I have stayed at quite a few hotels near BWI over the past few years-and have learned to accept disappointment. Not so at the Westin -I was pleasantly surprised...clean, quiet, comfortable rooms, friendly staff, decent restaurant, and better than average fitness center.

The beds are actually great, as is the shower. As a business traveler, I can't ask for much more.

One thing I don't understand is why some guests get a free breakfast and others don't. I was traveling with three colleagues and one received a free breakfast card for the duration of our stay. No, he was not an SPG member ( and yes, I am)...

First, the sole negative comment. No matter where you search (front desk, gift shop or restaurant) you'll find that the hotel supplies only two newpspapers, the WSJ and USA Today. There's NO New York Times, & NO Baltimore or Washingtoin papers! For a supposedly upscale chain, that's absurd.

But the good news is very good indeed. The beds are remarkably comfortable, and the staff members -- from front desk personnel to shuttle drivers -- were all helpful, generous, and warm. Two of the restaurant people (waitperson Aster and the smiling heavy-set "head" waiter) were really wonderful. Excellent food in the restaurant, too! Oddly enough, breakfast was the least interesting meal of the day. Lunch and dinner were terrific, though.

There was a time in the past Westin BWI was an oasis for me when I came to Baltimore-Washington area on business...I will share with you in detail how it has become a below average property with terrible stay experiences for me last week. I checked in and since I was on the club level - required to swipe my card to get to the floor and while on the elevator during check-in the elevator stopped between floors and while I did manage to get to second floor the second (and only other elevator) was not working. So after a 6 hour drive here I am with lugagge stranded on the second floor - and cannot get into the room. I did get up there through the service elevator (sic!) and had to walk 7 flights to move my car which I left in front of the hotel...Second day, my room was not cleaned while I was all day away and when I returned at 4:30pm I had to sit in the lobby and wait for it to be done....Further, the housekeeping staff left overnight room service trays on the floor so the entire club level reeked of half eaten burgers and meat - for anyone entering the club level - the floor had a resounding smell of a butcher shop littered with spoilt meat. The next morning I went to get some breakfast - and and in its wisdom - the oatmeal prepared for us found itself sharing the same pot (under the same lid) with eggs. On what planet would you do this to your vegetarian guests...in fact, those ladling their eggs would drop pieces of it onto the oatmeal. Oh yes, the pool. The hotel has a wonderful 15 m pool and I swim daily. Guess what - I could only swim 6-10am and 6-10pm and not during the other hours of my stay. So I could not swim after my meeting on Thursday during the day and could not swim after my breakfast Sunday. In fact, why does the hotel not want to pay someone to lifeguard during the day when they do have the pool? Why would I have to limit my access to the pool because they do not want to compensate someone to sit there? Also, when I tried to use the business center computers, none of the three wireless mouses had batteries in the them so you could click on the screen and go online. When the clients come for dinner to Luminous on Thursday night, we were served drinks and coctails with flat soda and only once we alerted the server, did she go and check her bar carbonation pump - did she discover that to be so and served us another round admitting the adjustment was off...Is there anything that the hotel did right? No in my opinion and the manager's "gracious" gift of 2500 SPG points does not buy me loyalty to stay at this terribly managed property.

I stayed at the hotel for 1 night for a business trip. The front desk was extremely friendly. The rooms were spacious and clean. The bed was extremely comfortable. (I never say that). I had a cocktail in the bar and the staff there was prompt and friendly. The only negative about the hotel is you need to pay for internet service. I found that unusual in this day and age.