There’s no question that the Westin Denver Airport is a top 5 airport hotel in the United States, behind probably the Grand Hyatts at San Francisco and Dallas-Fort Worth airports and perhaps alongside or even a little bit ahead of the Westin Detroit.
I stayed recently and wrote about my rather bizarre check-in experience where a front desk agent scolded me for using the elite check-in line, claiming that the sign for the elite line really just meant that they have elite guests at the property. Okey dokey.
Everything else about the stay was pretty good. The location is unbeatable for late arrivals and early departures. Walking time from room to the farthest airline check-in counter is about 10 minutes. You’ll easily save an hour roundtrip compared to an off-airport property.
In exchange for convenience, cash rates can run hundreds more than Tower Rd / Gateway hotels. You’ll do much better with corporate rates. Points here used to be a value, but they fluctuate too now with room rate as with the rest of the diminished Bonvoy program. Still, you can generally top off a 35,000 point annual credit card certificate and that’s not a bad use.
I was ‘upgraded’ to a Deluxe room and though suites were available I didn’t argue. Elites aren’t actually entitled to those anymore, anyway.
Rooms are modern and clean, and I found soundproofing to be excellent with really no aircraft noise to speak of. There are also good blackout shades.
One caution, though: plaza visitors can see into lower-floor rooms. Close the curtains if you’re on floors 8 or below facing the plaza! Don’t forget the United Airlines pilot arrested for exposing himself to the TSA checkpoint while getting ready.
The bar in the lobby was attractive, though I didn’t sit. Reports are that they offer a decent selection and can be pricey. Room service is available late. The hotel’s coffee shop opens at 5 a.m. which is great (all hotels should have coffee available early). There’s also a 24-hour gym as well as indoor pool and hot tub.
The agent checking me in offered points or breakfast, and she was shocked I didn’t just take the 1,000 points. I inquired about the details and was told it was a $25 credit in the hotel’s Grill & Vine restaurant. In fact, it’s $25 per person and was asked how many people there would be. I said two.
The breakfast was quite good, though the credit was a little bit confusing. The credit is supposed to cover an entree plus coffee or tea and “entree enhancements, upgrades, and sides are available ala carte” (i.e. not covered by the credit). So it’s not really clear whether it’s $25, or or if you could choose the $28++ steak and eggs? Or why if you chose toast instead of coffee that wouldn’t be covered?
I ordered the burrito and the server explained that if I wanted it with meat that was extra. However, he rang me up as two people instead of one and said it would therefore be covered. My breakfast voucher said two on it, since I was asked “one or two for breakfast?” when I opted for breakfast at checkin. I was told there was no check to sign and the certificate covered my order (tax and gratuity, therefore, included).
After breakfast it was back to the terminal, which is a big mess landside with poor checkpoint signage.
The wait for CLEAR was minimal. Oddly CLEAR waits have been far better than they were months ago, where frequently they were as long or longer than just queueing for PreCheck. Now it’s almost always a time savings, and that’s been the case in Austin, at Washington National, New York JFK and elsewhere the past few weeks also.
Nice burrito, Gary, regardless of the meat, or lack thereof. Besides, even if it’s just ‘beans, beans, the magical fruit…’
Looks like a cool hotel! Say…I can’t see a mini fridge in the room photos. Do you remember if there was one? A hotel fridge is something I use a lot!
The Marriott IAH attached to Terminal C at Intercontinental is consistently a very good property, readily accessible, with a decent restaurant and a great M Club that serves a full buffet breakfast including an omelette station. Having stayed at both the Westin DEN a couple of times and the Marriott IAH at least a dozen times, I’d take the Marriott IAH any time. And it’s generally half the price of the Westin DEN. And in inclement weather, while you have to go outside to leave the Westin DEN for the terminal, the Marriott IAH is connected on the lower level (and there’s a tram stop going to all 5 terminals)
They had Gary when they started coffee at 5 haha
Looks like a really nice place, too bad it’s a Marriott!
How can you not mention the IHG Intercontinental @MSP as in the top five? They even have their own TSA from the hotel to right inside the airport if you have carry-on only. Stunning rooms as well.
It very well may be a “Top 5 Airport Hotel.” It is also a completely inappropriate design compared to the rest of the airport terminal.
@bzv I thought the TSA check in at the MSP IHG is currently closed.
@ Gary — Yeah, but it’s Marriott. Yuck.
Going to disagree with you Gary about CLEAR @ DEN as it’s my home airport.
They are still a mess and 90% of the time it’s faster to just do precheck.
This may change in the next couple of weeks as the new eastside security opens up. In any case with the chronic train issues it’s still an overall unpleasant airport.
I frequently ask my Uber riders what the unusual shape of the hotel suggests to them. Some of the answers that I have received are: bow tie, mustache, sunglasses, cruise ship, and my favorite — a whale’s tail.
“the sign for the elite line really just meant that they have elite guests at the property”
Nice to know that they allow reservations for elite guests. The way Marriott is moving I wouldn’t bet much that such stunning generosity will continue.
@Christian — It really is odd; like, is Marriott attempting to enforce some sort of egalitarianism on the masses, or… are they just lazy. “There’s one line, and we really just don’t care!” Hmm.
This hotel is a design disappointment! Ruined the view of beautiful DIA! Author seemed to struggle to find any greatness.
The CLEAR lines have been moving faster than usual as most CLEAR members have had their identify documents/info scanned to take advantage of CLEAR plus. That was leading to excruciatingly long wait times and very often pre-check was much faster instead.
@Baron — I was talking with a CLEAR agent over the weekend (at MCO), and they said it had been a ‘rough’ couple of weeks since the REAL ID took effect, as they/TSA had to manually re-verify a lot of members. I was noticing for the past two months, I’ve had to show my ID much of the time, even though I’ve had a REAL ID, and re-verified everything. Kinda like going through a spat of ‘SSSS’ on international flights returning to the USA. Like, what ‘list’ am I on…
We literally stayed there on my 85k cert a week ago and had to remind my kids not get out of the shower and go stand in the windows facing the runway with nothing on. Even the 11th floor you could see in and I knew the pilot story.
Place was very quiet and convenient for our overnight layover and 6am flight and TSA Clear at the west side was fast. But I’d never pay the 479 cash rate they wanted.
I like getting a late flight into DEN, staying at this hotel, then an early morning drive up to the mountains. Kind of an iconic hotel, in all honesty.
@Anthony — That is an iconic trip. Always better to drive I-70 westbound well-rested. The only issue is that rates at this Westin have been astounding lately. Used to be more reasonable, but just looked at this Friday, 83K points or $500+ cash rate. Used to be closer to $300, or able to use 50K certificates here with relative ease. Oh well, inflation, I guess. And they haven’t renovated since 2015, probably due for an overhaul.
@issacm @bsv It was open last week and had precheck and it ruled. Limited early morning hours, but less than 3 minutes. There’s a walk if you don’t want to take the train but it’s in the top 5 no doubt.