Maybe I should join the staff and take a Prozac
Written: Oct 04 '04 (Updated Apr 02 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Large & Stylish Rooms, Great Bathrooms, Comfy Beds, Great Pool Area
Cons: Overly Styled Public Areas, Lacking a Full Service Restaurant, Prozac Addicted Staff
The Bottom Line: A fine 3-1/2 star hotel, that's just missing a few essentials to break into the 4's. But I'd stay here again.
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| nvherron's Full Review: W Silicon Valley, Newark |
The Hotel: W Suites Silicon Valley - Newark...
The W Suites Silicon Valley-Newark is located in the Suburban East Bay City of Newark near the shores of San Francisco Bay and the onramps to the Dumbarton Bridge. The hotel name bills itself as being in the Silicon Valley. The hotel is located in a high tech business park that includes Sun Microsystems, so the Silicon Valley title really isn’t a misnomer, but don’t accidentally think this hotel is in San Jose/Santa Clara. That’s 20 minutes away (in good traffic, of course).
The “W”, not to be confused with the President of the same name (hahahaha), was built in 2000 in a style that escapes me. I will describe it as French Mansion a la Modern. It’s 5 stories tall and built in a “U” shape around a pool courtyard. It is covered in white stucco with double-hung windows and contrasting gray shade awnings. Gray spanish tile roof and ceramic tile bands complete the look. Not really like anything I’ve ever seen, but quite attractive. Very unassuming, and not reflective of the boldness found inside. Complimentary self parking surrounds the building (but no valet).
The Welcome: More candles than a Cult Convention...
Welcome Ratings: Curb Appeal = 4 Stars; Interior Design = 4 Stars; Staff Quality = 3 Stars
The Porte Cochere entry is small, barely fitting two vehicles at a time. No bellman or valet desk. I thought this was a 4-star hotel? Oh well! For evening arrivals, there’s a projector system that projects a fashionably lit “W” on the entry sidewalk, with subtitle “Wonderland.” Which is W’s slogan. That’s different, but not quite necessary. To go into the lobby, you negotiate the revolving door. I love watching my kids fumble through ‘em. I am smiling just thinking back on it. I bet other patrons were thinking, “Oh no, here come the Clampetts!” Strike up the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies, please...
The lobby is dimly lit and high on fashion. Feeling of a modern and intimate boutique style hotel. But there are lit candles everywhere. Immediately on the left is the front desk. However, front pod stations would be more accurate of a description. Each ‘pod’ is black and stainless steel with an acrylic blue top that is lit from underneath. Behind the two ‘pod’ stations at the reception is a wall of river rock cut through and planted on the wall with only their profiles visible, then water trickling over them in a fountain wall effect. A large stainless steel “W” protrudes from it. Very unique, kids loved it. Here we were checked in quickly and efficiently. The staff were helpful…but something was odd. At first I thought they were stuffy, but I don’t think that’s accurate. More like they were devoid of personality, kind of like being on anti-depressants. It’s not as bad as that might sound, and I think that’s what they’re going for. Seems to match the personality of most Yuppies I know.
Immediately across from the front desk is the elevator lobby, and beyond is the “Living Room” and the W Cafe & Bar. Floors are Natural Bamboo with area rugs sprinkled liberally throughout. The modern style is carried throughout with wild, yet practical furnishings and lighting. Bold colors and patterns. Quite tasteful, but dimly lit. Lots of trick low voltage lighting round here. Enough seen here, so we’re off to our suite.
The elevators are nicely sized, tastefully decorated, and again dimly lit. They whisked us up to the 5th floor quickly. Corridors are much brighter lit than the rest of the hotel, but are not brightly lit by any stretch. They are decently wide and finely decorated in a modern style. It’s a good walk to our suite, and around the corner.
The Room: A Studio Suite that Your Mamma Would Hate...
Room Ratings: Bed = 4 Stars; Bedding = 5 Stars; Design = 5 Stars
I opened the door to our Suite, and I was quite impressed. Sparkling clean. There’s a nice bamboo floored entry with a galley on the left with black wood cabinets with sink, refrigerator/mini-bar, snack station, plates/utensils, microwave, coffeemaker and misc. accoutrements (like wine bottle opener). This area opens into a nice little parlor with a work desk, stylin’ chair, PC printer and a sitting area with a comfy modern styled purple velour loveseat and contrasting armless gold sitting chair. Throw pillows are black mohair. Black and white photos adorn the walls. There is a small double-hung window with cool floor to ceiling purple and tan drapes hung on a substantial curved stainless steel rod. This hid a view of the Pool Courtyard below. The Bedroom to our Suite is open to the parlor, separated by an offset wall and a swivelling TV/VCR.
The Bedroom area housed a King Size bed with a bright marine blue duvet cover and mounds of fluffy luxurious pillows. The headboard is a dark, dark cherry that appears black. It runs floor to ceiling behind the bed. The bedstands are integral to the headboard…and get this…are on hinged wings. I know it’s hard to picture, but follow me here…you can grab the nightstand and fold it toward the bed and it closes in toward the bed, the whole headboard is hinged. You can turn it a full 90 degrees. The nightstand even has extensions built in it. I know, you have no idea what I’m talking about. It’s quite nifty, though (oh yeah, and there’s a CD player there too). The bed was very nice. It’s a super supportive mattress with a wonderful feather bed over it. This is covered in high thread count sheets that were very soft, and a fluffy down duvet. It was super clean and high quality. Right on par with other Starwood beds like the Heavenly Bed and Sweet Sleeper. I give it a 9 out of 10 rating. What did we do before the hotel bed revolution? I never want to go back!
