The Westin Tampa Waterside — Hotel in Tampa

To anyone considering booking, this hotel is a disappointment to the “Westin” brand name. For a chain that prides itself on affordable luxury, I was horrified after my stay here. When I first arrived, the front desk staff was extremely kind during the check in process, and they even gave me a free upgrade and a drink at the bar for a minor inconvenience. Naively believing that this would be the service I received all weekend, I excitedly headed up to my room, which had an incredible view of the skyline. However, the excitement stopped there. The first thing I did was go to the hotel pool, which is a hop, skip and a joke to get to. You could smell the mold and see the brown stains on the third floor while you walked to the pool, which should be considered a health hazard by Hillsborough County. The pool deck itself was nice, however the pool bar was only open during certain hours during the weekend, which I found quite strange. During the entirety of my stay, the staff members ranged from unhelpful to just plain rude, with the exception being the woman who helped me during check-in and checkout. Most of the staff was unaware of the hotel’s own policies, and trying to get any help or information was a complex circle jerk. Trying to get anything other than alcohol after 10pm was an uphill battle, and the kitchen staff was extremely rude and refused to serve me food after I disclosed my severe peanut allergy to them, citing that “all their ingredients may contain peanuts” and there was nothing they could do to reasonably accommodate my allergy, a clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Furthermore, one elevator was working most of the stay, which was a gross inconvenience to wait for. All of the stairs were marked as “fire exits,” however none of the stairs were ACTUALLY alarmed. One of the “fire exits” was jammed open, and when asking the staff about this, they were careless and reiterated that all the doors were “fire exits.” There were many memorable incidents with the staff, but the most egregious was trying to receive proper custodial services. On the second day of my stay, the housekeeping staff did not show up until I specifically requested them to, as if housekeeping had skipped my room entirely. However, this ignorance pales in comparison to the abomination that was trying to get a toilet cleaned. It took 3 calls to the front desk to properly communicate to the staff that my toilet needed to be cleaned, and upon the third attempt, the staff member showed up with a yellow rag and spray instead of a toilet brush. The custodian claimed that there was no toilet brush in the hotel, which I later discovered was not true, and it appears she wasn't provided with one by custodial management. Once completed, the soiled rag was then thrown across my room and sat outside the door until the staff member was finished. This incident was not only a reflection on the carelessness of the custodial staff, but also a reflection on the poor management of the hotel, as they could not provide a toilet brush for their colleague. Having to sit with a soiled toilet for 7 hours in my room and then watching a custodial staff member clean the toilet with their hands is degrading to both guests and staff. As a loyal Marriott Bonvoy member, the treatment and service I received at this hotel is a shame to the Westin brand name, and to the Marriott family of brands. I strongly discourage booking at this location until issues of cleanliness, poor management and staff training are...

Man, where do I start with this one?

About me: I'm titanium with Bonvoy and have travelled the world, staying primarily at the full spectrum of different Marriott family hotels and also run an event with which I utilize Marriott branded properties.

About the stay: We reserved two rooms and this is probably the most disappointing Marriott property I have encountered in a long time. It is by far the most disappointing Westin property of all time.

We reserved two rooms for a trip for my son's piano competition. I called in advance to arrange a quiet room. Hold times were extensive which should have been my first red flag. I read some of the other reviews which tempered my overall expectations, but really, even going into it prepared, this was disappointing almost across the board.

