what a hidden gem. in the heart of the rippongi district. no bar. no pool. no frills. just a very simple room. a wonderfully serene garden. incredibly helpful staff who speak good english [me with no japanese]. five minute walk to the metro. i would certinaly return here!

it is more of a club than a hotel. it was founded many years ago to foster international relations and understanding. i like that too. the venue rooms are elegant and in perfect condition.

a functional hotel. functional room. nothing special, but that was fine. it is west of the city and next to the NREL. about 45 minutes with 'normal' traffic' to the airport. no public transit as it is located at an interstate exit.

I really like this place. good location. simple and yet good attitude.

room 1614 is great. my favourite affordable option in SF so far.

Room 504.

great room. perfect location for access to Stanford. Check-In guy was rude and unpleasant. Credit Card first before he would even talk to me. Manager upgraded as she overheard. i would defiantly go back.

excellent room. not too big, not too small. table/desk is a bit small and the power plugs could only be accessed by shoving the table against the bed. location is good for daytime, at night have to be careful from which direction you approach. good internet access that was connected after a phone call to the tech team. excellent front of house service. i wish the windows were clean....

i would stay here again.
room 1603

it must have done something to be known by the locals as the first six star hotel in Singapore. I have seen none of it. The staff at the door smile widely as they open it and unnecessarily offer to help me pull my wheelie up the four steps. enter the door to an inner sanctum. the building was once a post office and was turned into a hotel with a large vacant interior space. the check-in staff were all but sullen. they made it clear that not only was i was lucky to be here, but to be served by them at all. not even the W in NewYork front desk had so much attitude. I asked specifically NOT to be put across from an elevator as the incessant 'dinging' can drive me batty. it is one of the those sounds that as soon as it gets into your consciousness, it does not leave it. i get to me room and, yes, i am directly across from an elevator. i did not even go in the room. back to the desk. 'sorry sir, nothing we can do. we will move you tomorrow'. he used the 'we are totally full' trump card which i am not so much of a jerk to call. the dinging did drive me batty as i finished up my talk for the increasingly encroaching morning. the balcony had a view to die for. the balcony doors cannot stay open which is a great pity because the weather here is pretty good and a bit of fresh air would have flushed out the slight mildew smell.

day 2. i let the front desk know that i have packed my bag as instructed and would be back in the afternoon. returned after the first talk at about 1330 and found that nothing had been done. i needed to prepare my second talk so i aksed if i could go back to the old room just for an hour to get the presetnation finished. i felt like i was asking for the opening ticket on the moon shuttle, but did recieve a keycard. worked away. finished. came back down at 1500 ane let them know i would be back at arond 1900. they assured me all would be fine, and i assumed, that it would be. ha. came back after second talk at 2000 hours to ask for a room key from smiless front-desk staff. lots of paper shuffling. 'you must be going out for dinner, when will you return?' no, i am not going out for dinner now, i need to change my clothes first 'oh, well the room is not ready' no, that is not possible. you have nkown all day that i would return at 1900 and here it is 2000 and you must have a room that is ready for me. 'sorry sir, please wait here' .....'my colleague will go check on the rooms, please wait here'.....five minutes later i am handed a room key and told that all is ready. no apology! get to the room. no luggage. as i am about to call down, a knock on the door brings my bag. again, no apologies. now, i am not the kind of person that goes arond begging for others to apologize, but i found that the poor room management which was clearly evident by my experience would indicate to me that this place has issues they need to deal with.

can it really be that bad? well, the black mould in the shower caulking should not be there. really...in a how many star hotel is this supposed to be? but then again, the big glass shower door doesn't close properly so water can escape.

there is the requisite room tea-water boiler in the room. however, the only plug is on the other side of the room half way up the wall [see flickr]. the closets are uselss for pieces of luggage and there seem to be two minibar pieces of furniture. [again, niether of them with mains plugs].

the location is superb. the view over the old colonial buildings romantic. if you stay here, bring some scented candles. this must have either been given its stars on a promise, or they are falling.

don't go back.

