Westin Los Cabos Experience

[darius]

Everyone,

My family and I checked in to the Westin Los Cabos yesterday and am curious if any of you have any feedback/comments:

We've had many, many outstanding stays at Westin properties and maybe just was an isolated issue.

Few facts on our reservation:

- We are owners with the Westin Adventuras program, as well as Nanea
- 4 Star Elite owners, with ambassador status.
- We booked exactly 12 months ago to get the best "date stamp" and requested the highest possible floor.

When we checked in, we were informed:

- They no longer honor Elite status early check in at 2PM, because they no longer honor any (3, 4 or 5 Star Elite status). We were OK with checking in after 4pm.

When we got to our room:

- It was on the lowest possible floor
- Had no hot water (Maintenance did try and fix this issue, and found if you run all the sinks with HOT water for 5-10 minutes, the water becomes luke warm in the Villa)
- Had a strong mold smell (They had no fix for this, except a spray and confirmed the bad smell and reported it to management). This smell was so bad my kids and wife weren't feeling well from being in the room for only 30 minutes.

I went down to talk with the front desk about a room change, and was told that they had "ZERO" other villas available as they are 100% occupied - they also stated they wouldn't move me to Baja Point because it was over 90% full (he stated that if it was under 90% full he could allow the move). He also confirmed that 4 star elite doesn't have any benefits any longer as they do not participate in this program. I spoke with him for about 30 minutes, and he just would not budge on making any room changes and stated he could move us after 3 days (of our 7 day vacation) to a villa on a slightly higher floor.

The good news (and shouldn't have had to do this) one call to the Marriott Ambassador team and they IMMEDIATELY got us a room within literally 5 minutes. The team at Marriott also offered if the room change wasn't acceptable they would get us alternative accommodations (very kind of them). When we went to get our keys and move our luggage, the staff looked like they had some coaching and were in shock that our single phone call made a room "magically" appear.

My wife and I really appreciate the services from the Ambassador team, but had we not have the ability to contact that team we would have been very unhappy and really think the manager I spoke with should have been more upfront and worked with us without having to call Marriott. (I am going to get his name hopefully this week when I see him next time and will let our ambassador know - maybe he needs some coaching/training?).

We are going to do the owner update, and am very curious as to what they say about the Elite levels disappearing. My final questions/thoughts:

- Have any of you heard of this change?
- Any questions you want me to ask at the presentation? It might be pretty quick when they try to get us to upgrade to a 5 star elite when they no longer value that benefit, according to their front desk manager. (Hopefully it's just a training issue).
- Our new room is fantastic and are extremely grateful and appreciative we were able to move into another villa. It's a gorgeous resort and we are enjoying our vacation!

I'll update this post after our owner update next week and share the highlights.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

 

[CaliSunshine]

Following this thread as we are headed there Tuesday for our first ever timeshare presentation.

I know this is a busy week because of ski week and carnaval but that’s really not acceptable. Unfortunately they probably just turned around and gave that unit to another poor sod. :-(

 

[Cornell]

Good for you for making that phone call and getting the needed change taken care of. My question is -- what's the point of having Elite status if you aren't getting the benefits that were promised to you?

 

[PamMo]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (I've got 840,800 SO's, but all resale so I'm just a commoner in VSN), but I don't think early check-in or late check-out has ever been guaranteed for Elite members at Starwood/Vistana timeshares. Elite status in VSN is more geared to banking, points conversions, that sort of thing. Owning at the resort and time stamp are the main determinants for room assignment.

"Some benefits of VSN Elite, such as early check-in and late check-out, are subject to availability, resort and VSN Rules and may not be available at all 20 award-winning villa resorts within the VSN collection or to all VSN Elite membership tiers."


