This is an installment from the Trip Report The Southwest Companion Pass: Round 3 which began in April of 2015 and is continuing on till the companion pass expires.
The Preview
The Overview
I’ve stayed at the W in Hollywood, Midtown Atlanta, Seattle, and Doha. Besides the royal treatment in Qatar, I find myself questioning why I stay at the W branded hotels. While I love the SPG collection which includes two of the best hotels I have had the pleasure of visiting, the St. Regis New York and the St. Regis Mauritius, the W hotel pales in comparison in terms of service and quality.
Having lived in Scottsdale off and on for ten yen years, I am intimately familiar with the W Scottsdale both as a guest and as a pool/bar visitor. The staff is cold, rude, standoffish, arrogant, and unhelpful. Platinum status or peasant status, you too will head home outraged, by the pathetic level of service you will receive. I’m not sure why the employees are the way they are but if I had to guess then I’d venture to say that they play down to the level of their patrons. Friendliness and an openness to meet new people aren’t attributes of people residing in Scottsdale, present writer excluded.
The bad treatment starts with the valet who must think that the Rolls Royce and Lamborghinis in the parking lobby belong to him. The indifference continues as you make your way into the hotel with nobody bothering to open the door for you. Upon checking in, don’t expect eye contact from the front-desk staff. Upon arriving at your room, take note of the ugly color scheme of purple and teal and plainness of the room that inexplicably goes for $500 a night. If you do have a problem during your stay, skip calling the gimmicky ‘Wherever, Whenever,’ service as the staff will not care to help.
The only reason to stay at the W is to lounge at the beautiful rooftop pool, have some drinks, and make fun of the underemployed douche bags who go there to be seen and act cool. Even though the wait staff at the pool are attractive, don’t expect that to translate into charm as ordering a drink becomes an exercise in patience.
I used a platinum suite-upgrade award and received confirmation of the spa suite. The spas suite is exactly like the standard room except it is bigger and has a bath tub in the middle. The tub would’ve been a nice touch had it not been worn down and had the temperature handle not been broken. A convenient feature of the room is that it is located right next to the pool via a slide-door exit. The problem with this is there isn’t a way to lock the door rendering the feature useless. Finally, the A/C in the room did not work which constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in Arizona. Of course, when I told the front-desk the next day, they assured me that they would follow-up. I’m still waiting for that to happen.
All in all, I must enjoy being treated poorly because I continue to go back to the W. There’s just something about that pool that makes me feel like I’m home.
The Spa Suite
The Pool
<==Back to the Hyatt House Old Town – Onto Aloft Phoenix Airport==>
As a fellow (part time) resident of Scottsdale I echo much of your frustration with this property. You hit the nail right on the head that they “play down to their clientele.” Nearby Old Town suffers from the same infestation of douchebaggery that often frequent The W. The place is self sustained on unemployed 20 something’s borrowing daddy’s car for a Tuesday night on the town. With that said, if your in town for a visit and looking for some entertainment the area narrowly beats out the Zoo.
lol the zoo
“…and make fun of the underemployed douche bags who go there to be seen and act cool.”
That’s hilarious.
Sadly, it also describes far too many bars/restaurants in PHX, ATL, NYC etc…
Yes, I’m getting old.
lol we’re not getting old, let’s pretend that we never fit the description of the clientele