great location. perfectly fine room. a winner. i would go back to this one. slight view of a cathedral from the 4th floor. it was quiet and desk had plenty of room to work. only drawback was lack of easy electricity access. wireless worked; but not included in the room charge.

according to the chap who had to come up to let me into my room after the digital key did not work, told me that this hotel was renovated in 2005. seems to be the case as most everything in the matchbox is in pretty good kit. the bathroom is really a showeroom like i used to find in italy in the 1980's. you have to be careful to do all of your toilet issues before the shower since everything will be wet afterwards; a good thing when i realized that there is NO place to put anything around the sink anyway. comfort controls are all but illegible due to the angle of the overhead halogens and the high setting barely gets a whisper. the front desk needs a lesson on what 'customer service' is. beware, they charge you for the room before you stay in it, plus a deposit which is then returned in the morning if you behave yourself.

definately not on the places-to-stay-in-london list.

Nice old grand hotel in the centre of Manchester. Entrance quite imposing. first room smelled of damp. a unique smell that really only inhabitants of the fair isle can appreciate. second room [610] was excellent. thin blankets of material that seems to be from the Apollo space program....sort of mass-less but offers a bit of comfort. they have yet to catch on to the improved sanitation of the cotton covered duvet. most striking was the window. i went over to open it a bit as the room was slightly stuffy and fond that it was locked shut. check out the image.

'Dear Guest, due to health and Safety purposes, this window does not open'

i guess that the UK Health and Safety has now determined that the air of Manchester is unhealthy...bizarre!!!

All that said, it is a great hotel and i would return. the best one i have stayed in Manchester so far.

second time in the Amalfi. really great location and service still simple, but sufficient. this time on 6th floor and it was nice. the lounge is a bit of a joke, but it is irrelevant unless you really want to hang out in your hotel. great for businesses with Internet access included in rate.

a real beauty of a spot. Service was impeccible. prices outragous. beware the facade spotlights on the lower floors on the streetside.

arrived at 0200 after a very long delay on the flight from Chicago. the security guard at the entrance simply pointed to the right. not a word of welcome. got to the desk and had to yell 'anybody here?' after waiting for about three or four minutes. [which is an eternity at 0200!]. my ears were still compacted from the decent - a gift from the cold i developed while in Maine at Poptech - so i could not here the gentleman very well. niceties done. room? smoking was reserved. he asked if i wanted the smoking room. of course not, it is in my HiltonHonors profile? yes it is in your profile. i don't know why a smoking room was reserved for you. well, we don't have any more non-smoking rooms. oh really? well, there is one. ok, thanks. well, you can move to a different one tomorrow, we are all sold out tonight. no thanks. room is ok. view to nothing, really. just to office buildings with their lights on at 0250 in the morning. no wonder the country has used up all its oil. the desk is too high for a laptop. the chair has arms that would be considered wonderfully worn if this was a retirement home. the bathroom has a hook in the shower where i can hang my shirts to unwrinkle which is clever. instead of the standard coffeemaker there is a direct in the dual mug coffeemate that is pretty cool as well. wireless seems to work ok......

But, Hilton has really a lot of work to do..... do they not use their data for those who are frequent travelers? why should we bother to give them the marketing database if they don't have the courtesy to use the data for their guests? or, perhaps it is really ONLY a marketing ploy. in any case, they certainly need to try harder. this is the second bad experience.

on the internal lake of the city. view out onto the nice body of water was interrupted by a set of high-tension electric lines. very bizzare! food in the restaurant was excellent. rooms really fine. working table a bit small, but all the cords and bits were there. service was superb.

i would proably look for a place that was not so pricey next time in Austin.

i like it. new building. too hermetically sealed, but that was about it. everything else is included in the price. breakfast buffet on each floor. decent coffee and rolls. only drawback is no lobby at all to sit in.

i would stay again.

what a wonderful building. what great potential. great craftsman furniture everywhere. rooms simple. wireless seems to work. room 205 was over the entrance to go to hear the 0200 shift change in a big way. so request a room on the south side. definatly a place to return to.

one drawback, it is a good 20 minute downhill hike to the BART station.

