Have you ever slept at a Westin Hotel?  If not, you don’t know what you are missing.  A couple of years ago, I went to a business conference in Chicago.  The conference was held at a downtown Westin hotel right off of Lake Michigan. I was fortunate enough to get a hotel room in the same hotel.

What I saw of Chicago was nice.  I ate at Mike Ditka’s restaurant.  I window shopped at Burberry, Ralph Laruen, and Cartier. I took a stroll through the Water Tower Place.  But I did not get a chance to see much because I was too busy lying in the bosom of heaven.  The Westin hotel has the absolute best beds, ever! 

The bedding is white, soft and fluffy.  The mattress firmly supported, but smoothly contoured my body.  It felt like I was on a cloud. It was like nothing I ever experienced.

And apparently a lot of other people share the same sentiment.  That is why you can buy the mattress for $1,500 and the bedding for only $3,000 more.

Or if you don’t have $4,500 to spend on bedding, you can use the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card to accumulate points for a free stay at the Westin or other participating Starwood Hotels.

About the card

The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card is issued by American Express.

The basics

• 14.99% APR for purchases, 19.99% APR for cash advances
• 3 % cash advance fee ($5 minimum, no maximum)
• 20 day grace period
• $45 annual fee
• $35 over the limit fee
• $19 late fee if card balance is less than $400, $38 if card balance if $400 or more

The perks

• 2.9% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first six months
• Annual fee waived for the first year
• Earn points for free stays are Starwood Hotels, 1 Starpoint for every dollar spent on regular purchases, 2 Starpoints for every dollar spent at Starwood Hotels
• No black out dates
• Get 10,000 points with first purchase (that’s enough for a 3 night stay)
• Get extra savings with the OPEN Savings program, such as 5% off prepaid American Express cards, 5% off your Ruby Tuesday total bill, and 25% off ExpensAble software

This card may be right for you if you like spending time at Starwood hotels…Westin, Sheraton and W.

This card may not be right for you if you prefer a lower interest rate instead of points.

Credit card review

Overall, this is a decent card.  But, as with any reward card, there are trade offs.  To qualify for the card, you need good to excellent credit.  However, there are other cards in the good to excellent credit category that have lower interest rates.

The grace period on purchases is short.  Interest will begin to accrue before you get the bill.  Also, the cash advance fee has no set maximum.  Although, this is an emerging trend, there are still many cards that cap the cash advance fee at $50 or $75 dollars.

However, these things should not matter if you pay the balance in full every month and forgo cash advances.

The tier late fee approach is beneficial to customers who carry a negligible balance.  And the best part of the card… of course… you get to spend the night in heaven… for free.

Overall rating

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Apply for the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express here.