W South Beach, Miami Beach [Master Thread]
Dec 8, 2016, 1:12 pm
#811
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,786
I've been an Amex platinum card holder for about 9 years. I've never used the FHR benefit. It always seemed like a scam to me. I have looked at booking via that program many times but have always been able to book via the specific property (or hotel group) at a much better rate.....and in some cases at a substantially lower rate. What am I missing about the attraction of the FHR from AMEX?
Could be that as a top tier elite with Starwood, Marriott(via Starwood matching), & Hilton, I get all the extra benefits included anyway. Why pay more via FHR for basically the same thing?
Could be that as a top tier elite with Starwood, Marriott(via Starwood matching), & Hilton, I get all the extra benefits included anyway. Why pay more via FHR for basically the same thing?
Dec 9, 2016, 10:28 am
#812
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Michigan
Programs: AA EXP(4mm), DL Gold, UA Gold (1mm), HH Diamond, Bonvoy Amb(l/t Titanium). Former EA/PA elite
Posts: 994
Having just checked out of the W South Beach property yesterday, I can advise I was not charged the $28 resort fee. Maybe they don't charge the resort fee to platinum members? Anyway, I still see zero benefit in the AMEX FHR program. Basically it requires me to pay more per night for the same thing I get as a Starwood/Marriott/Hilton top elite when I book directly on the hotel website.
Dec 10, 2016, 6:24 am
#813
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: SPG Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Explorist, AA Platinum Pro, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 260
Having just checked out of the W South Beach property yesterday, I can advise I was not charged the $28 resort fee. Maybe they don't charge the resort fee to platinum members? Anyway, I still see zero benefit in the AMEX FHR program. Basically it requires me to pay more per night for the same thing I get as a Starwood/Marriott/Hilton top elite when I book directly on the hotel website.
1. It gives me the equivalent of top status in the chains where I don't have it, or at properties where there is no top status as such (Rosewood, etc.)
2. Benefits-wise, there is often is a very useful resort credit, and it is consistent regardless of room rate. I have gotten a $100 credit on a $109 rate a number of times at my local Ritz-Carlton on weekends, which is not available on the website.
3. The breakfast benefit can be better than the Plat breakfast. I can't recall the last time I had an FHR stay that was continental only.
4. FHR has many free night deals that are not website available.
Also, while the rates are often not better, I certainly have not had your experience that the rates are "always" worse, and I am certainly checking.
Last edited by AlxStevens; Dec 10, 2016 at 6:27 am Reason: Hit enter to soon!
Dec 10, 2016, 4:27 pm
#814
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Michigan
Programs: AA EXP(4mm), DL Gold, UA Gold (1mm), HH Diamond, Bonvoy Amb(l/t Titanium). Former EA/PA elite
Posts: 994
I'm a regular FHR user as well, here's why I use it.
1. It gives me the equivalent of top status in the chains where I don't have it, or at properties where there is no top status as such (Rosewood, etc.)
2. Benefits-wise, there is often is a very useful resort credit, and it is consistent regardless of room rate. I have gotten a $100 credit on a $109 rate a number of times at my local Ritz-Carlton on weekends, which is not available on the website.
3. The breakfast benefit can be better than the Plat breakfast. I can't recall the last time I had an FHR stay that was continental only.
4. FHR has many free night deals that are not website available.
Also, while the rates are often not better, I certainly have not had your experience that the rates are "always" worse, and I am certainly checking.
1. It gives me the equivalent of top status in the chains where I don't have it, or at properties where there is no top status as such (Rosewood, etc.)
2. Benefits-wise, there is often is a very useful resort credit, and it is consistent regardless of room rate. I have gotten a $100 credit on a $109 rate a number of times at my local Ritz-Carlton on weekends, which is not available on the website.
3. The breakfast benefit can be better than the Plat breakfast. I can't recall the last time I had an FHR stay that was continental only.
4. FHR has many free night deals that are not website available.
Also, while the rates are often not better, I certainly have not had your experience that the rates are "always" worse, and I am certainly checking.
Feb 27, 2017, 9:00 am
#815
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Programs: SAS EBD, BA Gold, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz PC, National Exec Elite
Posts: 553
Stayed 5 days in W South Beach the week before Presidents Day weekend.
Travelled with wife and two teenage kids, and betted on a SNA upgrade to an 4ppl 1100sqft Oasis Ocean View Suite with full kitchen from ~400USD 2ppl cheapest Wonderful room. Plan B was 2 rooms at the Royal Palm, that were cancelled when SNA cleared.
