No matter whether you are staying at a Four Season's or a Holiday Inn it is never the same as home. I always think about all the other guests that have stayed in the room before me and how poorly most rooms are cleaned when turned over.

Despite the beautiful lobby and warm welcome, my first impression of the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa will always be the one bedroom suite that smelled like feces or a rotting animal and the lack of responsiveness from the Management to solve my problem. The attitude of Management was pleasant, but indifferent. Additionally, for a room only more than a year old it was in disrepair.

Requests for simple items such as blankets and extra towels took multiple phone calls and sometimes several hours to honor.

Services are very limited. The bars and restaurant close early. The hotel shop/market closes at 5pm!

The physical plant exclusive of the rooms is beautiful and the staff generally very friendly. It is a shame that the room maintenance, upkeep, and service is so poorly attended to. This resort has the potential to be a four star property (I consider the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch a 5 star), but for now I only give the Wesitn Riverfront Resort & Spa a weak 3 out of 5 stars.

We stayed at the Westin Riverfront for five days/four nights over the Thanksgiving holidays. From the Eagle Vail airport, take the ECO bus - it's $4.00 for a 40 minute trip to the hotel. The bus stops right across from the hotel. A car service will charge $50 per person.

We visited while the hotel's express gondola to Beaver Creek (BC) was not running (down season). Take the Avon bus (free) around town or the BC shuttle (free) bus to BC, both of which also stop right across from the hotel. There is also a large City Market grocery store about 5-10 minutes away, if you want to take advantage of the small kitchen in the room (dishwasher, fridge, sink, microwave, stove, toaster, dishes, silverware, etc.).

Hotel is very dog friendly - LOVED THAT. Gym facilities were fantastic - plenty of cardio machines in variety as well as number, towels/water/magazines/headsets provided, tv's in every machine (small quibble - can't key in specific channel, must scroll up and down through channels). Locker facilities have swimsuit agitators to dry swimsuits. Large outdoor heated pool and three excellent outdoor heated infinity jacuzzi tubs (small quibble - can see the road from the tubs, so traffic takes you out of the beautiful surroundings).

Spa treatments were excellent! Spa locker facilities were well stocked, clean and beautiful. Check hotel's Twitter and spa's website for any monthly specials. Waiting area could use more varied magazines. Business center has two available computers (no charge to use), but printer was not working the whole time we were there and sometimes had problems logging on. Hotel market was handy, but hours are a bit limited.

LOVED the decor of the hotel - from the rooms to the spa and everywhere in between, gorgeous. There is a great walking/jogging path around the property and surrounding area and lake. Mountain views from our room.

Previous posts are correct - they don't replace toiletries unless you ask for them. Small quibble - not Bliss products as with previous Westin's, but Westin products that weren't bad, but paled in comparison. Tons of pillows on the bed, excellent. Flat screen tv with good selection of channels. Tiny balcony (no room for chairs or table). Gas fireplace was purely decorative and gave off no heat whatsoever. This was an issue because for the first day and half, the room was FREEZING. No matter how high we turned the thermostat, the room was like an ice box. Our first complaint on the first day to reception was unsuccessful. Our second complaint to reception (shout out to Nick, he's the man!) yielded results in two engineers coming to our room. After they fixed the broken thermostat, the room was nice and toasty for the rest of our stay.

Restaurants hightly reccommended - Dusty Boot Saloon (BC), Beaver Creek General Store (excellent ice cream), Grouse Mountain Grill (The Pines), 8100 (excellent mac and cheese with veggies).

So-so restaurant experiences - Vin 48 (surprisingly bland food and service - doing a sampling menu to try new dishes to add, disappointing), Avondale (good, but not spectacular experience).

My husband, kids and I all loved this hotel! We were on a road trip and this was the third Westin we had stayed at and the absolute best!!! The people were unbelievably attentive! The concierge was very helpful. I can't say enough about the service, bar-none!!!
The room was beautiful, very modern decor. The bathroom was nice and modern. I prefer seperate tub and shower, but they didn't have that. The lobby had a lot of books and lots of games you could play. We sat in the lobby with the kids for about an hour entertaining them with the games. The kids club doesn't take them until they are 4, so we didn't use the facilities, but they looked nice and very organized.
For breakfast we usually went to "The Market" which was inside the hotel. They have great coffee, smoothies , pre-made foods and various other options. I highly recommend it for fast, cheap and kid friendly solutions to breakfast.
We also ate at the restaurant inside the hotel for dinner. The restaurant was really good! We ordered a lot so are bill was probably higher than it needed to be, but we felt like splurging toward the end of our road trip.
We broke a glass in our room and called housekeeping, they came immediately and were very nice. The man vacuumed the entire area and was very pleasant.
I can't say enough great things about this hotel. My husband is anxious to return.
For me, waking up every morning looking outside at the creek and the mountains was the best experience!!! I loved staying a beautiful resort in an incredible mountain setting.
I would highly recommend this property!

Why I didn't give the hotel a "10" score....

The hotel valet/parking system is quirky. Self-Parking costs costs more money than valet. The parking lot is the tightest, narrowest, and twistiest underground parking structure I've ever seen. The risk of having your car dented and/or scratched by valet is very high. The only positive aspect of the garage is the # of parking spots available.

I called the concierge a few times, leaving a message once on voice mail, but never received a return call.

The price of room service is astronomical too.

Also, the hallway where my room was located was slightly dirty. It looked like it needed a vacuum or two. The hallway also was lined with room service trays all too often.

Food:
My wife and I ordered dinner one night from Room Service. The meal was brought on time. The Room Service attendants were very nice and professional. The quality of the food and presentation was superb.
I opted for the a la carte breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. The breakfast was really great. The coffee is a local brew(not organic per server)with beans from a roaster that is located in one of the highest elevations of any roaster in the world. Pretty cool fact. The views from the restaurant overlooking BC is first class. The ambiance would've been perfect if it wasn't for two gentleman at the next table talking obnoxiously.

The hotel also has a great market just off the main lobby. The store sells gourmet drinks, salads, sandwiches, soups, breakfast items,

Room:
This hotel belongs in Soho, NYC. The decor is amazing. We reserved a one bedroom suite with a mountain view. Upoon entering the room we quickly realized that the mountain view was of the mountain range across I-70, not the Beaver Creek side. Also, our room overlooked the valet/main lobby entrance. It annoyed me at first, but I quickly learned that the windows are as thick as Fort Knox preventing any noise from entering the suite. The kitchen was so spacious and chock full of amenities for any style cook.
The refrigerator was spotless(a pet peeve of mine)too.
The 42" flat screen sprung over the fireplace was excellent. HD satellite feed all the way. I can't stand going to a hotel with an enormous TV and poor reception.
The family room was really comfortable providing two oversized leather chairs and two large sofas and a very large coffee table. There was certainly plenty of room to stretch out in the utmost of style and comfort. According to the Westin Riverfront website the room dimensions are 850sq feet.
The balcony was small but just the right size to allow for people watching or just simple relaxing on the patio chairs.
The bedroom was very spacious. Filling the space included a large desk, the famous Westin bed, 32" flat screen, two night stands, a sitting chair, plenty of closet space and finally two dressers for clothing. The bathroom was also spacious. The bathroom has a great big tub and shower to fulfill one's hygienic dreams and desires. The bathroom would've been perfect if it had a towel warmer and radiant heated floor.

Dining Room:
The dining room consisted of an 6-8 person table.