NWAsilvELITE

tommy777:

Yes, this is one of the rooms that I get upgraded too. The first time I walked into it, I thought I was a king. Reminded me of a corner suite I was upgraded to at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa (except no ocean view!).

I have photos of this room but haven't posted them yet too. I love the master bathroom with the soaking tub and the glass shower separate. Living room w/ the dining area is huge and the kids love the pull out couch and their own tv to watch. The last time I stayed there, there were no sheets and blankets on the pullout and after a quick phone call to SE two ladies were there in 5-10 minutes and proceeded to make the bed for us. The also brought more towels and amenities without being asked. Great service!

There is enough room in those corner suites where the kids can play in the main area or you can entertain clients and still have the main bedroom to get away. I like that the main room w/ the dining area also has it's own bathroom as well.

Looking forward to this weekend, booked a separate room for in-laws for 2800 pts and $45 using cash & points for the weekend. Not bad at all. Free parking, too. Not like the Westin downtown.....

I agree, keep up the good job Westin Edina Galleria! See you this weekend...

RandyGiblets

I stay at the Westin Edina nearly every week. I am a member of the dreaded “consultancy company” that was mentioned earlier in the thread. I can confirm that my company alone takes up a good percentage of the rooms most nights (Mon-Wed) and nearly all of us have some level of status; most being Platinum. Knowing this helps me keep my expectations in check in regards to upgrades.

For the good news – the property is wonderful. The service is even better than the brand new property. I agree with an earlier post – they must have a picture of me because I am greeted by name every day – check in, check out, and even just walking past the front desk and bell staff. Needless to say I am impressed. They are consistently friendly and helpful – honestly at the top tier (customer service) of any Starwood Hotel I’ve stayed at over the past several years. I am always welcomed as a Platinum guest and given my choice of amenity. I am seldom upgraded but have come to expect that given the number of elite guests that already stay there and our extremely competitive corporate rate. Our rate is so low that any nearby property with an equivalent rate would be of much lower quality; so it is hard for me to complain too much about items like an upgraded room.

I do want to provide a special note of thanks to the front office manger – Andreas. As few weeks back my family traveled with me to Minneapolis – I went to work and they played during the day. When I say my family I mean my wife, 14 year old daughter, and our 7 month old twins – so we are a large crew. I had mentioned to the front desk and Andreas that my family was coming with me for the week and would appreciate anything they could do. Given what I know about the number of Platinums and our rate I had very little expectation. To my surprise, Andreas and the whole Westin staff really came through. We were upgraded to the suite with the large living and dining room. The heavenly cribs were fantastic. The bell staff even brought up two high chairs from McCormick & Schmicks for us to use for the week. The desk staff was even more impressive by going out of their way to help my wife and kids with pretty much everything you could imagine – and believe me with 7 month old twins lots of unexpected things come up. By the end of the week they were referring to all of us (even the babies) by name.

I can sincerely say the Westin Edina, Andreas, and the complete staff exceeded our expectations in every category. We are so appreciative of the hospitality they provided!

NWAsilvELITE

RandyGiblets:

I hear you there. You are the main reason I don't come during the early part of the week (M-Th)!

I arrived last Thursday afternoon to find that I was already upgraded to the corner suite (AWSOME), a crib was already in the room for our baby, and they had the sofa pull out already made and pulled out for my kids when I got there. Best thing about it is that they knew from previous trips that I had made there that I bring my family with me and they had the room already set up to accommodate my family and I hadn't even asked them to do anything!

Upon check in, I was politely greeted by name by the front desk clerk and after check in was greeted by many other members of the front desk by name. To me that is great service and recognition, almost like getting hot nuts in first class.

Yes, many kudos to Andreas (I got the spelling right this time) who greeted us the next morning on the way to the MSP State Fair and asked if everything was set up to our liking before we had arrived and asked if there was anything else we needed. You don't find that many that are like him.

Just remember that he has a boss too that train and give him the flexibility to do things like that, so hats off to you, Marc, and your staff for doing another great job for us. We appreciate it!

Keep up the great work!!!


