Acura service is good, there is more than one Acura. You can book in advance, just stop by the Acura desk and let them know your room, number of people, and destination. I'm not sure the hours though, it might be 11-7, I would call the hotel, ask to be transferred to the Acura desk, and ask.

Also, I'm not sure if they do round-trip, they (like other W's) might just do dropoff service.

Thanks! I'll give that a try. Do they want your contact info to put you on a mailing list?

Just had a 2 night stay here May 4-6th on points. Emailed the GM several days prior to ask a few questions, no reply :td:. Room rate the weeks leading up were $450/night after tax for non prepaid (Ouch!). Stayed at Aloft Baltimore the night before since we flew in late. Went to check in the W at about 8am and asked what time a room could be available. After poking around on the computer she said it would be more like 1pm and she could upgrade us from the Wonderful to the Spectacular room. I asked about the many suites showing available on my iPhone app and after some more checking she said she had a Fantastic Suite available (not the Marvelous Suite I was hoping for that showed available, but I was not sure if that was part of the Plat upgrade pool anyway so I didn't ask). Either way the room was not available that early as we expected. Received voicemail that our room was ready about 1pm as promised.

The suite was very nice. I loved the layout and it was very spacious with great decor. Had lunch one day upstairs at POV and as everyone mentioned the view is outstanding. Service here was horrible though, not very busy during lunch but the waitress was working way too many tables which made for very slow service. Plat breakfast was at J&G Steakhouse and consisted of a small layout of yogurt, granola, and 3 types of pastries. You could go back for seconds if you wanted. I asked about paying the difference to get something different and they said they could not do that because they had to stay consistent with SPG policies.

Overall a nice stay and I would definitely stay here again because the location is great. Also, even though I elected for breakfast instead of the 500 points I ended up receiving both somehow.

The GM of the W DC does NOT respond to emails, this has been a chronic problem and reported by many posters..

The upgrade policy at this hotel seems to have gone downhill for Plats. I just checked in about an hour ago and am in a room on 15th St. on the 5th floor. I have not had an upgraded room in the last eight months of staying here. Speaking about tonight alone, it is frustrating to fly across the country and to have a room where you get to hear the elevator ding every time it stops on the floor just outside the door and not have a way to resolve the room trouble.

I stay here for four days every month and the average rate is around $425 a night on business travel. Honestly, I can put up with a less than ideal situation. But, the MOD can't even commit to finding me a room in my same booked category away from the elevator during my stay. Heck, I'm not even asking for an upgrade. Just give a room down the hall. I think I just have a string of bad travel karma going on right now.

Words of wisdom, if you must stay on the 15th Street side of the hotel, only accept a room in the corner unless you like hearing the elevator ding when it stops on your floor. On the F Street side, try to not go too far down the hall otherwise you will be right on top of the Willard Hotel's trash bay which is emptied nightly around 3am and it gets really loud. The rooms on Pennsylvania Avenue are all suites. There are also a series of interior facing rooms. Those rooms get little light. When it comes to the bathrooms, you have virtually no privacy in any of the rooms in this hotel unless it is a suite.

Despite what sounds like my harping, this hotel has a great location and often times a decent number of celeb sightings. You do need to put up with some things when staying in this W. Safe travels everyone.

how does the W compare to the Ritz in the area?

Im booked here for my anniversary this weekend. I've stayed here before as non-plat and liked it well enough....but I just made Plat and am now thinking of booking away from it b/c of the poor plat recognition; the upgrade is important this time b/c it's my anniversary. The alternative will be the Hotel Monaco in the heart of Penn Quarter.

Would anyone care to talk me off the ledge and suggest that I stick with my stay at the W?

I wouldnt normally do this...but I decided to call the local reservations office to see if it's a matter of policy that they wont upgrade into the suites for plats. I would really rather know ahead of time and make an informed decision for this particular occasion.

I left a voicemail and the team there responded in less than 20 minutes; pretty impressive. They said they do upgrade Plats to suites when they can. They seemed pretty confident about it and were quite nice...so I am going to stick with my res after all.

Just have your phone ready to check availability when you check in. I booked the lowest category on points and they offered me a spectacular room at check in. I asked about the multiple Fantastic Suites available and 30 seconds later she said yes I have those also....

I've stayed at the W, the St. Regis, the Ritz in Dupont Circle and the Ritz in Georgetown.

Purely as a hotel, I like Ritz in Georgetown the best--very modern feel in a ski chateau ambiance. But the location means you'll constantly be cabbing it.

The other three are more centrally located. I'd rank them:

W
Ritz Dupont Circle
St. Regis

We stayed here in November as Gold on a cash & points rate. The hotel was fairly empty. The agent excitedly said "I have a suite I can upgrade you into!" but quickly relented with "Oh wait you're Gold, I can't. Here's a room with a pretty good view though." So based on our experience, upgrades do exist.

Special Occasion
 

I'll be staying at the W DC this weekend (Saturday to Monday) to celebrate my SO's 45th birthday and go to the Madonna concert. Has anyone had any experience with "special occasions" at this hotel? Is there an e-mail for the concierge? We've stayed at this hotel before and enjoyed it, but just trying to make this stay a little extra special :cool:

I just booked a room at the W using points and attempted to use confirmed suite nights, but was told I am not allowed to use suite nights at this hotel. Its my understanding that Fantastic and Marvelous Suites are standard suites. Does anyone know why it will not let me apply my suite nights?

Thanks!

I have used Suite Nights at this hotel before. They definitely accept them. Try calling Platinum hotline. They should be able to help you.

i booked a room at W for 4 nights using cash+points.

after booking was made, i tried to apply suite night award to this booking but it didn't work.

for the same period i found the rate at the St.regis is quite cheap (~139$ per night)

should i change my booking from W to St.regis instead?

Which one is better?

Thanks in advance.

(Sorry for my poor English)