I am sure this same issue is mentioned elsewhere on other property boards regarding Platinum benefits.

I stayed at this hotel many times in the first couple years after they opened and it was one of the best Platinum friendly hotels with frequent upgrades to the Marvelous and Fantastic Suites without any of the haggling. Since then they have restricting upgrades to any room from the Fantastic Suites and below.

I had a one night stay a couple weeks ago and let's just say it wasn't so smooth. I booked a room using points and I monitored my reservation as the stay drew near. I had seen my reservation fluctuate between the Spectacular, Fabulous, and Cool Corner categories. The morning of my stay I checked my reservation and it showed that I was pre-booked into the "Fabulous" category. At the same time I was curious to see what other upgraded rooms were available and I saw Cool Corner rooms which are part of the Platinum upgrade pool. I arrived at the hotel around 12:30 PM which is before the published 3PM check-in time.

I proceeded to the welcome desk and proceeded to check-in where I was helped by an agent. She processed my check-in and I inquired about the room type I was allocated. She mentioned exactly what I saw in my reservation. I then followed up and asked her about the Cool Corner rooms. She looked on the computer and said none were available. I said I am seeing the hotel still selling them on the spg website for the duration of my stay. At the same time I said I would be willing to wait if the room wasn't available. Then she picked up the phone and ran to the "back office." I waited and waited and waited. For those that have been to the W Hong Kong, you will know where I am referring to, but to the left of the Whatever/Whenever (concierge) desk there is another small desk. The same lady who was checking me in eventually went over there to talk to another male colleague as I waited at the main desk. Tired of waiting at the main desk, I went over to that other desk to inquire again. At this time the male agent took over and I explained to him my issue. He then said he was made aware of the situation and assured me that there were no Cool Corner Rooms available, even though I said I could book one right now on the SPG mobile app. He proceeds to tap on the keyboard more. Frustrated by the run around I booked the Cool Corner room they said wasn't available as I waited at the side counter. I then said, I just booked Cool Corner Room and he looked on the computer to see the reservation I had just booked as I stood in front of him. As this is happening there is another lady at the same desk who chimes in as she overhears the conversation I am having with the male agent. She introduces herself and I find out she is the "W Experience Manager." I express my frustration to her about the Platinum run around and she goes on to say that the W Hong Kong does recognize Platinum benefits. She mentions to me she has been with SPG and then moved to the hotel side. I mentioned to her I was familiar with the SPG program and specifically which room categories are part of the Platinum upgrade pool and knew that the Cool Corners fell within that specific category. She then said she was on the phone with reservations as someone who had one of those Cool Corners booked had just cancelled (does that sound familiar????). I said I found that hard to believe as I had seen Cool Corner rooms available to be booked all morning to the point where I just booked one a few minutes prior. She then mentioned that there have been inventory lag issues and that she has seen Platinum members before check inventory as they are checking in. I then told her the reason Platinum members do this is because of Platinum run around issues and that they are not limited to just this hotel, but happen all over the system.

She then apologized for the issues and said she hoped it wouldn't ruin the rest of my stay. She then offered me full breakfast at the Kitchen, which "apparently" was an upgrade over the Platinum continental breakfast for my amenity.

As for the hotel, they have done an exceptional job of maintaining the hotel in both the public and room areas even though the hotel has been open 7 years. The bathrooms were spacious, the water pressure was good, and the beds were comfortable as usual.

Received a welcome letter from the Hotel Manager that listed what Platinum benefits extended to the guests. The benefits were listed as follows:

- Complimentary late check-out until 4pm, please confirm upon check-in.
- One welcome amenity (500 bonus points / Daily breakfast at Kitchen for 2 / W Cap.
- Welcome delight.
- Upgrade to best available room or select standard suites subject to availability.
- Complimentary in-room internet access
- Complimentary access to "Press Reader" online newspaper application that allows you to read your favorite publications online. Simply download the app for free or access it on the "Handy" phone in your room.
- 15% off at WOOBAR, Kitchen (Excluding Breakfast) and Sing Yin (A la carte menu only). Discount is applicable to food items only.

For those curious what the welcome delight was it was basically a drink at Woobar. They let you choose any drink up to 100HKD. Earlier I mentioned that the Experience Manager offered me an upgrade to the full breakfast at Kitchen, but the letter says this is what is normally offered as one of the Platinum amenities.

Another nice benefit I noticed at the W Hong Kong was that the room featured a "Handy" smartphone for guests to use during their stay. Great way to stay connected even if you are far from home and don't want to deal with the hassle of getting a prepaid sim card to allow you to stay connected.

Here are some photos I took from room 2817. Should note there is both a shower and bathtub, double sink and separate toilet which I didn't photograph.

I just wish SPG hotels would live up with the benefits that SPG promotes to their members. If they find that too difficult then maybe they should just drop the SPG flag and run as an independent hotel.

OK then looks like I would need call up W HK to see how much they charge for breakfast.

For base room for W I would need to fork out 80000 Starpoints for 5 nights. For Sheraton HK Towers Room (inc lounge access) I had to call SPG and they quoted me 58000 Starpoints for 5 nights. Hence I am trying to find how many points required for W HK with breakfast included.

