The Westin Cincinnati — Hotel in Cincinnati

My boyfriend and I chose the Westin for our anniversary trip. The room was nice, the bed was comfortable, and it was a good central location.

Some things to note about the room and hotel though. We stayed two nights. Both mornings we ran out of hot water before our showers were done which was a huge disappointment. The gym has the bare minimum for equipment and there is no additional attractions like other Westin properties we have been to (I.e. pool, sauna, spa). Additionally, the website lists self parking as $21 a day, but unlike other hotels, your room key does not give you access in and out. If you take your car and leave the property multiple times throughout the day it is the same as parking at an hourly garage and you could end up paying more than the $21 daily.

The biggest issue was at the desk. We are well traveled and I previously worked for Marriott. I am well aware of the incidental charges and the way it can tie up funds on your cards/accounts. Being it was our anniversary and a holiday weekend, I came in with a plan. I intended to pay the full room and tax on my debit card and put my credit card on file for incidentals to minimize funds held. We wanted to keep as much of our money free for our anniversary trip as possible. When we checked in I requested to process the check-in this way and was told point blank that their system didn't allow that. I was hesitant, but again, having worked for Marriott, I know that not all hotels have the same systems so I trusted the employees at the counter and reluctantly gave them my credit card. The system didn't capture my card information, but it did go through on my end. They tried running it a second time, but it declined as it had already processed on my end and they told me my room would be put in a cash status to avoid any other issues. Once we were up at the room I continued to get notifications that my card was declined through my credit card app. I called to see if the card company could release it, but was told I would have to open a dispute in order to do that. I decided to go back to the desk to let them know what was happening and offer to find an ATM to give them cash. I was told once again they couldn't do it, but after I explained that I was getting declined notifications they decided to call a manager. They THEN proceeded to hard charge my debit card as I originally requested. I brought up the fact that I was told this wasn't possible and they back tracked saying it was "possible, but not policy" to do so. For the remainder of our trip nearly $600 of our fund were tied up thanks to that authorization and restricted what we could do for the remainder of our anniversary trip.

I have been a loyal Marriott customer since working there, but after this experience my boyfriend is adamant that we will not be staying at a Westin again. I regret not taking my business to the Courtyard that was in the...

First of all, I mistakenly booked a different hotel through a third-party service. When I arrived at the hotel front desk, I realized the mistake. I immediately informed the front desk staff that I could leave and go to the hotel I had originally booked, but the front desk staff told me to stay, and that he would check out with his colleague to transfer my third-party reservation to this The Westin Great Southern. Afterward, he informed me that everything was set and took my credit card as a deposit for the room.

However, when I checked out, I noticed that my credit card was charged twice—once by the third-party service and once by the hotel directly. I went to the hotel front desk to talk about this, and the front desk stuff from that day (different one) told me that the charge was still pending and would not be finalized. A few days later, I was charged by the hotel. The following week, I returned to the front desk to ask about the charge, and that staff was very helpful. He assured me that the issue would be passed to the manager, and that I would receive a call back with an update. The next day, I checked again, and he confirmed that the manager was informed and that I would get a response soon.

It’s now, the third week, and even with the New Year approaching, I called the manager to inquire about the charge. The manager seemed completely unaware of the issue and did not know the details of my case. It seems like the front desk and the manager have been delaying the situation and not handling my issue.. If the front desk had not told me to stay, I would have gone to the hotel I originally booked, and I wouldn’t have had to deal with all these complications.

I really enjoy the hotel and its facilities, but I am very disappointed with how my billing issue was handled. The manager just told me that they couldn’t process my case, I can totally accept this, and I am open to any results. However, what I cannot accept is the ongoing delays and the lack of communication regarding the result. Regardless of the outcome, I should be kept informed about the situation. I expect a response so that I can try to find the solutions with other issues. I could have tried to dispute this overcharge with the bank, but I would like to show my respect, and from my perspective, I don’t think this is a good solution.

Despite the inefficiency of the staff, I really like this The Westin Great Southern Columbus. It’s very clean and conveniently located with easy parking. I may visit again in the future, and I hope this kind of issue won’t...

I can't believe this is a Marriott property! The (lack of) cleanliness and attention to large and small details left me appalled.

We used the mobile key function of the app to go straight to the room, 922. We were there long enough to drop our bags and the temp in the room (it was set at 72 but was extremely hot and stuffy), find the first evidences of a lack of housekeeping and rush out the door to make it on time to the first session of the retreat we were attending.

The first thing I noticed FROM THE ENTRY was the window itself. Instead of appreciating the great view of Fountain Square, I was disgusted by a dozen or so greasy nose and fingerprints all over the center pane. Then, I walked into the bathroom to find a wrapped bar of soap on the sink and one on the tub. However, there were NO other amenities on the sink. There were instead a half used bottle of shampoo and half used tube of conditioner IN THE SHOWER!!!

When we got back from the retreat, we went to the desk and picked up some actual keys and informed the gentleman about the issues we found when we arrived. He gave us a $10 breakfast voucher (nice marketing since we still spent $25 and it kept us from going to the diner down the street as we had intended) and gave my husband a Graeter's ice cream. He gave me the shampoo, conditioner and body wash that were missing from our room and told us to come back down in the morning to request that housekeeping address our issues. When we got back to the room, it was still 72 degrees, hot and stuffy.

The next morning, we did as instructed and spoke to the lady at the desk. She apologized that I had to make a second trip to the desk, which was ok because I actually needed to let them know that the lamps in the room had a solid white coat of dust on them as did the sideboards of the headboard and to request new pillows. Also, all four of the pillows on the bed were terribly lumpy and both my husband and I woke up with stiff necks.

We returned to find that housekeeping had been there however, the four new pillows that were left were even worse. One of them didn't even fill the pillowcase half way. The smudges were still on the window, the lamps were still dusty and not only did we not receive any new shampoo or conditioner, THE USED AND EMPTY ONES WERE MOVED FROM THE SHOWER TO THE SINK!!!! We were left one regular coffee and three decafs.

I will not be recommending The Westin Cincinnati to any...