The W Hotel (San Francisco, California, USA)

I have wanted to stay at this place when it opened a few years back, but I was living in San Francisco at the time; and although it was not uncommon for anybody to stay in a hotel in a city where they lived, it was difficult to get a reservation because the hotel became really popular, not only with the younger crowd, but also with the attendees of the nearby Moscone Convention Center.

Having had my first ever W experience in Seattle only a week or so before, I was curious to see how this San Francisco branch would compare to its Seattle counterpart. W succeeded in creating similar ambients in at least these two locations: each having a dimly-lit lobby area with minimalist décor and a thumping beat of house music that got louder as the day gave way to the evening. The music did not stop there: at each floor in the elevator waiting area, house music kept on thumping. I was afraid that from my room, which unfortunately was not too far from that elevator area, I would be able to hear that noise, but luckily, I could not.

The room had a familiarity to it since I just stayed in the Seattle one: dark wood head-board, brown comforter cover, but this time with four elongated, slender pillows, the shape of which I had never seen before (and I have seen quite many different permutations of a pillow). Even the adjustable bed-lights and the twin lamps by the window seats were exactly how one would find them in the Seattle location. The only difference was the blind: this location used a "window-like" blind where you could actually open inward to reveal the view. The Seattle location used a top-bottom white, wooden draw blind.

So, let's get down to the nitty-gritty of this place. Much of my disappointment with this hotel came from the inconsistency of the housekeeping services. For this trip, I stayed long enough to observe the working habit from day to day. Regardless of who cleaned the room, there should be a check-list of what needed to be done every day. For example, there was only one day when the melted ice in the ice-bin was thrown away. At other times, I came home to find a bin with tepid water from last night's melted ice. There was also the stocking of towels, or lack thereof: twice I looked and found that the two missing bath towels were never replaced. Sure, there were still the other two, but at least even them out by moving one towel to the other stack. It was in such details that this San Francisco W housekeeping lacked.

For a hotel that strove to present itself as hip, the chain should have employed the use of flat screen or plasma televisions. Instead, in both of the locations where I have stayed, cathode-ray tubes were mounted on a pivotable-platform and enshrined in an entertainment center that could be closed up. How quaint!

There was a 24-hour gym, which worked great for late night sleeper like I was. There were about 5 or 6 treadmills and some Nautilus machines. Swimming pool was small and shallow, not that great for lap swimming. Pool was indoor, but directly adjacent to this area was an open-air area with private cabanas.

On the way to the gym one would pass by the in-house Spa with their trademark aquamarine palette (the walls, the uniforms, their products...). I went for the manicure pedicure, which facility lay directly next to the check-in area: noisy. One could don a head-set and listen to soothing music or tune to the selected videos or television programs. Treatment was not up to par. Even a chic salon (called Glow) in Surabaya (Indonesia) delivered a much better service and treatment in this department. I kid you not!

Overall, it was a pleasant stay. Personally, I felt slightly a bit too old for this crowd. W probably scores better among the 35 and under. Every night when I returned to the hotel, I had to fight my way through the dark lobby reverberating with house music and filled with the young crowd. Some nights I would hear noises coming from the hallway; noises that reminded me of drunken hallmates coming back from frat parties during my college days.


The W Hotel San Francisco
181 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
U.S.A.

Tel: (415) 777-5300

The W Hotel (Seattle, Washington, USA)

What a treat: the W Hotel Seattle is across the block from Rem Kolhaas' Seattle's New Public Library. Originally I was given a room that faced a parking garage (nice assignment; so much for being a "Prefered Guest"). I asked for a room re-assignment, with one that gave me the Library as my view and was granted one. As you can see in my accompanying photograph above, that Library looked so close that I could have touched it if I had been able to pry open the window.

W is for the younger, hip, and cool crowd. The atmosphere of the lobby area confirms this: in terms of business attire, this would have fit well with the label "smart casual." They call their lobby area the "Living Room." From the front entrance on 4th Street, you could go left and up to the mezzanine for the check-in counter, or you could go to the right for the bar and restaurant areas. One could also use the "backdoor," the one from the garage entrance and valet services (on Seneca street, I believe) to approach the front desk or check-in counter. The elevator areas in W Hotels are identical: darkened area with 24-hour thumping house music.

