Mar 22nd, 2012 at 2:00PM: The Internet has brought us many ways to research and book hotels at prices much lower than the hotels' published rate. Aggregate sites like Kayak and Orbitz give you the best available rate (BAR) without pre-payment on a specific hotel, while "opaque" sites like Priceline and Hotwire allow you to bid for a room below BAR but the actual property remains hidden until after you book and the purchase ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Westin posts
Find hotel deals with new booking site Guestmob
Mar 22nd, 2012 at 2:00PM: The Internet has brought us many ways to research and book hotels at prices much lower than the hotels' published rate. Aggregate sites like Kayak and Orbitz give you the best available rate (BAR) without pre-payment on a specific hotel, while "opaque" sites like Priceline and Hotwire allow you to bid for a room below BAR but the actual property remains hidden until after you book and the purchase ...Westin opens first hotel in Panama to the tune of $100 million
Feb 4th, 2012 at 1:00PM: Panama, ranked the number one travel destination by The New York Times and an emerging destination by pubs like Fodor's and Travel + Leisure, has just gotten a little hotter with the opening of its first Westin hotel.
The newly-opened Westin Playa Bonita Panamá is 20 minutes outside Panama City, flanked by both rainforest and beach. The hotel boasts 611 luxury rooms and suites, six ...Westin rolling out new gyms
Feb 2nd, 2012 at 4:00PM: It's time to get your workout on. Starwood Hotels and Resorts announced this week that they are revamping the fitness studios at its Westin-branded hotels. WestinWORKOUT fitness facilities at 186 Westin hotels around the world are getting new equipment and blue light therapy throughout the course of the year.
New equipment we can understand - after all, people are pounding away on the machines ...Starwood first to launch user ratings and reviews on its hotel websites
Oct 25th, 2011 at 1:00PM: Reader-generated hotel reviews - and the sites that host them - have gotten a bad rap lately. But, it's for a good reason. In July, TripAdvisor came under scrutiny when it was revealed that some hotels were paying TripAdvisor users to post positive reviews of their properties. There have also been concerns that hotel employees and management were posting positive reviews of their properties in ...Starwood makes checking in a social affair
May 11th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Starwood Preferred Guest, the rewards program for such brands as Sheraton and Westin, just took "checking in" from the front desk to the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. The hotel company is launching a new program with social media company foursquare to increase member benefits.
According to foursquare's blog, this partnership is "the first truly global loyalty integration of its kind," an ...Westin teams up with New Balance to give travelers a reason to stay fit while traveling
Jan 4th, 2011 at 1:00PM: It's getting a little harder to avoid working out on vacation. Westin Hotels & Resorts and New Balance have joined forces to empower travelers to stay healthy and fit when away from home by providing New Balance footwear, apparel and fitness program content at Westin Hotels worldwide.
During a pilot program in 2010, guests of 10 Westin properties were given access to New Balance shoes and ...Almost two-thirds of vacations canceled
Sep 13th, 2010 at 2:30PM: Being a working stiff blows. It's bad enough that two years of recession sorrows have forced us to "work smarter not harder" and "do more with less." Now, we're also turning our vacations into office time. A study commissioned by Westin Hotels & Resorts, based on 1,500 employed professionals, found that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) canceled their vacations this year. A third canceled their ...The Dealmakers' Ballroom: Pick the right lobby for your meetings
Jun 17th, 2010 at 3:00PM: If you want to hold a business meeting in a hotel lobby where you really don't have any reason to be, it's worth doing a little homework. Pick a hotel without doing a little reconnaissance, and you could suffer an embarrassing moment in front of a potential client or investor. You've worked hard enough for the meeting – and a faux pan may ensure that you won't get another.
Invest some ...The Dealmakers' Ballroom: Where the future is conceived
Jun 15th, 2010 at 3:30PM: The seeds of economic recovery will be sewn in the travel industry. No, it will not be the hotels that pump new jobs out onto the market, and it certainly won't be the airlines, which seem locked in perpetual battle against any positive influence the economy can have on them. Rather, the future will come from inside the hotels – specifically their lobbies. Historically, this venue has been ...Westin hotel to layoff employees after protests over pay cuts
Jun 12th, 2010 at 1:00PM: The Westin Hotel announced it would cut the jobs of almost 50 employees at its Providence, Rhode Island hotel. The layoffs come after several months of demonstrations at the hotel.
