Review: Westin Warsaw

Ben Schlappig
Published: July 13, 2014
Updated: August 7, 2020
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Last January I had a quick overnight in Warsaw, and stayed at the Hotel Bristol Warsaw, which is a Starwood Luxury Collection property. It was a bit “shabby chic” for my liking. In other words, it was old world without having much of an updated feel to it.

This time around we were in Warsaw for two nights, and the Hotel Bristol was roughly twice as expensive as the other Starwood options (Westin and Sheraton), which made the choice easy. So we ended up booking the Westin Warsaw, which was about $100 per night.

After a bit of a kerfuffle at the airport, we took a taxi to the hotel, which took about 15 minutes. One of the cool things about Warsaw is that the airport is really close to the city.

The hotel was modern both inside and out, in stark contrast to the Hotel Bristol.

Westin Warsaw exterior

Westin Warsaw atrium

Reception was located inside the lobby and to the left, where we were promptly assisted.

Westin Warsaw lobby

Westin Warsaw reception

The friendly associate quickly checked us in, and offered:

4PM late check-out for both rooms
Complimentary internet for both rooms
Club access for both rooms
A Platinum welcome amenity for both rooms

One room had been upgraded to a deluxe suite. This was all without asking, which is rather rare at Starwood properties, in my experience.

Westin Warsaw lobby

Speaking of the lobby, one totally random thing that impressed me was that they had complimentary coffee, orange juice, and croissants near reception in the morning. That’s something I really appreciate, especially when it’s before the club lounge or restaurant open, since I’m usually up by 5AM or so in Europe.

Westin Warsaw lobby refreshments

Anyway, we took the elevator up to the 12th floor, where our rooms were located.

Westin Warsaw elevators

Westin Warsaw hallway

The first room was 1220, which was a deluxe suite.

Westin Warsaw suite entrance

Right by the entrance was a guest bathroom with toilet and sink.

Westin Warsaw suite guest bathroom

Then there was a large living room with standard Westin furnishings, including a a couch, two chairs, and a desk with two rolling chairs. There was also a flat screen TV which could be angled to either the desk or couch.

Westin Warsaw suite living room

Westin Warsaw suite desk

The views from the living room were “meh” (not that Warsaw has an award winning skyline, or anything).

Westin Warsaw suite view

Then a door led to the bedroom, which featured a king size Westin Heavenly Bed. I’m starting to get a bit ticked off by Westin Heavenly Beds, because if you’re even the slightest bit exhausted, one of those suckers will easily put you into a 12 hour coma. Bad for battling jetlag. 😉

Westin Warsaw suite bedroom

There was also a chair with ottoman and a flat screen TV in the corner by the window.

Westin Warsaw suite bedroom

The master bathroom wasn’t all that huge, though did feature a walk-in shower, bathtub, sink, and toilet.

Westin Warsaw suite bathroom

The shower had a bit of an unpleasant odor, though nothing worth switching rooms over.

Westin Warsaw suite shower

I appreciated that the shower had both a rainforest shower head, and a “handheld” one — something I wish all hotels had.

Westin Warsaw suite shower

Westin Warsaw suite bathroom

Westin Warsaw suite bathtub

The toiletries were Westin branded.

Westin Warsaw suite toiletries

The second room was just down the hallway, room 1219.

Westin Warsaw room entrance

For a standard guestroom it was a good size, with an entryway that had a bathroom on the right and closet on the left.

Westin Warsaw room entrance

The room featured a king size Westin Heavenly Bed, chair, desk, and flat screen TV.

Westin Warsaw room

Westin Warsaw room desk

Westin Warsaw room chair and coffee table

Westin Warsaw room TV

Westin Warsaw room water and coffee

Interestingly the bathroom was actually identical to the one in the suite.

Westin Warsaw room bathroom

Westin Warsaw room bathtub

Westin Warsaw room bathroom

Westin Warsaw room toilet

Westin Warsaw room shower

It’s worth noting that the Wi-Fi throughout the hotel was legitimately high speed, which I appreciated.

While the club lounge is on the 19th floor, it’s presently being renovated, so they’ve temporarily set up the 20th floor presidential suite as the club lounge.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge

They did a pretty good job with the temporary space. It consists of two rooms — the main room has mostly tables along with the food and drink spread, while a smaller adjacent room has mostly couches.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge

There’s an espresso machine available all day, along with a fridge with soft drinks. There are few things in life that make me happier than unlimited cappuccinos. And the ones coming out of this machine were actually very good.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge coffee machine

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge soft drinks

They also had an impressive selection of snacks available all day, including pralines, chocolate covered strawberries, and some other local sweets.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge all day snacks

Then in the evenings from 6PM till 8PM, happy hour was available. The alcohol to food ratio was impressive, as they had several types of wine and a dozen choices of liquor.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge evening drinks

The food spread itself wasn’t actually that impressive, with similar snacks to what’s available during the day, along with two kinds of soup.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge evening snacks

Then there was also a tray with (more) sweets.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge evening snacks

The breakfast spread was a bit better, with pastries, croissants, muffins, fruit, cheese, cold cuts, cereal, yogurt, etc. It was available from 6AM till 11AM. They deserve some sort of an award for that, because I’ve never had access to a club lounge which served breakfast for five hours. Kudos!

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge breakfast

There was also a chef on hand for custom egg orders.