I know Austin station is not at the heart of TST but it connects to a number of MTR stations which I would need to go to hence my question. Kowloon Station is still quite isolated.

That sounds like a good plan. My flight CX101 departs at 23:55 so probably worth checking in at Kowloon station before hand and wander around the city first.

I really love this hotel more and more each time I stay there. For platinum guests it is a great breakfast! Yes the Sheraton has a lounge (which isn't anything special btw), but other than that all other things clearly fall into the W category for advantages sans walking location to sights. Although to get to HK island the MTR is probably just as fast or faster from W because it is in the basement.

I know it is more points but you get what you pay for IMO. As a plat I would take the W HK because the breakfast is better at W, although you don't get the lounge the rest of the time. If I was gold I would stay at W because you aren't getting jack anyway at either place for lounge/breakfast.

The convenience of airport express in the basement is nice, although with luggage it isn't always easy for you have to lug it from the basement to the hotel. I think they can have someone help you to the basement if you give them a tip as a friend did it once, but she was a small female with like 3 bags.

Doh! You are totally right, it's ThreeSixty. Love that place! :)

I stayed there twice in April each stay one day and got a basic room as a Plat (no upgrade) Ill be there for two more days at the end of this month. Ill report what I got. The breakfast us great. It is one of the best W Hotels I have stayed. Probably the best overall. Staff is really trained well and it shows.

Rob

Thanks for all responses!
 

I appreciate all the helpful insights. I ended up choosing the Sheraton which used less points. The metro and bus transfer seemed very easy and did not seem to take much time to reach from the airport. I enjoyed the Towers location and the shopping on and near Nathan Road. The view across the water of Hong Kong island was especially nice at night. The hotel was clean and comfortable. Platinum amenity breakfast on lobby level was an enjoyable full buffet. I received Platinum upgrade to room with view.

I've been seeing pictures of w Hong Kong for years in all sorts of promotions advertisements, blogs, magazines and even on SPG itself. It's fair to say that I was tremendously excited to stay here. I am also pleased to confirm the hat for my honeymoon the hotel did not disappoint.

Firstly, they are tremendously well located above the Kowloon railway station. We were within the hotel from about half an hour after landing in Hkg. My suite night awards upgraded me to a fantastic suite within five days of my arrival, right on schedule. The room was on the 31st floor and afforded a fabulous view of the harbor and Hong Kong island.

The hotel is situation above the elements shopping mall in which there are a number of decent dining options and shops too... (Mainly high-end!). The hotel is also on the radar of taxis and there is basically a rank in which taxis come in to drop off and pick up right outside the hotel... you are certainly not cut off here, I say that, because the area around the hotel is under construction... The high speed bullet train from Shanghai and Beijing is due to arrive in here in the coming years and as a result the rest of the place is a construction site. I would recommend the ozone bar on the 118th floor at the Ritz Carlton which is opposite, but apart from that and the shopping mall, you do not need to be around the hotel.

That said, the W is conveniently located.... Just one stop from Hong Kong island on the subway. The pool on the 73rd floor is a must-see.... Yet again, an amazing view... And beautifully warm infinity pool. The breakfast which is of course free for platinum so, is the best I've had in Asia. The variety is simply mind-blowing.

SPG has turned me into a total breakfast snob... And yet, this W breakfast impressed me with its hot noodles, soup is, fresh pastries, fruits, sushi, hot food, European and Asian offerings along with other bits and bobs! You will not be disappointed!

The hotel welcomed me and my wife and took us to our room to explain about the hotel. They also gave us the use of an android phone during our stay to use as a wifi hotspot and make local phone calls from. It's a really nice touch and I was impressed with the level of trust offered here. It made moving and travelling around the city so much easier knowing that we weren't going to be charged for data roaming.

In terms of travelling around, I used a mix of local taxis and uber which appear to be about the same rate.

It was a really fun stay with gracious and helpful staff throughout.

As far as I can tell no one has mentioned this point in a while -- does this hotel still give full-sized bottles of Bliss toiletries in suites as it did when I was last there in 2009?

Definitely not full-size like you would buy retail, they have the little individual Bliss bottles of face wash, shampoo, conditioner and lotion that you get at pretty much every other W Hotel. Individual bottles, but the small travel size.

I've taken home enough soap from that hotel that it probably added a few pounds to my luggage. I like the green hand soap.

Thanks. In addition to having the small bottles like at any other W in regular rooms, suites used to have big ~300mL bottles. I took home quite a stash when I was there.

The suites have 120ml "large" size (60ml for body butter) vs rooms 30ml "small travel" size set of Bliss sinkside six. Maybe not surprising, the soap bar is the same :D

Did you actually use the "Handy" as a wifi hotspot? I haven't bothered with it recently, but when it was introduced the portable hotspot functionality was disabled. It is very useful for a tourist for other purposes I'd guess, and luckily Hong Kong has very reasonable wifi coverage & free options available.

maybe OP had taken out the SIM and used in his phone that does not have it disabled?

Yes it works as a hotspot just like any other phone.


If I remember correctly, there is no SIM card to be removed. It's a specially-designed phone for hospitality services; probably hardcoded. You can Google Handy Phone ... not unique to W HK.