santa monica is a gem of a neighborhood. sitting next to Venice Beach and the ocean, it is a great place to stay. The Fairmont was superb. I had to stay the weekend so picked a hotel that also had a pool. The room had a view out over the Santa Monica pier and beach. it had a workig table that i could move to be in front of the window and hard wired internet.

i would return in a hertbeat.

room 935

wow. peace and tranquility in the middle of Johannesburg. Wonderfully sumptous rooms. i was in 16. I would return in a heartbeat. the perfect place to write a novel. the room had a REAL desk. not the tiny excuse that most hotels build onto the walls that are nothing more than shelves. this was a real desk.

definatly one of my top ten hotels that i have ever stayed in.

http://www.fairlawns.co.za/

I pine for the day when a ride to Manhatten from JFK is relaxing.....arrived at the Westin Times Square just before midnight. I went up the escalator to the check-in on the first floor. I inquired at the Preferred Desk about a room. The front desk person was processing my reservation as i asked if my loyalty number was on the reservation. I recently decided that i should start staying with a reduced number of hotel groups in order to accru some benefit for all of my travels. This should have entitled me to an upgrade since iI have gold status with Starwood. Our conversation went like this.... He asked 'are you paying for the room?'
'No', was my answer,' the conference organizors are'
'Since that is the case, you get no points or upgrades'
'None?'
'none, you should read your membership guide, the conditions are in there'

hmmmm. i thought it best to hold my tongue and count to ten, as my mother had taught me to do when really annoyed.

'So, when the conference organizors asked me which Hotel I wanted to stay in, and I said 'the Westin' due to my loyalty to you, this really does not matter as far as the Hotel is concerned? My loyalty only counts if i pay the bill personally?'
'Yes, it is all in the membership information.'

'So, why should i be loyal to Westin/Starwood if half of my visits are paid by others so don't 'count'? I wondered out loud.

This is really appalling - escpeically for one who spends 3/4 days a week in hotels with the bills often being paid by clients. I will have to look into this to see if this is the same with other groups.

NOW TO THE ROOM.....I went up to the 26th floor. A King had been reserved. Two doubles were there. It was one room away from a Dinging Elevator. The red light was blinking on my phone. A message! Called up the 'one touch' service to find out what was up. 'A package has arrived for you and you are welcome to pick it up between the hours of 0700 and 2200'' 'But it is now 12:30 in the morning and i need to know what the package is in case i need it to prepare for tomorrow.' 'Sorry Sir, you are welcome to come by in the morning' [at least this chap was cheerfully insistant]. 'But I need to know what it is.' 'well sir, i can call security and ask if they can take you in, but it will take me at least 45 minutes to get an answer, bucause they are very busy'......hmmm, count to ten again? .....[.it is clear, that in NY, business only transpires between 0700 and 2200 now]

Back down to the concierge to ask about getting a room type tha i had reserved. I could tell by Alexander's face he was not pleased to see me. To his credit, he was able to barely manage a smile when i sauntered up. Any chance for a King room?, I asked?' again, to his credit, he asked the desk manager to release a room for me. it turned out the 'only' room available was one that was right next to the elevator, but that was not going to work for me. i had enough of the pinging from being two doors down the hall. Back upstairs. I had to accpet the filty carpet, the chair with boot prints all over it [they could be covered up with a towel], beds and tables skewd as if the chamber maids had had a party before straightening the linens.....and then...then i opend the drawer in the bedstand to get rid of all of the normal table-top movie crap and found five boxes of pills. GREAT!

back down to the front desk. asked to speak to the Duty Manager. He came out and i told him about the pills. He had done his homeowrk and knew about the other room issues as well. He told me that no rooms were available but he would find something else for the rest of the stay. Back to the room amd security followed shortly. Robert took the pills in a big plastic bag and noted the room deficiences. He was very professional and sympathetic.

Day 2 - packup my bits and went to the office. Meetings all day until just about sunset. Came back to find that i had been moved to the 45th floor. Amazing view over all of NY with a room that is all but perfect. I had messages from both the head of housekeeping and the general manager inviting me to contact them. I will do so when they are back in the Hotel. [Thanks ML!]

