For the first time yesterday, guests woke up in the new 135-room Aloft Richmond West hotel in West Broad Village. It was a welcome milestone for the hotelier, which has been embroiled in a court battle with the center’s developer. “It is good to be going, considering all the challenges,“ said Samantha Bean, a sales manger at the boutique hotel.

The Richmond area’s newest upscale lodging, The Westin Richmond Hotel, has opened at West Broad Street and Forest Avenue just off Interstate 64. The 250-room hotel, which opened last week, is the first Westin in the Richmond area.