The Westin Seattle — Hotel in Seattle

I wrote this review especially for new parents of dancers checking reviews for upcoming dance conventions and competition at this location. Therefore, I'm taking the time to give you an honest recap of my past encounters and some of the options to overcome those and make the best experience for me and my dancer. If my personal experience can contribute to at least one reader to have smooth stay with my tips and your Dancer's pleasant experience during comp/convention, then it was sooo worth it!

I like the Westin signature hotels. However, this particular location is my least favorite. We travel year-round for my daughter's competitive dances, and we stop here yearly for one of those. The rooms are good, clean and roomy. It seems that regardless of the room location, you'll enjoy a Seattle Downtown view. The hotel has a good location with plenty of options to order delivery or a quick walk nearby during daytime, or you can simply eat from their bistro and inside restaurants for convenience. The gym has lots of good equipments and good variety of cycling bikes. The pool is a must to-visit during the night to avoid crowds with plenty of chairs and towels. My complaints are the elevator system and parking during the hotel operations at full capacity. Please note that the following comments are based on my experience during full vacancy.

It has been my observation and other hotel guests that I met, that this hotel does not have the capacity to run smoothly for the guests' needs/expectations. For example, their garage and valet were full by miday of the first day of the event. This added unnecessary stress to find outside parking, mainly if you are driving without another adult and only with young dancer(s). This can be intimidating for out of town guests and females. Especially in a town with lots of homeless/transient. If you encounter this issue, give all your bags/stuff to the Concierge at Valet. They will hold it for you or delivered to your room once you check in. Then call another parent to stay with your dancer(s) while you navigate finding parking.

Then the second complaint is the elevators system in peak hours during conventions/competitions. It can take easily take over 10mins to 40 minutes to get to your destination waiting for room in an elevator. This can be extremely stressful for your dancers and yourself! Therefore, here's some inside tips I've learned:

Simplest: leave your room at least 30mins prior your convention/comp call times. However, because that it is easier said than done lol Here's Option #2, if you find all the elevators that stops on your floor full to capacity..do this...Request the "up" button to get an elevator going up. You will find plenty of room doing this. Once you are inside, the bad news is that it'll take you to several floors before finally going down. But you will take less time than just waiting for room going down.

Then, do the opposite during peak hours to go up to your room. Another option people do to overcome the elevator issue is to request a super low floor so you can use the escalators or a super high floor so it can be empty to take you down.

The hotel has a South and North tower. As an added bonus, knowing the location of their convention room can expedite getting there if you stay in the tower closest to that room.

Also, if your kiddos has allergies and you request a refrigerator..regardless if you are promised one..have a backup option such as taking a cooler. For the 2nd year on the row, one of my best friend  have reserved one, and despite of their promises by the time she checks in they are out by Friday.

Despite of the below issues, I have given the Westin Seattle, a 5-star rating because their staff is friendly and truly all the good overcome the bad with...