It is really hard to make a hotel room that no one has ever stayed there before. Tough job, but necessary.

Service really something. a different reality set between the slowly rolling wavlets and a clogged four-lane highway thru what was once desert. drip-feed irrigation is changing the face of Dubai's sand...for now. The room is the confluence of what one would expect from Arabic Design and an international hotel clientele. I wonder from where all the water comes for the rain showers? 28l per minute is quite an amount that could be reused to water the extensive plantings.

Arriving at any property in the wee hours of the moring is a good test of their robustness and dedication to guest services. My check-in was seemless. Assigned to Room 020. an 'ocean/lagoon' view of floodlit palms. I did not like the floodlighting, but the huge terrace was nice. I tried to get another room that had a real ocean view, but it was not to be. I was advised to hold on to what i had. It ended up being a good choice. The balcony did have something of a view, but the best was that it was towards the ocean end of the building so that i could take a few strolls in the evening to the pool/beach area. nothing going on there, but peace and quiet.

there are actually four or five proteries linked together in one resort. each has a special aspect and has access to the others. a shopping/dining souk experience sits in the middle. lots to do and see and i would go back.

room 206
what a wonderful suprise! Chester is one of the only cities left in Europe with an intact Roman wall. It has a fantastic intact centre which seems to have every architectural style in one main street. The Grosvener is an island of elegance; an island of serenity in an unbelievable vibrant Victorian main street in the heart of Chester. It is quite pricy, but really worth it.

i would go back in an instant!

room 2235
wow. one of the most elegant hotels that i have stayed in. the pool was a worth the 15 minutes that i spent on the last day before rushing off to the Airport. this was the host hotel of the WTTC summit. and it did the hospitality industry proud....except for the room noise. there is the old residence of a cocoa baron and then the new addition. this second bit is a perfect example of an 'almost' good design. the proportions of the rooms are a bit off - too cramped for what one pays AND the worst is the lack of accoustical isolation. You can actually hear the flick of a light switch [in addition to pretty much everything else] in room next door. it is a real pity since the service and staff were FABULOUS. a pity that the architects/builders did not get it OR that the developer decicded to skimp on the wrong stuff.

i would definatly go back, but insist on being in the original residence.

First hotel that i wanted to leave the minute i saw the room. imagine a small tall rectangular box. insert a loft at under which you enter the room bumping your head on the wooden rafters which are supposed to look like they have been there since the 18th Century [although no self-respecting 18th C French builder would ever had considered building such a miserly loft in such a cramped space] . add a small half-sprial stair which is designed to take you to the large bed on the loft...but you end up hitting your head on the top stair before you get to the loft; thus, needing to crouch to even get to the bed. add a small make-up 'desk' so cluttered with the obligatory superfluous stuff that a laptop would not be able to find a home. add two overstuffed armchairs with a low cocktail table nesteled between.

hard to imagine that anyone could destroy a property in that way. and it was not to just one room.....i asked for another room and was taken to another so called 'junior suite'. same awful layout but at least my head only grazed the loft ceiling.

add this one to the no-go list.

well. how can one find everything in one hotel? go to the W in SF. fantastic reception - they were polite, helpful, friendly etc. lobby impressive and concierge. a room with a view. top floor. bay bridge in the distance with the lights of san francisco below. wonderful. the reception was warm and friendly. the ground floor really just right. the room was really perfect and clearly one to return to. everything was perfect. and even a REAL signed note from the General Manager!!!

a 10/10. a must return.

So, i mentioned the situation again to the Day staff. they moved me from the 9th floor to the 6th. The difference in the rooms is/was night and day. This room is everything that you expect from a 'corporate' hotel. nothing specatcular and nothing now wrong. it has plenty of surfaces, the showerhead works, there is a clost and the desk is at a height i can work at.

