Starwood Preferred Guest - Northern California hotels

I'm going on a trip flying into San Jose. I had a very bad experience at the Sheraton San Jose Hotel where the front desk manager gave me a bandage and instructed me to clean my shoes since they would dirty the hotel. I'm handicapped and I didn't clean the dried dirt on my shoes, but there were not wet. (Last Dec., it rained a lot when I arrived from Hawaii. I asked managers at the Sheraton in Hawaii and they said they never heard of such a thing and that they let hotel guests walk barefoot in the lobby. So, I'm afraid to stay there again. The Sheraton guest person said to write corporate headquarters since no one should be treated like that. My mother said that it is because we are Oriental, but the manager would not have done it to a Caucasian.) The Sunnyvale was nice, but I'm debating about the Sheraton Gateway SF airport hotel I stayed at in Nov, 2000, as well.
I'm gold and wondering since it is slow at in Dec. 23-31 (flying in Dec. 23 and out Dec. 31) where I should stay. I'm booking a car, so any advice please. Considered one night at the Four Points Pleasanton. Last year the San Jose did give me free breakfast coupons since the club lounge was closed during this time of the year. Sunnyvale made a big thing about the starwood gold level room they gave me. No breakfast coupons, but the breakfasts were nice which we paid for. The staff was excellent compared to the San Jose property. I don't know what the rooms are like at the Four points Sunnyvale on lakeside Drive.
Anyone with any experience in Northern california hotels?


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Before I make any additional suggestions, what will you be doing during that time? The areas you mention staying are quite far apart. I'd focus more on where most of your activities will be. If the SFO area is central to things for you (the City, the south bay, etc) you may also want to consider the Four Points SFO. (You won't be charged for parking, unlike the SFO Westin and Sheraton) You also get comp high speed internet.

One bad experience does not make or break a hotel for me, generally. Hotel staff comes and goes quite rapidly. But how the hotel follows up may (like when the Westin Bayshore years ago denied that there was a lot of (not my) poo in my toilet, how there couldn't have been any, and how I must have imagined the whole thing). If you otherwise liked that hotel and otherwise would have stayed there again, I'd write/fax the hotel GM prior to your stay (after you make your reservation) and tell him exactly what happened, and I bet you will be well taken care of.

Sheratons San Jose and Sunnyvale are owned by the same group. The 4pts Sunnyvale is nice and large. I am not too sure about the amenities (just in and out a few times staying there on biz), but there is a diner in the hotel. It is two-level type motel-fare-type hotel -- but well kept and nicely done for this type of establishment. I usually stay Sheraton Sunnyvale because they know me there and although the hotel is rather unimpressive, it is usually clean and the staff is great, and I love FAZ the restaurant. SF Airport Sheraton is OK too, but I was not very impressed with it; staff seemed abit arrogant too.

Lots of threads on the SF properties, and Ive been to all of them if you want to stay in the city; Im unsure of the other bay area properties (other than the wonderful W-Newark -- good weekend rates there and handicapped access rooms).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hulagirl:
but I'm debating about the Sheraton Gateway SF airport hotel I stayed at in Nov, 2000, as well.
I'm gold and wondering since it is slow at in Dec. 23-31 (flying in Dec. 23 and out Dec. 31) where I should stay. I'm booking a car, so any advice please. Considered one night at the Four Points Pleasanton. </font>

4Ps Pleasanton is a dump. I would definitely not stay there. If you want to be in that part of Nortehrn California I would recommend the Marriott San Ramon. At SFO I find the Westin far superior to the Sheraton Gateway.

San Ramon is pretty far from the peninsula.

Here are the properties I like in the area.

W Suites Newark
Westin Palo Alto (Check AAA rates)
Westin SFO
Sheraton Gateway. (I tried it once, it was fine.)

The Palo Alto Sheraton isn't bad either, but the Westin next door is much much nicer.

The Newark property is just accross the Dumbarton bridge. Not sure where you need to be in the mornings, but that could be a factor. (If you don't have to be on the peninsula till after 9 - 10AM, it shouldn't be a factor.)

Out of that list, the Westin Palo Alto is the nicest.

-David

I would agree W Newark is (W)icked and (W)onderful. If you are traveling with your mother again try to call in advance and arrange one of the rare two bedroom suites as an upgrade. The additional bedroom/bathroom is handicapped equipped if you need additional hardware mounts, etc. The room is very nice. I travel with my mom (handicapped) and I usually request this room type for us but I have a good history with the hotel - not sure if they would jsut do it on Platinum on its own.

[This message has been edited by AA_SPG_Fan (edited Nov 14, 2003).]