Property, Location, Grounds, Staff and 9th floor Suite was great and very W trendy. Comparable to W Barcelona in design/ambience/location.
Parking expensive (46USD/night), so used free bikes, Uber and same day returned rental from AVIS across the street for days when car was needed.
Chose platinum breakfast, which was in-room only high-carb Continental for 2 (with 45-60min wait). Free morning coffe on ground floor.
Excellent Gym w. TechnoGym eguipment and Peleton bike. Basket and Tennis courts available for free use (fee for Tennis gear rental).
Your24 2PM checkout request denied. No late checkout available, but pool use and hospitality suite for changing offered. When folio was received after checkout no Resort Charge, but no mention of waiving it ?
Quite a bit of nickle-and-dime'ing, eg.:
- Active upsell attempt at checkin to larger suite.
- Roll away charge USD75/night (!), got sheets for sofa instead for free.
- 2 sunbeds included on beach and/or pool, 50USD/day for 2 extra sunbeds (but no problem with 2 pool sunbeds and 2 beach sunbed simultaniously).
- Had to ask for extra water/toiletries (which were then given in plenty without a charge).
All-in-all a great place if you avoid peak prices, like the W vibe and want to mix city with sun. Platinum compliant, but don't expect to be pampered.
Travelled with wife and two teenage kids, and betted on a SNA upgrade to an 4ppl 1100sqft Oasis Ocean View Suite with full kitchen from ~400USD 2ppl cheapest Wonderful room. Plan B was 2 rooms at the Royal Palm, that were cancelled when SNA cleared.
Property, Location, Grounds, Staff and 9th floor Suite was great and very W trendy. Comparable to W Barcelona in design/ambience/location.
Parking expensive (46USD/night), so used free bikes, Uber and same day returned rental from AVIS across the street for days when car was needed.
Chose platinum breakfast, which was in-room only high-carb Continental for 2 (with 45-60min wait). Free morning coffe on ground floor.
Excellent Gym w. TechnoGym eguipment and Peleton bike. Basket and Tennis courts available for free use (fee for Tennis gear rental).
Your24 2PM checkout request denied. No late checkout available, but pool use and hospitality suite for changing offered. When folio was received after checkout no Resort Charge, but no mention of waiving it ?
Quite a bit of nickle-and-dime'ing, eg.:
- Active upsell attempt at checkin to larger suite.
- Roll away charge USD75/night (!), got sheets for sofa instead for free.
- 2 sunbeds included on beach and/or pool, 50USD/day for 2 extra sunbeds (but no problem with 2 pool sunbeds and 2 beach sunbed simultaniously).
- Had to ask for extra water/toiletries (which were then given in plenty without a charge).
All-in-all a great place if you avoid peak prices, like the W vibe and want to mix city with sun. Platinum compliant, but don't expect to be pampered.
Feb 27, 2017, 9:07 am
#816
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Delta - Gold; Starwood - Platinum; HHonors - Diamond & Avis Preferred
Posts: 10,869
Stayed 5 days in W South Beach the week before Presidents Day weekend.
Travelled with wife and two teenage kids, and betted on a SNA upgrade to an 4ppl 1100sqft Oasis Ocean View Suite with full kitchen from ~400USD 2ppl cheapest Wonderful room. Plan B was 2 rooms at the Royal Palm, that were cancelled when SNA cleared.
Property, Location, Grounds, Staff and 9th floor Suite was great and very W trendy. Comparable to W Barcelona in design/ambience/location.
Parking expensive (46USD/night), so used free bikes, Uber and same day returned rental from AVIS across the street for days when car was needed.
Chose platinum breakfast, which was in-room only high-carb Continental for 2 (with 45-60min wait). Free morning coffe on ground floor.
Excellent Gym w. TechnoGym eguipment and Peleton bike. Basket and Tennis courts available for free use (fee for Tennis gear rental).
Your24 2PM checkout request denied. No late checkout available, but pool use and hospitality suite for changing offered. When folio was received after checkout no Resort Charge, but no mention of waiving it ?
Quite a bit of nickle-and-dime'ing, eg.:
- Active upsell attempt at checkin to larger suite.
- Roll away charge USD75/night (!), got sheets for sofa instead for free.
- 2 sunbeds included on beach and/or pool, 50USD/day for 2 extra sunbeds (but no problem with 2 pool sunbeds and 2 beach sunbed simultaniously).
- Had to ask for extra water/toiletries (which were then given in plenty without a charge).
