W Hotels at 15

[Keith009]

Great analysis on the W brand, now in its 15th year.

HotelNewsNow.com article

I wouldn't really say that it pioneered the hip hotel concept - that will always belong to Ian Schrager and the Royalton in NYC. It has however breathed life into the category and made the luxury hotel experience funky, fun and fashion forward. And for us fans - reflective of how we live our lives. Not just a hotel brand, W is a lifestyle.

 

[Simo]

Never stayed at W but will do it one day.

They look great.

 

[drron]

Though some of us dinosaurs just dont dig the letter W.

 

[Berlin]

I always liked the overall look and feel of the brand and their properties but nearly all my stays of late had been on the rather disappointing side: Starwood in my eyes now simply "milks" the brand due to the good reputation it has gained in previous years. There tends to be too little staff at hand and the staff you get is usually not well trained (give me a Westin any days over a W!). The "What ever when ever" almost always is an empty promise, on several occasions they couldn't even fix simple things for me. And for the properties- the old ones look pretty dated by now (there's only so many bright colored 90ies looking stripes one can endure) while some of the newer ones are simply faceless (The W Dallas, anyone- horrid!).

Saying all this- the fairly new "Andaz" sub-chain of Hyatt does all this right that W doesn't anymore, I only have the highest of praises for it and only hope they don't start milking this brand as well as soon as it takes off. There are only a few locations so far but in the ones where both brands compete (namely California and New York) I would choose the Andaz over a W any day!