My husband and I stayed for 2 nights in September where we took advantage of a deal to save 50% off the 2nd night (first night was $169). I had to find this deal off the specific Westin Riverfront site, as the general Starwood member site (I’m a Starwood member) didn’t show this promotion unless you specifically put in the promo code. I think Starwood should respect their members enough to show the best available deal for the nights requested, especially when they say they are providing the "Best Available Rate".

The Westin is located in Avon which is 8 miles west of Vail and 2 miles down the hill from Beaver Creek. Avon itself is pretty nondescript, really a ‘burb to these other places. The Westin itself is located well away from the I70 which I wasn’t sure about until we arrived, but is near Hwy 6 which is quite noisy at certain times of the day. We didn’t have a room on that side, but the road noise was pronounced from the pool area. When we rolled up to the Westin we were told that valet parking was pretty much a requirement. That is, we could pay $15/day for valet (unlimited in and out privileges), or $30/day for self parking (have you heard of such a thing?). To be fair, the valet attendants were very nice and offered prompt service, but we prefer to park our own car and save money (the tips add up). We booked a studio suite with a king size bed. We were shown to a ground floor level room with a view of a fence, and with a bike/walking path going by (the hotel was very quiet, but we didn’t warrant an upgrade). The room was ultra clean with a gray décor (not my favorite), and had a very well equipped kitchenette with a two burner stove, microwave, mini fridge etc. There were plenty of glasses and cookware if you wanted to cook. We did have quite a problem with our mini-fridge. The first morning it was nice to have ice cold orange juice, that is actual ice floating in our OJ. However, after we had two Cokes explode, one in the fridge and one upon opening it on the couch, our fridge/freezer needed attention. Upon entering our room we also noticed our LCD TV was not working since we were trying to catch some of the US Open tennis. We waited 45 minutes to unpack while an engineer was contacted to fix the TV (we didn’t know if we were going to have to move). With a circuit board in hand the engineer entered our room, but discovered the plug to the back of the TV (not the wall) was not plugged in tight enough. The TV provided a beautiful picture. The room couch was very comfortable; the chair was not unless you like to sit very upright. We planned this trip because we were contemplating buying a Heavenly Bed. The bed linens were comfortable, but the bed itself we decided was slightly firmer than we like, but we slept well as our room was very quiet.

The pool and 3 infinity Jacuzzis were fantastic although definitely have the potential to be overrun with kids, and there is road noise as I mentioned. The gym was out of this world! You will not find many hotel gyms better equipped than this one. I guess these are the facilities that you are paying for in the $20/day “resort fee”. I have never understood why hotels charge resort fees. It’s not something you can elect to pay or not pay, so why not include it in the room rate?? WiFi access was of course also extra and forget trying to get 3G service for your iphone. You can get free WiFi at a Super 8, but you have to pay at the Westin. My iphone showed I had 3G access the whole time, but was never able to get on (probably AT&T is oversubscribed in Vail like everywhere else). The Westin does have a pleasant free business center with internet access. We didn’t try the Spa or restaurant.

Overall we enjoyed our stay. The staff was attentive and the facilities were in excellent condition. Would we stay again, probably not. We generally prefer condos where we aren’t being nickel and dimed our whole stay. Our room rate for 2 days added up to $253, but with 12% tax, valet parking+tips, resort fees, the bill was $354 + tips (a low season rate, high season would be much more expensive). One of the valets who has lived in the Vail valley for a long time said that Vail has decided to exclusively attract super rich clientele. It has hurt business for the locals (the ones who work), and reduced the clientele diversity that can make a place interesting. We plan to take our business elsewhere.