All-in-all a great place if you avoid peak prices, like the W vibe and want to mix city with sun. Platinum compliant, but don't expect to be pampered.
Travelled with wife and two teenage kids, and betted on a SNA upgrade to an 4ppl 1100sqft Oasis Ocean View Suite with full kitchen from ~400USD 2ppl cheapest Wonderful room. Plan B was 2 rooms at the Royal Palm, that were cancelled when SNA cleared.
Property, Location, Grounds, Staff and 9th floor Suite was great and very W trendy. Comparable to W Barcelona in design/ambience/location.
Parking expensive (46USD/night), so used free bikes, Uber and same day returned rental from AVIS across the street for days when car was needed.
Chose platinum breakfast, which was in-room only high-carb Continental for 2 (with 45-60min wait). Free morning coffe on ground floor.
Excellent Gym w. TechnoGym eguipment and Peleton bike. Basket and Tennis courts available for free use (fee for Tennis gear rental).
Your24 2PM checkout request denied. No late checkout available, but pool use and hospitality suite for changing offered. When folio was received after checkout no Resort Charge, but no mention of waiving it ?
Quite a bit of nickle-and-dime'ing, eg.:
- Active upsell attempt at checkin to larger suite.
- Roll away charge USD75/night (!), got sheets for sofa instead for free.
- 2 sunbeds included on beach and/or pool, 50USD/day for 2 extra sunbeds (but no problem with 2 pool sunbeds and 2 beach sunbed simultaniously).
- Had to ask for extra water/toiletries (which were then given in plenty without a charge).
All-in-all a great place if you avoid peak prices, like the W vibe and want to mix city with sun. Platinum compliant, but don't expect to be pampered.
Feb 27, 2017, 10:53 am
#817
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Programs: SAS EBD, BA Gold, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz PC, National Exec Elite
Posts: 553
Didn't really photo document the room, since the hotel website is one of the most comprehensive I've ever seen with really good description, photos, room rendering and virtual tour.
For general ambience, this photo sums it up pretty good ;-)
For general ambience, this photo sums it up pretty good ;-)
Last edited by raunow; Feb 27, 2017 at 10:59 am
Aug 27, 2017, 4:35 pm
#819
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In the air
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy LT Plat, Hilton Gold, GHA Tit, BA Gold, Turkish Elite
Posts: 8,720
I spent the weekend here at the beginning of a couple of weeks staying at 4 different W hotels. The W South Beach is a very nice luxury hotel, but isn't quite perfect just yet.
The W's best feature is the beautiful large Wet pool which has excellent service and a very cool vibe with modern music and even out of season a pretty attractive set of guests. The beach setup also looks really nice, but I didn't get any chance to use it. It was raining for 80% of my stay, so my experience of the outside was a bit limited.
I used an SNA and got a cleared upgrade to an Oasis Suite at over 1,100 feet. It's very practical and feels more like an apartment - there's features I wouldn't typically expect like a washing machine, full fridge and separate media room. It did seem odd that the TV in the bedroom had a proper Bose sound system as did the TV in the living room, but not the TV in the TV room. As someone else here mentioned, the hotel doesn't really look and feel a lot like a W - with minimal rebranding it could easily be an Intercontinental or JW Marriott (or Marquis?). Last checkout was requested and granted for 2pm - note that normal checkout is an early 11am (as this is a resort, late checkout is not a Platinum benefit).
F&B is solid but not spectacular. The Dutch is good, and the Living Room is better than the W's typical offering. Mr Chow gets terrible reviews, so I instead went to STK next door who comped us a round of champagne for coming from the W.
I almost always have negative experiences with the W Insider service & concierges, and I did again here. As a Plat I was given a VIP Insider who woke me up at 10am to tell me she could text me so that I could always reach her. When I then did text her to ask for recommendations for brunch I never got a response. I then found the Raleigh hotel's brunch gave you free access to their pool for the day so got a Concierge to book that, but the Concierge didn't mention or didn't know that the pool was closed so I brunched next to a concrete building site (which I think also gave me food poisoning).
My other observation isn't really a complaint, but I mentioned to my Plat Ambassador that it was my birthday and expected that for a $500 a night I'd get a welcome letter from the GM or maybe a bottle of wine or something, but nothing at all which seemed like a service miss from Starwood and the hotel. I got much better recognition last year as a mere Plat 50 at the now closed Westin Astir Palace in Athens where I was given one of their largest suites, some snacks and the usual letter from the GM.
