The world will no longer have Sheraton, as the Westin Haikou hotel stands as the last remnant of the Starwood era
As an old SPG fan, this hotel carries my complex wishes. After all, the joke that the Westin Haikou is about to open has been passed around for more than a decade, from the Starwood era to the Marriott era, and it has finally overcome numerous difficulties to bloom. I reserved two days in Haikou during my trip to Hainan, just to relive the old dreams.
The hotel is located on the south side of the Haikou Bund Century Bridge, adjacent to Century and Binhai, two major parks, and faces its main competitor, InterContinental, across the river. From the high floors, one can overlook the scenery on both sides of the river, and the fifth-floor outdoor terrace has a high-value rectangular swimming pool. The touch of serene blue against the backdrop of the bridge at sunset is mesmerizing.
The Art Deco style of the building's exterior harmonizes with the surrounding environment, presenting a bustling metropolis scene. Unfortunately, the interior aesthetics seem to have been frozen a decade ago, whether it's the public lobby or the guest rooms, it's like putting old wine in new bottles. At first glance, they seem like trendy urbanites, but they possess the soul of an old cadre.
The membership treatment is excellent, with an upgrade to a river and sea view suite already arranged before arrival. I should be grateful, but the layout of this fairly standard room type is unavoidably awkward. An 80-square-meter space is turned into two long corridors, and one has to pass through a series of small spaces from the living room to the bedroom, making the movement design very awkward. It's acceptable that the suite has only one bathroom, but the situation where the bathroom is directly placed inside the bedroom is unprecedented.
Moreover, in recent years, new hotels have escalated their hardware and amenities to the sky, even hotels of the Courtyard or Four Points level might have electric toilets, Dyson hairdryers, or capsule coffee machines. Yet, the Westin Haikou is still at the stage of manual curtain pulling, and even with the Heavenly Bed and lavender essential oil before bedtime, it's quite disheartening.
The executive lounge does not offer afternoon tea, only happy hour. The food is passable, but it's noisy. Breakfast is served on the first floor at the Zhiwei Western Restaurant, which is not small in scale and has everything that should be there, but unfortunately lacks some local flavor.
In the end, I can only say that the past cannot be pursued, and what cannot be retained should be let go. Farewell, Starwood.
Room Information:
Room Number: 1122
Official Name: River and Sea View Suite
Area: 79 square meters
Mattress: Simmons
Bedding, Fabric, and Bathrobe: Canasin
Living Room TV: Philips
Bedroom TV: Philips
Shower and Metal Fittings: TOTO
Basin and Bathtub: TOTO
Toilet: Manual TOTO
Hair Dryer: Cetis
Weight Scale: Xiangshan
Amenities: Large bottles of Westin White Tea series
Electric Kettle: Cetis
Instant Coffee: Nescafe
Tea Bags: Twinings
Bottled Water: Pure Water Music
Mini Bar: Chargeable