Westin Embassy Row isn't noisy? I could barely sleep, and once I did a motorcade would always wake me up.

Motorcades are part of the District and pretty hard to escape if you're in anything other than residential side streets. That said, 9/10 times I stay at the Westin ER I get an interior suite that's closer to the P Street side of the building. The Grand has construction going on nearby (as of the last stay I had in 06) constantly, is the main street into GTown, and also is near GWU hospital so you get construction, traffic, motorcades and ambulances. Each to his/her own, but I'll take ER over the "Grand" any chance I get.

BlissWorld

Just returned from a 4 night stay at this property

PROs

Big bathroom with soaking tub
Reasonable rates

CONs

Terrible service (front desk and restaurant)
No Platinum recognition

Next time I will stay at The Fairmont across the road.

I stayed here one night last night and found it an acceptable. I basically agree with everything said, except the front desk staff were courteous and nice (offered my amenity with no problem). The bathrub was great as was the workout room. I noticed that the SPG floors (6,7, and 8 I believe) all had nice fruit bowls near the elevators in the morning (good pears), but I others floors did not.

Location-wise, you're a short walk to Georgetown. But for those of you looking for a quick bite to take to your room, there's a new Trader Joe's a block away! There's also a CVS around the corner, too. Both are hard to find, but your front desk staff can help you.

Overall, I'd stay here again, but I'm anxious to check out the Arlington Westin on my next trip.

I stayed at the Grand about a dozen times last year and never had any problems whatsoever. My platinum status was always observed and I was upgraded at least 50% of the time. I had stayed there often enough where the front desk staff recognized me, so that may have have skewed the numbers slightly in my favor.

With that said, I prefer the E-row mainly for location reasons.

Some major problems here tonight, looks like theres a power outage for a bunch of hotels in the near vicinity. As usual, the staff seemed to be handling it great, ordering food for guests in the lobby, booking rooms at the Westin Arlington, etc.

http://www.nbc4.com/news/11118905/de...ss=dc&psp=news

In booking a room for this coming weekend, in light of the mixed reviews, I found that the only rooms available seem to be "traditional", I searched a mixed number of dates throughout the year and was unable to find anything other than the traditional room or occasional "studio". Does this room offer a club/executive level of any type? Are there even suites to book? I checked with multiple rate plans and was unable to find any true "suites". Anyways I am trying to decide between the Grand Hyatt Washington ( on 10th and H ) or the Westin Grand, any feedback would be appreciated !

The hotel does not have a club floor. They only have traditional rooms or westin work out rooms. They do have suites (7?9?) but not that many to upgrade platinums to. If you are looking to book suite you should contact the hotel directly. I would not suggest staying at this property. Fairmont across the street is much much better! ^ I love the service and the Gold floor lounge. If you must stay at a *wood property, I would suggest the Westin Arlington Gateway. Yes, it is 15 minutes away via metro, but unless you plan on staying out late in DC, Westin Arlington is a much better hotel.

I've been here for quite some time and as such have stayed in or at least seen quite a few of their suites. They are not incredible, but usually are pretty decently sized and somewhat cleaner than the rest of the rooms. Given that you are booking a weekend stay, I don't think you will have any problem with getting an upgrade, since I usually get one even during the week. As the previous poster suggested, I would contact the hotel (Manager if possible) directly about the upgrade, they are pretty good about pre-blocking platinums into a suite if available.

Although their physical plant is somewhat underwhelming, the staff is by far one of the best in any hotel in Washington, DC (Starwood, Mandarin Oriental, etc) that I have been a guest at and I would not hesitate to recommend the property to anyone.

My son recently became a professor at George Washington U and we will be going down once a month to visit his family. It looks like starting December, Cash and Points is available. With room rates going for over $400 with tax, 4,000 points + $60 is a major league bargain. Stayed there once on Priceline ($92 + tax). The location was perfect for us and I'll keep going back as long as they keep offering Cash & Points.

I stayed here with my fiancee a few weeks ago on C&P.

The highlight of the stay was arriving on Friday night to find a metered parking spot right outside the front door, with meters "off" all weekend.

From that point, this hotel was all downhill.

At check-in, we were told they were sold out, and so no upgrades available. No big deal, but the room offered to us was on the 2nd floor. I asked if they had something higher. I was told that I could move up near the top, but there were renovations just above that, so I chose to stay on the second floor. Again, no big deal to be full and "get what you pay for," but the advice would turn out to be misleading.

The hotel is beautiful and "Grand" from the outside. Dated and worn on the inside. Walking to the room, you see carpetting that is well past its replacement date. Walls are damanged all over. Some lower end finishings, and plastic cups in the bathroom, rather than glass. No big deal... won't affect our stay.

What did affect our stay was the malfunctioning A/C, which made a loud noise full-time. At 3am, after a few hours of fitful sleep for me (and no sleep for fiancee), we called downstairs to be moved. We were given a room a few doors down on the same hall.

