Starwood Preferred Guest - Starwood Celebrates Grand Opening of Sheraton Asuncion - 1st Int'l Hotel in Paraguay

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040831/315232_1.html

Press Release Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Celebrates Grand Opening of Sheraton Asuncion - First International Hotel in Paraguay
Tuesday August 31, 9:00 am ET
Sheraton Asuncion To Attract Both Regional Corporate Market As Well As International Business Clientele

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 31, 2004-- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT - News) announces the grand opening of Paraguay's first international hotel, the Sheraton Asuncion. The newly built hotel, located in the heart of Asuncion, Paraguay's fast-growing capital city, is designed to attract both the regional corporate market as well as international business travelers. The property is a management agreement between Starwood and Emprendimientos Hoteleros S.A, a local investment firm.

"We are thrilled to be the first company to open an international hotel in Asuncion, the key to Paraguay's corporate market," stated Osvaldo Librizzi, President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Latin America. "Given Paraguay's unique and central geographic location between Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile, the Sheraton Asuncion will attract the corporate meetings market segment as well as travelers conducting business in South America."

The hotel is situated only ten minutes from the city's International Airport, and within walking distance of the country's major business, shopping and entertainment districts. It features 100 guestrooms and suites, all equipped with the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed, as well as two telephone lines, high-speed Internet connections and cable TV.

The Sheraton Asuncion pairs luxury business travel services with a classic approach to comfortable entertaining. The property's in-house restaurant, Manantiales, offers diners an expansive menu that highlights the regional fare of Paraguay and accommodates up to 60 guests. Its gourmet selections often consist of low-carb friendly dishes including quail, duck, lamb, lobster and even Surubi (Amazon River fish).

The hotel boasts an ultra-contemporary design throughout the property beginning with its functional lobby featuring granite-top bars and vivid decor. The rooftop pool overlooks the city and is the ideal setting for quiet lounging or large social events.

In addition, planners will also benefit from the property's facilities including 16,000-square feet of meeting space accommodating up to 2,000 people, ideal for business venues or social events. A business center, gym, spa and salon are also located on premise.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 750 properties in more than 80 countries and 110,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwood.com.
# Please contact Starwood's new, toll-free media hotline at (866) 4-STAR-PR (866-478-2777) for photography or additional information.**

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Contact:

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Latin America Division
Laura Canepa, (5411) 4318-9397
laura.canepa@starwoodhotels.com
or
Media Contact:
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Mark Ricci, 914-640-8496
mark.ricci@starwoodhotels.com


Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Long time reader, first time poster.

I am currently in the new Asuncion Sheraton. I have stayed here before. Last night when I checked in I asked if the suite level was open. The counter informed me that the level was not ready. I also inquired if they had a welcome gift for platinum members, they said it was in my room. When I arrived in my room I had two double beds. One was dirty with hair all over the sheets. The welcome gift was a plate of old fruit, and a bottle of champagne (which I think I will be charged for at checkout). When I told the clerk that the bed was dirty he said he would send house cleaning to clean it. Since it was 2:30am I opted to just sleep in the other bed.

Today I was at the counter and asked a new clerk if I could be switched to a room with a king bed. As she was checking into it I noticed they were advertising a price for a suite. I asked if the suite level was open and she said it was. This means the guy last night lied to me, on top of not apologizing one of my beds was dirty! I then asked if I could get an upgrade and she said that as a gold member I could not. I told her I was platinum, but she said there system was much slower than other Sheratons. I then gave her my number again and she eventually found I was Platinum. She was by now feeling bad and said she would have the bell boy check a suite and make sure it was ready for me. After waiting twenty minutes in my room, she informed me via phone that she had no suites available. I then moved to a room with a king sized bed.

I am at the point to just move back to the four star hotels on the other side of town for half the price. Even a $15 a night hotel in Asuncion washes the sheets and doesnt lie to their frequent guests. By the way I stay in many other Sheratons aroung the region, and they all treat Platinum members great. Specifically the Four Points in Santiago, Convention Center in Santiago, Convention Center in Buenos Aires, and Sheraton in Montevideo.

I then asked if I could get an upgrade and she said that as a gold member I could not. I told her I was platinum, but she said there system was much slower than other Sheratons. I then gave her my number again and she eventually found I was Platinum.

Welcome to FT!

I like to share my experience with a recent stay at a Sheraton. I have stayed there previously as a Gold, but this year as a Platinum, I checked-in and it reflected my SPG status as Gold. Strange as it is, spg.com didn't propagate my status to the hotel.

So I would advise everyone to show their card. I didn't before, but from now on, I certainly will.

I like to share my experience with a recent stay at a Sheraton. I have stayed there previously as a Gold, but this year as a Platinum, I checked-in and it reflected my SPG status as Gold. Strange as it is, spg.com didn't propagate my status to the hotel.

So I would advise everyone to show their card. I didn't before, but from now on, I certainly will.

Others have talked about this before. Apparently, reservations you made *before* you qualified for plat may still reflect your gold status. The hotel can find your current status, but they are not automatically informed of it. You can either rebook new reservations after you qualify or call the hotel directly to ensure that they know of your new status.

Of course, it can't hurt to show your card...

OUCH!

I *HATE* when they lie. I've had it bad at the Westin Diplomat (Fort Lauderdale) and the Vancouver Westin Grand. Most of the other places you can work the system. But I've given up on those two.

The funniest is that I went to the Westin Grand with the intent to buy one of the rooms (you can buy them as a strata and you get to stay there 30 nights a year free). But after that first night, I cancelled the rest of my stay and moved to another hotel.

Someone needs to train the staff that the Platinums know the deal and it's a much better idea not to lie to them.

One thing to notice - if you know the rules, the best way to get your way is to offer them the easy way out. If they're too lazy to give you the upgrade, make them do stupid paperwork and make it perfectly obvious that it's easier to just treat you properly and get you to bed then it will be to play your stupid game of making him rekey and rebook you from a double double to a king nonsmoking to a queen smoking and changing credit cards six times. Threatening the lazy with more work is one of the last bastions of hope for motivating the lazy. They should know better, but they don't.

Sorry, I meant to post this earlier.

The final day of my stay, the manager called me early in the morning and apologized for any troubles I had experienced while in his hotel. He upgraded me to a very nice suite that night.