I am a little more than disturbed that W Hotels, which are fewer stars than the Fairmonts and the classic luxury hotels of this world, have become more expensive…in some cases, 2x more expensive.
I have stayed at a W (years ago, when the price was lower…I think it was priced in between a ‘Travelodge’ and a ‘Fairmont’), but I don’t understand why this is the case. Has it changed that drastically? Do they truly offer that much more? I’ve stayed in several ’boutique’ hotels over the past year and love them with their white comforters and their dark furniture, but I have only stayed in them when the price is reasonable.
Anyone?
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I’ve stayed in W hotels in New York, San Francisco and Chicago (all on business travel) and they’ve always been pretty good, far preferred them to the other hotels we had on offer. Good rooms, great beds, lots of nice touches. They’ve always been on par for prices as well, nor sure what’s going on here.
I think you’ve caught them on a bad/full day — I think that’s reflected in the particularly rate. But they are more definitely a lot more expensive than Courtyard or even Hyatt.
Speaking of Hyatt, I normally detest the Hyatt brand of hotels, but I have to say the Montreal Hyatt was the only Hyatt I’ve ever stayed in that I liked. The service was warm and friendly and the location (depending on what you are going to do) was pretty good.
Due to the shape of the hotel they also seemed to have a number of rooms that ‘only’ had a double (rather than queen) bed were a little smaller than usual Hyatt’s and as such were a pretty good rate. I don’t know exactly as I wasn’t paying and didn’t make the booking.
So if you’re looking for a hotel in Montreal, check out the Hyatt.
Back in 2000 when I worked for NYC-based web development agency Oven Digital, our contract to redesign the W Hotels website (which I was not involved in) caused us to be invited by parent Starwood Hotels to pitch them on taking over the online presences of all their brands (which I was involved in). At the time it was clear that W Hotels’ prime asset was cachet. Now that cachet is an even bigger market than it was then (another bottle of Cristal, please, and never mind that I’m too drunk to taste it), I’m guessing that W Hotels has managed to retain, and perhaps increase, its cachet and is cashing in on that. And when a product/service is bought not for its good value but for its cachet, a price increase (without a corresponding improvement in the product/service) can actually increase the demand for it. We’re currently living in a bubble economy where a lot of money is being thrown around, and such distortions are frequent.
The price quoted for the W Montreal is very high. I stayed there on business two weeks ago and it was $219 a night for their mid-sized room.
Your paying for the image + a good bar. The featherbeds and down comforters are also nice. There are lots of people who will pay more for less at the W!