Detroit Metropolitan Airport, DTW, has several chain hotels near the airport, but only one actually attached. It is located in the the Good Terminal (aka McNamara Terminal), but you can get back and forth to the Bad Terminal (aka North Terminal) via a free shuttle if needed. While the entire hotel is pretty swanky by airport hotel standards, what you are really paying for is super convenience. There's actually a TSA check point that connects the lobby to the gates, and it is usually blissfully line-free. This week we spent a night at the Westin Airport Hotel to test out a room, just before catching the 7:45 am Delta flight out of McNamara.
From downtown or midtown Detroit to the airport, the typical drive is about 25-30 minutes and the route is less than scenic, save the BIG TIRE. The advantages of this Westin are best experienced by for those taking an early morning flight out. Suddenly a 5:30 am wake up time is more like 6:45. One can conceivably get to a gate within 15 minutes of waking up. It was a life-altering discovery. Here's how to make that work:
Carry-on all of your bags. There is no checking bags at the Westin TSA checkpoint. If you do need to check bags, you need to go out to the front of the hotel and pass into the main entrance of the North Terminal and find an agent. The buildings are connected so you don't have to go outside, but it is a a semi-long trek.
If you do have some time to kill, the hotel lobby/courtyard is a fabulous bamboo-filled affair with an adjacent restaurant/bar. Pretty much everyone there will be in a suit, so be prepared to feel frumpy if you wander down in pajamas.
· Westin Detroit Airport [Official]
· Previous Hotels Week Coverage [Curbed Detroit]