Buy Walking VideosBad Advice Never Ceases To Amaze Me
Two minutes. That’s all I ask. Two minutes of research. Really, is that all that much?
This article from the Wall Street Journal failed to do the two minutes of research that would have told us a completely different story.
One of the paragraphs stated:
“Runners looking to tour their next destination on foot can check out Westin Hotels & Resorts Running Concierge, part of the company’s RunWESTIN fitness program. At 26 Westin locations around the globe — including Beijing, Boston and Melbourne — guests can take a three-mile morning run led by a concierge. After a round of warm-up stretches, the guide will take participants past the city’s notable sites. Jogging strollers are provided for parents. Runners of all levels are welcome.”
Not only was it shoddy reporting because they didn’t include a link to the Westin Hotels:
It was shoddy reporting because a two minute search of their website would have shown that very few cities have this program at their hotels and the cost for the rooms that do, end up being so overpriced that you could BUY a year-long gym membership if you stayed at a cheaper hotel.
For example, I looked for a hotel with this running program in my hometown, Salt Lake City, Utah. This is what I found: “No hotels were found in the location you entered. Please search a different location.”
Sorry, if I’m traveling to Salt Lake City, I’m not going to change my destination just because there isn’t a RunWESTIN hotel there.
Then, I checked San Diego, California. They should have one there, right? Yes, they did! When I checked the hotel daily rates, however, it was THREE times what I usually pay at my lovely Comfort Inn.
At $200 a day over a week’s stay, I would pay $1400 for the privilege of staying at the Westin and participating in their three mile runs. I could buy year’s membership at a gym for that kind of money.
So, if that’s bad advice, what’s the good advice?
I have quite a few options when I travel. The first is the hotel gym. Most of the time, they have a treadmill that is adequate. Sometimes, it’s just a broken exercise bike and a Tony Little Gazelle glider. In that case, I move on to option two.
My second line of defense is my gym membership. I’m a member of 24 Hour Fitness, so I can usually find a 24 Hour Fitness in the town that I’m visiting and go there for the same monthly cost I’m already paying. When I visit smaller towns, however, there usually isn’t a 24 Hour Fitness there. That’s when I shoot for option three.
My third chance at exercise options is contacting my hotel to see if they have an affiliation with any of the local gyms. Sometimes I can go to the gym with no extra cost. Other times, I have to pay a nominal fee (usually about $5 a day). When compared to the extra cost of $200 a day for the WestinRUN program, that five dollar charge to go to a local gym sounds great.
If the hotel has no affiliation with a local gym, then I strap on my running shoes and go running outside or around the hotel halls. I usually ask the hotel staff if it’s safe to run in the area. I have received brutally honest replies and ended up running up and down the halls, but I have also received great advice about places to run and even local malls that offer early morning runs within their doors.
In the end, there are SO many options for running that paying the extra $200 a day for a Westin Hotel is just bad advice.
Bad form, Wall Street Journal, bad form.
Via: Introducing: The News Roundup » Complete Running Network
Previous: Ask Laura: What do you do with your food journal?
Next: Question of the Week: What would you do if you couldn’t exercise?
August 12th, 2007 at 6:49 am
You should email the Wall Street Journal!
Bonus: if they print your letter, they could draw even more people to your blogs. 🙂
August 15th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
A Westin is never supposed to compare to a Comfort Inn anyways. It is an upscale, full-service property that has much more to offer than just a 3-mile daily run with the conceirge. The run was just an added bonus to anyone that might be interested. The Wall Street Journal was appealing to many of its business travelers. No need to criticize if you don’t want to fork over the cash.
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Found this blog via an unrelated Google search. Anyhow, I practically lived in a Westin in one large city (for about 8 months). The RunWestin at this particular hotel was overrated. There were no scheduled runs. They only gave me a map that listed a suggested running course.
I suspect the RunWestin at other Westin’s are also overrated.
Finally, I’m always able to get around the rack rate because my company does so much business with Westin. $350 is expensive! The most I’ve ever paid at a Westin was half of that. I’d only stay at a Westin if my company or organization had a special rate – you should check if you can get a discounted rate.
January 5th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Hello, I came across this posting and wanted to personally invite any of the visitors to Boston to join me at the Westin Boston Waterfront for our running concierge program. Weather permitting (we now have a foot of snow) we run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 630am. We generally run this program from March through the beginning of December. We meet at the fitness center and we head out for a medium paced 3 mile run where I give you a guided tour of the area. I have been at the hotel for approximately 2 years and have been running for a year and a half of those. If you are interested, please feel free to email me and I can schedule a personal run. I can be reached at paul.dwyer@westin.com. Thanks and hope to see you soon.