^^^

tommy777

Another stay coming up tomorrow and what do you know...:

From the spg website:

tommy777

Back in Edina, totally sold out, so no suite today. The girl who checked me in apologized and said they had many Platinums arriving earlier in the week. Amenity offered as usual, lounge had same good offerings. They did upgrade me to one of the corner rooms and they are huge. Sofa, 2 chairs and 42" TV. Love the Bose sound dock that charges your Ipod and has great sound.

happydsa

stayed at Westin Edina, no suite upgrade as usual (never received suite upgrade there). Checked out in the morning and received folio via email in the morning. Received another folio via email at 7pm with a $24.94 refreshment center charge which I did not even have the key. Bad practice and bad customer service.

ComancheRunner

I stayed here last Sunday on a cash and points stay. Got upgraded to a large corner suite! Staff was friendly and helpful. Hotel wasn't too busy. I felt like I had the whole place to myself. Enjoyed the breakfast in the club lounge. I highly recommend this hotel.

NWAsilvELITE

Ah yeah, it's only the best Starwood Property in MSP! Gotta love this hotel!!! ^^^^

CNWO4LIFE

It must be, because rates for the weekend of Sep. 18 are $1100 a night!

PrivatePilot

Stayed at this hotel recently and wasnt too impressed. The Pros are that its a new hotel and the front line staff is nice but it ends there. In terms of Cons: management has no respect for the SPG program, dont participate in many of its promotions and you can forget about a Platinum upgrade as they have like 6 suites. Wireless connections are quite spotty and depending on what room you get, it could be very bad. Not good for a business traveler who may depend on the wireless for their work. In terms of location, its in a ok area if you are working around Edina/Bloomington but not recommended for Minneapolis downtown.

Rolling Stone

Wow - for always staying at this property for months, you seem to turned on them pretty quick. I'm guessing your reply from the GM wasn't to your liking.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17002762-post67.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17016830-post193.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17158082-post390.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17158098-post270.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17158127-post67.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17158203-post178.html


For the record, I've stayed on and off at this property for the last three years. And I almost always seem to get upgraded - if not one of the six suites they have then always on one of the Executive Floors. The couple of times I've only got a regular room I still got Lounge access.

If you read back, you'll see that this property does very well - full every Monday - Wednesday and has an inordinate number of SPG members staying during the week. I've been shown the upgrade list with over 100 Platinum arrivals more than once on a Monday. Upgrades are extremely hard to come by for this reason, and also the reason I'm sure they opted out of this promotion - they don't need to encourage anymore weekday business.

ckccan

Agreed, I have now stayed at this property on and off for around two years. I have been very lucky with upgrades, often arriving on Sunday or during non peak times.

The staff are fantastic, and this is my favourite place to stay in MSP. I like the McCormick's in the lobby and easy covered free parking. Lounge is like any other lounge, nothing special but more than adequate for quick continental breakfast and coffee.

The attached mall has some good dining options, and lots of other options nearby.

With all the large corporations in the area, this hotel attracts a lot of consultants, many of whom are SPG Plat (and no I am not a consultant fyi).

I get really irritated at the "Don't you know I am SPG Platinum" behaviour at check in. The hotel has limited upgrades and they do what they can.

Does it annoy me they exclude themselves from promos? Sure, but why should they participate and spend their $ if they don't need to. I could use my Hilton Diamond, stay up the street and get free booze in the lounge etc., and lots of points.

However, overall I always choose this property as my first choice.

ckc

mikeef

We have an upcoming stay here with our kids. No chance for a suite upgrade, since we need connecting rooms and there are no suites that connect to regular rooms with two beds. Not a big deal.

But I did notice in the photos that the suites all have those big, sinking tubs in the bathroom. Do the regular rooms have those as well, or are they exclusive to the suites?

Thanks,
Mike

Rolling Stone

Only the suites have larger soaking tubs, however there is only one suite on the Club floor next door to the lounge that has that cool tub with the water entering the tub from the ceiling.

Though I stayed in it a couple of times, I never had anyone to enjoy it with so I never tried it.

mikeef

Thanks for the info! Truthfully, we just like a big tub to bathe the kids.

Ahh, the good ol' days...

Mike