Just got back from a 3 week vacation in Italy and Europe and had the opportunity to stay these properties, all on award. There has been much discussion about the lack of award upgrades, and fortunately we had mostly success.

Westin E&R (1 night) - Things didn't look good at first as the guy in front of us checking was trying to get an upgrade unsuccessfully. Appararently the Danielli was overbooked and there was a lot of overflow to the E&R. The funny thing was that he wasn't Plat, but used the line "I worked for *wood for 12 years in LA, isn't there anything you can do?" Fortunately we had been upgraded that morning to a very nice suite (418) that overlooked the Grand Canal. The new European amenties had kicked in so we selected a nice bottle of wine. I believe this was a junior suite, as it had a large living area, a bedroom, a small powder/dressing area and a large bathroom. They did give us a *very* hard time with a 4pm checkout, but finally relented.

Westin La Quinta- Marbella (3 nights) - We were upgraded to a Grand Deluxe room on the top floor (316). This property has only 3 exec/3 jnr suites, and I had checked with the Plat Concierge earlier and they were indeed all taken. The room was very nice and had large separate sitting area; not a suite, but certainly much closer to one than many GD rooms I've stayed in. We selected the bottle of wine as the amenity again. Received 1000 bonus *pts for filling out a form regarding the new SPG TV. Instant awards ranged from 1500 to 7500, but were not good values for the most part (eg 6k pts for 18 holes of golf (assuming 2 cts per *pt = $150; whereas buying a round of golf was only 55 EUR). Overall, a beautiful property with outstanding pool and golf facilities. We also tried the Japanese restaurant - Kaede - but the sushi wasn't that good.

Westin Alfonso XIII - Seville (1 award night and 2 VO1 free nights) - This is an absolutely amazing property. Excellent location close to the cathedral; stunning moorish architecutre and awe inspring lobby. We were upgraded to a huge a lavish suite (121) that had 3 rooms w/foyer. Large sitting area and dining area. 2 bathrooms each w/his and her sinks. Large, comfy robes and slippers and of course the Heavenly bed. One unexpected perk was the butler service. They are available to pack/unpack and offer coffee and cocktails (complimentary). The location of the suite could have been slightly better as it was next to the "pool elevator". Fortunately at this time of year there wasn't a lot of pool activity, but it could get annoying in the summer I'm guessing. The suites affected would be 121,221, etc and 122, 222, etc. There were amenities left everyday we were there - 1st day a bottle of sherry from Jerez dela Frontera, Day 2 olives and olive w/bottle of champagne, and Day 3 another bottle of champagne. This property is now by far the best *wood I've stayed at.

Westin Palace Madrid (5 nights) - Knowing all the stories about this property I wasn't expecting much. Alas, we received a Grand Deluxe room, what they call their "mini-suites" and yes it actually is 2 rooms separated by sliding doors. While we were there a large Malaysian diplomatic contigent took almost all the suites, the royal wedding was coming up and the European swimming championships were on, so I was happy to get the GD. It was an OK room, but the quality of the furniture and other appointments was nowhere near the level of Alfonso XIII. Basically, it looked run down around the edges. I checked back on Day 2 to see if any suite opened up and wonder of wonders and executive suite was available, however it was smoking so we passed. Checked again on Day 3 and a non-smoking executive suite was availabe (623) which we eagerly took. These are huge suites, with two bathrooms (one with a sauna), and overlooked the Plaza Neptuno. The furniture and decor was similar to the GD, ok but a little run down around the edges; but we weren't complaining.

Overall, a successful award trip! Despite all the *wood promo issues, its still very hard to beat the quality of their European properties. Starting to save up points again for our next trip.....

 

Thanks for the mini-trip report!! We will be hitting the La Quinta, Alfonso & Westin Palace in October and are looking very forward to it. Its a good sign that you were treated well as an SPG Plat.

How did you go about asking/requesting upgrades before your trip? Did you call the hotels directly or just go through the Platinum Concierge? Any tips would be helpful as we will also be staying on awards for most of the nights.

Thanks again for the updated reports on the properties!

 

I contacted the hotels via email to ascertain how many suites were available. Interestingly, most emailed me first to see at what time I would be arriving. I would then call the intl toll free number for Plats a couple days before the stay to see if they showed availability for suites.

 

Thanks for the report. Once again it highlights one of the incredible strengths of the Starwood program in my opinion: superb properties in Italy. No other chain has Italy covered like Starwood. I've stayed at the Rome Excelsior, Florence Excelsior and the Gritti in Venice. I was there last summer and had zero problem redeeming points. They were expensive for sure, but they were all beautiful properties and we were treated either above par or superbly. Their properties in Italy (and Hawaii) alone are among the reasons I remain high on Starwood.