Pasadena: Sheraton or Westin? [Master Thread]
 

I've lost my gold status at SPG, so I am now a low life. However, can anyone reccomend either the Westin or Sheraton over that of maybe the Hilton.

I've read the other posts out there, and I just wanted to know if there was any new info out there.

Welllll,since it is my current home.
The Westin started out as a Doubletree,it is very nice,2 blocks to "old town"(colorado blvd)and 3 to the convention center.
The Sheraton and Hilton are older properties-both ok,nothing special.
We do have a brand new courtyard on Fair Oaks that is pretty nice.
The only thing about the Westin is they have plantation shutters-so if you are a light sleeper that can be a bother,other than that-it is the nicest-but only by a bit.
If you don't mind not getting points you can priceline pasadena-4 star will get you the Westin,2 1/2 will get you the courtyard usually.
We also have a very grand Ritz Carlton here(the Huntington)

Westin
 

I've stayed in both and the Westin is a nicer hotel, plus its better located to the downtown resturants and the highway. However the Sheraton is normally $30-50 less expensive, plus less expensive parking. The Club lounge in the Sheraton is also nice, with a quick nice easy breakfast.

So I guess you get what you pay for. Is a better bed and a better location worth $40 - $50 - only you can answer that.

Just avoid the Four Points in Monrovia. Its less than $100 a night but sooooo noisy. The rush hour begins at 4am and ends at 3am . The hotel is less than 30 yards from the highway and is positioned so all rooms have a highway view!

I second that opinion about the 4 Pts Monrovia...

I also stayed at the Westin and Sheraton for the past few months, and niether was anything special... (Westin rooms are small, and not much of a upgrade if you are PLT...better luck at the Sheraton and nicer lounge from my experiences). If you want to drive about 20-30 minutes...stay at the Westin Bonniventure in LA. I got a rate of $99 a night and got upgraded to a decent 2 room suite with 2 bathrooms, etc...

All in all though, the Westin Pasadena isn't bad...just small rooms in my opinion. (PS...don't bother with Room Service.. took over 2 hours on multiple occasions...food was free afterward but I starved) I would eat somewhere in Pasadena, there are a million places to go.

Hope this helps...

Pasadena: Sheraton or Westin? [Master Thread]
 

Planning to be in Pasadena for one evening in January.

Looked at the pictures and Westin looks better. Price difference appears to be marginal.

I am not planning on doing anything specific, just to walk around, have a dinner and snap a few photos of old Pasadena.

Which one would you chose?

Westin No Doubt !
 

Stayed at the Pasadena Westin in June-July this year, great hotel, great service, great location. The only thing was the rooms are on the smaller side. There is a nice seafood place adjoint to the facility. Really enjoyed my stay, highly recommended.
Cheers,
GRR_Flier

Thanks very much! ^

That was my feeling.

I won't claim that the Sheraton is 'as good as' the Westin Pasadena, but it's not bad. I used to stay there and commute by bus to Downtown LA. (The implication here is that I preferred it to the Westin Bonaventure.) The Sheraton does have a pleasant lounge and a workable gym. The location is good, if not excellent. Staff was competent.

Westin Pasadena is nicer hotel, but the hotel is not platinum-friendly. They don't upgrade platinum that often. I had 5 stays in this year and I didn't receive any upgrade on my stays. It is always like what you would get is what you paid for. They didn't even honor 4pm late check-out sometimes. I was turned down 3 of 5. The hotel doesn't have club lounge. So I felt like there was no benefit for a platinum with this hotel except for amenity points. On the other hand, Sheraton Pasadena has club lounge and they tried to give upgrade all the time and I didn't have trouble with late check-out even once, which is very nice.

I would go with Westin. Rooms are smaller, but accomadations are a little more modern and upscale. I thought there was a lounge when I stayed at this property a year ago :confused:

The Sheraton is decent...lower level rooms are bigger than higher level rooms. When you see the building from the outside you can see why. Lounge is also decent. Every room I have had has had a refrigerator. Parking is only $7 for self.

It depends on what you want. The Westin is by far the nicer of the two. They regularly upgrade to Executive Rooms which are fairly spacious. The regular rooms are on the smaller side. Forget about a suite upgrade though. The hotel only has a few (it used to be a DoubleTree) which are almost always booked for cash. I would say that the Westin Pasadena is the 2nd nicest hotel in the area, surpassed only by the Ritz-Carlton.

The Sheraton always felt gritty to me. The chances of of upgrade are much better and there is a lounge. It used to be a Holiday Inn. The regular rooms are tiny, but unless the hotel is sold out they will usually try to give you a reasonable sized room.

Westin! Great place ^ and close to BUR for a quick exit.

M8

Location-wise, both the Sheraton and Westin are about equal. In fact, they are very close to each other, just a few blocks apart. So the "quick exit" to BUR would not give one hotel an advantage over the other.

The Westin is definitely nicer, but when I stayed there last December (2005), it had NO club lounge (even though the in-room compendium said there was one). :( I suspect they used to have one, but converted it to guest room(s) to increase their revenue. That's understandable, but still a disappointment if you're an elite SPG member hoping for perks. If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive, quick, convenient breakfast, the gift shop sells coffee, pastry, etc. (Yeah, not the same as having the lounge, but faster than room service or the restaurant.) As an SPG Plat, I had a spacious corner room.

You are of course correct location-wise. I must have just missed you as I was there in Dec last year (I think), and will be there again in Dec this year. The absent lounge doesn't really bother me. I find the hotel's entire ambience to be very nice, which is why I recommend it, and I especially like the patio outside. In fact I prefer the whole setup, and have ditched the LAX-Westin LAX for my L.A. stopovers, now in favor of the BUR-Westin Pasadena setup instead. I have wondered about the Hilton at BUR, but it's not as close to the very trendy Pasadena.

Cheers,

M8

Heading to the Westin Pasadena tomorrow-- we have tickets to Fences at the Pasadena Playhouse.

For some reason, we've been staying in a lot of Westins lately.

While they all have great beds and typically nice showers-- some seem a little "tired."

Loved the Chicago Westins (both airport & River North) and was pleasantly surprised by the Vegas Westin. Just returned from the Copley Place in Boston Westin-- and while it had a lot of positives-- awesome river view, great location, nice facilities-- the decor needs an upgrade.

Reading here it sounds as if Pasadena has nice interiors. I'll cross my fingers for a plat upgrade.