stimpy

I did a search and came up with nothing. Am I the first to stay here?

It's an excellent property in a nice area. Great service in the lounge, free internet in the room, large non-traditional room design, huge bathroom with rainfall shower. Free limo to and from the airport and only about 8km from the airport. And free laundry! I think most of the free stuff is only during the hotel introductory period.

I didn't get time to try the spa or gym. I had thought all Westins were non-smoking now? This one isn't.

stimpy

I forgot to add that Plats can have their breakfast in either the restaurant or the club. The restaurant buffet is excellent, but there is a smoking section you might want to stay clear of.

Starwood Lurker II

Hi stimpy,

It is pretty new, less than 2 years old.

Not all Westin hotels in Asia Pac and the middle east are fully non-smoking. So there you go.

Thank you and have a nice day!

[email protected]

speedster

I look forward to staying here in November! Hopefully the rates stay reasonable.

yosithezet

I may be staying here soon. What is the area around the hotel like? Is it safe to walk around? Are there convenience shops around?

noirpepper

The rates when I was there was in the mid $200s which is quite high for the location. They did have a superb security (not as good as TLV hotels), and each car was getting inspected prior to pulling up to the guest area. The area is the safest in the city close to the diplomatic and financial district. The food quality was good. Overall a good place and I will return if I were to go to DAC again. YMMV.

stimpy

It's a commercial area and certainly safe to walk around during the day. Nice restaurants nearby. I was too tired to go out at night.

ericd102

Stayed here a few weeks back midweek. It's a very nice property, but offensively expensive for South Asia. A room service Caesar salad with a beer ran me something like $45 USD. My impression is that it's the best western/business hotel in town (alongside the Radisson, perhaps) so they can get away with it.

Excellent lounge, with "snacks" during evening cocktails that could pass for a meal. Beautiful gym with whirlpool/steam/sauna as well.

The wifi is on a strange system where each room has its own network, making connections come and go, but speeds were good as long as you didn't move about.

As PLT was upgraded to a spacious two-room corner suite.

Thunderroad

Have stayed at the Westin Dhaka a several times over the past couple of years and agree that it is a fine hotel, most probably the best Dhaka has to offer and nicer than the Radisson (which I've also stayed at, though not recently). while I wouldn't rank it up there with the best SPG has to offer by any means (given how superb the competition is across Asia and elsewhere), I'd still say it is a very good hotel in an absolute sense (and not just discounting for the lack of competition in Dhaka). Got suite upgrades most (though not all) of my stays there as a Plat, though sometimes had to ask for it. Good staff, service and rooms, with a pleasant lounge offering freed drinks and snacks and a good view over Dhaka. You can get breakfast in the lounge, but the offerings are much more expansive in the excellent buffet downstairs. Also, well located for the relatively upscale Gulshan area of town, where some businesses and organizations are centered. If you're a light sleeper, you might ask for a room less exposed to the calls for prayer in the area.

camsean

The hotel is in Gulshan, which is about the best neighbourhood that Dhaka has to offer. However, this is not really saying much.

Condition One

This hotel is located about 20 minutes from the airport in Gulshan. If there’s no traffic, it’s about 20 minutes north of where all the touristy sites are. I booked a hotel car from the airport for $28, and I easily found the driver after exiting customs. Unlike other hotel pickup services, a cold facecloth or bottle of water was not offered. You’ll need to pass through a metal detector at the hotel entrance, and the guards are packing Lee-Enfield rifles that predate WWII. At reception, I was greeted with a glass of cinnamon apple juice. All room types were available at the time of check-in, but when it appeared that they were going to put me into a standard room, I asked if there were any upgrades available. A quick look in the computer put me in an Executive Suite.

The Executive Suite is a generous size at the end of the hallway. It has a separate toilet near the entrance of the room, a rainfall showerhead, and more bottles of water than you can shake a stick at. The work desk is a bit cramped, and the design had me painfully bumping my legs against parts of it throughout my stay. I’m a light sleeper and could hear the call to prayer from my room, but it wasn’t loud enough to bother me, or wake me up. You can hear a little traffic, but it’s not too bad either. WiFi speeds were good, and I was using a VPN too.

