Guava

Check out the Sheraton Taipei thread, I think your recent experience is atypical. The Club Lounge food in the evening is nothing to write home about. On a recent stay, one of my aunt had to send some cooked clams back because they were obviously spoiled already. The morning breakfast in the Lounge is impressive however.

Apparently, when you are staying on points, they are reluctant to upgrade you to Suite and may even deny you late check-out. This is of course against SPG policy but they do it anyway, betting that not many people would want to go through the hassle of complaining to SPG. So if you are paying cash, your treatment will be better. If you are staying on points, go to the Westin or the W because the point cost is the same now, unlike before.

Guava

Rooms at the Sheraton are very nice, without a question. But if nice room is the only consideration, one would probably go to the W given that it's newer and it's a W.

Shareholder

I think the word is "Character". The W is a W and Ws are lacking in any sense of warmth, individuality or real character. That's how they're designed to be: sterile. I've stayed at the Lai Lai a couple of times back in 2001 (my last trip to Taipei) and found it very attractive because it successfully blended traditional Chinese culture with a chain hotel's standards.

PanAmWT

If you desire to use Cash and Point, then Westin is the place to go.

Westin offers a very high Cash and Point availability - a majority of days next several months if you book in advance.

Sheraton has no Cash and Point availability at all in the future.

W has officially withdrawn from Cash and Point program. And It has no lounge (as are all Ws).

FlyingDoctorwu

We got great treatment at the Sheraton. I had booked one suite on points and one room on points. I had specifically requested that they apply my plat benefits to the room(which I planned on staying in). They ugraded the room to a very nice diplomat suite. Furthermore, they extended club access to both suites (note that club access isn't part of suite bookings, unless you book a club level suite). It was quite a nice stay; take a look at my review for more info.

FDW

PanAmWT

Sheraton is overall very nice, particularly the suite upgrade and the excellent lounge breakfast. But I agree that the dinner served in the lounge is pretty bad. It is the only weak point (in addition to perhaps the very crowded lobby that sometimes like in a busy market). On the other hand, if you want to save the cost of dinner, you do get a free dinner and that can be an important benefit for people who do not want to venture out. For me, I would rather they serve quality hors d'oeuvres and make the happy hour just a happy hour with tasty appetizers rather than a cheap buffet. I usually skip the marginally edible food there and go for the many choices of great eating places in Taipei.

unavaca

Have the service issues at the Le Meridien been fixed?

I'm looking to do 2-3 nights with points. Westin has C+P available (4k + $60) and W/Le Meridien only have points (10k). I did the W on C+P a week or two after it opened and thought it was nice. I am considering the Le Meridien now.

What do you guys think?

statics

I had a stay at the LM Taipei in October. I did not experience any service issues that others have reported. I would definitely stay there again when visiting Taipei.

IluvSQ

Just stayed 1 night at the Westin, followed by the next night at The Sheraton.
Night and Day!
Check-in at the Westin took about 15 minutes for some reason, then I declined the
suite upgrade they gave me since it was a xx15 room, facing Nanjing Road ( too noisy).
My usual xx01 was not available, so I ended up in a standard xx08 room.
The lounge's evening offerings seem to be getting less and less - there was only 1 hot
dish on offer other than soup. Lobby was a mess due to the renovations. Breakfast
in the lounge also seemed to offer less than in previous years. No calling me by name
by any of the staff. At check-out, I was asked for 10NT ( about USD 0.30) for a local
call. Huh???? I haven't paid a hotel for local calls since the 1980's.
No more cookies in the lounge during the day to go with tea/coffee.

Moved over to the Sheraton. Warm welcome at check-in, the check-in girl went to
fetch a parcel that had been delivered for me, Given a beautiful suite, facing the back
(xx51). When I went back to the desk half an hour later to change a $1000 bill to smaller
bills, the girl greeted me by name, and, realizing that I was going out, offered to get me
a taxi, and escorted me out the door and into the cab.
The evening lounge offerings are enough for a full dinner ( soup, 6-7 hot dishes, salads,
cold dishes, fruits and desserts).
No question anymore, Sheraton is way superior to the Westin right now.
We'll see what happens after the Westin's renovations are complete.

PanAmWT

May be that is why Sheraton does not accept C&P while Westin does.

BanffJasper

When will the renovation at Westin be completed? The choices of this thread title can be expanded to include the two new additions in the shopping area, W and Le Meridien.

myperks

the "rejuvenation" is suppose to be done by early next year, per the front desk (whatever that means)

Shareholder

Just booked a C&P at the Sheraton for April. Haven't been to Taipei since just after 9.11 when this was still known as the Lai Lai. Though was treated exceptionally well even as a Gold...once got the/an Ambassador Suite as an upgrade. Looking forward to the return visit.

Shareholder

Yes, IC didn't last very long so Sheraton became a defacto relocation.

paul577

It's amost unrecognisable from the old days of the Lai Lai. Now a great propery with very good platinum brenefits and a superb lounge