Reviews Westin Grand Hotel Vancouver

Jun 23, 2008
We just spent the weekend in Vancouver at the Westin Grand. We used Starwood points to stay, and the visit was very nice.

The hotel is setup as though it may have been an old condo building long ago. The lobby is on the second (above street level) floor. The lobby is a very small floor that contains the check-in desk, restaurant and elevators. There just over 30 floors at the Westin; each floor contains about 8-10 suites. Our suite (#1107) was a very comfortable corner one-bedroom. We had a nice view of the library and a few other buildings. In general, views in Vancouver can be hard to come-by because of the number of high-rises in the city. The room had a very nice bathroom with separate shower and sunken tub. There was a small area for the kitchenette behind closed cabinets. I don't think that it would be suitable to prepare a true meal, but it was fine for snack and drinks preparation. The bedroom was small, but the living area was nice and spacious.

The Hotel Location was great. It was very close to all the dining/lounge options in Yaletown. It was about 7 blocks to the shopping district on Robson Street, but there was plenty to see along the way as well. Cabs are plentiful and relatively cheap by US standards. The valet parking is $25 CAD per day. The 3rd floor contains a fitness center with a nice view. It's smaller, but it faces the outside deck that houses the pool and hot-tub. There is a steam room in each locker room as well as a shared sauna. There were no extra charges to use these facilities.

The only real negative to this hotel is that only two elevators serve the entire building. So, it can be a wait to get to your floor or lobby during peak times. We only had to wait in a line once. At most times, the wait seemed comparable to any other elevator wait.

This hotel hosts a number of passengers who have either arrived or will depart on an Alaskan Cruise. This is typical in Vancouver (or Seattle) during the summer.

Jun 20, 2008
The "suite" I got was an Executive Studio Suite, which really means a regular hotel room but with wireless internet and breakfast thrown in. My room was on the 31st floor, or top floor, but view was rather limited. Certainly nothing to go wild over. The room was decent size, but a suite? I think not. It does have a kitchenette, which is consist of a microwave, a dishwasher, and some china and silverware. Bathroom was spacious, with separate shower and tub. Beds are the comfortable heavenly beds.
TV is the old tube type, which really surprises me. Has DVD/CD player in room.
The entrance to the hotel is not very visible, certainly not consistent with a 4-diamond image. I find the bell staff very unhelpful. When my taxi pulled into the driver, the bell staff saw it coming and LEFT! No one helped with the luggage. In fact, no one ever said anything.
That afternoon I asked for a map, and they gave me this photocopy of half a map. I noticed later that they actually had real maps in colour behind them... Oh well. When I left, no one offered to get a cab or help with luggage either.
Check-in and check-out was fine. Staff very professional and friendly at the front desk.
Restaurant was okay. Only had breakfast there, so I can't really comment.

Overall? Not a bad stay, but I think not 4-diamond quality. If rate is good, then it's worth it. But I think there are other hotels downtown with better rates... Likely won't return to this Westin any time soon unless on points.

Jun 3, 2008
I booked this hotel through Expedia (via Tripadvisor) and was extremely impressed with the attentive service from staff throughout the hotel. They would smile and greet us and those who had dealt with us would acknowledge us by name. We arrived very early from our Alaskan cruise so left our bags at checkin and on our return, Andrew, who checked us in had left a message on our phone to check that we had received our bags and that the room was to our satisfaction and to call him should we need anything. Our room had a separate lounge and a small kitchen with microwave. The bed was very comfortable and the apartment had top quality fittings and a magnificent view. The hotel is on Robson Street and therefore very central. Both concierge staff we dealt with were able to answer in detail any questions we asked them of the area and were again exceptionally friendly. A lovely hotel in which to finish our holiday after the cruise.

Jun 3, 2008
My wife and I stayed in the Westin from 10 to 14 May as we had a four day stopover in Vancouver before boarding a cruise through Alaska's Inside Passage.

We were both impressed with the service, efficiency, rooms, amenities and decor in the hotel and all staff we came into contact with were polite and helpful, especially the restaurant and consierge staff.

