ventilation system does not appear to have been turned on regularly, so it is stinky, hot, and dirty four floors down.The Westin really needs a good powerwash. Mildew is all over the exterior of the building. Also, a few other observations-- Overall The Westin Resort Guam has been the worst experience I've had at one of the approximately 2-dozen SPG properties I've stayed at. I was initially looking forward to 3 weeks at a tropical resort where I had status at a respected hotel chain--now, I can't wait to get home. If not for the good number of points I am at least earning, I would not be staying here and would have left for the outrigger or perhaps Hilton down the street a long time ago. 

Any recent stays at this property?

Any Platinum stays? Worth using SNAs for an upgrade here or are they generous towards Plat upgrades on arrival?

Also interested if anyone has stayed recently? I'm planning to overnight soon with an 18 hour layover and looking for feedback on hotel and what's nearby.

30% fewer tourists from Korea this month

https://www.guampdn.com/story/money/...th/4887000002/

Anyone has stayed at Sheraton or Westin recently?

I am curious which one is better in recognizing elites with benefits such as suite upgrades.

In the Sheraton thread there is news of the Sheraton being re-branded on 21 April 2022 to a Japanese chain.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr....html#33969541 (Post # 33)

So, sadly, the only Marriott Bonv°y property on Guam will be, once again, the Westin.

I can't believe the airport shuttle is $60! :eek:
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After more than two decades, I made my return, this time as a lifetime Marriott BONV°Y™ Platinum Elite guest, for a very brief stay to redeem an AmEx card Free Night Award (FNA) before it expired.

Because the underground parking is complimentary, I went ahead and rented a car at the airport for about $80. The comment upthread about poor garage ventilation still stands. Heavy exhaust fumes at some times and places. :(

I checked in at 15:00 and checked out at 05:30, so I missed out on the Platinum breakfast benefit. The Westin Club on the top (21st) floor has hors d'oeuvres and cocktails from 17:00 to 19:00. I arrived at 18:40 and enjoyed my dinner there from the buffet, although it was already dark outside, diminishing what looks like a fabulous view. It was popular; they ran out of table forks, so I ate with spoon and knife. I asked a staff-person, who said they were probably in the dishwasher. The food was removed promptly at 19:00.

There is still a significant Japanese tourist clientele, with many Japanese-speaking staff. There was a loud Chamorro cultural presentation with drumming and dancing at the base of the atrium, with the sound carrying easily up to my 18th floor room past 22:00. Fortunately I fall asleep easily. My 05:15 wake-up call came at 03:15! :eek:

As the only Marriott BONV°Y™ property on Guam, I am sure I will be back, perhaps in time to redeem my 75-night Annual Choice Benefit (ACB) ​​​​​​40K-point certificate this year. I look forward to the chance to explore the property again.

The staff are very friendly. :cool:
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Guam is one of the most interesting places outside of the contiguous United States that one can travel to freely without a passport. I would say that it was disappointing to see the Sheraton go but I'm a big fan of the Westin and Guam in general though next time you should visit Rota and Saipan. :)

This was my first trip to Guam since 1983 when I flew in solo from Tokyo for a short wintertime stay. This time, we flew in on a direct flight from Fukuoka on United Airlines, which took only four hours. Since I had a bunch of Marriott points, the Westin Resort Guam was the only place I could use them. Fortunately, I was also able to use four SNAs to get upgraded to a suite for our entire stay. The taxi ride from the airport to the Westin cost $32 (the return trip cost $30), about half the cost of the Westin’s airport bus.
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View from the Westin

Boy had things changed since my first visit when there were only three main hotels on the beach, the New Otani, Okura (neither exists on Guam anymore), and Hilton, with zero buildings at the far end of Tumon Bay where the Hotel Nikko, Tsubaki Tower, and Lotte Hotel now stand, which was all green and wild nature. At that time, I stayed at an inexpensive motel near the beach called “The American,” which also no longer exists. I also remember a small circular open-air bar with a thatched or palm-leaved roof right on the beach where I drank beer and conversed with some off-duty U.S. military personnel. Anyway, there’s been lots of development since then, and even the main shopping area along Pale San Vitores Rd. was unrecognizable to me.

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Westin Resort Guam

Check-In
The front desk staff were all very friendly and helpful, especially on our last night when we got a highly competent and helpful staff member who, though young, really knew her stuff and provided great service, going the extra mile for us.
In the lobby, there’s a very spacious café that serves Starbucks coffee, which we never used but seemed to be popular. In addition, the lobby had an extensive Christmas tree decoration with machine-generated artificial snow falling on the trees from a few stories above. One evening, there was a classical music performance and, on another night, a musical bell-ringing performance of Christmas music, which drew a decent crowd, even though occupancy appeared to be low.

Room
Our room, a 1 Bedroom Executive Suite (78 sqm/839 sqft), and all suites are located on the top 21st floor where the club lounge is located. It doesn’t look quite as nice as the photos, but it was spacious, and since it was toward the back of the building, it had a limited ocean view. Also, one of the TVs had poor reception with lots of static. The bathroom too is spacious, and the bath has a button to turn on a jet spray, albeit a weak one. The spacious closet was nice to have but the room looks a bit tired.
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Dining
The only meals we ate at the hotel were breakfast at the 1st floor restaurant Taste, and evening food and drink at the Club Lounge during cocktail hour from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The breakfast buffet was fairly extensive, but the food presentation was poor and unattractive. Mixed among standard breakfast offerings were selected local and Asian dishes such as fried noodles and udon or ramen, but fortunately, no Spam®, though I did miss the absence of yogurt. There was also an omelet station. The restaurant is spacious with lots of tables and plenty of light.

