Spacious Rooms and Lobby, Average Service, Bad Location
Written: Dec 05 '07
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Reasonable room prices, spacious lobby, nice rooms, free parking
Cons: Average service, bad location, no view
The Bottom Line: Good value for price paid, but an unspectacular W to visit.
|
|
|
| SimianFox's Full Review: W Silicon Valley, Newark |
The W Hotel Silicon Valley is one of the most spacious W’s I’ve ever stayed at, but doesn’t have the unique hipness and style that the downtown locations do.
Rooms
The standard rooms are a very nice size and seem to be about 30% larger than the W Hotel Sand Diego, 50% larger than the W Hotel New York, so even if you don’t get an upgrade, you still have good size room. The room was very clean with no flaws. I stayed in a suite on this visit (but have also stayed in a standard room) and it was very spacious. There was a nice low-profile couch, which also pulled out into a bed. I didn’t test the bed, but it seemed like a standard pull-out couch bed. The TV stand was positioned to section off the bedroom area from the living room area, along with a large 32’’ flat screen TV. The bathroom was very large, and included not only a shower, but also a tub separate from the shower. As always the W Hotel robes are very comfortable! As expected, the W Hotel Bed (or Heavenly Bed) was extremely comfortable and lived up to the standards I would expect at a W. Finally, the wet bar was fully stocked and it’s really nice having a sink there to mix drinks (without having to walk to the bathroom like at most hotels). Even though most people would consider this a minor amenity, I love having the wet bar! The only drawback to the rooms is that there is no view whatsoever. You are basically looking at barren pastures, the parking lot, or an office building.
Service
The hospitality here seemed average (3 out of 5 stars). I checked in around 5:00 pm and the guy at the front desk took forever (more than five minutes) to check me in. He seemed very confused regarding whether or not my room was ready. If I’m paying $200 a night, I expect my room to be ready two hours after standard check in time! In addition, the staff never said hello to me when I passed them in the hall or lobby.
On the other hand, the service at the restaurant and bar was much better and our server was very friendly and polite. The bartender seemed very nice too.
Amenities
The bar located in the lobby area is very nice and includes a small dining area. The menu in the dining area is designed mostly for trendy bar food. I ordered a hamburger, which was surprisingly good! The wine list is small, but adequate. We ordered two bottles of wine, and it seemed like every wine on their list was carefully selected because I don’t think there was a bad wine on it. The prices seemed reasonable as well.
The exercise room contains three or four treadmills and some exercise machines.
Style
Although it seems like they change the layout and decor of the lobby fairly often, it is always looks great, very clean, very comfortable and just a pleasure to hang out with friends in. The W Silicon Valley definitely does a good job making up for the horrible location by providing a stylish, spacious, and attractive lobby.
Location
The location is terrible. It’s basically out in the middle of nowhere in Newark, CA. I mean most of Silicon Valley is in a horrible, suburban location, but there are no restaurants within sight of this hotel.
Parking
There is a large parking lot and parking is free. No complaints here.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
SimianFox
|
|
Member: Pedro
Location: Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Reviews written: 70
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Conventional wisdom is overrated.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.