I've stayed here several times. The most recent was for a conference in October. For me, it is the best hotel in the area....by far. I won't stay anywhere else while visiting. I'm writing a review this time because there was something that occurred on the last visit that impressed me and I thought I'd share. The hotel was SLAMMED that weekend. There were many conferences occurring in the area and also a homecoming dance in the hotel. When we got there, there was a pretty long line of people trying to check in and as per usual, some of them felt put out about it and made their displeasure known to the staff (I really don't get why people do that. I mean, really? Do you think it's that front desk clerk's fault we all showed up at once?). The staff handled everyone wonderfully and as promptly as possible. I was impressed at how they handled the various situations without showing any irritation (I couldn't have done that but I guess it's a good thing I'm not in hospitality). Anyway, after night one at the hotel, we were somehow checked out. They didn't touch our stuff but when we got back to the room that evening, our keys didn't work. We ran into the housekeeping staff and she told us that she showed us as checked out. We explained that we had a 3 night reservation and she apologized and said it would get resolved right away. Well, she wasn't kidding. As busy as the hotel was, as busy as every staff member was, that whole key/room reservation debacle lasted about 10 minutes. TOPS. The pessimist in me thought for sure this was going to be a headache. At some hotels, it would have been. With them, it barely registered. Hiccups happen. There is no such thing as perfect, anywhere. As much as I've traveled, from time to time, you're going to encounter an issue. For me, it is how those issues are handled that make all the difference. This hotel has amazing employees. Every single person we interacted with was beyond pleasant and eager to please. They do have a great little bar in the lobby area and the bartender and waiter (Jaime is an absolute DOLL. I sincerely hope management recognizes how wonderful he really is) remembered us and the drinks/snacks we liked. Took great care of us as we wound down from our lectures. As for the 4 stars out of 5....the room was not as nice as other Westin's I've stayed at. We had a bit of an odd room though because we wanted to stay on the same floor as some friends. The front desk clerk made sure we understood we were agreeing to a different type of room before placing us there. The bathroom was really small and a bit dated. 2 females sharing a room with a tiny sink area is never a good idea but we can't say we weren't warned :-) The last few rooms I've had there were Deluxe Kings and were great.

This was our second stay at the Westin. What stood out both times was the friendliness of the front desk staff and the comfort of the beds--really nice! We also enjoyed the extra large flat-screen tv.

There were several things that I didn't like, however. One is that a hotel of this caliber lacks some things other hotels that aren't as nice freely provide. For example, while there was coffee, there was no mini-bar, mini refrigerator nor microwave. Connecting to the hotel's wireless costs $11.95 per day. Also, the layout of the room just didn't make sense. The coffee was squeezed inbetween two closets, which were right next to the bed--very inconvenient. The entry way was a large, unused space and the bathroom was small with little counter and shelf space. Surely there is a better design for the room for the same sqare footage!

Are these little complaints enough to keep me from returning here? No--it's a nice hotel, in a good location with a very competitive price. I just expected a little more from a hotel with the Westin name.

The hotel is in Pasadena which in itself is a big plus. Parking garage is handy. The room we had is fairly small. I have stayed there many times and had larger rooms. This time I purchased through Priceline and I'm guessing they give Priceline customers smaller rooms. Not sure. I will go back since the location is so great.

I have been to half a dozen hotels in Pasadena and think this is by far the best of the chain hotels. My wife and I visited our daughter (a college student) for a long weekend and were treated very well by staff. Our stay was extended by a day because of our inability to make it back to the east coast because of the storm, the staff was extremely accomodating, no problem staying later, very helpful in multiple ways.
Car was always brought up promptly, the one breakfast we had was very good.
Only complaint is the bathroom (quite spacious), could use more shelving.
Convenient to Old Town (restauarnts and shopping).