First stop on our Singapore Airlines trip to the Maldives was the Westin San Francisco Airport. Its not my usual hotel when near SFO, but the rate was much cheaper, and it was nice to mix it up a bit.
Due to my many travel issues with United earlier in the year, I ensured we had plenty of time to connect in San Francisco. With the Singapore First Class flights being a focal point of the trip, I didn’t want to risk missing this flight. Despite another night away from home, it worked out well, and we had a leisurely morning before heading back to the airport for our long haul flight. As I normally do when staying near SFO, I had a nice run in along the Bay Trail, and I even brought my SLR to take some airplane photos. Yes, I’m an AvGeek.
But the intent of this post is to report on the Westin. Many of my Starwood stays are short business stays. In general, I don’t use Suite Night Awards for my usual business stays, but when traveling with my wife, I always try to apply these. Similar to our stay at the St. Regis Princeville, the SNA did not clear in advance, but we were updated at check in for free. I guess that’s the ideal situation (a free upgrade), but I think the SNA system is due for an update. I will expand on this point in a future post.
Directors Suite at the Westin San Francisco Airport
After our flight from Chicago, we caught the shuttle to the Westin. Once we arrived and were getting checked in, the agent informed us we had been upgraded to a suite, and despite opting for points as platinum amenity, that continental breakfast was included. Our room was “The Director’s Suite”, on the 6th floor, with a bay view, in the footprint of 2 standard rooms.
The bedroom was a typical Westin room. Apparently I was too tired to take photos of the room before going to sleep, so I only have the below photo. The bedroom itself was just a typical Westin room, so I don’t think you missed much.
Upon arrival in the room, I received the SPG gift for visiting all 9 properties in 2012 which was sitting on the desk. I’m not sure why this was here rather than mailed to me at home, but I’m happy to have it.
bedroom view
The other half of the suite was a large living room with a dining room table and couch. There was a second bathroom as well. Photos are below:
views inside the suite
wet bar
some art in the room
second bathroom in suite
The room upgrade was an unexpected surprise. We certainly didn’t need the extra space for a short one night stay. Still,it is a nice way to begin our vacation, and you can’t beat free.
Continental Breakfast….kind of
In the morning, after a run, and some plane spotting, we checked out the continental breakfast. We got to Grill and Vine just as breakfast was about to end. The continental options were pretty picked over. Knowing there would be no shortage of food between lounges and on board our Singapore First Class flights, I wasn’t too worried about it. There were some cereals, fruit, and toast/bagels available. Hot items were also there, but subject to a $10 up charge.
After breakfast, we checked out and caught the shuttle back to the airport. We disembarked at the SFO International terminal to check in for our Singapore Airlines flights.
The free upgrade was great, especially for the reasonable room rate. I’ll still likely visit the Hyatt for my typical stays near SFO, but I’m happy to have other options nearby.