Westin Warsaw executive club lounge breakfast

The most memorable part of the club lounge was the service. There was one guy that seemed to be working there mornings and evenings, and he couldn’t have been more attentive. We were usually alone in the club lounge, and I swear he took it personally if we didn’t consume something at least every five minutes.

In terms of the hotel’s other facilities, there was also a fairly nice gym, which is open 24 hours per day.

Westin Warsaw gym

It’s worth noting that the Westin is located in the business district of Warsaw, so it’s not ideal for sightseeing. What I didn’t realize when I visited in January (given that there’s virtually no daylight there that time of year and everyone stays inside) is that the Hotel Bristol is actually located right near the beautiful “pedestrian area” part of town.

And for that matter, I actually was impressed by Warsaw this time around. No, it’s not at risk of becoming one of Europe’s hottest tourist destinations anytime soon, but it was certainly a nice place to spend a couple of days walking around and enjoying uniquely shaped ice cream.

Warsaw

Warsaw ice cream

Still, it’s maybe a 20 minute walk from the Westin to that area, so well worth it for a hotel that’s much more modern, with great elite recognition, and a very nice club lounge. Not to mention the fact that it was half the price of the Hotel Bristol.

Bottom line

I was really impressed by the Westin Warsaw, and wouldn’t hesitate to return. Between the proactive upgrade, beautiful rooms, good service, and nice club lounge, it’ll definitely be where I stay during any future visits to Warsaw.

Conversations (10)

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Travelista New Member
July 15, 2014, 1:58 pm

To add - I stayed at Le Bristol just before its renovation was completed, at the time it was still a Méridien property. I stayed in a "Senior Suite", which was one of the best upgrades I've ever received, with views of both the palace and the building opposite. It did not feel old in any way, although the sauna/pool felt shabby pre-renovation. I am surprised you wrote "old", and not "classical".

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Ivan Y Diamond
July 15, 2014, 10:52 am

@ Lucky - Your photos of Bristol didn't make it look too old-school other than lobby/elevators but I trust your first-hand impression. When visiting an old city in Europe, more traditional design is fine by me (loved Bristol in Vienna) but Westin rates seem too low to pass up so definitely will consider it :)

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Ivan Y Diamond
July 15, 2014, 10:41 am

You review & photos of Hotel Bristol seem to be pretty nice and both hotels are 4.5/5 on SPG so I guess the question is whether the price difference is worth a less convenient location. Checked a random weekend in mid-October: Westin is $76, Sheraton - $99, Bristol - $161. So I suppose Westin is a pretty good choice. FWIW, using points at these hotels isn't worth it with rates so low.

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1. lucky OMAAT
  July 15, 2014, 10:42 am
  
  @ Ivan Y -- For what it's worth I really prefer the style of the Westin, though. It was brand standard, while Hotel Bristol just felt very old to me.
  
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Travelista New Member
July 15, 2014, 2:42 am

This is a solid property. The old club lounge was small and cramped so the presidential suite setup, albeit temporary, looks MUCH better!

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Marek Guest
July 14, 2014, 5:02 pm

It is a great hotel and, as with other Warsaw hotels, prices are often so absurdly low that you do not want to use your points. The food is standard for Poland (= very good) but Hilton (a bit farther from the Old Town) and Radisson Blue (a bit closer) have better breakfasts. They all routinely offer generous upgrades and lounge (Hilton and Westin) access.

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Ryan Guest
July 13, 2014, 9:03 pm

Definitely not a new hotel and there was a lounge there before that must have very recently closed for renovations. This is my preferred Starwood in Warsaw, although the food spread at the Sheraton Club Lounge is far superior (both for breakfast and happy hour) than the Westin.

I've been in that exact same room as you. It seems that the "20" rooms are the standard Platinum upgrade at this hotel. I've stayed nearly 10 times and have never not gotten a 20 room.

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Rafał [HS] Guest
July 13, 2014, 3:09 pm

The hotel isn't new, it's almost 11 years old ;)
I stayed there once (even though I live in Warsaw) and liked the hotel very much.

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BILL Guest
July 13, 2014, 12:06 pm

This hotel is recently opened, so the "renovations" of the club lounge are probably them still building a new lounge. I had a stay planned here on a prepaid rate and had to cancel my trip when martial law broke out in Bangkok (you can probably guess what kind of award trip this was using Warsaw and Bangkok as locations...) and the hotel still credited me with a night's stay and gave me 500 points as the Plat amenity, which was nice of them.

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Amol (@PointsToPointB) Member
July 13, 2014, 11:54 am

The Westin Warsaw was my first ever SPG stay and impressed me the same way. Too bad other SPG hotels don't always live up to that level.

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Travelista New Member

July 15, 2014, 1:58 pm

To add - I stayed at Le Bristol just before its renovation was completed, at the time it was still a Méridien property. I stayed in a "Senior Suite", which was one of the best upgrades I've ever received, with views of both the palace and the building opposite. It did not feel old in any way, although the sauna/pool felt shabby pre-renovation. I am surprised you wrote "old", and not "classical".

Ivan Y Diamond

July 15, 2014, 10:52 am

@ Lucky - Your photos of Bristol didn't make it look too old-school other than lobby/elevators but I trust your first-hand impression. When visiting an old city in Europe, more traditional design is fine by me (loved Bristol in Vienna) but Westin rates seem too low to pass up so definitely will consider it :)

lucky OMAAT

July 15, 2014, 10:42 am

@ Ivan Y -- For what it's worth I really prefer the style of the Westin, though. It was brand standard, while Hotel Bristol just felt very old to me.