Club Lounge
The club lounge is probably the best thing going for this hotel. It is spacious and comfortable with the front of the lounge providing a nice ocean view but against a bright setting sun, so I needed to lower the curtain to sit there.
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View from the Club Lounge

The food offering is pretty substantial and can replace a regular meal, but the food quality was generally poor, especially the pizza, yet there were some decent dishes, and the desserts were especially good. The lounge’s strong point, though, has to be its beverage offering, with bottled Heineken beer along with Asahi and red and white wine of variable quality but the sparkling wine was especially good. There was also a selection of canned club soda, tonic water, and other non-alcoholic drinks. All drinks were promptly replenished.
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Club Lounge

Beach/Pool
For a reasonably large resort hotel, the pool area is on the small side. There is a staging area on the far side of the pool where live music is performed at night, but we did not attend. The beach bar is at the center of the pool area with flat-screen TVs to watch. The beach is just steps away from the pool and we spent a lot of time snorkeling there with the many fish that we saw but who paid little attention to us. There are lots of stones and coral on the beach when you enter the water which makes it very uncomfortable to walk on, so it’s better to wear flippers or rubber sandals when entering but once you get several feet out, it’s mostly sand and easy on one’s bare feet.

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Gym
The gym is open 24/7 and is reasonably well equipped with cardiovascular equipment and weight resistance stations but it’s a little dark with only a partial ocean view and a view of an underground garage or storage area.

Service
Service was very good, and the staff was uniformly friendly, especially the front desk staff. The concierge at the club lounge entrance was also very good and answered our questions and handled issues that arose.

Location
The Westin is centrally located for tourists right on Tumon Bay and just in front of Pale San Vitores Rd. where all the duty-free and luxury brand shops are situated, so if shopping and touristy activities are your main goal, the Westin is probably in one of the best locations for that. That said, many of the shops including the luxury brand shops on the street had very dilapidated exteriors, and except for the DFS mall, had a very run-down look.
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Main shopping street

Overall
The Westin has entered a fairly deep state of entropy with rust and decay readily seen in the garage, the building exterior, and the pool area. The rooms too are tired looking, and the suite’s bathroom piping and fixtures generated odd noises and needed repair. This state of decay and disrepair is not unusual for hotels of this age in the tropics, even in Hawaii, but I find the situation considerably worse in Guam. Overall, the hotel looks and feels like a low-tier Westin in need of a serious upgrade. I also concur with a review upthread that the lobby is confusing and poorly laid out. On the positive side, the location is excellent, the club lounge is probably well above average for a U.S.-based Westin, the service was very good during our stay, and the Christmas entertainment in the lobby was interesting and popular with tourists. As I live in Japan, it was nice to be in the U.S. and able to freely speak English again, and only four hours from Japan, as opposed to Hawaii’s eight. That said, if one is looking for a more upscale stay in a central location, I would recommend the Dusit Thani next to the Westin, or even the Hyatt Regency.

I visited later in December to use up an expiring 40K Free Night Award (FNA). After considering a 37K date, I settled for 34K based on J class flight availability from SPN.

Although the Lounge is open from 17:00 to 19:00, there is a mad rush at the onset. A few months ago, I showed up at 18:40. See Post # 41, supra. This month, little did I know that by 17:15, the fish with imitation crab, the Buffalo chicken wings, and the pizza would all be gone, the latter never to return. :eek:

My last visit, I checked in at 15:00. This time, I showed up at 12:00, expecting to hang out in the lobby. The front desk told me I could get a Lounge key card at 14:00, which was nice of them (though the only things available there were cookies and non-alcoholic beverages). They brought up my room card at 15:00. :tu:

After dinner, I tried to schedule my 05:15 wake-up call, only to learn that there was no phone service to the rooms on that entire floor. :rolleyes:

I went to the front desk and, after the agent consulted the manager, I was moved a few floors up to a non-ocean view room near the elevator. The wake-up call was my priority, so I could return the rental car, visit the United Club for breakfast, and make my 08:00 GUM-SPN flight that always leaves 15 minutes early.

SeveraI months ago, I had been facing south, a few floors below the Lounge. This time I was facing north like Nagasaki Joe (albeit a dozen floors down), that is, until my room change.

I have no doubt I will be back, unless my travel picks up enough that I supplement my no-annual-fee Hilton AmEx with a similar fee-based co-branded card, in which case I may go back to the Hilton (at the south end of Tumon Bay) for my Guam trips.

Again, the Westin Guam Resort personnel are as friendly and helpful as ever, however physically tired the property may be. :idea:
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Our stay was on a weekday so the rush quickly subsided. When we entered the lounge at around 17:00 (or a little before) each night, there were so many free tables that I was surprised it wasn't more crowded. though by 18:00 it was always pretty full.

I found service in Guam and the people in general to be really friendly and helpful, perhaps even more so than my experience in Hawaii.