Westin Resort Guam [Master Thread]
 

I have been staying at this property about 4 times a year for the past several years. I generally stay a week, but have stayed as long a month.

The staff is great and most recognize me on sight, but I have noticed a serious decline in the overall condition of the property. I'm sure it has much to do with the declining occupancy rate for the Island as a whole and the toll taken by the numerous natural disasters, but it is beginning to affect my desire to stay there.

Anyone care to commiserate with me?

[This message has been edited by DLfan (edited 09-20-2003).]

I stayed there for the first time on 28 July.

I guess I must be easy to please. I enjoyed a night-time jog along the beach down to the Hilton at the south end of Tumon Bay and back, followed by a relaxing swim in the pool, interspersed with dips in the jacuzzi.

I'm only a Gold, and received no SPG lounge access. Do they have a special floor?

[Hilton usually gives me a little welcome gift, like macadamia/ chocolate chip cookies, but they're still recovering from last year's typhoon.]

It must have been great at the Westin a few years ago. Do you have any specifics on the deterioration you've observed?

In light of your post, SPN Lifer, I had to ask myself what I would think of the Westin Guam if I had just visited for the first time. I must admit, its doubtful I would have noticed the same things.

It's the deterioration over a such a relatively short time that caught my attention, notably in the bathrooms. This hotel is less than 10 years old, yet the wallpaper is peeling, floor and shower tiles are cracked/broken, glass is badly water stained, and the toliet area doesn't always smell so good. This, I beleive, is because the toliet is not tightened well enough to the floor...well, use your imagination. Also, there's not a Heavenly Shower in any room that I have occupied. I realize that fixing those things will require an infusion of capital, which is hard to come by on Guam at present, so I don't make a fuss about it while there.

All of that is easily enough overlooked, I suppose, until you read the in-room literature in which they claim to be the only 5-star on Tumon Bay. One stay in the Westin Tokyo or Westin Chosun Seoul and you know what a Westin can and should be.

As I said in my original post, I think their best asset is their people. The staff are all friendly, helpful and seem genuinely glad to be there...and genuinely glad I'm there. I would also agree with you that they have a great location.

Their SPG floor is 20. That's where they used to upgrade me into when I was Gold. As a Platinum they give me a single suite, which are the last rooms on each floor - Oceanside. There is a lounge on the 21st floor, but they call it the Royal Beach Club. It mainly for the guests on 21 who have double or larger suites, but I have always been invited to visit as a Platinum and I think they also allow folks from the SPG floor. They serve a Continental breakfast in the mornings, refreshments all day, and drinks and pupus in the evening.

As you probably noticed, they also have large family suites on the left and right of the main hotel. I have never been offered an upgrade into anything there or on 21 for that matter.

Okay...now for Saipan. As often as I've been to Guam and as much as I love the South Pacific, I've never had the chance to visit Saipan. How do you like it? Are you a native or a transplant? As I will certainly visit one day soon, what hotel do you recommend I book?

Westin Resort Guam to Get Facelift
 

The Westin Resort Guam will undergo a 3-year, $9M renovation beginning this year. Here's a link to the article from the Marianas Business Journal: http://www.mbjguam.net .

You need a subscription to read the full text, but guest subscriptions are free until June 1st. Just click on the article and you'll be prompted to register.

I think the renovation is overdue as this resort was starting to show her age.

Is this hotel closed?
 

I've been trying to book a room here and both the spg.com and westin.com sites say
No hotels were found in the location you entered.
Please search a different location.
Has the hotel closed during renovation, or has it changed branding? Anyone have a clue?

Apparently it was still there on May 19
 

Westin's new general manager to usher in changes

By Gene Park; [email protected]
Pacific Daily News

Guam's tourism industry welcomed the Westin Resort Guam's new general manager yesterday, who said he plans to upgrade the hotel's image.

The Australia-born Ian Reid has been appointed as the new general manager for the Tumon hotel beginning July. Reid brings with him almost 30 years of experience in the hotel industry...continued here

It's still open
 

flyme2, I get the same result using the SPG.com booking tool. You can still make online reservations by going directly to the Westin Resort Guam's website or calling direct. Here's the information you need:

Westin Resort Guam
105 Gun Beach Road
Tumon, Guam 96911
Phone: (671) 647-1020
Fax: (671) 647-0959
http://www.westin.com/guam

I've stayed there many times, so feel free to PM if I can help with anything.

