The Starwood chain operates the W Hotels internationally and clearly it’s my favorite. (There’s another favorite, Leading Hotels, but they’re prices are a little stiff for my regular hotel diet.) The W chain seems to fit with my lifestyle. I enjoy simple style, good music and art, clean comfy rooms, a hip vibe that’s never pretentious or formal, great service, employees who seem real, and generally a company that’s dedicated to giving guests whatever they want, whenever they want it. They even have a button on the phones for Whatever Whenever. The concierges are anxious to help you figure out what you want to do or have. I can’t say enough good things about them. Oh, and they have free wireless Internet in the lobby, which they refer to as The Living Room. This is always one service that gets my attention. It’s a great place to hang out and people watch. We’ve seen a lot of celebrities there over the years too. Not a great reason to stay there, but it is fun to spot people from time-to-time. Alec Mapa – Ugly Betty, Sandra Bernhard-comedian, James Gosling-inventor of Java … to name a few … a real variety.
I live 2 blocks from the one here in San Francisco and several years ago, we had a rogue fire sprinkler decide to blow and flooded our loft. We had to move out for a month and a half and lived at the W during that time. We got to know most of the people there and fell in love with the whole way they do business. We’ve since used the W chain whenever we can, when we travel. Starwood also has a great points system that can be used for rooms, air travel, food or even cash at the hotel. They’re not the cheapest chain, but they’re not the most expensive either. For me, they’re just right.
Front entrance to the Lobby, which they call The Living Room.
Bath
Downtown View
Concierge and view to side entrance for check in.
The Dining Room - my favorite breakfast spot in the city.
Another angle of the dining room.