BTW, the bay area has a huge Asian population, so I don't think it was that, however, no matter where you go there are a-holes everywhere. Sorry you had a bad experience.

-David

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LIH Prem:

San Ramon is pretty far from the peninsula.

</font>

San Ramon was meant to be an option vs Four Points Pleasanton, not an option vs the peninsula.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jes999:
San Ramon was meant to be an option vs Four Points Pleasanton, not an option vs the peninsula.</font>

I missed that.

San Ramon and Pleasanton are both pretty far from the Peninsula.

-David

Before everyone jumps.. Not to pry but you didn't mention the handicap you have. But I can see the manager view pt. He is not your doctor, knowing your condition and if your shoes were tracking dirt is it really fair to have an employee do extra work rather than do a common courtesy.

Regardless your claim of discrimination based on what your mother (or you thought) could be valid (but more so jumping the gun) but there was dirt and all that was called for was to not track dirt to keep hotel lobby clean..

A business hotel is also different than a resort/vacation hotel. If we saw dirt across the lobby of a hotel I'm sure it'd be posted as a negative portion of the hotel.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by AA_SPG_Fan:
The 4pts Sunnyvale is nice and large. I am not too sure about the amenities (just in and out a few times staying there on biz), but there is a diner in the hotel. It is two-level type motel-fare-type hotel -- but well kept and nicely done for this type of establishment. </font>

I would be wary to stay at 4pt Sunnyvale without SPG elite status. I assume they usually upgrade you to building 1(attached to the lobby) or building 4. Those are the remodeled rooms.

The un-remodeled rooms can be really bad in this property. Soft, worn-out bad. Tabaco smell in non-smoking room, noise from 101, etc.

Sorry about your experience. My personal opinon is the hotel was wrong and they should have handled the situation differently. There are good ways and bad ways to handle things and to me that was a bad way.

Anyways, if you are open to staying at different hotels than Starwood properties I would recommend checking out www.biddingfortravel.com (http://www.biddingfortravel.com) You could save a nice amount of cash.

Basically people list out what hotels they get on PriceLine (date and price) so you dont overbid and sometimes you can have high confidence that you will get a specific hotel by bidding for your hotel on PL. Make sure you read the Hotel FAQ, especially if you have not used PL before. One bad thing about PL is once you get a hotel, there is no refund if you have to cancel your trip. There are also hotel reviews if you go to a specfic city/area (ie San Jose/Silicon Valley) and click the first subject "Hotel List".

The Westin Palo Alto has shown up for $85/nite in the past (no guarantee you will get it for your dates). Santa Clara 4P has shown up for $55. The fremont Marriott has shown up for $35 (I like this hotel). I have stayed at the Westin Santa Clara and the heavenly bed is great.

Good Luck.

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Gumbo Cook

I have always had good experiences at the Four Points Sunnyvale. My experiences at the Sheraton San Jose have been hit or miss (rude staff, nonexistent service, or stellar staff, bend-over-backwards service).

If you just need to be around SFO but are getting put off by the rates, keep checking daily... I've found great rates for both The Palace and the Westin St Francis that just "appear" (and disappear as quickly). I've gotten both for less than the Four Points in the past.

At SFO itself, I'm rather partial to the Westin SFO.

I would recommend Westin SFO or Westin Santa Clara. Both have periodically offered rooms via priceline (for as little as $35/night, though that was 2 years ago so I think it will take a higher bid now).

IMO, the Westin SFO is the nicest property within a few minutes of SFO, though the Burlingame Hyatt is probably comparable.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help me. Just for your info., I have a noticeable limp because I was born with a hip problem. I did not track any dirt on the carpet or on the floor of the lobby because my white shoes (we wear these in Hawaii year round) had dried stains on them and I didn't have any polish to take care of them on a short vacation. I could see if I was dirtying the place, but since my white nursing type shoes were merely stained, I felt it was rude of him. I've traveled to numerous Sheratons in Europe with stained shoes and was never told to clean my shoes. I've stayed at the Intercontinental Hotels in Paris, New York, the St. Regis in New York, etc., but no one ever acted like that to me.
All of your input about the hotels helped me a lot.
Thank you all very much.

Going to a wedding in Northern california. The wedding is going to be held at one of the wineries in Sunol, CA

Which property would one recommend based on these parameters? I am looking at W Newark, Sheraton San Jose and Sheraton Sunnyvale along with Westin Santa Clara. Sheraton San Jose shows a great rate of $60...and it happens to be the closest to Sunol (seems like), all the other properties are between 25 and 30 minutes to Sunol according to Mapquest, with Sheraton San Jose being 28 minutes away).
Thanks for your recommendations

Edited to mention we are flying into SJC

[This message has been edited by asnovici (edited Feb 03, 2004).]

asnovici: We have always been happy with the value we find at the SJ Sheraton. Our experience has been good customer service, good upgrades even as gold, strong commitment to Sheraton promise, free pc with internet access, low rates, etc.