VISTANA SIGNATURE NETWORK (VSN) ELITE PRIVILEGES

THREE-STAR / FOUR-STAR / FIVE-STAR

Extended Period for StarOptions® Banking - Oct. 1 / Oct. 1 / Dec. 31
Reduced Fee for StarOptions Banking - • / • / No Charge
Convert to Marriott Bonvoy™ Points Each Use Year (Compared to non-consecutive Use Year conversion) - • / • / •
Extended Period to Convert to Points - July 1 / Oct. 1 / Oct. 1
Additional Rewards with the Friendship Rewards Program® (Standard Reward is 60,000 points*) - 90,000* / 105,000* / 120,000*
Third-party Guest Reservation Fee - $10 off / $10 off** / $20 off**
Points Conversion Fee Waived - / • / •
10% Premium on Points Conversion - / • / •
Priority Early Villa Check-in (2 p.m., subject to availability) - / • / •
VSN Elite Network Float Period Waitlist While Holding Prior Reservation (only available for StarOptions reservations – 8 months or less) - / • / •
Automatic Marriott Bonvoy™ Platinum Elite Status (Limit one per VSN Elite membership) - / / •
Platinum ConciergeSM Service - / / •
Priority Late Villa Check-out (Noon, subject to availability) - / / •

 

[pacman777]

Interesting that your Bonvoy Ambassador was able to do that for you even though it wasn't a Marriott hotel stay but rather a timeshare reservation. I'm Elite Ambassador status with Bonvoy as well (also Lifetime Titanium) and rarely use them for anything. They were a lot more responsive and friendly when it was Starwood (before Marriott took them over).

 

[Rman]

I think being what it is , in Mexico, they wanted a Benjamin Franklin bill , in their pocket for the upgrade and didn't think you would resort to calling the Marriott headoffice

That's just my opinion from what other resorts people have mentioned to me.

 

[CaliSunshine]

Interesting that your Bonvoy Ambassador was able to do that for you even though it wasn't a Marriott hotel stay but rather a timeshare reservation. I'm Elite Ambassador status with Bonvoy as well (also Lifetime Titanium) and rarely use them for anything. They were a lot more responsive and friendly when it was Starwood (before Marriott took them over).

It may be that the Ambassador rep knows which buttons to press and is less hesitant to unleash a string of profanities.

To get Ambassador status normally someone needs to spend 100 days a year at Bonvoy properties. Losing a customer like that over a bad room assignment would be really bad for the business.

 

[CaliSunshine]

I think being what it is , in Mexico, they wanted a Benjamin Franklin bill , in their pocket for the upgrade and didn't think you would resort to calling the Marriott headoffice

That's just my opinion from what other resorts people have mentioned to me.

Are we talking like the Vegas 20 dollar trick? Which has never worked for me...

 

[YYJMSP]

It may be that the Ambassador rep knows which buttons to press and is less hesitant to unleash a string of profanities.

To get Ambassador status normally someone needs to spend 100 days a year at Bonvoy properties. Losing a customer like that over a bad room assignment would be really bad for the business.

100 nights and $20K USD in annual charges. while timeshare stays do count towards the nights requirement, MFs do not count towards the spend requirement.

Bonvoy (hotel) status is supposed to be irrelevant to a timeshare booking. The only status that should matter in this case is VSE Elite (OP's 4 Star?). I do not see how the Ambassador rep could have intervened with any form of threat that could actually have been followed up on with regards to the timeshare booked room...

 

[YYJMSP]

Good for you for making that phone call and getting the needed change taken care of. My question is -- what's the point of having Elite status if you aren't getting the benefits that were promised to you?

which Elite benefit did the OP not get? upgrade to best unit with a view is not a benefit...

while I sympathize with the undesirable unit being allocated, and I would have asked if there is something better available and why was I assigned this particular unit given timestamp, etc, I would not assume my 5 Star Elite status entitles me to better automatically.

yes, it is generally bad customer service to not take care of the Elite members, but there may have been others who are higher in the priority list at this property at this particular time for some reason.

 

[davidvel]

which Elite benefit did the OP not get? upgrade to best unit with a view is not a benefit...

while I sympathize with the undesirable unit being allocated, and I would have asked if there is something better available and why was I assigned this particular unit given timestamp, etc, I would not assume my 5 Star Elite status entitles me to better automatically.

yes, it is generally bad customer service to not take care of the Elite members, but there may have been others who are higher in the priority list at this property at this particular time for some reason.

At least they got the benefit of not being in a room that causes respiratory distress.