According to the Providence Journal, the hotel workers were notified Friday that their jobs would be farmed out to a subcontracting firm at the end of the month.
Demonstrations began in March when the 200-member ...New York City on a budget - is it worth staying in New Jersey?
Apr 14th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
This past weekend, I embarked on a journey I have often avoided taking: I went across the Hudson River and spent two nights in New Jersey. My goal was to determine whether or not staying in New Jersey is actually a smart, cheaper, just-as-good way to visit New York City.
My snobbish aversion to New Jersey is partially born of fear. I don't know how to "do" New Jersey, and everyone I know who ...Daily Pampering: Get a Running Concierge
Apr 13th, 2010 at 4:00PM: It can be hard to keep up with your workout regimen when you're out of town. The Westin Jersey City Newport has an extra special service to help you stay on your game -- one which is likely to be copied all over the world: The Running Concierge.
The Running Concierge is a free service for anyone who wants to go for a run during their stay. Yes, there are treadmills in the fitness center at the ...Westin and Amazon team up for co-branded storefront and bonus gift cards
Feb 22nd, 2010 at 4:30PM: Westin Hotels & Resorts have teamed up with Amazon to deliver the first hotel branded storefront for the popular online retailer.
Westin started selling its own merchandise ten years ago, and since then they have sold nearly 40,000 Heavenly beds, 100,000 pillows and more than 10,000 of their Heavenly spa amenities.
That kind of retail success is very impressive, and it makes sense for ...Preposterous PR Releases -- The humorous side of Frommers
Sep 1st, 2009 at 5:00PM: Here at the Gadling we get tons of press releases every day -- specials at all-inclusive resorts, sales on airfare, updates to the crummy menus at some crummy hotel in the middle of nowhere. Some we tune into, seeing the value or angle pitched by a team of savvy marketing gurus. And some, well, are just weird. It's easy to reach over and click the Delete button on gmail when you receive your third ...Aruba's Westin Resort offers $300 for your baby
Aug 29th, 2009 at 12:00PM: I can understand the idea of a babymoon, a vacation taken right before a new baby is born. Enjoying one last (for a while anyway) trip before your life becomes a crazy blur of diapers and late-night feedings almost seems medically necessary. But taking a vacation with the sole purpose of getting knocked up - a procreation vacation - well, that sounds a little too "desperate marketing ploy" to me. ...Inside Westin's new green hotels: element
Aug 10th, 2009 at 2:00PM: In today's hotel landscape, there are two types of green hotels: those that incorporate a few eco-nuggets to act green, and those that are truly, organically green. Westin's element hotels are the latter. Designed as a chic, modern competitor to Marriott Residence Inns, element hotels are longer-term properties that boast all of the amenities of an apartment while retaining the comfort and ease ...Can't afford a nice hotel in New York? Stay in New Jersey.
Jul 30th, 2009 at 5:00PM: You often hear New Yorkers joke that the best thing about New Jersey is that you can see New York really well from there -- well, why not take advantage of that? Luxury hotels in NYC are super expensive (really, all hotels are super expensive), so do what so many young families and artists in New York do when they get tired of paying prohibitively high rent: Head across the Hudson. In particular, ...The Westin does Angels & Demons in Rome
May 13th, 2009 at 5:30PM: Come out of hiding, closet Dan Brown fans. Come out of hiding and get thee to The Westin Excelsior in Rome! In conjunction with the release of the new movie of Angels & Demons, The Westin Excelsior Rome (above) has partnered with Sony Pictures to create a lavish Angels & Demons Experience package that will run until early 2010. The Angels & Demons Experience includes:
Luxury ...Berlin hotel offers bed, breakfast and a piece of the wall
Mar 1st, 2009 at 11:00AM: The Westin Grand hotel in Berlin has recently added a surprisingly creative package to their lineup of perks. Instead of the usual drab spa services, or package with a snack in your room, the Westin is offering guests the chance to stay at their hotel and take home a piece of the Berlin wall. Right in the main lobby of the hotel is an authentic piece of the wall, weighing in at 2.7 tons. Guests ...Mixing Business with Adventure
Feb 25th, 2009 at 8:00AM: The New York Times had an excellent article a couple of days back offering up some great tips on how to mix business and adventure for travelers who are frequently heading over seas for their jobs. Often times those travelers are short on free time, and may only be visiting a country for a few days, but that doesn't mean they can't take advantage of that time to still take in the local sights and ...