The Sheraton Sunnyvale has nicer grounds (and also has a free pc for guests), but I wouldn't pay a premium for it.

The W is a very nice comfortable hotel. It is a bit brighter than most other W's, but suffers from it's remote location (don't expect nightlife). It's staff does seem to try hard, but are not always well informed or equipped to give good customer service (e.g. in the past I've gotten markedly different answers to questions like "Is the pool open?" and "Is it heated?" in the same day. Another example is being told by the desk at 8 that the restaurant was open until 10, but then finding out that they were closed due to low occupancy . . . keep in mind that the front desk has a prime view of the restaurant).

I've never stayed at the Westin SC, so someone else would have to comment.

Oh one more thing . . . I recall that the Sheraton SJ was undegoing a change in ownership/management when I was there a month ago so things are probably more subject to change there than usual.

My choices in order of pref:

- W Newark (agree with VPescado except Ive always received very good customer help - stay there alot and I love it there)
- Sheraton Sunnyvale (great staff but basic hotel, good weekend rates, and I love the free PC and really love the restaurant)
- Sheraton/Westin Palo Alto (nice upgrades and hotel, but pretty pricey)
- Sheraton San Jose (havent stayed in a year, but pretty basic Sheraton, but decent club, etc when I was there even tho it was unspectacular hotel)
- Westin Santa Clara (stayed a few times, and not happy with this hotel/service - I dont stay there anymore - blech!)


[This message has been edited by AA_SPG_Fan (edited Feb 04, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- Sheraton Sunnyvale (great staff but basic hotel, good weekend rates, and I love the free PC and really love the restaurant)</font>

I stayed at the Sheraton Sunnyvale last night on a mattress run (I'm using the "double double" promo to reinstate my Gold status for the next two years). Got a $59 (+ 8.5% tax) AAA weekend rate that was fully cancellable by 6 PM day of arrival (same deal is available at this hotel for age 60+ or AARP).

I got a "Starwood Preferred Guest" room in Building 500; it seemed newly refurbished and was very clean. I was pleased with my stay overall, and enjoyed the restaurant, but I have a couple of negatives to report:

1. There is a $1.00 flat fee for unlimited local and toll-free calls. This doesn't sound too bad, until you realize that this fee is charged EVEN IF YOU DON'T USE THE PHONE AT ALL!!! Might as well make some local or toll-free calls, you'll be charged the $1.00 in any case! I didn't bother to dispute this.

2. Even worse, however, the "free PC" IS NO LONGER FREE! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif The in-room binder still states: "Just off the lobby is our Business Center available to you at no charge. The center is equipped with a computer with Internet access, fax, copier and printer."

Contrary to this statement, you now have to slide a credit card to make use of these services. The fees are 50 cents per minute for internet use ($3.00 minimum); 50 cents per page for black-and-white printing; 25 cents per page for photocopying ($1.00 minimum). (Don't recall what it costs to send a fax.)

I complained to the front desk clerk about the fees (and the fact that the binder states the services are free). She conferred with the manager and offered me either a discount on my (restaurant) bill or some Starpoints. I opted for the Starpoints. (I hope they post!)

Anyhow, I figured this heads-up would be useful to others considering this hotel.


Kathy

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jes999:
4Ps Pleasanton is a dump. I would definitely not stay there</font>
The Four Points Pleasanton is most definitely NOT a dump! I'm staying there right now on another mattress run ($49/night + 8% tax, nonrefundable weekend rate).

Room is newly decorated. Free high-speed internet is working great. A branch of Faz Restaurant is in this hotel (like the Sheraton Sunnyvale).


Kathy

For Sunol, hotels in Pleasanton or San Ramon will be the most convenient. (Followed by San Jose, I guess, since you can pick up 680, but depending on the time and day, I would avoid that commute if it's during business hours).

-David


[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited Mar 07, 2004).]

Bottom Line is that the hotel is in the SERVICE business. I hope hulagirl spoke to Starwood corporate about this and got some sort of remedy. I doubt she would have gotten that treatment at a non-franchise property.

Next time something like that happens just don't do what they order you to. Their employee is paid to do work and they can clean it up.

I'm surprised the Lurker didn't make a comment about this unless it was too sensitive an issue to get involved in.

Starwood wouldn't be here if we didn't stay there!