W Aspen — Hotel in Aspen

Pre-arrival: I wanted to take advantage of my Ambassador Elite benefit of Your24 and check out late so that I could use my room until soon before I had to leave for my after 8pm flight. These requests are not always granted so I was very pleased it was granted when I asked if it was possible to use it, several months before my stay.||Arrival: The valet team allowed us to park out front briefly just to check in before our trip to Independence which I appreciated. The front desk was completely unmanned around 12pm which was unexpected and it took a while to get someone out when the Whatever, Whenever representative went off to find someone after offering us the welcome drink of prosecco. Eventually a front desk rep came back out and advised that the room wasn't ready (no big deal as it was prior to the official check in time) and that they had noted the Your24 which I was glad I didn't have to proactively flag and explain. They said that they didn't have any prosecco at the moment but that they would send a bottle up to the room. I was disappointed that the drink never arrived as the only other resort fee item I wanted to use was the shuttle to the airport. Putting aside the fact that I consider resort fees to be unethical to charge in the first place, refusing to provide something you're mandatorily charging me for, at least feels like a misappropriation of funds.||W Insider: I received an email a couple of weeks before the stay and promptly responded, asking what was on offer as I had never been to Aspen/this hotel before. The night before my stay I still hadn't received a response and so I emailed a gentle nudge again, and over a week later, I'm still waiting to hear back. Usually I get taken care of very well by the W Insider team, presumably due to high Bonvoy status. It seems like everyone else does based on the reviews at this property so I'm not sure why I was completely ignored.||Room: I used a suite upgrade award for the Wow suite. It was very spacious and I absolutely loved the steam facility in the shower given how dry Aspen is. The real disappointment with the suite was that while it was large, it wasn't a suite in the true sense of the room being buffered as a self contained room from noise in the hallways and I experienced poor sleep quality due to other guests yelling in the halls late at night.||In room dining: I didn't make use of this service but you'd never know it due to the two incorrect charges that appeared on my folio when I woke up in the morning. The front desk removed the charges.||Breakfast: A fairly decent spread for a US property. Upon arrival I was shown to a table where the dog from the next table over was lying half underneath the table proffered to me. The owner made no gesture to move the dog over to be more in his own space. I acknowledge that for some guests that a dog underfoot while eating would be considered a feature rather than a flaw, but for me it was not and I was a little surprised to be offered a table that was not fully unoccupied. The server offered me another spot by a window which I gratefully accepted. The server did not offer juice even though it wasn't something I could serve myself.||Resort fee: The fruit tray was delivered without me asking for it but after 8pm at night which isn't a time I would snack on fruit. Perhaps providing it earlier in the day is a better idea if you absolutely must do the resort fee. I didn't feel like I was getting proportionate value for the resort fee even when I assumed I'd be getting the prosecco.||Check out: the front desk was manned this time and was a more efficient experience than the check in by a factor of approximately 3,000. Paul was not only responsible for this but also went above and beyond by arranging for a custom ride to the airport instead of waiting for the shuttle I ordered. I'd like to call out Paul for the excellent service.||Airport transfer: Eyup was a delight and I enjoyed the comfortable trip to the airport.||I think there's room to improve on the responsiveness and quality of customer service across the board as Paul is a standout, not the standard. Regardless of whether or not it's lawful to not provide promised aspects of the resort fee, it's certainly not ethical and I would hope the hotel would strive for a higher standard and more care towards guests and reputation in...

