Being a longtime Starwood fan outside of the US, I was very disappointed by the level of service and general condition of this hotel. It's stunning the difference between a Westin in the US and one in Asia.
1) We arrived around half past noon to check in and fortunately had to rush to a Cubs game. The room was not ready, and the staff promised to ring us when it was. We did not receive a call until about 6pm -- which is pretty unacceptable.
2) When we checked in, we were told about the "green" initiative whereby guests are credited extra Starwood points if they opt out of having their room cleaned. The check-in staff clearly stated that were we to decide we wanted our room cleaned on a specific day, we could just ring guest services to arrange it. After the fourth day, we rang guest services to request a room clean. Ten hours later, it had still not been cleaned. When I rang downstairs to enquire about it, I was told then that if I wanted the room cleaned, I would not be credited the extra Starwood points. Again, this was unacceptable on two fronts: 1) We had been misinformed at check-in, and there was no apology. 2) There was furthermore no acknowledgement that they should not have presumed that I wouldn't have wanted to scrap the extra points. They should have contacted me about it first instead of waiting for me to ring them.
3) The porters were very unfriendly to anyone who appeared "foreign" but smiled readily at all the Caucasian guests.
4) The room--which was on a Starwood Preferred Guest floor--was a very good size and had very nice northern views of the Lake Shore Drive.
5) The room temperature was difficult to control. Admittedly, the major heatwave had just kicked in, but even so the a/c never seemed to do the job properly.
6) The bathroom had no ventilation fan so even warm water would generate steam. It would remain damp for hours.
7) The doors are extremely thin. A family with very noisy young children were staying across the hall, and in the mornings it sounded as though they were in our room.
The best part of the hotel was its location. You're at the top of the mile-long shopping strip, and buses are easy to catch for the immediate surroundings like Millennium Park or the Art Institute (w/one of the most underrated collections of American oil paintings).
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