777 global mile hound

You might want to call the hotel.My guess is they probably have the Heavenly Bed in.
But call the hotel directly to see if there many be any renovations or other concerns that might disrupt the experience
It is interesting to not that the hotel went from a cat 3 to cat 4 in redemption even before it opened!No notice

fly co to see the yanks

that is interesting. hotels are given their categories based, in part, to their average room rate. how could they have an adjustment if they haven't even opened yet?

Starwood Lurker

It is calculated on an anticipated average daily rate and, as we all should know by now, nothing is ever written in stone regarding a hotel's participation level until the day it opens....however, as we should also know by now, even that is not a 100% surety.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

777 global mile hound

Your guess is as good as mine.Perhpas they looked at the Wyndham ADR
I assume they matched the rest of the hotels in New Orleans by making everything a cat 4
I booked an award there at 3 before it changed to a 4.
However I really wanted to book cash and points.Now it will never happen...........

wajiheffendi

i'm staying there dec 26-27 as a plat...hope to get upgraded......will tell everyone how much they have renovated (flat screens, etc)...

looking forward to it!!

Blumie

I'm not a regular on this board, so I completely missed this thread. But when I went to spg.com to book a room in New Orleans for New Years, I was elated to see that this property has been re-reflagged. This was a great hotel when it was the Westin, and our friends at Wyndham have a dismal history of taking wonderful properties and running them into the ground -- Checkers, in Los Angeles, and the Bourbon Orleans, in New Orleans, come to mind. I'm not loyal to hotels based on frequent-stay programs, but rather based solely on the quality of the hotel. If this property returns to its pre-Wyndham quality, it certainly will go back on my A-list of New Orleans properties.

BTW, before it was reflagged, it was an AMEX FHR property. Any word on whether that will be the case again?

777 global mile hound

Agree that Wyndham is horrible they can ruin a property quicker then anybody with one exception
They treat non frequent guests in their program better then regulars.
By Request is a great deal for once in a blue moon guets who receive nice welcome amenities of fruit and premium beverages of choice.
Oddly I don't get that frequently as a top tier guest sometimes!

Besides Heavenly Beds this Rebranded Westin sounds like they are getting flat screens too
The prices have already jumped big time by 100% since I last checked for next year

Can't answer the last question sorry

Blumie

Be careful how much of the price increase you attribute to the re-reflagging. I don't have any real numbers, but I'm guessing that occupancy rates in New Orleans are on the rise, which of course may have a lot more to do with price increases than the new flag out front.

777 global mile hound

Trying to pay off their Heavenly Bed investment in the first week?
I looked at rates online on the Westin website for the Westin New Orleans which was available for 149 non refundable 30 days ago.
This was for one of the slowest periods of the entire year July and August the dead of summer when no one typically wants to be there

Yesterday they were 300 and up non refundable......
Don't think much is attributed to the reflagging as an inexperienced revenue manager who probably will adjust the rates as the hotel remains at very low occupancy levels as they get closer to that time period rather then let inventory perish.My guess is much will end up on third party sites anyway

I haven't measured other time periods but one thing is for sure
The Hilton New Orleans Riverside is looking swell with their excellent executive lounge and state of the art fitness center for 79 dollars a night for the same dates.In fairness they try for 179 per night but almost always reduce the rates too as there is historically very little business in the summer
The Hilton rooms and suites are very good though they do not have flat screen TVs.
The InterContinental can also be booked at 125 per night
The Sheraton can be booked around 99 dollars that time of year too
Even the Ritz Carlton had 119 dollar rates this past summer
At the end of the day if Starwood is able to get 700 a night for a room more power to them.
I will be waving at their facility out the window from across the street

Its a buyers market unless in peak season or a group and convention is in town
Thats my two cents and I look forward to many returns without question when rates are in line with other upscale luxury properties.This was always one of my favorite properties in the nation.I think the best is yet to come for the Westin Canal Place

Blumie

The Ritz currently is my hotel of choice in New Orleans. It had been the Windsor Court, but the place has slipped in recent years, even as its rates have remained high. Most importantly, they have not upgraded their bedding, even as "lesser" properties like Westins, Marriotts and Sheratons have. I recently stayed on their newly renovated club floor, which does include upgraded bedding, but I was not impressed. Which is really a shame because it's such a beautiful place with the best service among New Orleans hotels.

