I had to be in Dallas for some meetings and there was a bit of a screw up on my hotel, so I had to move from my original hotel for the final of the three nights. I ended up staying at the Westin Galleria Dallas. Dallas hotel rates were outrageous. The Sheraton near the Galleria was sold out, but as a Platinum member I could get a room…for $595/Night. Plus, the Sheraton is currently under construction. I couldn’t imagine paying that rate in general, let alone during a hotel construction project. The Westin, on the other hand was going for under $300/night. I booked it and cashed in a Platinum Suite Night Upgrade for my one night stay. If you remember, I didn’t use all my upgrades last year – two actually expired. While I sure didn’t NEED a Suite, I might as well try for it.

I wouldn’t be spending much time at the hotel. I’d arrive after 17h00 and leave the next morning before 09h00. I arrived as planned and was met by a woman working the check in desk. It was very clear I was disturbing her afternoon. She asked my name and for my Photo ID. She struggled with finding my photo page on my passport, then eventually gave up. She didn’t really welcome me or even interact with me. She asked her colleague if he’d already issued by keys, which he had. Then She handed me my keys. She didn’t tell me what room I was in, didn’t point me to the elevators, didn’t ask if I needed anything else.  She wanted me to hurry away.

I mentioned recently that I don’t really need the long drawn out welcome process when checking in, but I would at least like to be greeted.

I made my way to the room, which was a lovely corner suite on the 16th floor. As I walked down the hall to my room, I came across a couple of Westin employees chatting in the hall – one was sitting in a folding chair. The hotel was swapping out old swipe locked doors for the RF keys. They were actually taking the door off and replacing the whole door. An interesting approach. One of the guys, who appeared and acted like he was on the leadership team chatted me up about the door upgrades and how he isn’t a big fan of the ability for a guest to get access to their room via their mobile device – it cuts down on the number guest interactions, which I get. You’d think it guest interactions were important they coach the front desk staff to actually interact with guest and not just stare off into space.

The room was really large. When you walk in you see a full bathroom to your right and directly in front of you is the oversized living area.

A fully stocked bathroom in the front of the suite. I was fully expecting a simple half bath, but was pleasantly surprised.

The large shower in the front bathroom of the suite.

The living room had an enormous sectional couch and a really big (read useful) desk. The one part I found really strange was that the TV was perpendicular to the couch along the wall of windows. For one person, sitting on the far end of the couch, this arrangement was fine, but with more people, you would be able to see the TV.

Now this is a large couch. Interestingly enough, the TV is on the wall to the left side of this shot, between the windows.

The large couch with the wet bar/mini bar looming in the background.

The large desk was perfect for me to get a ton of work done during my stay. The chair didn’t swivel, which I found odd.

There was a wet bar / mini bar in the back corner of the living room. The standard two complimentary bottles of water were stop the wet bar.

Passing through the doors that flanked the desk you enter the bedroom. Other than an entertainment center wall akin to the one in the living room, the only furniture in the bedroom was the king bed and a small bench at its foot.

The large entertainment wall and closets were quite bare/empty.

The king bed – with no feather pillows, thank you very much Westin!

The main bathroom had the same color scheme as the smaller front bathroom, but was substantially larger and was divided into three areas. The first you entered housed the single sink vanity and an enormous soaking tub. Yes, I even decided to take a long soak while staying here. I did clean the tub myself before using it…we all know I’m a little nuts, and this just proves it.

The single sink vanity in the main bathroom. With two separate bathrooms, the need for a double sink isn’t there.

A huge and inviting tub. I did take the time to clean it myself and soak while watching some TV.

To the left is the WC and to the right is the walk in shower. The shower was deep and had several small wire shelves, which is such a little thing, but means something to me. I hate having to shower with no where to put my shower stuff (like my wash cloth, shampoo, face scrub and depending on the trip, my loofah – wait, you don’t bring your own puff or loofah??). This shower was well appointed. That being said, I didn’t really dig the shower head, it just sort of dribbled water on you. The water temperature was great – you could nearly scald yourself. I loved it.

The WC in the main bathroom.

The main shower was large and beautiful – the picture doesn’t due the tile work justice.

After my evening meetings, I popped down to the second floor bar and grabbed a quick pizza, it was…well….a cheese pizza. It’s hard to really screw that up. The server at the restaurant was great. He delivered menus and took my order very quickly and spent the perfect amount of time chitchatting with me.

The hotel is connected to the Galleria – a large shopping mall in Dallas. This higher end mall has everything an out of town guest could want….if you could traditionally find it in a traditional suburban mall, that is.

I will say, I’m not a big fan of the city of Dallas, but I’ve never really had much opportunity to explore. This trip, I spent even less time out and about. My meetings were in the Sheraton and I stayed one night at the Westin 2,000 feet away. If I needed to be in this area again, I would definitely stay at the Westin Galleria again, it was clean, felt safe and really met my Dallas needs.

Where do you stay when you visit the Big D? What restaurants should I have visited on my trip? Do you find the signature scent of the Westin Hotels a welcoming smell? I sure do!