Review: Westin Memphis Biel Street

I’m booking a four night stay Westin Memphis Biel Street Time to join TravelCon 2022, which was taking place in the city that weekend.

Josh, a member of the Prince of Travel team, will join me for this stay. In fact, my own stay was only three nights, when Josh would spend an extra night at the hotel to see some of the sights of Memphis before returning.

Westin Memphis Bill Street – Booking

We booked our stay using the cheapest available cash rate, which was at the time US $ 197 per night.

Despite the decent height and size of Memphis, the city’s hotels were relatively busy this weekend with Travelcon, a music festival, and NBA playoffs.

For this reason, hotel rates on mid-range properties were relatively good across the city, and we felt comfortable arranging our four-night stay in a North American city for a very reasonable cash rate.

As Marriott Forest Fear property, redemption points between 30,000-40,000 Forest Fear points per night on this property. 0.9 cents / point (CAD) According to our point valuation, paying cash was a slightly better deal.

Since I’m already on the verge of retaining the Marriott Bonavoy Titanium Elite status on 75 qualifying nights this year, I’m glad I let Josh win a total of eight qualifying nights from his account thanks to Double Elite. Night promotion that was going on then.

Westin Memphis Biel Street – Location

Westin Memphis is located in the heart of downtown Memphis, with the front entrance to George W. Lee Ave, on the corner of George W. Lee Ave and Bibi King Street.

FedExForum right next to the hotel. Many events are hosted here, so it can be quite busy in this area, especially when playing basketball. The road is often closed at this time, making it difficult for cars to enter the hotel.

In addition to this slight inconvenience, Westin Memphis has a major location, as it is just one block away from Bill Street, one of the main attractions of Memphis. With the city’s best bars, blues music and BBQ food trucks centered on this main drag, you’ll reach the famous street in just a few minutes.

Other popular stops within walking distance include the Memphis Rock n ‘Soul Museum and the National Civil Rights Museum, both within a 15-minute walk.

If you’re exploring further, Memphis Zoo and Graceland – home of Elvis Presley – are both within a 15-minute drive.

You can also navigate the city via local transport. The 2nd bus station is just a two-minute walk from the Westin, and the Downtown Memphis Trolley is easily accessible. Bird scooters offer one more fun and convenient, if relatively expensive, means hiking.

Finally, the 18-minute drive from the Memphis International Airport Hotel. Uber and Lyft work in the city, although there are not many vehicles, so you may have to wait a while for your ride and you may be prepared to face higher prices than you are accustomed to elsewhere.

Overall, Westin’s central location is one of its main features, making it one of the best places to stay in town for all the exploration and experience Memphis has to offer.

Westin Memphis Bill Street – Check-in

After renovations in 2021, the hotel lobby has got a fresh look with a simple but elegant design. As you enter, there are three check-in desks at the back, while on the left is a waiting area with long plush couches and armchairs.

Upon our arrival we were greeted by a friendly colleague who embodied the Tennessee warmth, helping us with a smooth and quick check-in process.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to “suite-talk” no suite upgrade was imminent, as the hotel was really full with all the events that took place in town that weekend.

Our breakfast vouchers were offered as part of the welcome facility: four separate vouchers for four mornings at the hotel’s Blue Restaurant, each priced at US $ 30.

With that, we grabbed our key and went to our room on the eighth floor.

Westin Memphis Biel Street – a traditional guest room with two queen beds

We booked a traditional guest room with two queen beds for this stay, and the room certainly lived up to its “traditional” moniker in terms of overall design identity.

There were metallic accents, patterned floors and a handful of wooden furniture with warm tones with blue touches, creating a business-like and functional look.

In the middle of the two queen-sized beds was a single night table with two lamps. Each side of the night table was equipped with a USB charging port.

There was a flat-screen TV on the wall opposite the bed and a storage console at the bottom. On the right was a chair with an ergonomic work desk and a large gold feature mirror.

There was a reading chair, desk and lamp in the corner of the room by the window.

The bathroom was fairly spacious compared to the rest of the room, with a single vanity and mirror, a bathtub and shower, with good water pressure.

Our views from the room overlook outside FedExForum, so we’ve seen a flurry of out-of-the-box basketball fans after at least one play-off game this weekend.

On the other side of the building in Westin are rooms overlooking the Mississippi River, and if you’re here I would suggest trying to secure one of those rooms with a better view.

This traditional guest room with two queen beds was good enough for Josh and I to share the room, especially for a weekend conference where we wouldn’t spend much time in the room.

Most importantly for our stay, things like desks, chairs and charging ports were reliable and worked well for both of our productivity needs.

Westin Memphis Biel Street – Breakfast

Each breakfast is entitled to a US $ 30 daily allowance with voucher tax and tip. Once they have been factored in, a main and side allowance from the A-la Carte menu with coffee and juice is good.

During our four nights we helped ourselves to several breakfast items. Some of the breakfast items were great, others were a bit lazy.

Chicken and waffles, a southerner, were certainly a highlight – although it was fairly heavy except for all the gas fried chicken in our Memphis.

Crescent sandwiches and omelettes were also quite tasty. However, some items like avocado toast fell flat and looked as if the avocado had been squeezed out of a tube.

Overall, the breakfast offer was still quite generous, especially for a chain hotel in North America where you often do not know what kind of breakfast you will get.

Many hotels have reduced their breakfast offers, but in this case, the Westin Memphis Marriott Forest has continued to provide a solid morning meal for the elite.

Westin Memphis Biel Street – Other amenities

The hotel bar and lounge are located in the lobby, and there must have been buzzing at night as we walked through, sometimes with live music performances.

The gym facility with cardio equipment facing the large window is open 24 hours. Free weights and power tools available.

Finally, the hotel also offers an exciting guitar check-out program in keeping with Memphis’ strong musical tradition. Guests can borrow a guitar from the hotel’s display case and return it at the end of their stay.

Although we haven’t used it to sing with ourselves, it looks like it will create a fun way that would otherwise be a fairly cookie-cutter hotel experience.

Conclusion

While in Memphis, it is difficult to make a mistake in choosing Westin for your stay, especially because of its convenient location on Bill Street. Although the rooms are not overly luxurious, they will probably be enough for your needs, whether you are in town for pleasure or business.

Seeing what I needed to see during the Memphis trip, I don’t see myself in a hurry to come back. However, if I stayed in Memphis again and wanted to be closer to Bill Street, Westin would continue to be my favorite hotel.