I stayed at the Miami Edition 2 weeks ago and did a lot of comparing the two. The W has much the better pool area and the SNA gave me a room 3x the size, but otherwise I preferred the Edition's more intimate setting and design. Given the choice between the two, it would come down to rate (I believe the W is usually quite a bit more) and how long I expected to stay by the pool.
Next up: The W Punto de Mita in 5 days.
The W's best feature is the beautiful large Wet pool which has excellent service and a very cool vibe with modern music and even out of season a pretty attractive set of guests. The beach setup also looks really nice, but I didn't get any chance to use it. It was raining for 80% of my stay, so my experience of the outside was a bit limited.
I used an SNA and got a cleared upgrade to an Oasis Suite at over 1,100 feet. It's very practical and feels more like an apartment - there's features I wouldn't typically expect like a washing machine, full fridge and separate media room. It did seem odd that the TV in the bedroom had a proper Bose sound system as did the TV in the living room, but not the TV in the TV room. As someone else here mentioned, the hotel doesn't really look and feel a lot like a W - with minimal rebranding it could easily be an Intercontinental or JW Marriott (or Marquis?). Last checkout was requested and granted for 2pm - note that normal checkout is an early 11am (as this is a resort, late checkout is not a Platinum benefit).
F&B is solid but not spectacular. The Dutch is good, and the Living Room is better than the W's typical offering. Mr Chow gets terrible reviews, so I instead went to STK next door who comped us a round of champagne for coming from the W.
I almost always have negative experiences with the W Insider service & concierges, and I did again here. As a Plat I was given a VIP Insider who woke me up at 10am to tell me she could text me so that I could always reach her. When I then did text her to ask for recommendations for brunch I never got a response. I then found the Raleigh hotel's brunch gave you free access to their pool for the day so got a Concierge to book that, but the Concierge didn't mention or didn't know that the pool was closed so I brunched next to a concrete building site (which I think also gave me food poisoning).
My other observation isn't really a complaint, but I mentioned to my Plat Ambassador that it was my birthday and expected that for a $500 a night I'd get a welcome letter from the GM or maybe a bottle of wine or something, but nothing at all which seemed like a service miss from Starwood and the hotel. I got much better recognition last year as a mere Plat 50 at the now closed Westin Astir Palace in Athens where I was given one of their largest suites, some snacks and the usual letter from the GM.
I stayed at the Miami Edition 2 weeks ago and did a lot of comparing the two. The W has much the better pool area and the SNA gave me a room 3x the size, but otherwise I preferred the Edition's more intimate setting and design. Given the choice between the two, it would come down to rate (I believe the W is usually quite a bit more) and how long I expected to stay by the pool.
Next up: The W Punto de Mita in 5 days.
Aug 30, 2017, 2:29 am
#820
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: London. Edinburgh, Cornwall
Programs: BA GGL, British Midland Lifetime* Loser
Posts: 7,950
As a Plat I was given a VIP Insider who woke me up at 10am to tell me she could text me so that I could always reach her. When I then did text her to ask for recommendations for brunch I never got a response.
It opened many years ago!
Sep 29, 2017, 6:23 am
#822
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Delta - Gold; Starwood - Platinum; HHonors - Diamond & Avis Preferred
Posts: 10,869
Oct 1, 2017, 8:21 am
#823
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: USA
Programs: UA Global Services, TSA Pre✓, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,116
I have reviewed this thread, but we all know that hotels can change management or change policy on a dime. Was interested in what kind of room upgrade I might be able to expect, what the continental breakfast consists of - lord knows some hotels skimp and some have a generous offer, am i likely to get late check out, etc.
Oct 1, 2017, 9:25 am
#824
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Delta - Gold; Starwood - Platinum; HHonors - Diamond & Avis Preferred
Posts: 10,869
I have reviewed this thread, but we all know that hotels can change management or change policy on a dime. Was interested in what kind of room upgrade I might be able to expect, what the continental breakfast consists of - lord knows some hotels skimp and some have a generous offer, am i likely to get late check out, etc.
2 - I haven't eaten breakfast
3 - This is a resort so you're not likely to get a 4 pm checkout.
Oct 1, 2017, 10:12 am
#825
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: USA
Programs: UA Global Services, TSA Pre✓, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,116
Reply
I sort of figured I wouldn't get late check out. I would actually prefer early check in on this stay since I land in MIA at 10am. My return flight is 5pm so late check out wouldn't do much good for me here anyway. Will be here from Sunday-Tuesday.