The bathroom is right off the bedroom and is definitely on the larger side for a hotel these days. It’s laid out in a residential style with small closet (with small safe) and a nice built-in dresser wardrobe in the entry, opening into a room with a tile and glass shower enclosure next to a separate tub. There is a toilet in an alcove and fantastic modern vanity/sink. This sink area is definitely the focal point of this room. It’s solid obscured green glass with a stainless steel bowl and wall mounted fixtures. High end and modern accessories are used throughout and finish off this space nicely. There was a waffle-weave bathrobe hanging for our use (better quality than most in this segment). The floor was a neutral earth toned tile, with small inlaid blue tiles, with an iridescent sheen to them. There were ample supplies of complimentary Aveda bath care products. The cobalt blue drinking glasses were a nice touch. Even the bath mat on the floor was superb, soft and absorbent. Located in a nice labeled cloth bag on the vanity is the hair dryer (no cheesy wall-mounted unit here).
We had a two-bedroom unit, so additionally off the parlor was a separate small bedroom with a full-size bed, sitting chair and it’s own bath. This is where the kids slept. It was done in a similar modern style and was great for them. The bed just as comfortable, the bathroom just as finely decked out with it’s own bathrobe…only thing missing was the separate shower. I was told that the standard one bedroom suites are like ours, except they just do not have this extra separate bedroom, so you can ignore this part.
The Grub: Where’s the Room Service, doc?
Food Ratings: Restaurant = 4 Stars; Lounge = 4 Stars
On-site dining consisted of the W Cafe & Bar, Room Service and the now defunct Kobaltblu. After a long day at the Great America Theme Park, we returned to the “W” to order a room service dinner. We were all too tired and surly to go out to a restaurant. We settle into our suite and dig up the room service menu. Only burgers and one nightly special entrée. Huh? I thought this was a 4-star hotel, and I remember reading about the W’s Kobaltblu restaurant online. But then I found a letter from the General Manager explaining that due to demand, all on-site dining will be done through the W Cafe (which is really nothing more than a bar), and the Kobaltblu restaurant is no longer operating. And, in fact, there is no room service, but the Cafe can arrange delivery to your room for a fee. WhatEVER! So I look back at the menu, and I really don’t want to go out. Burgers start at $10 and everything is a la carte. I look further, and these burgers sound really good. Black Angus beef, served on baguettes, with exotic cheeses, etc. OK, I’m intrigued now. I call to order…after a $70 order for burgers/sandwiches, they want a $10 delivery fee! ARGH!!! I tell them not to deliver, and I got redressed to go to the bar downstairs for pickup. I’m fuming at this point because I wanted a real dinner, and I think having real room service at a 4-star hotel is not that unreasonable of a request.
I go down and pick up the order and bring it back to my starving family. Well, we unpack the burgers and the onion rings and the steak fries, etc…and WOW! These were no ordinary burgers. They were hands down the best we’ve ever had. OK, so they redeemed themselves. Fries and onion rings were really good too. Now I think the kids think they’re entitled to gourmet burgers. Too bad, Dad really likes In-N-Out. However, I still cannot get over the fact a place like this doesn’t have a real restaurant nor real room service.
The Relaxation: The Piece de la Resistence!
Recreation Ratings: Pool = 5; Fitness Center = 5
One of the crowning pieces of the “W” is the pool area. It is laid out in an attractively landscaped courtyard with palm trees and sand. Totally surrounding the pool deck is sand. The nice wooden lounge chairs are set in the sand. The sand is quite a cool feature and adds a whole new dimension to the pool area. There is a nifty fire pit on one side of the pool, that’s lit up at night. There are two canvas tent cabanas, one with lounge chairs in it, and the other with exercise equipment. Now that’s cool. The spa tub was large, and was quite relaxing after our weekend of playing hard. We used the pool early in the morning with fog rolling in from the bay. The pool was steaming and was heated to the perfect temperature. Swimming in the fog was a lot a fun, and just added to the whole experience.
The Verdict: High on style…lacking substance...
Grades: Market Percentile = 100%; Class Percentile (Upper Upscale) = 95%
My final summation to the whole experience is…fairly good. This is a hotel that could be 4-stars, but just misses the mark. Maybe a good motivational speaker could do the trick with your staff. But it wasn’t just the staff, it was also the clientele. Maybe I’m just a naive Rural Nevadan and just don’t get all that Urbanity. Oh well. I’d stay there again when in the area. I need more Starwood points anyway.
Robert Herron
Fernley, Nevada
e-mail: general@herronweb.com
Hotel Dork Reference Section:
- W Silicon Valley Official Website: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/search/hotel_detail.html?propertyID=1300
- Priceline Info: 4 Stars, San Jose (Newark/Fremont) Zone
- 172 Suites, Never Renovated
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
nvherron
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Member: Robert Herron
Location: Fernley, Nevada, USA
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 40 members
About Me:
The Hotel Dork is back home for awhile. Tired of jet setting for the moment.
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