I took a cab from YVR to the Westin Grand at around 11:45pm on 4/11. The cabride over took about 20 minutes and cost $25 CAD + tip. You arrive at the belldesk area which requires you to actually take the elevator up one floor to the actual check-in desk.

Check-in was an absolute breeze - very friendly staff, recognized my Gold status and gave me a complmentary upgrade to room 2700 - a 1-king bedroom deluxe suite with a view of False Creek and the B.C. Center. Great nighttime view in my opinion! The suite was small, but was one of the best Westin properties I have ever stayed at. The living room included floor-to-cieling windows as did the bedroom which were seperated by a very small hallway and doors. The bathroom had a DEEP soaking tub and a seperate walk in shower. The suite was nicely furnished -very modern & comfortable. The kitchenette was hidden away by what seemed to be tall cabinet doors. They opened up to reveal the sink, dishwasher, toaster, microwave, flatware & tableware, and coffee maker. Very impressive and an excellent use of space.

The room service staff was wonderuful and genuinely friendly. The food was delicious. Even the burger & fries were to die for - perfectly cooked & purposefully seasoned - just great.

The staff were all very hepful - I can't say enough about how responsive they were to an air conditioning issue that I had which was resolved very quickly end effeciently. Great service.

The location is wonderful - right at the edge of Yaletown. One should be warned, however; that there are many construction projects going on (for the 2010 Olympics?) which includes two specific build sites adjacent to the Westin. The weekend was quiet as construction was halted, however; Monday morning we could hear and see jackhammers, cranes, dumptrucks, and backhoes working from fairly early in the morning until the evening. From my Suite 2700, the noise wasn't so terrible, but those staying on the lower floors might beg to differ. Vancouver is a small city (compared to my home Los Angeles) and is quite easy to get around on foot, by bus, cab, or ferry. The hotel is on the edge of Yaletown and I really did not have any concerns for my safety at all whilst I was walking in the area at all times. The only time I felt semi-uneasy was when I was walking near Chinatown at night which really isn't in the best neighborhood, but still it's about a 15 minute walk northeast of the Westin.

I would definately recommend this hotel to couples looking for a classy, yet understated Westin with very modern but never tacky decor. I just loved it and will definately return next time I am in Vancouver.

I chose two hotels in Vancouver, at pretty much the same rate on Expedia: the Sutton Place for my trip out, and then the Westin Grand on my way back. The Sutton Place won the contest hands down, even though I had a standard room there and a so called "deluxe suite" at the Westin.

The Westin Grand is tall, new, and oddly shaped. The lobby is not on the ground floor, resulting in a rather unimposing street entrance that one could easily miss. I entered round the side where the cheerful and friendly valet parking ($20 + tax a day for hotel guests) and bell boys hang out.

The lobby is accessed by a fairly long flight of stairs up, which are a bit knackering after a day trudging round the city, although there are elevators further into the building. The lobby itself is sort of like a modern gentleman's club only with no seating: just some rounded off corners, dark wood, a bit of marble, a bit minimalist. There's a restaurant/bar (Aria) on that level which had an interesting looking menu but there was noone in it. Check in, yes, again, it was OK but not awesome, as the Canadians like to say. Efficient but not over friendly.

My room, an end "deluxe corner" suite on the tenth floor, was very weirdly shaped and I still can't decide what made it deluxe exactly (given all the rooms at the Westin are meant to be suites). There was a tiny entrance area with a closet and a tiny kitchenette consisting of a toaster, a microwave, a dishwasher and the ubiquitous minibar fridge. There was also a small ration of free Starbucks coffee and some paper Starbucks cups.

Then there was the sitting room, which had a sofa/pull out bed, a desk, and a TV. The TV however was located opposite a blank wall, not the sofa. We thought that was extremely weird and uncomfortable, but later realised the room was so narrow that there wouldn't be space to pull out the sofa bed if the sofa faced the TV....

The bedroom... on the small side, not much space to move around. The queen sized bed was comfortable and had nice Westin linens. The TV had that very annoying thing where every time you turn it on you have to go through a promotional hotel rigmarole where they tell you about the bed you're sleeping on and all the movies they want to sell to you, before you are able to just tune in to plain normal telly. Also I noticed there was no CD player or DVD player: not even the clock radio could play CDs. Given how cheap these items are these days, I think four and five star hotel rooms should have them as standard (the Sutton Place does....)

Wireless internet: all their hotel rooms have it, and it is a reasonably quick speed, but they make you pay $14.99 plus tax per 24 hours. If you want to surf, I recommend any Blenz coffee shop - there's one on every corner virtually - where wireless is completely free.

Bathroom: connected to the entrance area and to the bedroom which is nice if you have a someone using the pull out bed in the living area. It was a little poorly lit but quite nice, with an unusually big deep bathtub for North America, and plenty of big towels, but the shower took some figuring out. Amenities - just Westin label shampoo, conditioner, soap which were not replenished- were OK, nothing special. But big plus point: there was a proper detachable hairdryer, not one of those awful tiny things chained to the wall that you all too often find.

What else?
I didn't use the pool or fitness room facility on the third floor although I did look at it. The fitness room was on the small side, accessed via a room key. Not many weight machines but the treadmills all did have personal TV screens which was neat. The (absolutely tiny) pool and hot tub were outdoor ( a bit alarming for Vancouver...) surrounded by grey concrete and some sad looking planters although there was promising looking steam coming off both in a very un-environmentally friendly way.
The hotel offers a limited menu of "spa" services in a small locked treatment room, but for the prices they charge I would advise visiting another hotel with a proper spa facility (eg the Sutton Place or the Fairmont) if you are in the market for that sort of thing.

