StarwoodGuy: November 2015

I just returned from a quick trip to Vancouver where I stayed at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre. Sadly I came back to the news that Marriott had agreed to purchase Starwood Hotels and the fate of Starwood and the SPG program is up in there air at this point. Over the next 6 months to 2 years we will likely find out more. It is pretty clear to those of us that love Starwood that the SPG program is a superior program with more benefits for Gold and Platinum members, including Platinum 75, Platinum 100, suite upgrades, Ambassador Service and much more but only time will tell if the programs become integrated or (hopefully) remain separate. In the meantime I am sticking with SPG.

On this stay I used a Suite Upgrade to guarantee a Suite. The hotel is undergoing much needed renovations to the South Tower which houses the Club Lounge, main lobby, and many of the suites. The Club Lounge itself is closed and a ballroom space is being used as the temporary lounge, with plenty of seating areas, a good food selection for breakfast and dinner, and helpful staff. I did not get as large a room as I typically get here, but many of the floors are completely closed down at present with the renovation work ongoing.

I had missed out on getting a congratulation gift for Platinum 100 on my previous trip due to an internal SPG error so I had hoped to see that here but sadly that was not the case. Outside of that everything was perfect. The first day we had quite a bit of rain but the hotel had plenty of umbrellas for us so we did a large walk around the SeaWall, shopped on nearby Robson St., and stopped for lunch. The front desk staff checked in repeatedly to make sure we had everything we needed, and again the Club Lounge offerings were excellent. The next day I had a workout in the good but oddly laid out gym with shared sauna, hot tub, and large indoor pool. The sun happily came out so we did a walk to the Aquarium in beautiful Stanley Park, with dolphins, penguins, seals, beluga whales and much more to see and do. On our way out of town we stopped by Granville Market, a must for foodies with a large selection to choose from.

Another great stay, I eagerly look forward to the hotel's finished product, especially since one of the two downtown Westin hotels, the Bayshore, will be leaving the group. Thanks to the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre for another great stay!

Sheraton Wall Centre Suite Bedroom

Sheraton Wall Centre Suite Living Room

Sheraton Wall Centre Suite Bathroom

Sheraton Wall Centre Suite Balcony

Sheraton Wall Centre Suite Living Area

Sheraton Wall Centre Club Lounge

Skating Rink on Robson St.

SeaWall

English Bay

SeaWall

Harbour, Stanley Park, and Vancouver Mountains in Background

Vancouver's Modern Skyline

Sheraton Wall Centre Club Lounge

Sheraton Wall Centre Club Lounge Offerings

Vancouver SeaWall

Vancouver Aquarium

Sheraton Wall Centre Exterior

Sheraton Wall Centre North Tower Exterior

Sheraton Wall Centre Suite View

Sheraton Wall Centre Suite Balcony

A few weeks ago I came back from one of my favorite holidays spots, Puerto Vallarta. The city offers a Sheraton close to town, the Westin at the Marina close to the airport, and the amazing St. Regis in Punta Mita, a secluded area around an hour from downtown Puerto Vallarta.

I typically stay at the Westin when I visit. The hotel has a large and airy feel, great rooms and amenities, and an amazing staff all for a very affordable price. Taxis or buses are an easy fifteen minute trip to downtown. The Sheraton is a little closer if you want to be able to walk into town, but it is much busier and has a pushy timeshare aspect. The St.Regis is amazing but it is isolated from all that Puerto Vallarta has to offer and the prices there have skyrocketed to above the average price for most other St. Regis locations.

We were upgraded to a Grande Deluxe Suite at check in which is split level and is one of the few rooms to offer in room DVD players. There is a secondary bathroom on the lower level along with coffee maker, sofa, television, and a patio with a hot tub, while upstairs there is the King bedroom, another coffee station, a secondary patio, and the master bathroom with both a shower and separate tub.

The Royal Beach Club or their version of the Club Lounge is on the 12th floor and offers a good breakfast and snacks and drinks from 5 to 8 pm at night. Angel who runs the Royal Beach Club is amazing, and goes out of his way to make you feel at home there. The hotel facilities are wonderful, with an above average gym and spa with separate men's and women's hot tubs, saunas, and steams. There are tennis courts, the marina golf course right next door, a good beach, and several beautiful pools. The beach service is wonderful as well with cabanas available right on the beach along with one set up for beach side massages. The marina is right there and offers popular restaurants and sports bars as well as a Starbucks and some shops. The Westin itself now has a Starbucks affiliated coffee shop next to the lobby bar.

I try not to go down to Puerto Vallarta until November, once hurricane season has ended, but this year I went down a little early on the 18th, unfortunately a little too early. By the 21st it was clear that Tropical Storm Patricia was headed in our direction. On the 22nd it had been upgraded to a hurricane and very quickly the media in Mexico and the US picked up the story. By the night of the 22nd the hotel had strongly suggested evacuation. The morning of the 23rd they told us to take the last bus leaving at 10:30 am. We debated about staying. A few others had decided to remain (they were later forced by the military into a shelter), but we grabbed two of the last seats on the bus and made the extremely slow journey to Guadalajara. With thousands of others fleeing what had become a category 5 hurricane and was now the largest ever recorded many tourists had panicked in their escape while the locals remained quite calm. It took 9 and 1/2 hours to reach Guadalajara in torrential rains with the streets clogged with cars and buses, twice as long as the typical drive. The drive even within the city was completely backed up. Fortunately not only had the Westin arranged the bus for us but they had also managed to get us a room at the Hilton, the Westin and the Aloft were already sold out with evacuees. It took about thirty minutes to get a room and then we quickly ordered room service, watched the news as the storm luckily turned at the last minute sparing Puerto Vallarta and we went to bed.

The next morning we were happy to discover that Puerto Vallarta had been almost completely untouched, the storm had hit Guadalajara worse. Many people were grabbing flights out to the US and Canada from there, but we decided to head back to Puerto Vallarta and to stay two extra days. Alaska Airlines had made flight changes free and easy making our extension an easy fix. Before we headed back to Puerto Vallarta, we took the opportunity to explore the historic downtown of Guadalajara, with its many churches and beautiful town square. The bus ride back was on Mexico's high end ETN bus with a packaged lunch, reclining seats, and televisions, an amazing way to travel for only $37.00.

Back in Puerto Vallarta the city was empty. The Westin gave us an upgrade to a Junior Suite and offered us an all inclusive experience. There was very little noticeable impact to the city, though the ocean was brown for around a day with quite a lot of runoff, there was a higher then normal tide with the Malecon being hit by large waves, and quite a lot of debris washed up on shore. Fortunately much better then what could have happened. As always it was a great stay, and the Westin took great care of us considering the difficult circumstances and rapidly changing situation brought about by the hurricane. The people of Puerto Vallarta were eager for everyone to know that the city is up and running and ready to welcome visitors.

I can't wait to get back in 2 weeks!