Future W Hotels (and Retreats and Spas)

[KeithMEL]

I liked it as a W, not so much as Blue... I feel it's lost its personable edge since changing hands...

A W would be better located where the Establishment hotel or The Blackett Hotel are..

Yeah it's lost the edge in service and that general Whimsical feel in terms of service. And the concierge has also become less resourceful and not nearly as approachable. The hardware is still the same though, and it seems all they've done is pull down the W sign and remove all W branding. Food at Otto and the bar are still noice.

[Gunnar Smithsen]

Agreed - but this is what makes W's, W.

[jhm]

I just noticed that the W London-Leicester Square is taking reservations - the first night being Fri 1 Oct. I've made a booking for now.

[KeithMEL]

I just noticed that the W London-Leicester Square is taking reservations - the first night being Fri 1 Oct. I've made a booking for now.

Ahh... my new base in London. I'll have to wait till they load BARs for my dates.

I'm excited about Starwood opening so many Ws and new style "LM100" Le Meridiens across Europe. Now something in Madrid would be nice. I don't mind even a regular, clean line-modern Westin there -anything would be heaps better than that crumbly old Westin Palace (which used to be a Luxury Collection apparently, which would explain a lot).

The one I'm really looking forward to is the W Seminyak in Bali - it'd be the most accessible W to Melbourne yet, great for Weekend trips.

[MAN Flyer]

I think the W in Manchester has been put on hold or even shelved.

[KeithMEL]

I think the W in Manchester has been put on hold or even shelved.

Seems like it. It's no longer on the whotels.com directory, and the latest information I can find about it dates back to the initial press release in 2008.

[9V-JKL]

I think the W in Manchester has been put on hold or even shelved.

Seems like it. It's no longer on the whotels.com directory, and the latest information I can find about it dates back to the initial press release in 2008.

I guess KeithMEL is not going to visit MAN Flyer at all then

[KeithMEL]

I guess KeithMEL is not going to visit MAN Flyer at all then

He'd probably be away flying somewhere if/when I do set foot in MAN.

[jhm]

I think the W in Manchester has been put on hold or even shelved.

That decision always struck me as weird. A cosmopolitan world city like London - of course! - but a little provincial town somewhere up north - you must be having a laugh!

[KeithMEL]

That decision always struck me as weird. A cosmopolitan world city like London - of course! - but a little provincial town somewhere up north - you must be having a laugh!

*orders popcorn*

[B727]

The W Retreat & Spa is very similar to the other W hotels, but more laid back & a resort feel to them. W Maldives is the only one at the moment if you want to see it on Youtube, but there are are others on the way, inc Bali

I'm here in Bali and hearing of the W project in Seminyak being stalled

[jhm]

I'm excited about Starwood opening so many Ws and new style "LM100" Le Meridiens across Europe. Now something in Madrid would be nice. I don't mind even a regular, clean line-modern Westin there -anything would be heaps better than that crumbly old Westin Palace (which used to be a Luxury Collection apparently, which would explain a lot).

I just stayed in the Westin Palace Madrid last weekend. I feared the worse but was pleasantly surprised. Upgraded to what they called a junior suite but it was fairly spacious (with separate living room and bedroom), had lots of lighting (I dislike gloomy hotel rooms) and the furnishings were not too old. It had a B&O sound system (with not only a CD but also a cassette player! ).

The central location is great being very near the museums (e.g. the Prado) and the nightlife areas (bars, restaurants, tapas etc). It felt perfectly normal (and safe) to stroll out after midnight for dinner and drinks (along with everyone else) and come back in th early hours of the morning (unlike, e.g., the Park Hyatt in IST who were a bit taken aback to be asked where to get a drink at 1am!).

EUR 2 for a Metro ticket from the airport to Banco Espana requiring 2 line changes (watch out for the numerous pickpockets) and from there, it's just a 10-minute walk to the hotel.

I just noticed that the W London-Leicester Square is taking reservations - the first night being Fri 1 Oct. I've made a booking for now.

I read on TOF that the opening has been delayed until Q1 or even Q2 next year but my reservation for 1 Oct is still in the system (although for some reason the e-mail address had been changed to ubslugano@hotmail.com ?!?). I wonder when they'll let me know...

[KeithMEL]

http://www.businesstraveller.com/asi...ater-this-year

This seems to have slipped by. W Taipei opening in Dec 2010. Very short lead time from announcement to opening, rather unusual for Ws of late so I suspect this isn't a new build.

OH and I were thinking of going back to Taipei for Easter 2011. (though the W Seminyak sounds really good also, hmm...)

[KeithMEL]

I read on TOF that the opening has been delayed until Q1 or even Q2 next year but my reservation for 1 Oct is still in the system (although for some reason the e-mail address had been changed to ubslugano@hotmail.com ?!?). I wonder when they'll let me know...

Not surprised RE delayed opening (been delayed since Q2 this year I believe ). I hope you don't turn up to a construction site! I don't feel so bad giving London a miss for our end of year vacation now.

[MAN Flyer]

Flying into Athens last week we flew in across the bay and did a left near the Astir Palace complex in Vouliagmeni that has the two Starwood Hotels we stayed in last year. The new W they are building at the tip of the peninsula seems to have come on a bundle since we were there last summer. It is slated to open in April next year.