I did not find out more about the building where this hotel resided, but the building looked like an old architecture that had been acquired and renovated by the hotel group. The air-conditioning vents betrayed the ultra-hip ambient of the hotel: it looked very dated, but it worked well, except that you could not really aim the air anywhere. It blew in one direction and one direction only. The rest of the room was signature W, complete with the exorbitantly priced Scandinavian bottled water. All furnishings were dark wood, and the bed, although not as "heavenly" as Westin's, was comfortable.

Bathroom amenities were among my favorites compared to their counterparts from other hotels. They were the product of the in-house spa, so more of the same items could be purchased from the spa, although this Seattle location lacked such facility. Massage could be arranged with an outside contractor, done through the "Whatever, Whenever" desk.

My companion and I sat at the bar one late afternoon, which was very relaxing and enjoyable. The bar itself had a tall shelves of liquors that were cleverly lit. Peopl huddled over peanuts and drinks, while some were seen working with their laptop, taking advantage of the WiFi connection.


The W Hotel Seattle
1112 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
U.S.A.

Tel: (206) 264-6000

Westin Metropolitan Detroit Airport (Michigan, USA)

Too bad that I did not get the pictures of the lobby of this spartan hotel; otherwise, I could convince you even more to stay here when you need the quickest access to the Detroit Wayne Airport. A few days ago, to avoid traffic at a highway that was undergoing a construction work, we spent the last night in Michigan at the Westin Hotel at the Detroit Wayne Airport. We did not expect much, really, because hotels by the airport are usually less appealing than their counterpart in the center of town. Boy, were we in for a surprise when we stepped inside this hotel!

The 3-year-old, 7-floor hotel is attached to the newest terminal of the Detroit Wayne Airport, occupied exclusively by the Northwest Airlines and its partners. This was the first time we saw the new terminal since we were last here in 2003. The entrance to the hotel is very low-key and no-nonsense, but the minimalist look foretold what lay ahead deep inside. The only thing visible when guest enters the front door was the valet desk; afterwards, a long corridor that ended up in a set of escalators.

It is at this point that guests will be greeted by the top of a tall (but fake) bamboo trees. The ride down is as long as the trees, and by the time one reaches to the base of the tree, one arrives at the lobby floor. There is a huge, shallow pool by the "open air" restaurant, in front of the cluster of those bamboo trees. Line for registration or check out may be long but the wait is short because of the staff's efficiency. Not too far from the check-in counter are two self-check-in counters for Northwest/KLM; quite convenient indeed. I wish American Airlines would have such offering. American Airlines' partner, British Airways, houses its First Class and Club Lounge at the same floor of the hotel lobby.

The hotel rooms start on the second floor and go all the way up to the 8th floor. The room is typical of a boutique-cum-business hotel that has been popular in the past decade, with the color palette of olive green, beige, black and white. The king-size bed is aptly named "Heavenly Bed" as it is amazingly comfortable, stocked with two standard pillows, two smaller pillows, and a long support pillow; good variety. There is an armchair sofa with an ottoman, as well as a chaise longue by the window that overlooks the indoor court lobby/restaurant area.

The shower has a two-head showerhead, which is supposed to be convenient for two people showering at the same time, each aimed at one person, but in practice, it does not amount to such a great an idea. The showerhead does not really point to the other person well. The curtain rod is slightly curved in the middle, lending the appearance of more space but it does indeed give more "elbow room" while showering.

Other facilities include a gym with quite a good selection of cardiovascular machines, as well as a small pool, which unfortunately is too short for lap-swimming. It is, however, enough for business people to get their fill of work out during their travels.

Even if one does not fly Northwest and has to travel to the other dowdy-looking terminals, there is the convenience of the terminal-to-terminal shuttle that stops right in front of the hotel to whisk you to your destination. Travel to the American Airlines terminal takes less than 15 minutes as the shuttle makes several stops on the way there. What seems to be the only disadvantage of this new terminal (and thus the hotel) is that it was built on marsh. Some people informed us that as it was, the parking garage had been sinking slowly since its opening.

Back in January 2000, I stayed at the other Starwood Group's Sheraton Hotel at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. That experience was just all right, and therefore I did not expect much when I booked a night at this DTW Westin Hotel, but this turned out to be a delightful experience. Make no mistake; this is not a luxurious hotel, but rather, a nicely done business-type boutique hotel.

The Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport
2501 Worldgateway Place
Detroit, MI 48242
USA
Phone (734) 942-6500
Fax (734) 942-6600
www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/search/hotel_detail.html?propertyID=1415