At Westin Desert Willow, did the Owner's Update

[djdavid79]

Great photos, thank you for posting! We've thought about driving down for a stay and it definitely looks nice.

 

[clsmit]

I really like the xeriscape in the desert (or as my FIL in Albuquerque used to call it, "zero-scape"). Much more in tune with the water needs. Except for the golf course, that is. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jarta]

clsmit, ... "I really like the xeriscape in the desert (or as my FIL in Albuquerque used to call it, "zero-scape"). Much more in tune with the water needs. Except for the golf course, that is."

Then, I'm sure you will be glad to hear the 2 Desert Willow golf courses that wind through WDW are owned by the City of Palm Desert. They were not developed by Starwood; they pre-date construction of WDW. The resort took its name from the golf courses.

I played one of the Desert Willow courses a little over a year ago. Played with a friend who lives in Palm Desert. He (and all Palm Desert residents) can pay $49 to play. IIRR, my greens fee was about $150 - which was a discounted rate, if you can believe that, negotiated by Starwood for WDW guests.

BTW, recycled water is used on the City's golf courses (you can't drink it) and one thing the Coachella Valley does know is how to conserve water. Despite being in the desert, an aquifer with plenty of water runoff from snow to help replenish it sits under the valley.

http://www.cvwd.org/about/waterandcv.php#where

Salty

 

[YYJMSP]

The resort took its name from the golf courses.

There's a plaque on one of the trees at the entrance that says the golf course and resort are named after the desert willow tree...

 

[Ken555]

There's a plaque on one of the trees at the entrance that says the golf course and resort are named after the desert willow tree...

Hehe :rofl:

Facts are wonderful, aren't they?

 

[YYJMSP]

The smaller side of the 2BR lock-off is larger than at some other properties. I would treat it as a small 1BR suite instead of a studio, as there is a separate living/dining area with a door to the bedroom area instead of being one large space.

The in-laws were complaining about the size of the bed in the smaller side -- it doesn't appear to be a queen, so I'm guessing a double?

The mattresses on the pull-out couches are among the thinnest I've ever seen...

The wired internet is awfully slow.

Just noticed (when it asked me to sign up again after 5 days) that the connection is 512Kbps up/down, which is pretty horrible.

 

[YYJMSP]

Hehe :rofl:

Facts are wonderful, aren't they?

Not just facts, FUN FACTS (according to the plaque...)

 

[Ken555]

Just noticed (when it asked me to sign up again after 5 days) that the connection is 512Kbps up/down, which is pretty horrible.

When I was last there the front desk was able to increase the speed to my room and I had a conversation with one of the managers who told me that the new provider (only a month or so servicing the resort at that time) was still optimizing the connection and would be increasing speed for all soon. By your post I can only surmise that was an empty promise. I was glad that they were able to increase the connection speed, though, and expect I'll have to go through that process again in future. These resorts need to understand that we require speeds similar to those we have at our own homes, and nothing less.

 

[YYJMSP]

When I was last there the front desk was able to increase the speed to my room and I had a conversation with one of the managers who told me that the new provider (only a month or so servicing the resort at that time) was still optimizing the connection and would be increasing speed for all soon. By your post I can only surmise that was an empty promise. I was glad that they were able to increase the connection speed, though, and expect I'll have to go through that process again in future. These resorts need to understand that we require speeds similar to those we have at our own homes, and nothing less.

I didn't think of asking them to increase it.

I don't expect what I have at home (100Mbps), but at least 10Mbps should be the norm. The 1/2Mbps that they have is kinda ridiculous.

 

[Kildahl]

We're at WDW this week.

We arrived just in time on Sat for the "cold" weather (low teens = mid-fifties), but it's warming up now (high teens = mid-sixties), and looks like it be back to normal tomorrow (high twenties = low eighties).

As some people have noted, don't trust your GPS to find the address -- it takes you up in to an Intrawest property where the road stops at a gate instead of coming through to the WDW property in the distance.

The property is very nice looking, definitely different than Westin Mission Hills. Much more deserty.

Got a nice welcome present -- a little wooden case with 6 or 8 types of nibbles in it (nuts, chocolates, dried/candied fruits, biscuits, etc).
We're in building 3, 2nd floor. The new construction is in the building next to us -- they seem to have pretty much finished the exterior, and we've seen lots of workers going in. We can't hear any real construction noise inside or outside.

The common facilities look brand new.

Our unit is showing some small signs of wear-and-tear already -- scuff marks on the baseboards (from vacuuming I suspect) on the mantels (people using them for coffee tables?) and in the kitchen (glass top stove with scratches on it, sink has some scratches in it, etc).

Some people have commented that the units are dark. They definitely don't get direct sunlight coming in, but I didn't find them that bad.

The smaller side of the 2BR lock-off is larger than at some other properties. I would treat it as a small 1BR suite instead of a studio, as there is a separate living/dining area with a door to the bedroom area instead of being one large space.

The larger side of the 2BR lock-off is a pretty decent size. The layout in general is the same as Westin Mission Hills.

The wired internet is awfully slow.

We attended the Owner's Update today. Offered 5,000 SPG points. Looks like they were giving out 10,000 SPG points to non-owners.

As always, we find the sales people quite disorganized. They really should have a printout of your "portfolio" before you arrive, instead of first going "oh, you already own, oh, you own here, oh, you own a few other locations, oh, you're 5 Star Elite" and then going off for 10 minutes to get a printout.

The rep asked how we used our ownership, and just general chit-chat. She talked about the changes in the SPG program as of Mar 1st. She realized quite quickly that there was no opportunity to sell us anything. She eventually went off to get the supervisor to present pricing, etc, which lead to another 10min wait.

The supervisor was quite pushy (surprise, surprise) in trying to sell something/anything. The offer was $20K for a WMH EY Gold season ("only one left!"), or $15K for a WDW EOY Platinum season. 60K bonus SPG points, plus 4x options to purchase 80K SPG points at $1550ea in the next 2 years. As there wasn't sufficient new incentive to purchase, and some of what they were saying made no sense in our reality (only on Planet Salesperson), we passed.

We heard the term "Ten Star Elite" for the second time now (both partners each being Five Star Elite) in the last year and a bit.

I expressed some concerns about the "devaluation" of the SPG Platinum feature of Five Star Elite membership as of the Mar 1st changes in the program.

I asked about future construction. Supposedly they're putting forward a new proposal for WKORVNN for 2 years from now. There is no plan to start construction at Aruba, but they may extend the hotel? They're continuing on at WDW.

I was going to ask about the reservation / allocation process for units at WDW, but figured that these were not the right people.

Just saw your report- thanks.
Heading out as guest of an owner next April. We attended their update and it developed much as yours did. One exception- our benefactors were offered a much better deal on a WMH unit which they were going to take UNTIL the sales Supervisor entered the room. His attitude killed the deal. I actually felt bad for the sales person. Do you recall names?

What are the new units selling for? They must be for sale by now.
Thanks, Kildahl