As far as the Platinum amenity goes, you can have a continental breakfast in the Lounge each morning, or if you can forgo your 500 points and have breakfast in the restaurant downstairs, which is what I did. Breakfast in Tastes is pretty spectacular, with Asian, Indian, and Western food options. You can’t go wrong there. Room service prices appeared 10-20% higher than in the States.

Continental breakfast in the lounge is served from 6:30am-10:30am. Evening snacks are served from 5:30pm-7:30pm, and is one of the more impressive lounge offerings I’ve seen. Cheese, desserts, sushi, mini-sandwiches, several hot items (i.e. mushroom quiche, chicken sharwma wraps, fried calamari, chicken satay), and two types of pizza. Alcohol and soft drinks were also available. You can easily have dinner in the Lounge.

Or if you’re feeling hungrier than that, Tastes has a dinner buffet that is even more impressive. Food quality looked really high, but it wasn’t cheap. Seafood night runs 4800++BTD, and normal buffets are 4300++BTD.

The gym is packed with equipment, and opens at 6am. I was told by the front desk that if you needed access to it during closed hours, somebody will let you in. Massage prices are around 6800++BTD for 60 minutes. A hotel car will cost $18++/hour. I found a taxi outside where I negotiated what I felt was a generous 700 taka/hour.

Also, I felt the hotel’s best asset was their staff. They were all super friendly with an excellent grasp of English, remembered my name, and engaged people in meaning conversation. The service was top notch. The concierge even gave me his personal cell number in case I needed translation help while sightseeing! This is definitely one of the top SPG properties I’ve stayed at.

Edited to add: There's also an antique metal shop on the second floor in the plaza across from the hotel that's worth checking out. They had some really interesting items, and I walked out with some brass compasses.

Thunderroad

Excellent review that I almost completely agree with. I'm not as enthusiastic about the snack offerings in the lounge. You certainly can make a light dinner out of what they offer there, as long as your expectations for the quality of the food are fairly low. On the other hand, the staff there are excellent, the complimentary wine, beer and alcohol are a nice feature, and it offers a good view (to the extent that a view over Dhaka is good).

I'd add that the ground floor (one floor below the reception floor, which you access via an escalator) has a pleasant cafe with very reasonably priced (by Westin standards) and fairly tasty sandwiches and other light meals.

Condition One

Plus ice cream!

nevansm

Any recent experiences?

dc2005b

The Westin Dhaka is starting to show its age but remains a decent option in Bangladesh. The airport car service worked well both ways and check-in was quick and efficient. There was a welcome plate of fruit and sweets in my first room assigned, but after requesting a room change it never made its way to the new room. My rate included breakfast on the 2nd floor at Seasonal Tastes which was extensive and good quality. This restaurant also runs buffet service for Lunch and Dinner which also was quite good, if not a bit expensive.

The lounge had some views off towards the airport for some plane spotting if you can find a seat. In addition to the hot and cold dishes they offer complimentary wine, beer & cocktails from 530 - 730 and given the relative scarcity of alcohol in Bangladesh (& high cost in hotels) people have a tendency to camp out here during these hours. The staff in the lounge were fantastic and really took care to give everyone a good experience during crowded times. The lounge only opened in the afternoon as far as I could tell so not sure the breakfast benefit if not included in the rate. Short power outages were not uncommon and unfortunately the tv reverts to the welcome page after each one so I was awoken a few times before learning to unplug the tv before bed!

There are a number of shops across the street in the little mini-mall as well as a grocery store and money changers nearby but the hotel is very far (time-wise) from any tourist site. I did have the chance to visit the new Sheraton while there and that will be a clear winner once it opens for overnight guests. I’m told the same owner has plans for a St. Regis and Westin Residences which are in various states of construction so perhaps some more options in coming years.