Airport pickups: the Vancouver airport shuttle service does not drop off or pick up at this hotel. Instead you need to walk two blocks away to another hotel - or get a cab, which is about the same cost if there's two of you.

Service
Sub par. Bellhops aside (they are the best thing about this place) I thought the service was not great. Having been told that all we needed to do to set up the pull out bed was to ring the instant express service button (otherwise known as front desk, I suspect) to ask someone to come, whatever the hour, we did so at 11pm. At 11.45pm, we were still waiting. At 11.50pm I rang again. "Someone will be right up, madam." At midnight, someone arrived, but without any pillows or blankets, two essentials which were missing from the room which I'd specifically asked for on the phone.

Example two. We asked the concierge for a sushi recommendation. She sent us somewhere twenty five minutes walk away, and when we got there it wasn't even open.

Example three. My final bill included mini bar beers and sodas that my companion and I most definitely did not consume. Then they argued with me about who else might have drunk them. The bill also did not include all three days I'd ordered wireless internet, and when I tried to point this out, the front desk person was quite abrupt in telling me the billing computer never made mistakes.

Example four. What kind of Canadian hotel does not have pancakes and maple syrup on the breakfast menu? This one!

Small things I know, but rather annoying and not really good enough.

Lastly, a word on location. Some people say the location of this hotel is bad. I think the only reason the location might be bad is if you have lost all use of your lower limbs (in which you have my sincere sympathy) or if it is raining cats and dogs and you truly cannot afford the $4 cab fare to anywhere else in downtown Vancouver or Yaletown. The location is FINE. The Westin is on Robson St, which has hundreds of cool shops and eateries mere staggering distance away, and it is within spitting distance of loads of civic amenities like BC Place and the Art Museum and Crepe Express. I'd rate the location as much better than say the Pan Pacific or the Westin Waterfront or the Hyatt, and darn nearly as good as the Hotel Vancouver or the Sutton Place.

One of the best hotel...Love it.

Me and my family had an amazing time on this hotel.

The service is top notch.

I will stay there again definitive.

I find that this hotel is quite money hungry. I had a reservation for a queen bed, but I wanted two double beds instead. When I called the hotel to change this, they insisted I pay $20 more for the upgrade. Most hotels don't charge for the change.

So when I checked in at the front desk, the lady clerk (Thuy) was not nice at all. I asked her if they have two double beds for the night, she said they were sold out. She said there was queen bed with a sofa bed, but I had to pay $30 for the upgrade. I said forget it it, and then I asked can I get a balcony, she said we have to pay $56 for a balcony!! come on!! it was my birthday! She even mentioned a $30 extra person charge if I had two or more people in our room. There was only two of us clearly at check-in. I wasn't having any more people in my room!! I would have noted that in my reservation.

So I asked if I could get a higher floor at least?? She said she couldn't unblock the rooms because there was a family coming and they want to stay on the same floor. I was very unhappy with her attitude. She was like a road block, she just wouldn't budge at any requests.

Most Starwood properties don't even hesistate when it comes to litte things like that. I've been to the W hotel in Seattle, and they upgraded me to the top floor with no hesitation!! Regardless Starwood property or not, I've always had most of my requests fulfilled at non Starwood properties. I'm not a rude or even demanding person, I've worked in the hospitality industry for 5 years now, and I know what the staff has to go through.

The bellmen and valet were very nice at check-in. Since the lady desk clerk said the hotel was very "busy and booked" I asked the bellman what time he was working until, I assumed late because it was booked solid I was told.........he said he was going home early because the hotel wasn't busy!!

Me and my friend headed down to the hotel restuarant. We also had a very bad experience. The drinks were great, but the food was overpriced and portions were small. My friend ordered fish, but it wasn't even cooked, she threw up after the meal. I ordered risotto, and it had way too much cheese and no flavour at all. The bread was cold and hard. At the end of the meal, the server wrote the tip down herself on the credit card slip and expected us to sign!!!!!!! Can you believe that?? The service was great, it wasn't like we weren't going to tip her! I've worked in restuarants when I was younger...geez...I know how it works. I always tip good service, regardless of the quality of food. I tip the percentage that I want to tip, not what the server "expects" me to. We were only a party of two, not a party of 8 or more, which most restuarants automatically calculate 15% on your bill if you have a large group. Not in this case!

During the evening of my stay, they wanted to send me a birthday ammenity (a piece of cake which I thought was very thoughtful), but they said they couldn't deliver it to me because I had a do not disturb sign on my door while I was out. Excuse me? I never put that sign on my door. So I asked for it in the morning, half an hour later I waited, and still no birthday ammenity. Okay fine, I was ready to checkout, so I called for a bellman and a luggage cart....an hour later....no one came up....

If you have kids, there is a stocked minibar, so be aware! I asked if someone could come to my room and clear/take away the mini bar, and guess what?? It costs $25 to clear the mini bar. I'm not even using it and they expect me to pay $25 just to clear their own snacks and drinks?!? Ridiculous.

There was also someone else's room service tray left outside our door, and it was never cleared. It sat there from dawn to dusk. The shower curtain and couch was stained, and the garbage cans in the room had no plastic bags lined.

The only thing worth mentioning or giving praise to is Chris, the night auditor. He treated us like human beings and politely asked how our evening was. He engaged in conversation, and made us feel welcomed. Props to Chris! It's the litte things that count, even a quick hello makes you feel appreciated.

I would not stay here again. Don't assume that if a hotel is rated four or five star that you will automatically get good quality service. And don't assume that nice decor and ambience makes up for the service.... Do your research before staying at any hotel....