 

[DannyTS]

Given that Marriott hotels and Marriott timeshares are 2 different companies it is interesting that your Bonvoy status was able to pull off what MVC-Vistana status could not. I assume that the Vistana staff are scared s$$t when they hear the name Marriott and it just did not realize the request was coming from the "wrong" company, they felt they had to please them or risk something, maybe even their jobs. Of course the bigger issue to me is why they told you there was nothing else available when it was not true.

 

[JIMinNC]

Given that Marriott hotels and Marriott timeshares are 2 different companies it is interesting that your Bonvoy status was able to pull off what MVC-Vistana status could not. I assume that the Vistana staff are scared s$$t when they hear the name Marriott and it just did not realize the request was coming from the "wrong" company, they felt they had to please them or risk something, maybe even their jobs. Of course the bigger issue to me is why they told you there was nothing else available when it was not true.

While they are indeed two separate companies, the fact that the Westin brand and Bonvoy brand are part of the branding for the Westin Los Cabos property means that even though they are managed by Marriott Vacations Worldwide, they are contractually obligated to follow Marriott International brand standards when dealing with Bonvoy members, particularly Ambassador-level members. Bonvoy members still get elite nights credit and Bonvoy points for on-site spend at Marriott/Westin/Sheraton timeshares, so it stands to reason that the Marriott Ambassador team would have some considerable influence on the properties, even though they are timeshare operations instead of hotels... i.e. don't screw with their best customers.

 

[DannyTS]

not only they are separate companies, it is written right on their site not to expect certain benefits:

"When renting at our 3 brands of ownership resorts, you are getting the keys to a Vacation Club Owner’s vacation home. As such, we are unable to offer some Marriott Bonvoy Member benefits that may be available at Marriott branded hotels. These non-offered benefits include:

• Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrades
• Late checkout
• Suite Night Awards
• Gift Shop Discount
• Guaranteed Room Type
• Marriott Bonvoy Events
• 48-Hour Guaranteed Availability
• Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
• Your24
• Instant Redemption Awards"

Marriott Bonvoy Member Benefits

Find Marriott hotels offering deals. Browse hotel deals and discounts to help you enjoy trip savings in the US

deals.marriott.com

I am sure Marriott Vacations Worldwide is paying a nice annual amount to Marriott International for using their name, buying Bonvoy points etc, it is nothing more than a commercial relationship and not one of subordination. Good business is to take care of both Bonvoy elite travellers and Vistana elite owners but it is rather clear that the resort was not under any obligation to change the room for either category.

If I were in charge at WLC and I had to please one group and one group only I would choose the Vistana elite owners any time of the day because they are my direct customers and also because they pay directly to me from their own pocket so they have full control. In the case of Bonvoy, many elite members acquire their status through work travel and they rarely have a say about the hotel chain their employer uses.

 

[YYJMSP]

As a VSE Elite owner, i would be ticked if Bonvoy Elite members were given priority over me for benefits on timeshare stays. With all other things being equal (ie Home Resort vs StarOptions booking, owned unit/view type, booking timestamp, etc) i would expect better treatment than a lower level of VSE Eliteness. Bonvoy Eliteness shouldnt even be considered.

however, on hotel stays at the timeshares (ie on bookings basically owned by VSE and rented out to Bonvoy members), Bonvoy Eliteness should definitely come in to play

 

[dsmrp]

What I find astonishing is the OP stated he owns in the Westin Adventuras program that was designed & sold for the Mexican Westin resorts. OP should have been considered an 'owner'. Owners shouldn't get such poor room assignments. So is this a data point that Adventuras doesn't mean much in Marriott's eyes?

 

[JIMinNC]

not only they are separate companies, it is written right on their site not to expect certain benefits:

"When renting at our 3 brands of ownership resorts, you are getting the keys to a Vacation Club Owner’s vacation home. As such, we are unable to offer some Marriott Bonvoy Member benefits that may be available at Marriott branded hotels. These non-offered benefits include:

• Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrades
• Late checkout
• Suite Night Awards
• Gift Shop Discount
• Guaranteed Room Type
• Marriott Bonvoy Events
• 48-Hour Guaranteed Availability
• Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
• Your24
• Instant Redemption Awards"

Marriott Bonvoy Member Benefits

Find Marriott hotels offering deals. Browse hotel deals and discounts to help you enjoy trip savings in the US

deals.marriott.com

I am sure Marriott Vacations Worldwide is paying a nice annual amount to Marriott International for using their name, buying Bonvoy points etc, it is nothing more than a commercial relationship and not one of subordination. Good business is to take care of both Bonvoy elite travellers and Vistana elite owners but it is rather clear that the resort was not under any obligation to change the room for either category.

