singtx

We were charged $25 a night!

StarwoodRules

This to me falls in the "sounds too good to be true" category. But I certainly hope that is the case..... Anyone wants to chime in on any possible alternative parking solution in Avon?

Starwood Lurker

Internal information suggests that there is a nightly parking fee:

Valet and self parking available for a nightly fee. We offer on-site valet parking for a nightly fee, with unlimited in and out service. Rates vary by season from $20-$30 per night. Height restrictions are 8 feet 2 inches for P1 and 6 feet 8 inches for P2. The garage is underground. Bicycle parking is available on the plaza or on the front drive. On-site, underground self-parking. Rates vary by season, but are $30 to $50 per 24-hour period. Rates vary by season.

It might be best to ask the property what the rate will be for a given set of travel dates. They can be reached via email at:

[email protected]

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

maize&blue

I just booked a cash & points reservation at this hotel (2 night minimum was required), and a couple of things came up that concern me. First, the cash portion has already been charged to my credit card. I haven't encountered this with C&P reservations at any other property. Not a big deal, but there's no mention in the reservations process that the cash portion will be charged up front.

The more concerning issue is that under "rate details" during booking, the website says that there is no forfeiture amount if I cancel before one month prior to my reservation date. This is also stated in my e-mail confirmation. However, when I go to view the details of my upcoming stay, it says:
The time for canceling without penalty has passed. If you cancel, the forfeiture amount will be USD 180.00. There may be additional applicable charges and taxes.

I'm not terribly concerned, since I think I have sufficient evidence to back me up should I need to cancel. But thought others might want a heads up.

RLG

I've consistently had the same problem on my reservations at this property. Fortunately, when I've called to check on it, the agent's see it as cancellable on their screen. When I've had to cancel, I haven't been charged a penalty. Unfortunately, I haven't wanted to gamble on cancelling online because of this verbiage.

fullnelson3

Just ran into to this same "canceling" issue yesterday. I made a points reservation for the weekend of 3/10 to 3/14 and realized that I needed to change it to 3/17/ to 3/21 after a conversation with the true keeper of the family schedule - so I called *Wood about 10 minutes after making the reservation to change the dates. And to my surprise, they told me I was already past the cancellation window and would have to contact the property to modify. I'd never experienced a 30 day cancel window before, the most that I had ever experienced was a 7 day window. Definitely my fault for assuming and not checking that cancel policy when clicking through the reservation. I called the property and the front desk staff was unable to make any changes to the reservation and advised that I would have to call back in the AM. I called this morning and the onsite reservation staff were very helpful and told me that I would have to rebook into a higher category room because standard was not available for my dates and they canceled the other reservation without a penalty charge. I am not sure what the outcome would have been if I needed a straight cancel.....So Beware! I just wish they would make the cancel policy obvious for properties that fall so much outside of their norm (i.e. make you hit a checkbox to ensure you read it would be my suggestion).

TerryK

Glad that it worked out for you.

30 day cancellation policy is pretty normal for ski resorts during ski season. St Regis Deer Crest has 45 day cancellation policy during ski season. PHBC used to have September 1 cancellation policy for Christmas/New Year bookings for ski season, although they have changed to 30 day cancellation now.

RLG

I agree with you that it would be more customer friendly to highlight the fact that a reservation would not be able to be cancelled once booked. 30 days isn't an unusual penalty for a resort destination, but most of Starwood's customers are probably business travelers who are used to very short cancellation periods.

The cancellation issue you identified, however, is totally different than the one others have complained about in this thread. Our problem isn't that we didn't know the cancellation deadline. It's that we DID know, but the SPG website is incorrectly telling us we missed it. If we weren't sure, or hadn't printed our confirm, we might get stuck paying for a room that still could have been cancelled.

fullnelson3

Wow! I hadn't even thought about this possibility ever. I guess I have to hang on to my confirmations now. I would be livid if I ever got burned by this!

RLG

Unfortunately, Starwood doesn't have much financial incentive to fix the problem. I'm sure it's a total coincidence that they haven't done so.

sc flier

If anyone's interested, several nights are available at the Resort as a C&P award this Saturday, Feb 26 - Tues, Mar 1. No minimum stay, IIRC.

I'm not sure what's up with the rates at the neighboring Villas. They still seem pretty messed up when rates are even offered at all. In the entire future of the property, I currently only see online availability for 5 nights in early March.
On 3/7/2011, for a studio suite:
$869 DAILY0 non-refundable, prepaid rate
$389 BAR8 too late to cancel

DeltaFlyingProf

Could anyone confirm whether or not staying at the Villas count toward a stay for the current SPG Getaway Free promotion?

sc flier

If it's an eligible rate booked through spg.com (or similar Starwood hotels reservation site or agent), then it should count as an eligible stay. If it's a SVO reservation (such as those booked by owners as a timeshare exchange or those booked directly with SVO as a prepaid special timeshare offer), then it would not count for SPG stay credit.

If a stay counts toward ordinary SPG elite status, then it counts toward this promo, too.

Quasiconvexity

We are thinking of a 3 night stay in the area this Summer and are deciding between the Westin and the PH Beaver Creek. Rates are similar for both hotels. Being a Hyatt Diamond, the prospect of free breakfast at PH is quite tempting, but wanted to hear some thoughts on how these properties stack up against each other. Thanks!

DeltaFlyingProf

The booking is made through SPG and will accrue points per the small print when doing the booking, but the small print did not talk about stay credit.