Check in was a hassle free and checkout was even easier. Our room was a good size with good size bathroom, clean and the bed very comfortable.

Hotel Location on Robson street was also handy with everywhere in the Vancouver CBD being within easy walking distance. We took taxi's to both Granville Island and the cruise ship terminal and both times this was quick and not very expensive.

We will return to Vancouver one day (as four days was simply not enough) and we would definately stay at the Westin Grand again.

Jun 1, 2008

We recently stayed at the Westin for three nights as part of a trip to Seattle and Vancouver. Overall, it's a really nice hotel -- even in a small suite, we had plenty of room for two people. The heavenly bed invited sleep, and the room darkening shades were a big help when the sun was rising by 5 a.m.! As others have said, the hotel is in a great spot -- very convenient to Robson Street shopping, Yaletown, etc. It was probably a 20-25 minute walk to Stanley Park -- maybe too long if you're walking with kids but otherwise very doable.

A couple of negatives: generally the staff (especially the bellmen and the concierge) were very helpful. However....I felt like the front desk tried to "upsell" us when we were checking in. The room we'd reserved through the Internet-only, prepaid (read: "cheaper") rate wasn't ready yet (it was 30 minutes before official check-in, so no problem there), and they tried to get us to upgrade for $30 more a night to a bigger suite. A small thing, yes, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. And it might have been our end of the hotel, but I did feel like it was pretty loud, both room to room and from the outside construction noise, of which there's a lot. None of that would keep me from staying at the Westin again, though -- the Hotel Location was great, and we did get a good deal on the room.

Mar 22, 2008
One of the best hotel...Love it.
Me and my family had an amazing time on this hotel.
The service is top notch.
I will stay there again definitive.


Mar 11, 2008
I find that this hotel is quite money hungry. I had a reservation for a queen bed, but I wanted two double beds instead. When I called the hotel to change this, they insisted I pay $20 more for the upgrade. Most hotels don't charge for the change.

So when I checked in at the front desk, the lady clerk (Thuy) was not nice at all. I asked her if they have two double beds for the night, she said they were sold out. She said there was queen bed with a sofa bed, but I had to pay $30 for the upgrade. I said forget it it, and then I asked can I get a balcony, she said we have to pay $56 for a balcony!! come on!! it was my birthday! She even mentioned a $30 extra person charge if I had two or more people in our room. There was only two of us clearly at check-in. I wasn't having any more people in my room!! I would have noted that in my reservation.

So I asked if I could get a higher floor at least?? She said she couldn't unblock the rooms because there was a family coming and they want to stay on the same floor. I was very unhappy with her attitude. She was like a road block, she just wouldn't budge at any requests.

Most Starwood properties don't even hesistate when it comes to litte things like that. I've been to the W hotel in Seattle, and they upgraded me to the top floor with no hesitation!! Regardless Starwood property or not, I've always had most of my requests fulfilled at non Starwood properties. I'm not a rude or even demanding person, I've worked in the hospitality industry for 5 years now, and I know what the staff has to go through.

The bellmen and valet were very nice at check-in. Since the lady desk clerk said the hotel was very "busy and booked" I asked the bellman what time he was working until, I assumed late because it was booked solid I was told.........he said he was going home early because the hotel wasn't busy!!

Me and my friend headed down to the hotel restuarant. We also had a very bad experience. The drinks were great, but the food was overpriced and portions were small. My friend ordered fish, but it wasn't even cooked, she threw up after the meal. I ordered risotto, and it had way too much cheese and no flavour at all. The bread was cold and hard. At the end of the meal, the server wrote the tip down herself on the credit card slip and expected us to sign!!!!!!! Can you believe that?? The service was great, it wasn't like we weren't going to tip her! I've worked in restuarants when I was younger...geez...I know how it works. I always tip good service, regardless of the quality of food. I tip the percentage that I want to tip, not what the server "expects" me to. We were only a party of two, not a party of 8 or more, which most restuarants automatically calculate 15% on your bill if you have a large group. Not in this case!