I've been in this hotel for several days now and haven't noticed any visible evidence of an upgrade or facelift. They have updated the computers and TV in the Royal Beach Club on the 21st floor, but certainly nothing new or different in the rooms or public areas and still no high-speed or wireless internet in the rooms.

I hope to meet the new manager while I'm here and will certainly ask about his renovation plans.

There's a trick to this. If you select Guam as the country, then the hotel won't come up. But, if you select United States as the country, and scroll down to Guam under US Territories in the State/Province section, then it will.

Westin Guam
 

I had a 13 day stay there last September (2004) and here are my thoughts.

Like everywhere in Tumon Bay, this hotel is roundly pitched at a Japanese short-stay clientele, and their sensibilities.

As a result, things which just wouldn't be tolerated at, say, the Westin Maui are simply ignored. There is rust everywhere, and the concrete is stained in a quite disgusting way.

The rooms are quite good, and we were upgraded to an Executive Parlour Room (due to Plat status) which was spacious and superb. The staff were also marvellous, especially Jayward.

The pool area is far too small for a hotel of this type.

Worst of all, because the hotel is pitched at a Japanese market the rooms are virtually all Smoking rooms. You can get an ozone machine, but it is little help. The tour desks downstairs are all entirely for the benefit of Japanese tourists, and there are no English-language brochures or tours on offer.

An unfixable problem is the shape of the hotel. It is basically oval-shaped, with the narrow side facing the ocean in order to call virtually every room "ocean-view". In fact, this set-up means that all rooms see the ocean at a great angle, and none are genuinely beachfront rooms.

The other unfixable problem, of course, is the climate. I had forgotten how humid Guam is. It's not really a place for a beach holiday.

So, in conclusion:

1) Great staff.

2) Badly designed building, with inadequate pool area.

3) Badly maintained building, with poor attention to detail.

The "winter" is the best time to visit the Mariana Islands if you are not a great fan of high humidity. :cool: The "dry" season will continue all the way through June. August is the peak time of stereotypical tropical summers.

See also Westin Resort Guam (21 Sep 03)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174131

Any recent stay at Westin Hotel in Guam (23 Jan 02) (very cursory thread)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169065

Westin Resort Guam report 3/2007 needs lots of help
 

Preface: Never been to GUM. Have a friend with family on island so that made the trip easier. Used EK points to fly on Continental Micronesia in BusinessFirst from NRT. Will return into NGO.

Status: Platinum.

Rate: I started off booked at the Hilton paying- $110. Then the Hyatt using Faster Free Night. Then used 5,000 points on reduced Platinum award. The rate showing for the basic room before I left the US was $305. The question would be. Is this place three times better than the Hilton? Not. Impossible. Three times worse. Probable.

Transportation: My friends picked me up from GUM. I am back to the airport today so I called down yesterday to see about the price. $30 one-way on the Hotel shuttle. I'll take my risk with the cab fare. Now that is a rip-off for a shuttle.

Parking: We self parked twice. That was free. Just make a hard left down into the parking structure.

Check-in: Here is where the joke begins. Actually it begins before then. I faxed this place three times but it would never transmit. I called the Hotel twice but could not understand the clerks English. I e-mailed twice before I got a reply.

I do not intentionally try and use the Starwood check-in area. I have never felt a need. That station was busy. So I get this new guy who finally finds my paperwork. Like five items clipped together. He has no idea. I am asking about the facility and he is just lost. He has to go back twice and ask the agent at the Starwood sign questions. She did not even try and come over to help. He starts to talk about the Royal Club Lounge pointer downwards. I thought it was on the top so I keep pointing upwards. He finally gets it. I had to fill out my own amenity paperwork and ask for details of the Royal Club in English and not Japanese. Fortunately or not my room was already pre-given so after the whole thing I just decided to stick with whatever they gave me. The Hotel wants to charge me $65 plus plus. I explained they already took my points. He want back to the agent and came back saying they will work it out. I have budgeted time to check-out this morning. What else? Surely there was more.