This begs a totally different question - WHY is the 'accessible room [902]' such absolute crap? it is hard to describe the differences. room 902 was barren and a very bad room. why should a room like 902 be so bad? not necessary. it is so wrong to make an accessible room a crap room. the goal should be that NO ONE KNOWS the difference.

don't bother. the front desk couldn't be bothered. nor will i bother to reserve a room here next time I am in Monterey. My room is 902 a handicapp/fully-accessible room. I threw my bits on the bed when I arrived to go join Taylor for drinks. did not take a look at the room beyond to ensure that the elevator noise would not wake me up. upon returning, i tried to unpack and found no surfaces to place items nor a closet. i realized that the room was not designed for fully physically able individuals. I went down to the desk to politely ask about another room. they first tried to convince me that the there was indeed a large normal closet in the room. this did not work when the night manager appeared and acknowledged that the only closet was a little slot next to the television. i indicated that this would not be enough and he looked at and asked 'what do you want me to do?' with a slight angle to his head. The man needs a lesson in customer service. his number two came up with an option, but the manager mumbled his disagreement so the move was kabashed. Four days with no surfaces to speak of at all in the bathroom and room.

don't bother. they don't really care - i suppose they need to go back to read what the founders said about hospitality!

it is hard to describe a place when one had no expectations. My room look out the end of a long rectangualr plan which has one end at the street and the other at a marble cutter. I overlook the stones. the yard is a bus parking lot at night. to the right is an office building of sorts. A Destist office with associated lights etc is at eye-level. to the left is another office building, also of 1960's vintage as well as an apartment building of 1980's vintage.
the hotel is excellent. room 405 was my first assignment, and it was across from the elevator. room 227 my next. it is a wonderful suite. i wish i had time to enjoy it, but the program here is totally full. there are a few things which i must say are very cool. incense and huge candles. the wireless is sketchy, but functional. the service superb as is the food. every meal has been a total treat. It is hard to jusdge how the Park stands up to others here in Bangalore, but it suits me fine. It once had a hopping bar, but evidently it was raided in December 2006. all consumption of alchohol must cease at 23.30 here. fine by me.

i had no idea where Bradford was. my heart sank as i strolled out of the fairly tatty train station and saw the sandstone edifice accross the street. it was indeed the hotel. i made my way to the other side and attempted to enter. the door was not to be found, nor any indication where one might find it. i surmized that it could only be the only side that i had not tried. i walked around thinking of my escape strategies. then the entrance dispelled almost all of my misgivings. it was actually renovated almost to its former glory. a fine property that is oh so close to being a fine hotel. check in was easy with the friendly staff. i went up to room 207 at the end of the hall. the hall was well lit with dozens of 50w halogen lights recessed into the ceiling. you could feel the heat in the corridor....what a waste. i wonder how they will retrofit that with lights which dont fry the planet? the room was small. enough space to walk around the bed, but no place to put the roll-on. it just fit on top the tiny writing desk.

i was moved to room 212 a bit later. a wonderful room overlooking the parking lot in between the hotel and the court house. four-poster bed and still no place to put a luggage bag. nice black leather LeCorbusier knock-offs did fine. pity for the leather. the cold water tap didn't work in the bath, but everything else did - including the four TV stations.

it seems that someone looked in a lot of magazines but forgot that in the end, it is the guest experience that really matters.....if i have to put my luggage on the floor and brush my teeth with hot water....at least there is room for improvement.

http://www.thevictoria-hotel.co.uk/Great_Victoria_Hotel_Home.html

Don't Bother.
good location. but the place is tired. really tired. it is more suited to be a Holiday Inn, and probably once was one. The carpet in the halls is tatty with threads emerging from the seams. the doorframes have all had their seals stripped so that you hear EVERYTHING that happens in the entire hall. the first room i was given [Oh yeah, the Starwood Preferred program is pretty bogus. When I checked in the room type i requested was not available, nor the automatic upgrade for being a 'Gold' member'.] was room 3838. got there and i could still hear the TV in room 3825 down the hall. there was a blue air filter leaning against the wall. I went downstairs and was given 3640 by a grumpy receptionist. further down the hall and still no seals around the door. the HVAC has probably been here since the 1970's. lift the flap, open the little hatch on the filthy unit and attept to turn the stem of the control that is missing the knob.
I expect more from a Sheraton.
This is not a Hotel to return to. it is clear that they have not figured out front desk service, or even in room service for that matter.
February 2007

