July 2014
The Westin Sydney is a few minutes walk from the Martin Place train station. The Westin, part of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program, is a category 5 hotel and was 12,000 points per night during my stay. One benefit of the program is that the fifth night is free on award stays. So I took advantage of this benefit and booked 5 nights for 48,000 points, which I obtained by signing up & spending on the SPG American Express card.
Since it was only just before 10 am & check-in wasn’t until 3 pm, the room was not ready. I don’t have gold or platinum status with SPG so I wasn’t expecting to be able to check in early.
My cousin (who I was traveling with) and I left our luggage and walked about 10 minutes to the Circular Quay, home of Sydney’s most famous landmarks–the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
At around 2 pm, we headed back to the hotel. Our room was ready and they had nicely already delivered our luggage. We took the elevator up to the 6th floor. I found the room very impressive. It was large & comfortable. The Westin “Heavenly Bed” definitely lived up to its name.
The bathroom was also very large, with a separate toilet room. There was only a glass wall separating the bedroom and bathroom, but there was a shade to pull down for privacy.
Unfortunately, this hotel is in a business district area, so there was no view of Sydney’s lovely harbor.
Ultimately, I had no complaints about this stay. Redeeming points was a great value, especially since the hotel was $500 USD per night during my stay. A 5-night stay would have been $2,500. That why I love points and miles!
