BigBopper

I spent the week traveling around California for work. Due to my odd schedule, the Bay Bridge being closed and having to be in a different location every day I ended up booking 5 single night stays. I stayed in 2 Sheratons, 2 Westins and one W. These are some observations on the consistency of the hotels. This was not a mattress run, although it might have been a good one.

The thing that stands out the most to me is how different and inconsistent the properties are in relation to each other. I don't know how Starwood is organized but I'd assume there has to be some regional oversight and these properties would report to the same person/group. My expectation was that a 2 Westins or Sheratons relatively near each other would be more consistent then one in the east and one in the west. I was wrong.

Of the 5 stays I was only upgraded to a suite once....and that was at an all suite property. It seems that the higher rate I paid, the better my upgrade. I don't know if this is coincidence or not but it certainly gives one second thoughts.

What really stood out to me was the toiletries. The only property that had body wash was the W. Both Westins had two bars of soap while both Sheratons only had one which goes against the brand standard posted in another thread. The W had one bar of soap for a sink, shower and separate bath tub.

Bottled water was also hit or miss. One Sheraton and one Westin gave no water. One Sheraton gave one bottle when it used to 2. Surprisingly, the W gave a free bottle of water when the brand stand is not to give out a bottle.

The prices for the internet were also inconsistent. $9.95 at the W and one of the Sheraton's. $4.95 (a very reasonable price IMHO) at the 2nd Sheraton. The Westin Costa Mesa provided FREE internet while the Westin LAX charged $16.95 for the same provider.

Lastly, the parking charges were all over the place. The Sheraton's and the W were suburban with free self parking as would be expected for the type of property. One Westin charged $16 for their own parking garage. The pleasant surprise was for the Westin Costa Mesa, FREE parking in a shared, outsourced garage!

It also appears that in a cost cutting measure that there are fewer towels in each room. It seems that there are about half as many towels in the rooms as there were in the past. In one case I only had 1 bath towel and one hand towel, nothing else.

After my week I can only look back and say there really is no brand standard. Even the Heavenly Bath shower head wasn't standard at the Westins. I really have to question whether Starwood really cares about consistency or if cost cutting measures are the driving factor. It certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I'm paying similar rates (except in 1 case) as I have in the past and I'm receiving less.

yyzvoyageur

I don't think we can expect consistency with regard to parking fees, but there should be consistency with most everything else; unfortunately, there rarely is.

lupine

One bath towel and one hand towel? That's taking minimalism to a whole new low.

flyertalkbudda

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/5.0.0.238 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/107)

That's really something. I haven't been to one that cuts back like this.

MIKESILV

I bet I could come with "observations" at the last five SPG properties I stayed at ( Westin Chaoyang, Sheraton Xian, Westin Guangzhou, W Hong Kong, Westin SFO Airport) and come to a diametrically opposite conclusion than the OP.....but then would that prove?

Actually the only thing I could think of it would prove in my mind is that five out 6000 couldnt possibly be any sort representative sample

mike

allset2travel

You lucked out to have comp'd water from any W. I was at the SF W recently, Nada, water.

flyertalkbudda

hotels in China are mostly newly built and treat their customer very well due to intense competition.

jimmychang

That's not about competition. Most of the foreign chains are considered " 5 Star" luxury hotel even 4 points. The cost is just different.

audio-nut

I don't get it, why would you compare different brands? I can understand standardization within a brand but a Sheraton is targeting different customers than a W. And parking fees will never be standardized even within a brand. A Westin in a suburban area should have free parking while most (all?) hotels will need to charge for it in a high cost urban area (like SFO).

VanMan

And just to add to the confusion, we were checking out of Le Meridien, Kuala Lumpur today and happened to see the room cart next door...we asked if we could have two large bottles of water to take with us...of course, no problem!

CIT85

I have never gotten free parking at the Westin Costa Mesa. So yes, this is inconsistency even within the same hotel.

chanp

If you park there, on the way out ask for some. They gave me a couple of Voss bottles.

kitsura

This i've got to agree. Four Points in China is considered 5 stars because there are $30 a night hotels there where you might wake up with insect bites all over your body.

dtremit

For better or worse, this is something that other chains (particularly Hilton and Marriott) invest a lot more energy in. E.g., every HHonors hotel in the US has (roughly) the same alarm clock, so you never have to think twice about how to set the thing.

I agree that Sheraton and W have different target audiences, but for the SPG customer it would be nice to have commonality in areas that don't reflect on the brand. I'd certainly see value in being able to say e.g., "No matter what, my room will have a clock I can set, two bottles of water (as an elite), and a coffee maker."

Dendrite

Sheraton has turned out to be a chain with no consistency at all. Sheraton Media in Jakarta is not even comparable to Comfort Inn, when Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur can compare to Westin.