Pre-arrival: I wanted to take advantage of my Ambassador Elite benefit of Your24 and check out late so that I could use my room until soon before I had to leave for my after 8pm flight. These requests are not always granted so I was very pleased it was granted when I asked if it was possible to use it, several months before my stay.||Arrival: The valet team allowed us to park out front briefly just to check in before our trip to Independence which I appreciated. The front desk was completely unmanned around 12pm which was unexpected and it took a while to get someone out when the Whatever, Whenever representative went off to find someone after offering us the welcome drink of prosecco. Eventually a front desk rep came back out and advised that the room wasn't ready (no big deal as it was prior to the official check in time) and that they had noted the Your24 which I was glad I didn't have to proactively flag and explain. They said that they didn't have any prosecco at the moment but that they would send a bottle up to the room. I was disappointed that the drink never arrived as the only other resort fee item I wanted to use was the shuttle to the airport. Putting aside the fact that I consider resort fees to be unethical to charge in the first place, refusing to provide something you're mandatorily charging me for, at least feels like a misappropriation of funds.||W Insider: I received an email a couple of weeks before the stay and promptly responded, asking what was on offer as I had never been to Aspen/this hotel before. The night before my stay I still hadn't received a response and so I emailed a gentle nudge again, and over a week later, I'm still waiting to hear back. Usually I get taken care of very well by the W Insider team, presumably due to high Bonvoy status. It seems like everyone else does based on the reviews at this property so I'm not sure why I was completely ignored.||Room: I used a suite upgrade award for the Wow suite. It was very spacious and I absolutely loved the steam facility in the shower given how dry Aspen is. The real disappointment with the suite was that while it was large, it wasn't a suite in the true sense of the room being buffered as a self contained room from noise in the hallways and I experienced poor sleep quality due to other guests yelling in the halls late at night.||In room dining: I didn't make use of this service but you'd never know it due to the two incorrect charges that appeared on my folio when I woke up in the morning. The front desk removed the charges.||Breakfast: A fairly decent spread for a US property. Upon arrival I was shown to a table where the dog from the next table over was lying half underneath the table proffered to me. The owner made no gesture to move the dog over to be more in his own space. I acknowledge that for some guests that a dog underfoot while eating would be considered a feature rather than a flaw, but for me it was not and I was a little surprised to be offered a table that was not fully unoccupied. The server offered me another spot by a window which I gratefully accepted. The server did not offer juice even though it wasn't something I could serve myself.||Resort fee: The fruit tray was delivered without me asking for it but after 8pm at night which isn't a time I would snack on fruit. Perhaps providing it earlier in the day is a better idea if you absolutely must do the resort fee. I didn't feel like I was getting proportionate value for the resort fee even when I assumed I'd be getting the prosecco.||Check out: the front desk was manned this time and was a more efficient experience than the check in by a factor of approximately 3,000. Paul was not only responsible for this but also went above and beyond by arranging for a custom ride to the airport instead of waiting for the shuttle I ordered. I'd like to call out Paul for the excellent service.||Airport transfer: Eyup was a delight and I enjoyed the comfortable trip to the airport.||I think there's room to improve on the responsiveness and quality of customer service across the board as Paul is a standout, not the standard. Regardless of whether or not it's lawful to not provide promised aspects of the resort fee, it's certainly not ethical and I would hope the hotel would strive for a higher standard and more care towards guests and reputation in...

Update 21 Dec 2024: TDLR: Warm, hospitable and kind staff who go above and beyond to make our guest experience comfortable but gets treated like garbage by insolent stuckup snobs of guests. Also terrible sound insulation, family beside us wouldn’t shut up. Mix-up at breakfast whereby the hotel promised us free breakfast in compensation for their lackluster service, but one of the service staff walked up to us and said no, it’s not free, pay up. He had to check back again with the manager who said that it’ll be free just for today when they promised for the entire stay. Utterly ridiculous. As soon as the breakfast place gets slightly busy, they neglect to take care of again, the finer details like cleaning the table. My mum sat on a wet chair as well. Coffee and tea orders were also jumbled up 🤦🏻‍♀️ Harish who served us at breakfast was excellent though! Enquired if we wanted the milk on the side warm or cold and the tea was made just right! Service was just inconsistent during peak hours, which was almost most of the time we went for breakfast.

Shoutout to Ashwin who is a manager at the front desk, he swiftly responded to our concerns and worked to remedy our disappointment at the size of the room and the lack of amenities. We deeply appreciate such warm hospitality, and if we ever were to come back to this side of the hemisphere, we wouldn’t mind staying at W Aspen. The only thing that bugs me is just the atmosphere created by fellow guests who treat us like garbage but then again it’s just my personal feeling. Just get ready to be treated like rubbish if you don’t rock up to this place in your Moncler coats and Moonboots 🤷🏻‍♀️ p.s. there’s a crying baby in the room next to us who won’t keep quiet and it’s seriously bugging us.

Just checked in today, 20 December 2024. Seems grand at first glance but this hotel has neglected to take care of the minute details. Although customer service was the only redeeming factor (we were greeted warmly by our driver Richie and concierge and front desk), there was a card sitting on our table that read ‘Chelsea Magness’. No one in our party is called that. It just shows that they lack personal touch and treated our family carelessly. Slipshod manner of treating guests does not bode well for a hotel of this caliber. Then again we stayed at W Hotel in Singapore and it was none the different. Requested for kettle (no hot water???) and they’re taking forever to return to us with our request (at the current time that I am writing this review it’s been 30 minutes for such a simple task). No slippers, only one bathrobe for a party of three, only one cup in the room i.e. amenities for one person when there are 3 guests in the room???

While I do appreciate the complementary chauffeur and rosé, it would have been better if a hotel who prides themselves on being a luxury accommodation could take heed that they do not neglect the finer details that make a guest’s experience feel pleasant and not just part of some mass market clientele. Feels condescending to be treated this way tbh 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sincerely, Naomi...