We planned to get up at 9am, but decided to sleep in later due to the restless night. At 9am, we were awoken by persistent jackhammering. It turns out that there were also renovations in the garage beneath us. According to the front desk, the garage is owned separately and they weren't warned about the jackhammer.

We went about our day, and returned in the afternoon. At that point, I phoned to speak to the manager on duty. I told her she needed to find another hotel for us, and it couldn't be WER b/c they were doing renovations, too. We didn't really want the hassle of moving for a 2 night stay, and when she offered Alexandria or a room that she swore would be peaceful, we took the latter.

The third room was fine. Oddly, though, I got the sense from our conversation (she was intent on checking on a very particular room) that she would be putting us in a great upgrade or something, and the third room was run of the mill (big but useless hallway to enter room, and then same crappy decor and worn furnishings). Most importantly, our 3rd night was restful. The manager on duty, Ms. Alexander, was wonderful and accommodating throughout.

Before checking out, I called down to ask that Ms. Alexander meet us at the desk to discuss an adjustment to the bill. I had no intention for paying the Cash portion of the first night, though to be honest, I expected better compensation. Indeed, she offered 10k points (one "free night" at the hotel), and I was happy with that, and paid the bill in full.

Overall, this hotel is to be avoided until they get their house in order. It is a shame, because location is great, and it has a grand exterior!

A colleague of mine was staying at the Westin Grand last night and was awoken by a large mouse in his room - he called the front desk, they came up to investigate promised that it had gone away, but then it scampered across the room and into the bathroom.

My coworker left the hotel, checked into an upgraded room at the Westin City Center and was comped 10,000 Starpoints.

What a dump!

Westin DC - hoping for special, got construction
 

Hey folks,

Looking for a little advice from the SPG experts out there.
I booked two rooms at the Westin Grand in DC (Georgetown) for my birthday. We arrived to a hotel under construction for renovations.

I had written a short note to the GM to check on the chance of an upgrade (lowly gold + birthday :) ) but had not heard back - no big deal. When we checked in I tried to ask, but the two people working the front desk were frankly not interested in discussing the construction. I honestly could not get them to answer any questions. I did get a card for 2 drinks (more on that later) and headed up to our rooms.

No upgrades, but thats ok, can't *expect* something you didn't pay for. What we did get were two very worn and tired rooms right over a jack hammer :mad:
No glassware, no amenities, stained rooms...

I know that a lot of people consider a hotel just a room for the night, but we were hoping to spend some time over a bottle of wine with family in the comfort of the room to celebrate (their idea, not mine...honestly, low key on the b-day for me). We have also been told that the water is going to be turned off in the morning.

Mrs. SpaceBass and I went to the bar for a drink and discovered that everyone else in the hotel got the same free drink coupons. It was quite nice, but the staff was utterly inattentive...presumably b/c they did not expect gratuity (not the case in my world).

The staff at the desk did point out that it was very clearly stated on the website. I booked through www.spg.com and still do not see a notice there. However, after a google search, I do see the notice on the site for the hotel itself, do you?
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin...ropertyID=1013

Should I care? As long as the jack hammer does not start again at 8AM, then I guess its ok...but I'm disappointed. I'm across the street from the Fairmont and we seriously discussed the Ritz, but I insisted on the Westin b/c of my status... just a little chagrin.

Quote:

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Please note:
December 3, 2007 to March 2, 2008, Hotel Under Renovation

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FRANKLY, YES.


And, what status?

You identified yourself as a lowly Gold member -- just as I am.

Finally, before you book a property, don't you check this website and Tripadvisor.com -- among others -- to learn of the overall shape of the property??

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Columbia.html

If you had, you would have seen quite clearly that the hotel is tired and that it was unlikely for you to get something of an upgrade.

On the other hand, I just spent two separate nights at the Westin Alexandria, and in addition to reaping the 3,000 bonus points per night, as well as the up to 6,000 points per property promotion, we also paid only $101 per night since it was a Starpicks rate.

I should also add that I was able to talk ourselves into the Concierge Lounge on the second stay cause we had had some difficulty on check-in. The chocolate bars, free shrimp and mushroom appetizers and the continental breakfast were quite nice, I daresay.

Next time do some research and you won't have a bad surprise awaiting you.

First off Happy Birthday!!

Sorry that you might not have the best experience, and hopefully it will turn out alright. As for the Renovations, they have been discussed quite a bit here recently and yes, sorry to say that I do see it clearly on their website. I also just logged on to SPG to check and when I pulled up all the properties for DC it clearly states "Note: Special Conditions currently exist at this hotel." Then if you miss it there, when you click on the book it now, it appears again on the next screen when it shows the prices. So they are correct that it clearly states its under renovation. As for the upgrade, obviously these are hit or miss, I've never been upgraded at that property as a Platinum.

However, if they shut off the water completely, that is something I think you should take issue with. I've checked into hotels under renovations several times and expected a lot of noise and some inconveinence, but never would I accept not having water. If its only off for a certain time and they notified you it may be acceptable, but if its off for very long, then I think you have a valid complaint.

Try and enjoy your birthday and hopefully it will all work out.