I have returned home from my weekend in Las Vegas. I came into this experience with an open mind after I had received your email. In that email, you told me that you were going to make it your personal challenge to make sure I would want to return to the Westin. Let me be honest, there were some things that were not at all acceptable to me.

First of all, service in the slot area - We could never get a cold drink.

2. The slot machines were continually jammed or wouldn't take our money. It got so frustrating always waiting on someone to come fix our machine. At one point, my husband had to have the girl come back to the same machine twice to get his ticket out and I told her that the machine next to that one would not accept money. She told me that there was nothing she could do that the tech would be there in 20 minutes. I find it hard to believe that in Las Vegas every casino would not have a tech on duty 24/7.

3. On Saturday, we got up early with the intentions of sight seeing then coming back to the pool to relax for awhile before going to dinner. It was so hot and we were really anxious to get cooled off. When i got to the pool, I was furious and quites honestly, from that point on, I was ready to go home. I have never seen a pool so tiny. There was no room to sit or to even get in the pool for that matter without being right on top of someone. I didn't expect for it to be exquisite however, I did expect for it to be at least a regular size swimming pool.

4. I found no difference between a regular room and my "deluxe" room. Again, the description online doesn't really tell the truth. It suggested that we would have complimentary snacks and drinks and a hair dryer. I asked for those items. I did receive the hair dryer but that was all. We couldn't even use the refrigerator for the drinks we purchased because it was locked.

5. Our bathroom was extremely dusty. The towels were placed under the sink and you could see the thick dust as you used the commode.

6. On Saturday evening, I checked my account summary. It showed the fees that we had discussed and that you so kindly waived. Well, yes, they were on there. I called the front desk and the girl told me that they would be taken off after they posted that night. Well, when I got my statement that morning, my credit card was charged. I again called downstairs and told her that I was not to be charged and that there was a copy of the email you had sent me there because I had talked to the girl the night before. She put me on hold for about 5 minutes and came back and said they would take care of it. i told her that I must have a new statement showing that my account had been credited and nothing was due. She said ok. Well, about 10 minutes later, a lady from billing called and said that everything was taken care of . I thanked her and told her that I need a new receipt. She told me that the computer wouldn't print one because nothing was due. I told her that I had to have one showing my credit card being credited back and one showing that I did not owe anything even if she had to just type something up. I finally did get receipts. I tried to use express checkout and it said I had to go to the desk downstairs. I went down and they just said ok. Now, why couldn't I just check out?

As for the walk to the strip, it was much farther than I anticipated. The picture of the rooms online at least showed a beautiful view of the city and we certainly did not have that either. The beds were extremely comfortable but that was the only good thing I found at the Westin. It certainly is not a 4 star hotel. Perhaps if it was in a location, it would be considered 4 star.

Booked by our agent and was very pleased. Basic rooms but good location. Breakfast buffet is a bit of a bun fight and a very small area considering the size of the hotel. Had to send my coffee back 3 times due to milk being off but staff were apologetic. Free drinks from 5.30 to 7.30 but kept being pushed back into a holding area to drink them, felt a little pressured. Nice nibbles to with them though.

We "won" the Westin on Priceline as a 4 star hotel on the strip. Just so you know this hotel is not on the strip. It is about 3 blocks back from staying on the strip. You have to walk through a lower income area to get to the strip. I felt a little uncomfortable with the walk since I had my mother and grandmother with me. The lobby looks like a Westin, there is a small smoke free casino that is nice if you don't feel like walking down to the strip. It is the trip to the rooms that you notice that this is not a Westin Quality. The carpet is dirty and worn there are tears all over. The room was ok. It felt dirty even thought it wasn't. The view was of a vacant lot with lots of machinery. The issues started happening when my mom called me and said there was a cockroach on the floor in her bathroom. She wasn't upset just a little suprised to find that at a Westin. It wasn't until later that night when she called me saying there were bugs in the bed. I am not an expert on bugs, but she is a retired military nurse. So when she said they were crabs, well I believed her. I did see little bugs on the sheets that were moving around when she showed me. Now the only way crabs get there is that someone infected with the STD slept in the sheets and they did not change or wash them. I talked to the manager at the desk and he apologized. He moved them immediatly to another room, not a better room just another room. He said to make up for the inconvience they could have a meal at the diner or something from the bar. I was very upset by this time. My mom said to let it be and we will have a dinner before our show that night. We went to the Sude and everyone ordered dinner with soup along with a $26 bottle of wine for the table. We charged it to the room thinking it would be comped when we checked out. During check out we were handed a bill for the dinner and I explained that the manager on site said the dinner was comped due to the inconvience. The manager that had said this was off that day and the new manager knew nothing about the incident. I was told "This is Vegas and everyone is trying to get one over on us" and he would not comp the charges. Even with pictures and verification from head security guy that was on scene to prove there was an actual incident. So now we are out money for the dinner and my mom at risk of having an STD from sleeping in the contaminated sheets. Not to mention she has lupus and this will compromise her immune system. I am done with the Westin from now on. I wish I could have written a better review for them.

From the moment we checked in for four nights to the moment we checked out we were 100% happy with the Westin. Every single employee we encountered was polite, helpful and eager to please. We had 3 rooms reserved and each one was clean as was the hallway on our floor. We left a request for the maid (with a $5 tip) for more shampoo and towels and not only did we have our request fulfilled each day, she straightened our shoes too! We felt pampered and appreciated. Our children are young adults who took advantage of the "happy hour" every day with free beer and unwind massages. The staff was always smiling and consistently asked us if there was anything we needed. There are two points I want to address- first, the location of the hotel. Many were upset because they found out the hotel is not DIRECTLY on the strip and they were expecting a huge property like other mega casinos on the strip. But you can see the strip from the hotel- its only a block away! This is our 19th trip to Vegas and we have stayed at just about all of the mega casinos. We liked the Westin because it didn't have the shoulder to shoulder crowds, the beds really are heavenly and the staff was so likeable. We had other family members staying at Paris, New York New York, Caesars Palace and Trump Tower who came to the Westin to meet up for various excursions ( because it is centrally located- another plus) and they all said the same thing- what a cool, quaint casino and hotel. They ended up hanging around gambling and most had good luck. It was nice to get away from the crowds and retreat to the Westin (many other comments say the same thing). The black jack dealers were funny as hell and we enjoyed many laughs(thanks "Heather"). We also "discovered" Ellis Island Casino from others comments and we had a blast going there. The $4.99 steak and egg breakfast and the $6.99 steak dinner were a huge hit with all of us.
Second, I want to address the resort fee. We flew Delta and for the first time we were charged $15 per bag each way. Family members who stayed at Trump Towers told us they were charged a $15/day resort fee and they don't even have a casino or restaurant. I think this is becoming a sign of the times for many businesses, not just Westin. We used their parking, we used the pool, we used the workout room and we enjoyed the daily happy "unwind" hours so I must say I didn't feel cheated. I still feel I got a great deal even with the resort fee added on.
I saved the best for last. I had the pleasure of meeting Erin Padigos, the service express manager for the Westin. She was so sweet, kind and helpful that I just wanted to give her a bear hug for all she did for us. All the employees were wonderful but she was "extra-special."
So if you will be staying there go in with a positive attitude and give them a fair chance. They deserve it.