Terrible stay, and terrible customer service on the back end. Marriott had been my go-to brand for business and personal trips, I stayed recently for business. Booking was completed externally for the conference and there were no problems. Checking in was also fine, and the location was fine. One small thing I thought was strange was that rooms had no fridge or microwave and you had to request these. I did so that first night and used them in that evening. I had to call on my cellphone bc my room phone wouldn’t call to any hotel connections. However upon the first morning there, I was awoken by someone trying to deliver a fridge to me - when I woke up to their incessant banging and opened the door, they immediately saw my fridge and said ‘whoops, wrong room’. Later, a man came to repair the room’s phone (which wasn’t previously announced, but I had notified staff of). After he left, I forgot to relatch the debolt, so unfortunately a different member of staff was later able to walk right in without knocking. I have no idea why he came because he immediately walked right back out talking on his walkie talkie ‘you said this room was empty’ - after i was recovered from my shock, I called after him, ‘all you needed to do was knock!’ But he may have not heard, as the door was already closing. After that, I called the front desk to let them know, and subsequently rebolted my door plus placed the ‘do not disturb’ sign out. Some time later this same day, I hear rustling at my door. Afraid it’s another member of staff about to burst in, I creep up and look through the peephole. It’s a completely new member of staff fiddling with my door. Then, I open the door, and ask him, ‘ Can I help you?’ He replied, ‘I’m working on locks but I saw your ‘do not disturb’ sign so I wasn’t sure if I should check yours’. Y’all, he’d already been touching it otherwise I would not have come to the door. I told him, ‘it’s fine, go ahead and do what you need to do’ none so pleased, but hoping this would be my last negative encounter during my stay… It did turn out to be the last thing I had an issue with during my stay but the management did not try to resolve these negative experiences. I had one manager call that day to apologize but was not offered compensation for my inconvenience or the breach of security to my room. Upon check-out, I mentioned my displeasure and was offered points which I appreciated and accepted. I also asked to transfer my valet off my room and pay on my personal card (required for my business trip). I paid then drove home… where I checked my bill that had come through email during that time. I had been double charged for my valet parking. I immediately called but had to wait several days for that to be resolved. I had to call again bc they did not send an updated receipt for a week. At the end of that week, my points did not appear on my account. I had to call again to customer service to have even the room points added, and still have not received the promised compensation of points for my troubles. In sum, I do not recommend this location, and have some misgivings overall about Marriott’s dedication to customer...

Although this hotel is in the heart of downtown Seattle, it could really use some upgrades in services. The main entrance lacks a disabled entrance. There is a very steep ramp there, along with multiple steps & 2 landings. I had used the very steep ramp to walk up to the main entrance & later noticed that the ramp was for luggage. The disabled entrance was about a half block down the street, bringing you into the middle of the lobby. My key disappointment was that the electronic doors were not working. I'm sorry, but if there is a malfunction in your electronic doors, you should post a doorman/woman there to assist anyone entering your establishment. Imagine having multiple suitcases trying to hold a door open while maneuvering the suitcases. Now, imagine a disabled person, like myself, trying to enter/exit their hotel with a rollator, carry-on bag sitting on the seat of the rollator, and a large suitcase being wheeled w/ one hand and the other maneuvering the rollator. It's exasperating! This is why I truly believe that all businesses like hotels/restaurants/banks, etc, should have both a disabled advisor when designing a facility and a disabled employee as part of the management staff. A person with disabilities will pick up quickly as to areas that were either overlooked or are not being implemented. I'm giving them some leeway that there was something wrong with the electronics & not that someone shut down those doors. When you are pointing me to a separate entrance that is supposed to be convenient for me, please make sure things work. Second, the rooms are overpriced at roughly $300pp. It should not cost a family of 4 $1,200 for a one night stay. For that price, you would hope to get some additional amenities. Well, I guess I should mention the 1 bathrobe provided in your room that would only fit a small/med woman. They're price gouging families staying pre/post cruise. Many others are doing the same. Third, the water pressure is horrid. It barely had the oomph to flush urine. Can't imagine how many calls they get for a janitor hourly. The sink/shower was just above a trickle. How are you conserving water when it takes 3 times longer to wash/rinse? Forth, the mini fridge provided is only for the stocked snacks. The shelves have been weighed. They do not recommend your adding anything otherwise it changes the weight and the possibility you're charged for something you did not buy. Fifth, the beds are large and very comfortable. You should be able to get a good night's sleep even with the worst back problems. Lastly, their main restaurant closes after lunch on Sundays. Your only other options were sitting in the bar... not really family-friendly. They did offer to seat us outside of the bar to eat in the lobby, which was just not suitable for a meal. Sundays seem to be a day where a majority of places surrounding the hotel are closed. The hotel is losing out by not offering an area for families & guests to enjoy a meal outside of their room. The front desks only suggestion was the bar. We finally found a place several blocks away that was...