During the evening of my stay, they wanted to send me a birthday ammenity (a piece of cake which I thought was very thoughtful), but they said they couldn't deliver it to me because I had a do not disturb sign on my door while I was out. Excuse me? I never put that sign on my door. So I asked for it in the morning, half an hour later I waited, and still no birthday ammenity. Okay fine, I was ready to checkout, so I called for a bellman and a luggage cart....an hour later....no one came up....

If you have kids, there is a stocked minibar, so be aware! I asked if someone could come to my room and clear/take away the mini bar, and guess what?? It costs $25 to clear the mini bar. I'm not even using it and they expect me to pay $25 just to clear their own snacks and drinks?!? Ridiculous.

There was also someone else's room service tray left outside our door, and it was never cleared. It sat there from dawn to dusk. The shower curtain and couch was stained, and the garbage cans in the room had no plastic bags lined.

The only thing worth mentioning or giving praise to is Chris, the night auditor. He treated us like human beings and politely asked how our evening was. He engaged in conversation, and made us feel welcomed. Props to Chris! It's the litte things that count, even a quick hello makes you feel appreciated.

I would not stay here again. Don't assume that if a hotel is rated four or five star that you will automatically get good quality service. And don't assume that nice decor and ambience makes up for the service.... Do your research before staying at any hotel....

Feb 18, 2008
We had reportedly one of the nicest rooms in the whole hotel . . . . top floor, corner room with balcony. The shower has mildew growing in the corner near the door towards the bottom of the shower pan. The curtains have stains all over them in the bedroom. . . . presumably body fluids or something disgusting like that. The sofa is stained thoroughly as well. The floor plan of the hotel room we were in is ridiculous. The so called seating area is like a shotgun bowling alley lane. It's could more correctly be named a hallway. The room next to us that our parents occupied was a much nicer configuration but a "cheaper price". The floor outlet under the TV in the bedroom was not secured to the floor so that when you pulled the plug out of the outlet, the whole housing comes up out of the floor. For this price and this Hotel Locations and for this to be a Westin, I can't imagine that things like this have to be pointed out. Ridiculous!!!


Jan 15, 2008
Stayed here on business, large suite, well furnished, heavenly bed, heavenly shower, good breakfast, 20 min walk to downtown but easy to find. Walking distance to everywhere. Great value chain hotel, would definitely stay here again.

Jan 3, 2008
We have chosen the Westin Grand for its all-suites nature as we wanted some nice space for our little rest after the long flights. We checked into the hotel quite early around 10AM and my status was quickly recognized and I was offered an upgraded room on the 27th floor. Upon arriving in the room, we found out that the suite Queen bed is rather small and we wanted a bigger bed to stretch out. A call down to the front-desk and I was offered a king bed suite albeit in a lower floor. We took the offer and found out that the new room is actually a better room with a small balcony (although the weather was pretty cold while we were there).

The suite is brightly lit from natural lights from the floor to ceiling windows. The living has a comfortable sofa and reading chair with a coffee table. The workdesk is tucked to one side and the TV/drawer is placed in the other corner with an extra sitting chair. Next to the entrance is the minibar and the usual coffee machine. Hidden behind a closet door is a little sink, microwave and a dishwasher. There are enough utensils for a few days of usage.

The bedroom is also brightly lit with the Heavenly bed as its central piece. Rounding out the room is another TV/drawer and a reading chair/ottoman. The room heavy curtains effectively blocked out all the daylight for the lazy days.

Connecting between the bedroom and the living room is the super roomy marbled bathroom with a complete standing shower with dual-shower heads and deep-soak tub, all with Kohler fixtures. The Westin Heavenly Bath products are ever present here.

The Westin entrance is a little bit small and in time of traffic can be a bit crowded. However, the bellman and the concierge is also present to give you a hand. The lobby is actually situated on the 1st floor as well as the hotel restaurant and some conference rooms. The Westin is centrally located between the Robson shopping crowd, BC place and the Yaletown which offers some great restaurants.

I was very pleased with my stay here and won't hesitate to come back here again.

 

Westin Grand Hotel Vancouver
433 Robson Street
Vancouver BC