-Our "quiet" room looked out over the water but was apparently right over a restaurant that was playing music at a volume which made it utterly impossible for me, my wife, or my mom to sleep... at 12:30AM!! The window lacked any kind of sound deadening and it seemed like there were gaps in the frame that were allowing noise in (we tried desperately to close the window tighter, to no avail). I called the front desk and they said they would investigate. We were told the next morning that they had been informed that the restaurants were allowed to operate at those volumes. Fine, but why would you put the family that specifically requested quiet rooms up against them!? -The rooms were extremely dated and smelled like a 90s motel. We prefer not to run the a/c 24/7 and without the air, the musty smell was overwhelming almost immediately. My daughter woke up the following morning with extreme allergies as did I and my wife. This was the overwhelming reason we checked out after only one night and drove back home to Fort Lauderdale. -The bed that I slept on with my wife was totally dead. No support at all whatsoever. What happened to the "Heavenly Bed?" Only the following morning did we realize that the bed our daughter was sleeping in was much, much firmer. -The breakfast was wholly underwhelming - a sad spread with old eggs and a lot of the items were empty and not attended to. The bagel was literally rock hard - I picked it up and slamed it into the cutting board for comedic effect, despite being completely unamused. My wife asked for some whole wheat bread (empty) and got an attitude from one of the servers (she said he seemed annoyed because there were other types of bread).

The only silver lining was that the front desk staff were extremely nice - and this is the one-and-only reason this is not a one-star review. They did try to help as much as they could, and when we told them we were totally not going to stay for a second night of all of it, they didn't give me any trouble about cancelling the remaining night. I'm guessing this isn't their first time dealing with complaints such as mine at the property.

This hotel needs to be shuttered and completely renovated. It is WAY overdue. The room rates were extremely high this weekend, so I thought at $350 a night, I'd be striking a compromise between a holiday in and the much more expensive Marriott and JW nearby.

Had I known, I would have ponied up. Totally...

Marriott gold member here who decided to give this Westin a shot in spite of the poor reviews. Valet parking at about $38 or so, which I was aware of when I booked my staycation. Checked in with Rene, who was mostly nonchalant. I usually get a welcome to so and so and thanks for being a so and so member but nothing from him. I did not feel welcome in any shape or form. He gave me a room on the first (3rd) floor and my profile says higher floors. I asked about an upgrade and he said there was none. I had to ask about Marriott point or welcome gift he said there was none. I stated that I thought i saw something about getting points for my stay and he said there was none but that he'll make a note of it (whatever that means). Hotel was bustling with what looked like conference attendees so like a previous Marriott member stated, maybe they really don't care about providing optimal service to members. Lobby and bar area seem to be the only area of importance and were nicely decorated.

Anyway, I get my key and we go to our room and it was in the elevator that I realized that he put me on the lowest floor. I'm used to being placed on higher floors based on my marriott and hilton membership levels. Hallway was a bit dull, room was spacious and beds well made but noisy and there was dust on tables and clock etc. There's a small fridge and coffee maker in the Tv cabinet/dresser. The check in left a really bad taste coupled with being in the corner/last room on the 3rd floor. I certainly did not feel welcome or valued. Oh there was a bottle of "complimentary" water on the night stand in the room. By the way, I took this trip only because i decided on boosting my marriot membership and forgoing Hilton and IHG this year!

Pool was in such a sad state for a Westin. It looked old, drab, dated and abandoned. Gym had options for cycling, treadmill, free weights etc. But the water cooler in the gym was old and disgusting with what looked like years of nasty hard water build up. BTW I went back to inquire some more on how Westin rewards for membership levels and the young lady with red hair had just about the same nonchalant attitude as Rene. I won't be back (no loss to them) but I'm sure the hotel will stay busy with conference and higher tiered guests that seem to be of more importance to them. I'll wait for the hotel's cryptic/standard response to my review (similar to their other responses) with no significant evidence of improvement or effort to effect change. $19.95 breakfast buffet and complimentary coffee in the lobby area between the restaurant and the bar.

That said, beautiful location by the water and convention center, nice for taking walks, restaurants within walking distance (be sure to stop by the gelato cafe). There's a tram/small rail car that can take you to major stops close to the area. The last stop is downtown and you can walk from there to university of Tampa or stoll along the Riverwalk. If management cares, they should look into hiring secret shoppers and improving the gym, pool, hallways and...