Wanugee N.
Yelp
The Westin Resort Guam is on Tumon Bay right on the beach, along hotel row with several other resort hotels here in the tropical island of Guam, in the Northern Marianas, about 3,500 miles west of Honolulu.
Guam has been a sleepy island on the other side of the international dateline since world war two, with an economy mostly fueled by military bases. This will increase over the next 5 years as there will be a building boom here when assets are transferred and 30k new people settle.
But in more recent years, Guam has become a go-to value destination for Asian holiday travelers and honeymooners, 90 percent who are Japanese. And the island reflects this, with a heavy Japanese influence.
Even this Westin, with its American sized rooms and American Standard bathroom fixtures, on what is essentially an American military base island, has a distinctly Japanese feel to it, like the extra deep "Ofuro" like Japanese tub, with hand shower. (There is a separate glass enclosed, duel head, western shower, too!)
Shops throughout the lobby, it is hard to find the elevators. Restaurant signs and other placards are written in Japanese. 90% of the guests are Japanese, with cute young honeymoon couples running around, and some hot discount travelers looking for Duty free shopping deals.
The Westin has several restaurants. Its 21 floor structure has a narrow but very tall atrium. It has a nice pool (actually, a couple), reef protected beachfront with cabanas, and a pretty good size gym room.
There is the Mandara Spa with aromotherapy, shiatsu massage, facials, and reflexology.
The rooms themselves are decent size, but have little Japanese construction touches, like the card slot to keep your room key for main power, common in Japanese hotels. It also has in-room massage services, a 24 hour complimentary LAN connection to the internet, desk area, coffee table and 2 chairs, and a wonderfully comfy bed like most Westins. There is a balcony with a unique French door opening and a great view of the reef protected bay from my 18th floor.
My rate was $149 plus tax. They have a shuttle from the airport, but it costs money and is slow, so if you want to get more direct service, hire a cab, which costs about $20 and is about 10 minutes.
Getting here is a long trip for US west coasters, 12+ hours flying, 16+ hours total travel. But for the Japanese, this is a chosen destination, farther than Okinawa but closer than Hawaii. There are also some Filipinos, Chinese, and Koreans who come here, as well as other islanders from Micronesia.