NEVER again. rude front desk. when i checked in this time, there was a nice envelope from a senior sales manager welcoming me. nice touch, but it was really only paper not true intent. when i checked in i asked for two things - a room with a view [because i really love Hong Kong] and not near the elevator. the room i was assigned [1007] was at the end of the corridor and had a view of a palm shrouded parapet. i returned and inquired about another room with a view. i was made to understand that i was given a really great 'free' upgrade to a delus room on the 13th floor, 1341. went up, and it did have a view, but was right next to the elevator shaft. three floors up, ALL the furniture EXACTLY the same. i returned to the desk again and asked for a different room. i told them i would happily pay for a better room. the receptionist, who asked me to wait so he could go and ask the duty manager about the request, returned and made it clear to me that they were doing me a huge favour implying that my request was all but out of line with anything that anyone should ask. they upgraded me again to a new room 1517. I made it clear how grateful i was and went on up to finally retire in this new 'executive delux' room. I get to the room with great anticipation, as this was clearly to be a wonderful room.....and it had EXACTLY all of the same furnishing with the addition of a microwave. nothing was different. a useless thin table built against the wall that no one could really work on, a counter in the room with a sink that made it feel like a studio apartment rather than a hotel......oh well.

A perfect example of how NOT to treat a guest. They made me feel that I was the schmuk AND the so called 'upgrades' were bogus. A case study in exactly how to lose business in the increasingly competitive hospitality market.

rating - 1 from 10, only because the hotel sits on top of easy public transportation so one can leave it.

harbour view. perfect room. wonderful. moved into my top 10 business rooms globally.
room 1507. in room speakers to connect to your laptop's music. great roomy desk with plenty of easy energy access. very comfortable bed with duvet. only negative aspect are the old windows that really do not close well; nor do they open at all. the rest of the renovation was VERY successful. and the staff are eminantly helpeful and courteous.

wow. what a find! great musty reooms that deserve to be so. elegantly carved main hall greets you as you stoop thru the 16th century portal. a roaring fire gave me a sense of both visual and physical warmth. the first room [43] was a waste of time. in an outbuilding and not worth even considering. the roar of the cars on the highway was only remediated by the earplugs i rammed in prior to sleep. the shower shoved under the sloping roof.....then i moved to the main house. the other end of the scale. you really felt that travelers have been sleeping there for a few centuries. wonderfully layed out room, nothing really fancy; it was simply great. the tithe barn is something to see. a 13th century barn added on to Henry VIII's hunting lodge. the food was fabulous. worth every calorie!
i would go back in an instant....and next time take time to enjoy the grounds and surrounding area.
1. February 2007

The gray mist that schrouded the city made me wonder why the tall buildings around Manhatten are not called Cloudscrapers. the pinnacles seemed to glow in the mist.....

to the hotel. i checked in after a long flight from London. long because i was tired and had to work the entire way over. came to the pleasant face at the desk and we chatted. he gave me my room. as i took it in hand i said......now, if this is near the elevator, or a noisy room, or a room without a decent space to work....i will be back until we can find that room. he looked at me and took the room key back.....we continued to chat and he then handed me a new key. the room was fine. 1201. interior with a view into the lightwell with the ubiquitous air handler fans instead of the wind or waterfall providing the ambient white noise. the windows are useless as far as keeping any sound out. good clean bed with a tiny tiny shower-room. it cant be called a bathroom. but again, fine for my needs. a nice chair with mismatched cushions and a carpet that seemed clear of those wonderful coffee stains.

The hotel lies in a more or less quietish residentialish district, so there are not many alternatives near by for finding food, but that really does not matter. it is new york, so you just wak three blocks and enything can be found.

nice stay. not sure about returning here.
12.13.14/1

i rarely write to a hotel to critique them. The Atlanta W [see earlier entry] passed my tolerance threshold. After a few meek email exchanges I got a call from the General Manager. We had a GREAT talk - and I am convinced that she really did care and meant what she said. up to that point the customer service was 'point and click'.

we all have to make an effort to make an difference. she did. and it has! Instead of avoiding the W group, I now look forward to the W redemtion! it does not take much to make the difference that matters..... for the big stuff.