If I were in charge at WLC and I had to please one group and one group only I would choose the Vistana elite owners any time of the day because they are my direct customers and also because they pay directly to me from their own pocket so they have full control. In the case of many Bonvoy elite members, they acquire their status through work travel and they rarely have a say in what the company does business with.

I think the discriminator in the OP's case may have simply been the advocacy provided by the Bonvoy Ambassador rep. I assume the legacy VSE Elite levels don't come with a personal advocate like Bonvoy provides to their Ambassador level. While I agree that the Westin Los Cabos should have given more weight to their own ownership levels than Bonvoy status, the fact that the OP had a Marriott International-level advocate probably made the difference. Sometimes "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."

 

[controller1]

While they are indeed two separate companies, the fact that the Westin brand and Bonvoy brand are part of the branding for the Westin Los Cabos property means that even though they are managed by Marriott Vacations Worldwide, they are contractually obligated to follow Marriott International brand standards when dealing with Bonvoy members, particularly Ambassador-level members. Bonvoy members still get elite nights credit and Bonvoy points for on-site spend at Marriott/Westin/Sheraton timeshares, so it stands to reason that the Marriott Ambassador team would have some considerable influence on the properties, even though they are timeshare operations instead of hotels... i.e. don't screw with their best customers.

I agree with @YYJMSP and I certainly hope someone from MVCI/Vistana is monitoring this board and some additional training is in the works for the Los Cabos staff.

IMO "their best customers" for timeshare rentals should be in this order:

1. Vistana 5-Star Elite
2. Vistana 4-Star Elite
3. Vistana 3-Star Elite
4. All other Vistana owners
5. All Marriott Bonvoy members (regardless of level)
6. Everyone else not covered above.

If the villa was rented as a hotel room through Marriott.com, and not a timeshare through Vistana, then Marriott Bonvoy elite status should come into play and be at the top. However, OP was staying as a timeshare owner. Yes, OP was not treated correctly but being a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador should have had absolutely no impact on the resolution. Being Vistana 4-Star Elite should have been enough!

 

[darius]

Everyone,

Just a quick update from Cabo here. I enjoyed reading all your thoughts/comments. Just a few more data points:

This is a home resort reservation, which was time stamped 12 months ago, and we are 4 Star elite. The rooms manager stated they no longer honor 4 star elite benefits, and the time stamp does not matter any longer either. This could be a training issue, but will ask in the owners update and will report back to everyone here. I really hope they didn't discontinue this practice as nothing is "guaranteed" it's nice to have some kind of status at these resorts.

Another manager followed up to make sure we were happy with the room and to confirm everything was OK now. She did comment that she wished that they could have handled this situation here on property without my phone call to escalate it. I explained to her, kindly - that we tried to work with the team on-site to no avail. We couldn't sleep in the room due to the major mold somewhere inside it and lack of hot water. For what it's worth, I did pass by the room yesterday and they did have maintenance in it (so i believe they are trying to fix the problem before letting another guest in the unit).

My wife and I feel incredibly grateful that the ambassador could help, but, again believe we should not have to have gone that far given that we did book this home resort reservation 12 months ago and have 4 Star Elite status. (And quite frankly, no one should be in a room with the issues ours did...)

 

[Travel1]

Wow...home resort reservation made 12 months ago and a 4 Star Elite member, I don't know much about Vistana, but given the criteria you listed, you certainly deserved one of the better rooms at the resort I would think.

 

[davidvel]

Everyone,

Just a quick update from Cabo here. I enjoyed reading all your thoughts/comments. Just a few more data points:

This is a home resort reservation, which was time stamped 12 months ago, and we are 4 Star elite. The rooms manager stated they no longer honor 4 star elite benefits, and the time stamp does not matter any longer either. This could be a training issue, but will ask in the owners update and will report back to everyone here. I really hope they didn't discontinue this practice as nothing is "guaranteed" it's nice to have some kind of status at these resorts.

