Review of Westin Palace, by Jamie Dunford Wood

The official name for this hotel is now the Westin Palace, and with that you know exactly what to expect - for some an advantage, for others a turnoff. For purists it is saddening to see yet another grand old hotel renovated to death with such an homogenized, branded makeover, but for a largely American market security, familiarity and reliability are all.

The public areas are certainly grand, and no expense has been spared, and highly efficient staff , in their Westin mulberry waistcoats, are constantly on tap like hot running water. While we were there the apparently perfectly good old marble flooring was being ripped up to make way for a new marble flooring in the same style. The ground floor is dominated by a magnificent domed tea room, with chairs and sofas in spotless Westin fabrics and cushions plumped just so, all lit with the ubiquitous Westin table lamps in a variety of tasteful styles.

Ice buckets with bottles of champagne and more glasses than you're likely to need are waiting on tables, along with an all day buffet - all very very comforting. Off to one side is the obligatory dark wood library bar, while towards the back is a very serious looking, dimly lit restaurant called La Cupola with a wine cellar on display behind glass as you enter. Mixed in amongst the interior design are the odd antique tapestry or oil portrait of, or by, someone long forgotten, but they are drowning in a sea of corporate good taste.

Upstairs, the first three floors have been renovated. The corridors are richly decorated in flock papered walls and busy floral carpeting over rich green marble. Inside the lighter rooms, colourways come in mulberry and white, beige and white, with plain or striped beige/yellow walls. Prints are positioned strategically on the walls, like a show home, and the best rooms have Bang & Olufson TVs and separate showers in the travertine bathrooms. Loos are partitioned off with frosted glass doors engraved with the Westin Palace logo - at least you know how long he's likely to be in there without having to ask. As usual with the Westin style, this is sumptuous hotel décor by numbers - guests know exactly what to expect, and service is faultless.

The deluxe rooms are bigger and more ornate, with odd bits of good looking china, and a variety of matching lamp styles. For those without the stomach for too much interior design, floors 4 to 6 are more restful.