Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara is a major international business hub that offers a growing selection of fantastic dining and drinking options. The city’s Gallo Altanero bar was just named one of North America’s best bars and the growing spirits scene – building on the area’s fame as the birthplace of tequila – is only getting better year after year. The Westin Guadalajara, while solidly business-oriented, has a lot of style for an international hotel chain and makes a good option for staying in the city if you want the comfort of a familiar name.
Rooms are spacious and well appointed with three categories – Deluxe, Suite, and the Presidential suite, the last being a true penthouse complex complete with incredible views of the city below. The Deluxe rooms feature either a king-size or two full-size beds, large flat screens, a day bed with a small desk attached, a workspace, lots of closets, and good, free Wi-Fi.
The bathrooms all have plenty of space to move around with either rain-style showers or tub-shower combos. Some of the Suites (double the size of the Deluxe rooms) have stand-alone tubs and the presidential bathroom has a double sink and tub with a view of the Guadalajara skyline.
All rooms include an “eye-opener” service aka a coffee machine, a large lockbox, branded Westin toiletries, slippers, hair dryers, an iron and ironing board, and bottled water – although the bottles are tiny and plastic, a seemingly antiquated offering in these times of eco-consciousness.
The Suite category rooms have a separate sitting area and the Presidential penthouse has its own dining and living rooms as well as a kitchenette complete with a full-size fridge and a wine storage unit. Blackout curtains keep the city out until you are ready to wake up and there is surprisingly little noise to be heard from the thriving metropolis below. Rooms run from $95 to $1500 depending on the category and the season.
Downstairs the lobby is a stylish yet simple affair, with a mini Starbucks to one side where you can purchase coffee, juice, and snacks from 8 am to 5 pm every day. There’s also a pantry of items for sale like toothbrushes, razors, beer, water, and other necessities in case you forget something at home.
Connected to the lobby is a lounge area where visiting business folks can often be found having an afternoon drink or getting together informally with clients or coworkers. The hotel added a ceviche and sushi bar in the lounge in 2021 and there is a small outdoor seating area for when the weather is nice – and it almost always is in Guadalajara.
The hotel’s gym is well equipped with treadmills and aerobic equipment as well as dumbbells and two massage rooms where the front desk can arrange for outside providers to come and give guests treatments.
If you are traveling for business they have several bookable conference rooms that hold 10 to 100 people in capacity and while underused in our era of individual laptops, there is a small business center with a printer and a desktop computer if you need it.
Westin’s restaurant is a large glassed-in dining room that has a good international menu and a great breakfast buffet with everything you could possibly want – cold meats and cheeses, sweetbread, yogurt, an egg station, and some Mexican classics like chilaquiles just to name a few. In tune with the city’s growing movement, there is a good list of tequila, mezcal, and other regional spirits served straight or in cocktails. They offer a special tasting menu here but there are so many good dining options in Guadalajara it seems a shame to stay in when you could go out.
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The only real drawback to the Westin is it’s a little removed from the main hubbub of the city, but Ubers are plentiful and will run you around five dollars to get into the city’s most popular neighborhoods like Colonia Americana or Downtown.
Right across from the massive Expo Guadalajara center, expect to find lots of business types floating around the hotel most days, but that doesn’t mean Westin isn’t also popular with visitors who are accustomed to the chain’s consistent good style and dependable service levels.
You can make reservations for the Westin Guadalajara at Booking.com, Expedia, your favorite hotel booking site or directly on the hotel website.
The writer was hosted by Westin Guadalajara but her opinions are her own.