Another manager followed up to make sure we were happy with the room and to confirm everything was OK now. She did comment that she wished that they could have handled this situation here on property without my phone call to escalate it. I explained to her, kindly - that we tried to work with the team on-site to no avail. We couldn't sleep in the room due to the major mold somewhere inside it and lack of hot water. For what it's worth, I did pass by the room yesterday and they did have maintenance in it (so i believe they are trying to fix the problem before letting another guest in the unit).

My wife and I feel incredibly grateful that the ambassador could help, but, again believe we should not have to have gone that far given that we did book this home resort reservation 12 months ago and have 4 Star Elite status. (And quite frankly, no one should be in a room with the issues ours did...)

Are their different tiers of rooms (ie categories), and you had a lower one?

 

[emeryjre]

In reading your original post, you said you are 4 star elite and have ambassador status. Are these levels of Vistana Signature Experiences ownership?

is the ambassador team you mention with Marriott or Westin (VSE).

I realize that MVCI owns Westin, but presume that Westin(VSE) still has a management team operating.

 

[DannyTS]

If I were VAC I would ask all travel agents to ad the same disclaimer to all the reservations:
"When renting at our 3 brands of ownership resorts, you are getting the keys to a Vacation Club Owner’s vacation home. As such, we are unable to offer some Marriott Bonvoy Member benefits that may be available at Marriott branded hotels. These non-offered benefits include:

• Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrades
• Late checkout
• Suite Night Awards
• Gift Shop Discount
• Guaranteed Room Type
• Marriott Bonvoy Events
• 48-Hour Guaranteed Availability
• Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
• Your24
• Instant Redemption Awards"

Too many negative reviews of the Vistana resorts actually come from travelers with Bonvoy status that are frustrated they did not get the perks they were expecting even if they admit the resort

 

[DannyTS]

I agree with @YYJMSP and I certainly hope someone from MVCI/Vistana is monitoring this board and some additional training is in the works for the Los Cabos staff.

IMO "their best customers" for timeshare rentals should be in this order:

1. Vistana 5-Star Elite
2. Vistana 4-Star Elite
3. Vistana 3-Star Elite
4. All other Vistana owners
5. All Marriott Bonvoy members (regardless of level)
6. Everyone else not covered above.

If the villa was rented as a hotel room through Marriott.com, and not a timeshare through Vistana, then Marriott Bonvoy elite status should come into play and be at the top. However, OP was staying as a timeshare owner. Yes, OP was not treated correctly but being a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador should have had absolutely no impact on the resolution. Being Vistana 4-Star Elite should have been enough!

I agree with the first part but I completely disagree with the second one. This is a timeshare, and the owners should have the first priority all the time IMO. If somebody books a couple of nights through Bonvoy at a Vistana resort, it does not seem fair that the owners who paid tens of thousands to purchase the timeshare and thousands of dollars annually would rank lower in priority. Again, two separate companies and this would be clearly against the spirit of ownership.

 

[YYJMSP]

I agree with the first part but I completely disagree with the second one. This is a timeshare, and the owners should have the first priority all the time IMO. If somebody books a couple of nights through Bonvoy at a Vistana resort, it does not seem fair that the owners who paid tens of thousands to purchase the timeshare and thousands of dollars annually would rank lower in priority. Again, two separate companies and this would be clearly against the spirit of ownership.

i would suggest that Bonvoy do whatever they want with the units they own and book during the home resort period, during which they are no different than any other owner, with the exception that are running a commercial business with those bookings (which we arent allowed to do). If they offer benefits to Bonvoy members in those units, go for it. As long as it doesnt infringe on my VSE Elite benefits. Effectively separate inventories.

when.they do the same during the SO period, well, they definitely get way more flexibility to bend the rental rules. Must be written in to their Club agreement. But then again, we get the ability to exchange to other units/views/durations/resorts, so some give and take is implied.

because inventory/booking is opaque to the owners, we will never know just how badly we are being taken advantage of...