JackE

It's fine for a night or even longer. It's a Westin, not a Residence Inn.

I've stayed as long as 5 nights and by then was ready to leave, but I think that's true of most properties.

travellingcari

Thanks all, much appreciated. It's booked.
I don't plan to be in town long enough to enjoy any Vegas pizazz and I've been there previously so am OK with no wow.

TimMeineke

I go to Vegas a lot, and since I like to visit a number of different properties staying here works out well for me. In many ways I prefer it to staying at the casino hotels (except for the Wynn)

travellingcari

Just returned from a two-day stay here. It's certainly an interesting property but it worked for what I needed this weekend.

LOCATION: on Flamingo, a block and a half off the Strip. Runs about a block between LINQ and Koval. As the reason for my trip to Vegas was a wedding at the Platinum, a block in the other direction, this was perfect. It's also not a bad walk to the Strip. You can either cut through the Flamingo if it's too warm or walk easily to the LINQ entertainment and High Roller, Bally's shops and cross the Strip to the buses in front of Caesars and the Bellagio. Nice being on a piece of Vegas history with the heritage of Flamingo. Also not a bad walk from the Flamingo monorail stop - LINQ is supposed to be closer but never actually found that stop.

PROPERTY: it's dated. Although it's nice change from Strip properties to not navigate a massive casino to get to registration, the lobby layout isn't intuitive. The air filtration in the casino isn't the greatest and they don't actually enforce people putting out their cigarettes when they leave the casino area so I didn't find the lobby great for lingering. Small gift shop is good for incidentals and gifts. This weekend about 1/4 of the slots were not in working order. The lobby/casino seem not to be geared toward lingering outside the restaurants. The pool/gym and rooms have been recently renovated and it would be nice if that happens to the lobby too. Didn't make use of spa/conference rooms or any other spaces.

ROOM: xx54, a high "deluxe" room with a view south. Strip at night is beautiful and the fire stairs at the Strip end of the floor provide a great view of Bellagio and Caesars to go with Bally's and the properties on the east side of the strip. Two double beds and a great desk/table which doubled as a luggage stand since the room lacked one. Somewhat surprised that it didn't have a fridge, but honestly never thought to ask. Didn't use the room for more than sleeping, so more than adequate. If you're at all a light sleeper, go high up and/or get a north facing room as the traffic on Flamingo could be a nuisance.

FOOD: besides the Starbucks, Suede (called Savona on external signage and in some print materials) is the hotel restaurant. We never got up early enough to do the breakfast buffet but had late night and lunch there and it's really good. Diverse menu for whichever kind of cuisine you may want. Doesn't have its liquor license yet so if you need a drink, the bar in the casino is better. Don't believe they served food though. Starbucks is Starbucks. Nothing remarkable.

SERVICE: Check in and out (had to make sure MAGC was credited) were smooth and luggage desk was great. Annoyance of resort fee aside (this place is a "resort" in name only), I got the late checkout at a resort when half the time I don't get it at non-resorts.

I'd stay there again if I had a reason to be off strip, otherwise I'd probably forego the points and stay on the strip.

SNA_Flyer

It actually is not classed by SPG as a resort (nor has that designation in it's name). The fee they charge is an "Amenity Fee". Because they are not a resort or a conference hotel they must provide a 4PM checkout which is why you had no problem attaining one. I still have not had a problem here as a Platinum having that fee removed.

travellingcari

Exterior wall signage calls it a resort, as does marketing in Suede menu which is what I meant by in name. You are correct re: the fee's name. I had to chuckle at the poor front desk clerk who highlighted the free happy hour as one of the fee's benefits. I realize it's her job, but "This $25 fee includes a free happy hour" is so silly.

UASPG

Repeat guest, Platinum, Ambassador, Lifetime Platinum, no mater your status, the hotel changed again its policy and no longer waives the "Resort" fees. All you might get is for them to deduct a part of it as this "Resort" fees includes the wi-fi. When I keep returning to the same hotel, I expect some consistency and to trust that I will not get less than what I got before, especially when it comes as a surprise.

It's time to discover more exciting and newer properties in Las Vegas and to forget about Starwood while you are in town. The SPG perks just don't it, especially if you attend trade shows with complimentary breakfasts.

Bravada04

Yikes.........can anyone else confirm that they won't waive the resort fees anymore!! I have given them my business for the past several years - This is all leisure travel so waiving the resort fees made a difference. I just might cancel my next reservation and use my comps at Bally's or something.

firstglobal

They reversed the resort fee for me three weeks ago with no argument. The way to do this has always been to wait until checkout to have it removed from your bill, supposedly their system won't allow them not to charge it to you in the first place. I always feel a little uneasy about it, but I've never had a problem in half dozen or so stays over the last few years.

If this has changed, I will be much less likely to return.

crazypalooza

+1 on getting the fee waived for plats this month but as firstglobal wrote, it only happens at checkout.

Concorde28

If you like staying in your room most of the time while in LAS, then you definitely should stay on the Strip. As a platinum, I enjoy the breakfast buffet and the Manager's Reception each night at the Westin. The spa is also quite good and usually offers a special points deal depending on the price of the treatment.

It's not the MGM but then I'd rather walk to the Strip from the Westin than have to walk a mile to find my room.

JackE

I stayed there earlier this week. On checkout at the Platinum desk, they waived the resort fee on request, but mentioned the policy was changing to cut it by the cost of Internet ($12.95), which is about half the resort fee.

Until something changes, I will just add half the resort fee to the nightly rate when deciding whether to stay here.

BrettMCA

As a regular guest, I can confirm they no longer waive the resort fee for platinum guests. This is unfortunate as I really enjoy staying here and the excellent staff. But I cannot tolerate changes in policy which penalize loyal guests with regards to ridiculous fees. Therefore, I will no longer patronize this hotel.

UASPG

That was our experience for stays in the past, but they would not bulge for this last stay although this went through several management levels. I am surprised to read the couple of posts that indicate that the entire fees had been removed from their bill.

RogerD408

It may be those agents reversing the charge are doing so based upon previous experience and not reviewing new cases to find out the terms have changed. It would be nice if everyone did things the same way one time to the next. But just like we see some agents are not up to speed with new benefits, it should be expected the opposite would happen too. Unfortunately it's tough to use HUCA when checking out and either need to convince the agent in front of you to change their view or accept it and move on.