Perks: Room upgrade to ocean front and amenity.

Lounge: The Lounge is located on 21. It is an ok size with pretty standard stuff. It is towards the rear of the building so a marginal view. It looked like they had two computer terminals. When we went up the first time some employee who did not even acknowlege we were there was on one of the terminals. When we went up the second time a "concierge" stopped using asking for a room number having to log-in first. Now that was acceptable. What was unacceptable was me standing there while some other employee had his butt in the chair sitting down just chatting away on the phone. BTW that phone was not there earlier. They must take it away when the Lounge is not tended. We walked and went to the bar on 4.

Room: Joke. Upon entering the unit said the temp was 27 c. Well that is the highest it registers. 22 c looks to be the lowest. The room was hot and humid. It looked nice then the wind started. You could have played an entire show tune with the wind whistling between the sliding doors. I had to call down once and appear in person once to get them fixed. BTW. There is a huge project going on facing towards the Nikko. It is just starting.

You enter onto carpet. To the right I have a connector door. More about that later. This is followed by a desk, lamp, two chairs, small table and slider to balconey. This is followed by the entertainment area with a tv and frig. You have a place for luggage then the bathroom. Next comes the king size bed and closet. That completes the room.

This morning I awoke to a woman talking loudly from the next room. Next comes her husband who has been out drinking. They start at it. I thought is was going to come to blows and was thinking about calling down about the noise. This being GUM I knew there was a high chance he was military. Sure enough he starts talking about having to call his commander. I know this would not be good to call down as I was on a jury trial several years ago along the same lines. They thank goodness finally left. Now there phone is just ringing and ringing. The noise inside and outside seems to go on and on.

Bathroom: The bathroom is a small affair. The shower is worse. You have a single basin, deep soaking tub and shower. The floor is marble. The shower door would not close so I had to keep pulling it back in. I cut my elbow on the shower door handle. It has Westin shower heads but the bottom on has mold growing on it. A huge problem here. I tried to point that one towards the wall. The blinds are missing a turning "stick" so I had to get into the tub to close them. Rust is evident in many places plus those black spots we don't wanna know about. Standard amenities.

Internet: I was told internet was $16 per night. I tried to ask about what a night meant such as 24 hour period. The didn't know. After connecting nothing asked me for a confirmation so maybe it is free. Kinda like how my room was "free". The agent did ask me to sign some paper but he could not explain it so I did not sign. The speed is actually ok.

Gym: Did not make it there.

Spa: They have a Mandara Spa. Did not make it there either.

Eating venues: Joke. We tried to eat here but the places must be marginal. They were empty we would later find out. They are supposed to have a night buffet but that was not going yesterday evening. The Italian place is supposed to be ok. We ate at Outback. I know it sounds bad but that place was packed. To the walls packed. You know it is packed when they have a basket of pagers.

We came back looking for a bar. Something Edge. After wandering around on 4 we found it. Went to sit down and no person came. We finally went over the the Japanese restaurant and they called someone to come tend the bar. A joke.

Local markets: Lots of things outside these doors. Could not believe the number of strip clubs and massage spots. Amazing. The Outback was kitty corner cross the street from the Hotel.

Local area: I was into GUM at 3:35 PM. We got to the Hotel checked-in then headed out. We were at the restaurant by 6:30 PM. That was an entire tour by car with multiple stops.

Nagatives: Could there be more? Have not checked out yet.

Closing: That is a good way to put it. Closing. The Hotel needs help. I did get a nice room with views. Would not return to this property.

My tv is fuzzy. The frig can accomodate your items. Two bottles of comp water.

I was charged to internet at the rate of $16 USD. My bill says I did not earn any points even after spending gross $44 in the bar. Is that farmed out here also? I see trouble.

The cab right back to the Hotel was $21 all in. That versus $30 they wanted for the shuttle. That was a rip. At the Westin Nagoya where one would be pressed to find even one flaw.

If I was ever to return to GUM I would just get a hotel based upon earning ability and price. Therefore I should have in hindsight booked the Hilton.