what small effort can each of us make that would stop climate change? end poverty? end child abuse? create gender equity? what would happen if we noted that small thing EVERY DAY?

maybe we should all just try.

what a timepiece.
frozen from the 70's... from top to bottom. it is so strange that it is again so cool. i would go back in a heartbeat. rooms are small, cigarette burns in the carpet. windows are operable. simply fun to be there and it is in a pretty good location. the best is the main desk with the world clock on the wall behind which probably stopped working in 1979. but, who cares. it all fits together, including the restaurant at the top floor with the synthesizer wheezing away as you look out over the city. the food was great.

a must experience place.

Design Hotel sort of in the middle of town. cobblestone street in front makes for a noisey room with the windows open. thank goodness for the tight double glazing. lunch was good. service very friendly. lobby large[ish] with printer. desk too small. the two twin beds shoved up next to each other just don't make it for a tall person. lights on keycard. bathroom nice, if a bit dark.

EUR 17.00 for 24 hour 100 Mb internet access.

room 213. 2006.12.06

wow! i knew it would be nice from the website. but wow. AND finally a perks program that actually worked for me. upgrade to a suite. double wow. and i stay in lots of hotels so it takes quite a bit to wow me. this sweemingly ancient property sits adjacent to the park of the Versailles castle. it is grand in a comfortable way. the bar is everything that it should be. big overwstuffed leather couches with the smell of cigars liingering within the cavernous 20 foot high ceilings. log fire crackling. dinner was simply fab. wine list to drool for. the bed perfect. windows that could open with really slick little metal bars to allow you to adjust how wide you wanted them to be. AND the curtains still worked around them. two negatives: the internet was an extra fee and it was not easily connected to the working desk. it was fine to sit on the sofa, but next to impossible to string over to the desk. but then again, this is clearly not a businessperson's hotel.

a westin property
room 218/220 Nov

well. two tries to find a decent room, sort of. the first was across from the ice room in view of the eleveator - even after i specifically asked for a quiet room. the second was around the corner. funny layot with a long corridor leading into a quiet corner room. classic view of a brick wall with fire stairs. kind of cool after a while. and you could even see a patch of blue sky if you craned your neck. shower-bath had been in use for a while...decor overall a step above laminate. a short step. i had a few packages which i knew where waiting and no one said anything to me. they did appear after i asked. gym simpy an excuse to get it on the list.

a great room was found after two tries. the first had a great view out to the bright flourecents of a neighboring parking garage.....front staff excellent. knew my name same day. notified me of packages and were very pleasent. two queen size beds. decent desk. large room. decent, but not too, bathroom. great property and a place to go back to. only missing a pool.
stayed here for the GreenBuild 2006 conference.

Room 233
nice place. old style spa village. renovated hotel. glass elevator with grey granite floors. excellent breakfast. friendly staff. nothing too remarkable either way.

room 327
room 622

well. a new hotel. first room was really unpleasant. second much much better. staff dealt with a tired traveller with aplomb. i would go back in a heartbeat

if you have to stay at Heathrow, then this is the place to do it. easy access. decent food and rooms. and, after all, you are at the airport. BA forced me to stay the night. it took three trys to get to a room that was acceptable. first so beat up that i felt sorry for it. the second seemed to be designed by a first year architecture student. the third, well, i was tired of moving. it all worked. i really do not remember much except for the very nasty ceiling in the entrance foyer and inadequate tranistion from the gerbal tube to the main entrance. Ahh yes, the dinner buffet was superb. normally these are dismal, but this one was really excellent [to my great suprise] and unexpected. all three courses had a wide variety of scruptous choices.

i would stay there again if i had to.

its tries so hard.

perfect location overlooking the castle and musuem of Wales. a ten minutes walk from the train station thru lovely Victorian and turn-of-the-Century shopping arcades which are wheezing their way into the 20th Century. it only took two room changes to get to one which was acceptable. the first had a wonderful view of the parking lot and exhuaust flumes. the second in the elevator/lift foyer. it is a good thing that i am tall, otherwise the view would have been only of the sky. the shower was super large - six feet wide and four wide. tub decent as well. the curtains actually worked really well when two chairs helped close them against the wall to actually keep the light out. and the HVAC system was quiet and worked.

