As of November 30th, 2010, this hotel is now known as The Westin Georgetown.

All the signage still says Westin Grand (I'm in the hotel at the moment), but the business cards say Westin Georgetown. It'll probably take a bit to switch the signs. I spoke to the GM about the name change tonight (didn't go out of my way to find him, but happened to run into him) and he said most of the people that stayed there that weren't specifically looking for the property were evidently looking for hotels near Georgetown, so the name change would seem to help with that.

Also interesting to note that evidently they get a pretty consistent stream of people (2/night or so) that end up at the Westin City Center instead of their hotel and vice versa. They are fairly close to each other, but interesting to note nonetheless.

A quick blurb. Stayed on Wed, the 16th. Very quick trip, but the room and service were very good. The Valet is still a rip off, but all employees were very nice and helpful. Checked in, no issues, big room on SPG floor. Room was in top shape, all pertinent details are in previous posts above re: room layout and amenities.

Staying here tomorrow night, mainly to avoid driving home after a night of Georgetown debauchery. I'll report on any changes. Also, my online reservation says "Studio Suite" anybody know what this is? The hotel doesn't have description of it on their site.

Pretty sure its a bit larger room with an extra chair. The hotel has very few true suites, 2 per floor I believe (at least on the upper floors, not sure if the lower floors have any). They are pretty nice though if you can get them. I stay here at least one night almost every week and have only gotten a suite a handful of times :)

I've stayed at both properties (always the correct one each time). The Westin Georgetown (f/k/a Westin Grand) is significantly nicer than the Westin City Center. I generally find the prices to be commensurate with the difference in quality.

Received this SPG bonus today:

Thank you for choosing the Westin Georgetown for your road to renewal.

We are offering a special promotion to our loyal Starwood Preferred Guest members. If you spend at least $10.00 in our DUSK restaurant we will reward you with 500 starpoints. Please present this card to your server.

Brief trip report
 

Stayed here this past Thursday and Friday nights on a business trip and overall was quite pleased. Nice staff, rooms are fine and clean (though nothing really fancy), taxis waiting outside the times I needed one. Got a great Starpicks deal just a couple of days in advance of about $310 total for the two nights (including tax). Didn't have a chance to check out the fitness center, the food or the bar/restaurant Dusk at the hotel. No lounge. Not to get into a Starwood versus Hilton debate, but as a long-time HH Diamond new to Starwood Platinum I ignorantly half-assumed that there would be a complimentary breakfast, which as per Starwood policies there is not.

Some other scattered observations:

1. Only problem, not that it was a major one, was upon check-in I asked about a Platinum upgrade to a suite and was told nothing was available. Upon getting to my room, the first site that popped up when I went online was that of the hotel, so out of curiosity (and informed by previous posts here in the Starwood forum) I checked availability and a Studio Suite was available. I called down to tell the front desk, which promptly sent up a key so I could transfer to the suite. Would have been nice if the front desk had apologized for (to put the matter perhaps a bit charitably) not spotting the availability. But as I said, no big deal.
2. The regular room I was in for a few minutes was certainly nice enough. Perhaps a bit on the small side, but more than adequate. It had a King bed. From what I vaguely recall from staying at this hotel many years ago when it was the Westin Grand, the rooms with two beds are larger. (And it would be hard to see how two beds could have fit into the King room.) So if I were to go back I'd definitely try to secure a room with two beds on the assumption it would be bigger.
3. The term Studio Suite summarizes the upgraded room quite well. More than twice the size of the regular room I was first put in. Has a couch and a couple of chairs. As with the hotel generally, nothing really fancy, but fine. One odd little glitch was that the light to the bathroom is by the closet outside the bathroom, but not close enough to be obvious that it's for the bathroom. Took me a while to figure that one out.
4. Both of my rooms faced the courtyard, which was quiet. My guess is that it's significantly quieter than the those rooms facing the street, particularly busy M Street.
5. Both the location and the hotel itself are nicer than the Westin City Center, which is ok but definitely down a notch from the Westin Georgetown.
6. Having said that, the hotel is not really in Georgetown but rather a short walk away from the edge and maybe 15 minutes from its center. On the other hand, the hotel is only a 20 minute walk away, via a pretty neighborhood, from Dupont Circle. I've dined in Georgetown a number of times, but on weekends in particular it can be quite a college/20s type scene (not that there's anything wrong with that, even with me being in my 50s). My point is that for tourists the location is pretty good for checking out Gtown eateries, shops, etc.; for folks in on business looking for a more sedate scene, you might be better advised to walk the opposite way on M or over to Dupont Circle. (One more thing re Gtown is that the area by the river apparently had bad flooding this winter, so most restaurants there are closed right now.)
7. A two-terminal business center off the lobby; the only time I used it was to print out my plane boarding pass. There was a small glitch with no paper in the printer.

Does anybody stay here recently?

Thanks in advance.

I have.. any question in particular?

Its is a nice hotel, but your basic (newer) Westin.

I have stayed here almost every week for the past 8 months. I am staying there right now...

As noted above, its a standard Westin.

I haven't stayed there in a couple of years, but I beg to differ. IIRC at least some of the rooms have non-working fireplaces. Between that and the view of the city, I'd say it has a little more charm than your standard Westin.

I'd say Westin City Center (or whatever it is called this week) is a sub-standard Westin. It was a conversion (and a marginal one at that) from a lower class hotel.

Something built new like Boston Waterfront, Princeton, or maybe Alexandria, VA or Arlington, VA (it's been a while since I was at those two) are more like "standard" Westins.

Okay...It is a little more charming than a standard Westin, if you get one of the charming rooms.;) As noted up thread, many of the rooms are on the small side. I stay there weekly and I have gotten one of the 'nicer' rooms 20-30% of the time. I also don't really care so I don't ask for anything different.

I stayed there this weekend. On check-in she told me she had my platinum account on file but mentioned i'm in a standard room. I said is there a suite? she said none with king bed so I asked for deluxe room with king bed and got it. Kind of awkward.

Self park is really convenient and was 22 usd for 18hrs. Self park for 24h is around 36 and valet is 40.

hotel lobby is nice and clean. gives you a good first impression.

The doormen were not attentive. They were standing around but nobody opened the door to my car, nobody helped grab bags from my wife, nobody opened the door to hotel. Poor form esp when you glance across street to Park Hyatt and see how well dressed and attentive the staff was there when I stayed there last month.

Rooms are standard. Clean, decent size, bathroom had good pressure in the shower and had a tub as well.

I went for the 500 point bonus.

One thing that irritated me is that I did the prepaid rate of 197 but on day of check in the rate went down to 145. they wouldnt bring mine down. my fault i should have been more careful. what could i have done to avoid this?