Ignutzz

Does anyone have an email address for the Kierland Villas - concierge/GM? I tried emailing the address listed on the website and it bounced back. Thanks very much!

xxxxx

C17PSGR

Can't say anything about the rates but .... I presume the Westin is like the vast majority of hotels. They decide their rates and the franchisor posts them. Very unlikely Marriott has anything to do with it.

Kacee

Yeah - there are plenty of acquisition-related things to complain about without without adding ones for which Marriott is not responsible.

xxxxx

Kacee

lol, none of which has anything to do with your original complaint here about published rates for this property in July being higher than you think they should be.

But go ahead and rant away

SkiAdcock

My guess is they haven't loaded summer rates yet into the system. If they're traditionally low in the summer, odds are they will be again. Keep checking back.

Cheers.

C17PSGR

The Westin Kierland is operated by Host Hotels, a publicly traded company. They operate a range of hotels including Hyatts, Hiltons, Fairmonts, and various Marriott properties.

Host sets the rates -- not Marriott. Host decides what rate codes can be used at their properties -- not Marriott. You compare the Westin Kierland to the Phoenician -- both are operated by Host, although I can't say whether they share a common revenue management team.

If you read 10Q's for different hotel operators and listen in on the investor conference calls, you'll notice that the operators are pressuring the hotel franchisors -- Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, etc. to eliminate as many corporate and rate discounts as possible.

dprocuk

Wilbur

Note on scheduling at this hotel: The area around both the Westin Kierland and the Princess are a madhouse this weekend with the Phoenix Open golf crowd.

My wife and I dropped off and picked up guests at both hotels at various times this long weekend, as a group of friends had scheduled a visit with us so we could all be together, but had booked at the two separate hotels.

A trip in the car to either hotel and back to our place is usually fifteen minutes, maximum twenty if the lights are against us. This weekend it was a full 90 minutes with all the traffic closures and re-routes, the streams of pedestrians, and the immense flood of hire cars (lyft, uber, etc.) that overran the area. Men were urinating into the bushes, women were walking with their shoes off or being carried piggyback, people were dressed in bold choices of costume, road rage and curious driving manoeuvres were abundant, and meanwhile local drivers had to sit and sit in standstill traffic in the areas around the course and the Westin and Princess.

Stories over breakfast from our guests this morning included a lot of tremendously poor behavior from other guests in the hotels, and that the poorly-behaved guests appeared to be golf fans. None of this is a slur on the hotels, but it may be a comment on their customers this time of year. As one of our guests, who is probably my WASP-iest friend and who has played more rounds of golf than he has had hot meals, said, "This sort of thing is why people talk about entitlement and white privilege - if some of the activities we saw were performed by brown people, those individuals would spend the rest of the month in the clink. But because they were dressed in plaid pants, everyone just ignores it or laughs it off."

So be advised that if you plan a trip that includes a stay in either of these very nice hotels, check the calendar for the Phoenix Open and consider your options. The proximity of these hotels to the Phoenix Open course means that they come in for some heavy usage. Again, these hotels are both very good, but this weekend was the wrong time to stay there.

Bravada04

Looking at staying either here for the Villas in August possibly. Kind of like the Villas......am PLAT and realize do not get breakfast their and such but is there also anything different with earning nights/stays etc., at the Villas?

….....or do you get a night for a night? I thought with the merger to Marriott something was different with Villa properties or is that just with the Marriott Executive Apartments?

I found the Westin Hotel charging a resort fee etc., but at the Villas it looks like their is no resort fee and free parking. Is that correct.

Bfhause

Correct. I just stayed there over Memorial Day weekend. And stayed at the resort last year. Parking is complimentary, no resort fees at the Villas. Being able to walk to your car in <60 seconds from your room was a big advantage for us vs. the self-park option over at the resort.

As a Titanium member I was offered either points or a $20 credit to their market (think more small coffee shop) each day at check-in. I chose points because we ended up making breakfast 3 of the 4 mornings.

You should still have full access to the resort over at the Westin. It's about a 10 min walk past the golf course. The lazy river is a lot of fun although the chairs tend to fill up very quickly.

Especially if you're traveling as a family or wanting a much more low-key atmosphere, I would definitely recommend the Villas. The room layout at the Villas are very comfortable. The food at the Villas is less expensive & arguably better than the resort (try the brisket sandwich by the pool).

Let me know I help answer anything else!

Bravada04

Excellent! Thank You. It sounds like it might be a good choice to relax - we plan on doing 3 games of golf also so would choose the course on site for one game.

So, just to confirm. If I stay 6 nights - I will get 6 elite nights posted to my account? So really the only thing I am not receiving is breakfast ( which I find is hit & miss anyway right now )....rather than going out I might even consider just throwing on some eggs and toast and sitting on the balcony and enjoy the morning.

With the resort fees and parking fees at the hotel - Why would you even want to stay there if it's so close and you can use the facilities anyway?

Thanks again.

Bfhause

Correct, you'll get 6 Elite nights posted. I had all elite nights, base points, bonus points, etc. post about 48-72 hours after checkout without any error or issues.

The only real benefit you're missing out on is breakfast & the lounge but like I said, we just made eggs, bacon, toast, etc. a few mornings. There is a Safeway & Fry's less than a 1 mile away.

I guess if you're really looking for that resort vibe, access to lounge (I didn't try or ask but don't believe you can access to resort CL if staying at Villas; everything else you have access to), have a meeting there or burning a SNA; it makes sense to stay there.

Golf course is great, they have 3 different 9 holes courses. Clubhouse is less than a 5 min walk down the road from the Villas. We're planning on staying there again next year over Memorial Day weekend and already looking forward to it!

Retired FF

The Villas are part of timeshare and can be rented as regular hotels like u plan to do OR through Interval International, an umbrella company which is used by several timeshare companies for rentals and exchanges. IF you have access to Interval AND are flexible in dates (most units can only be had from weekend to weekend for a full week), then the Villas in August are a great deal. I just looked and a one bedroom unit for check-in for a full week on Aug 18th, 24th or 25th is less than $400,00 for the full week. NOT sure if this works for you but given the potential savings, thought will mention. And you get 7 nights stay credit to go along.