health club was really just right. stainless steel pool with underwater lights was very cool. just large enough to do a few laps. hot tub, sauna and steam room also all set on a timer so that you knew how long you were in there. the green slime growing on the wall behind the small waterfall pouring into the pool was the only fall back. oh yeah, and the water hoover sitting on the side of the pool next to the entrance was not so appealing. and the light being burnt out in the steam room was not so bad since the other one was working. and the tears in ceiling could be mistaken for black stars, so that was not so bad either.

the kitchen of the restaurant needs a real revamp. my rare fillet came out looking like a piece of grey leather and the sauteed spinach so salty that i could not even swallow the bite. second try on both resulted in a medium fillet and bland spinach. i did not have the patience to try it a third time. the wine was about on the same par. the first glass could not be swallowed - even after i politely warned the waiter that i really wanted a great glass of wine and did not mind paying for it. to his credit, he brought two new bottles to open at my table second time around. what a difference.

the breakfat buffet is ok. nothing extraordinary, but nothing really missing.

i would go back ONLY for the pool and health club.....but would not even begin to consider eating in the restaurant.

it could have been soooo good. but it wasn't. an elegant country house of cotswold limestone that looks very elegant from the entrance. the quaintness conintued at the check in. the keys hang from great painted plywood placques with the name of the named room upon it. the roomitself was fine; the four huge spiders not so. perhaps a quick vacuum would have been in order. the bar is small, but then again, that fits with quaint. the bartender gowned up. the wine he found fine would have been so, if it was to be used for vinegar base. the second try was a bit better. dinner was good. breakfast a bit gooder. the menu [pick one between each little line of ***] consisted of laminated sheets of lime green paper with curly scroll writing that fit right in. the muesli was excellent. the garden a bit too manufactured. but then again, the whole thing was. actually.

decent hotel in an essentially mixed use neighborhood. checked in at midnight. room 207 hasd very high ceilings, an AC system which worked, BBC and CNN, and curtains that actually kept the sun out in the morning. The only downfall was the AC system; it buzzed like an alarm clock before it turned on.....and for a frequent traveller this ellicited a pavlavian response thru the night. breakfast buffet was fine. all in all, a good business hotel.

text to come

text to come.

W hat a flop. this is one hotel to avoid at all costs. the air conditioning system would have challenged a 737 for volume; and it kept switching on and off all night. the mould in the grout in the shower cubicle is pretty much inexcusable. the final treat was the television randomly turning itself on at 0618 [don't you just hate digital clocks sometimes!] this property does not live up to the W brand....unless the brand now stands for W hatever. 29 Aug 2006

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Room 405. Fabulous business hotel. Elegant simplicity in the middle of the city. hard to find if you are on your own, but the taxi drivers all know it. it is big. the reception hall echos and has very funky furniture that looks awkward, but is sumptiously comfortable. long halls lead to excellent rooms. there are very cool light cubes next to the beds with simple knobs that allow you to adjust the light to your level. no complextity there. Amble desk with a nice view over the roofline of the city. Big soft chair to sit and read. Operable shades and windows in addition to the very quiet variable speed air conditioning system. Only a few details that took it from a 10/10 to a 9/10….no obvious place to put out the luggage rack, nasty snorkel lights at bedside that were very ‘cool’ but useless, no shower curtain so the bathroom tiles soak socks if you forget that you were just in there a few minutes ago with we feet. all in all, a great hotel and one to return to.

Room 510. October 2006. corner. fantastic again. still one of my favorite business hotels!

If you love Aalto, then this hotel will suit you very well. it lies on the water just outside of the city in a small [once] planned community named Espoo. This wooded town is home to the campus of the VTT which was planned by the Modernist Master.

The rooms are adequate - not fancy. no air conditioning and windows that work! the smell of the nearby pines a treat. the only setback is that there are little to no food options around the hotel as it is isolated. however, it is also replete with taxis who ALL take credit cards without a hint of a grimace.

i would certainly return.

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