The Ritz does not offer typical Ritz-quality service, but their rooms are very comfortable, and the rates generally are very reasonable. And if you step up for a club room, unlike other Ritz properties where the room is identical but you get access to the club lounge, the New Orleans Ritz club rooms are entirely different and beautifully decorated. And the service on the club side is much better -- much closer to the Ritz-Carlton standard.

777 global mile hound

My Cousins are huge fans of the Windsor Court.
In fact they have never stayed anywhere else when in NOLA even though I moved them to Starwood from Marriott years ago.
They like Starwood properties or a number of them to be fair.The Windsor was always an exception and a must stay for them
Thanks for the heads up on the property

I expect less service in New Orleans from most brands
I usually leave New Orleans feeling I have received excellent value for what I pay for lodging.I would not be comfortable paying what I do in New York City there or some other expensive cities

I rarely stay at Ritz Carlton but I do check their rates from time to time as do a wide variety of chains to make a decision what a room is worth on average in its category.May start looking at Priceline after a long hiatus if the 2008 early pricing I have observed so far keeps up........I was never a big user except during the time when they had a rewards program that was paying more reward points then the regular hotel programs

bigguyinpasadena

As most of you know I am not a big fan of Marriott these days
The JW Marriott in NoLa is probably the nicest Marriott I have ever stayed in=and the service level was fantastic(The stay was ove Labor day-incredible price of $89 a night)I look forward to staying at the newly reflagged Westin-and I do think they are kifdding themselves if they think they can charge 3 bills a night outside of very heavy demand periods.

777 global mile hound

Good to know and thank you for your interesting post and support of New Orleans!
Have never stayed at the JW in NOLA however while hungry on my last stay In October I wandered into Shulas in the lobby of the JW Marriott and had a very nice respectable meal. I will try it again and tour the JW property as well on my next visit.

As I stated I think we will see the rates drop as the hotels find themselves slower especially in the shoulder season.
However outside of New Orleans I have seen Starwood lose market share in years past rather then lower prices.That has been written about in the media.........
When Nola gets slow hotels will release more value rates and specials
They don't tend to panic as much as in other markets fearful of maintaining rate integrity.

At one property in the past in Century City Los Angeles the hotel would be at 30% occupancy and some of the staff would be told to go home Yet the property would still be asking three hundred dollars a night and up....
Its an interesting business

greg999

While looking to book an upcoming stay in New Orleans, I came across their opening special offer giving 1,000 bonus starpoints / night with a rate of $159 through March 31. The hotel is also participating in the 1,000 / 2,000 / 3,000 bonus promotion. Assuming one can get both bonus offers 3 stays would pick up 9,000 bonus points.

itsaboutthejourney

I spent one night there last week:

- Hotel looks to still be months away (if ever) from looking like the Westin's we all know and love. Lots of faux mahogany, gold and floral print carpets. Some signage still says Wyndam, some has been changed to Westin.

- Elevators have NOT been fixed. Got stuck for 5 minutes in one that couldn't open the doors because of what appeared to be a broken sensor.

- Hotel is located in the upper floors of the Canal Place Mall. Parking is shared with the mall in a garage that charged $20/24 hours.

- Desk agent was by herself and not supported by other staff. She was overwhealmed and tried to be nice between blaring requests from the constantly ringing phone into a walkie-talkie. Checking me in between calls, she didn't acknowledge my platinum status or ask for my choice of amenity. I had to ask about 4PM checkout which she said is ok as I walked away, of course my keys were not coded for that. It was 1AM and I just wanted to go to my room.

- Suite (I booked a suite rate because it was a cheap $139) was missing couch/arm chair. Very odd (Wyndam gold?) glass table sitting by itself in the middle of the room.

- Flat screen TV was sitting on top of the mini-bar. No keys to mini bar were given.

- Bed is the comfortable Heavenly model we all know. The bedroom was all new, in the sleek Westin design we expect. Bathroom also had the usual Westin touches, except:

- No mouthwash or bath gel, and the woman at service express had no idea what "bath wash gel" is, let alone that Westins around the world have little bottles of it.

- No bottled water in room for SPG members as most other Westins provide. service express seemed confused by my request and said they couldn't get any until the next day.

At check-out: I noticed a sign saying that this hotel is managed by Columbia Sussex. These are the people who seem to own other Starwood properties that don't fully comply to the high standards of the brands they franchise.

I can't complain too loudly because of the rate and knowing the difficulty of retaining staff in a city where housing is still a problem, but this Westin is clearly "not ready for prime time".

Shame on Starwood for letting the Columbia Sussex people call this a Westin before it's ready.