Westin, You're Coasting Into My Heart in Costa Mesa!
Written: Mar 11 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Heavenly Beds, next door to world's best shopping...
Cons: Parking is expensive.
The Bottom Line: Great location, friendly staff and comfortable rooms- need I say more?
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| BeastieGirl's Full Review: Westin Costa Mesa |
Having stayed at the Westin Costa Mesa once before, I was excited to learn that the Epinions Southern California Meet & Greet was going to be held there. I booked a room and informed my husband that I was dragging him along too. He is also a huge Westin fan (I think it’s the Heavenly Beds) and heard no complaints the entire stay. For convenience in the greater Orange County area, there is hardly a better location as well.
Location and Check In
First of all, the Westin Costa Mesa is located directly across the street from one of the best shopping malls ever, South Coast Plaza. There is a walkway that will take you across the street without even having to worry about traffic. Also within walking distance is the Orange County Performing Arts Center, making the Westin Costa Mesa the perfect place to stay after attending a performance.
There is a large parking structure right next to the hotel, where self parking is a whopping $18 per night. Valet parking is also offered at $25 per night. If you have a super nice car, they will park it right outside the hotel for all to see, such as the Maserati, Mercedes SLK 500 and other luxurious vehicles. Bellmen and porters were readily available to assist as well.
I found entering the hotel a bit odd, as the doors pretty much walk you directly into the hotel/lobby lounge. Several kiosks serve as the front desk and although they were kind of small, the service was big. We were taken care of right away and given our room keys without any ado.
Guest Rooms
For both of my stays at the Westin Costa Mesa, I had a king sized bed and was not overly impressed with the size of the room. Usually, at most Starwood properties, by being a Platinum elite member, I get room upgrades. I don’t think that I was upgraded at all, as the room seemed to be a pretty standard guest room, very similar to the one I had two years prior. We did stay on the Starwood Preferred Guest Floor, which allotted us two free bottles of water, certainly a perk. My daughter immediately spied the dry-goods items from the mini-bar, which although appealing, were immediately removed from three-year old eye level and placed behind the TV.
Our guest room had two sitting chairs and a small table, as well as a long desk/dresser/TV stand. The desk area had a comfy office chair, good lighting, a power strip located right under the desk for easy access. The flat screen LG television was also a nice touch, with full cable channels as well as pay per view movies. Although the room was not as small as some hotels I have stayed in, when we requested a roll away bed for our three year old, we had to do a little furniture shuffling.
The bed was uber comfy, as I always expect Westin’s Heavenly Bed to be. With super soft and thick linens, down duvets along with a comfortable mattress, I always get a good night’s sleep when I stay at a Westin. Even the roll away bed had nice sheets and a down duvet. Our little girl slept soundly the entire night.
The Heavenly Bath was a nice feature of the room, with a curved shower rod, a double headed shower, plush towels and a thick bathrobe, I was thoroughly pleased. Everything was very clean and well maintained.
Hotel Features and Amenities
The reason for our hotel stay was the Meet & Greet with Epinions, so I did actually get to experience the meeting rooms, which were nice, clean and well maintained (as the entire hotel was, really). There was plenty of meeting space, with two levels of meeting/banquet rooms. There was even an outdoor terrace area that looked quite nice, located next to the pool on the second floor.
The outdoor pool was heated and there were several people swimming around, although it was not that warm out! I didn’t see a hot tub outside anywhere, which I thought was a little odd, but there was plenty of nice seating with lounge chairs surrounding the rather large pool area. The fitness room was located in a separate building from the main hotel, which looked over the pool. I wish I could say that I dragged myself out of bed early on the first day of daylight savings to experience the fitness room first hand, but alas, I cannot.
There was a business center located off of the lobby and had two computer terminals and an office sized copier/fax machine. Wireless Internet access was located throughout the hotel for a fee, but with my new handy wireless card, I didn’t think twice about paying the ugly hotel fees.
Dining
The Lobby Lounge served light snacks and cocktails, the perfect place for gathering after a lovely dinner at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Pinot Provence, which was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and quite frankly, delicious. There were also several other local restaurants where as a hotel guest, you could sign charges to your hotel room. These restaurants included Morton’s Steakhouse and Claim Jumper. South Coast Plaza also houses plenty of dining options, from Ruby’s Diner, Vie de France and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, with everything else in between.
Overall Experience
Certainly in as nice of a location as the Westin Costa Mesa is, high prices do not surprise me at all. Although I have stayed at other hotels where I thought there was more value for the price paid, I was pleased with my room rate (a sneaky $126 per night) and didn’t feel as though I was nickeled and dimed to death either (except for the parking, kind of). For a day of shopping or spa services in Orange County, this is a great place to stay. The hotel is happy to arrange transportation to local areas (which include John Wayne Airport and my personal favorite… Disneyland…). The staff was super friendly and helpful, which makes me not hesitate to recommend the Westin Costa Mesa.
Recommended:
Yes
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