This was a first for me: a W hotel! I was scheduled to present some research at a conference in Beverly Hills, so I booked the W Westwood.

It's in a residential-esque area near the UCLA campus (which explains the crowd that congregates at the hotel bar.) The W Westwood hotel is an all-suite property and I had booked an Urban Suite.

The design of the hotel is typical W style, very modern and trendy. The building itself looks older, but they did a good job renovating it. The grounds and pool at the hotel are also well organized. The Urban Suite was a decent size and accomodated a small bedroom and a sitting area with plantation blinds on the windows. It was clean and well-maintained, and had good lighting.

My one complaint: One night my room was particularly noisy, with hub-bub from the street and downstairs bar drifting up to my room. Even though I was a few floors up, I could hear it quite loudly until around 1 or 2AM. Maybe this is what you ask for at a W Hotel on the weekend! The other nights it was alright, though the windows were not the best at blocking out the street noise. If you stay here, try to get a room away from the street or a really high floor.

The service at the hotel ranged from acceptable to indifferent. I was not very demanding as I had a full social schedule during the conference. The staff around the pool seemed indifferent about keeping the hotel accomodating for all guests. They appeared to cater to the jet-setters: Twenty-somethings in the pools, the sniffy bouncer at the door to the hotel/bar in the evenings, and general urban snobbery of the hotel crowd. That being said, I received a warm welcome when I checked in and they took care of my request for a late check-out with a smile. So, I guess it depends who you interact with.

Posted at August 17, 2006 4:35 PM