Starwood Preferred Guest - Sheraton SFO Lounge opens today brief report 6/2008

Came into the Hotel for the evening to meet my wife's flight tomorrow. Front desk agent comments today is opening for "new" Lounge. I was late for the nice spread but did find the Lounge to be a very good size. At least twice as large as previous. There is a reception area, two seating areas with plasma tvs, two computers, bar area with frig w/ light beverages, numerous tables w/ chairs and reading material area. I like any improvement and fresh hotels. Will report on breakfast tomorrow.

That being said the rooms are also nice and fresh. The guts however are still old. I have wind whistling thru my wall mounted ac unit and the internet modem needed to be reset by engineering so I can use wired hsia. The rooms have lots of light and the bathroom has an open air. I have a LG plasma tv that must have been dropped before being installed since there is a big scrape mark on the front. The desk area is small and the chair is comfy. Not bad. The place needed it.

Nice to hear about the new facility. I'm staying in the area in a few weeks.....I may stay there instead of at the Westin down the road.

Last night I noted three warmers in the Lounge and was wondering if there would be some hot items this morning. Yes there were. They had egg / bacon breakfast burrito, potato, sausage and bacon. There are two computers and one printer. I've favored this place because of the lower rates and the covered parking when we fly out of SFO. It has now become a better value. I've noticed rates up about 20% from a few years ago. Regards from the Sheraton SFO

A footnote. The self parking at the Hotel is $18 per night. You are better off to park in the lot right next door for a little under $10. FYI.

All of a sudden, this property is a great cat 2 value. They did a good job with rooms and lounge.

You might want to take the last sentence out of your post if you want it to remain good...

I have mixed feelings about the renovation (stayed there a couple of months ago or so). Although the refreshed rooms LOOK nice, they seem to have sacrificed comfort, convenience, and practicality in exchange for appearance. :td: Examples:

New bathroom countertop is way higher than before. OK, perhaps it's better for tall people. It's lousy for me. (Yeah, it looks cute, but....)

Armchair lacks a footstool/hassock. I like to raise my feet when sitting in an armchair. (Also, a large footstool can serve as additional seating.) Loss of both comfort and practicality.

Desk is a built-in deal, attractive and stylish crackled glass top, but odd-shaped, and narrow on one end. Desks should be big. ;) Another loss of practicality.

Bed (at least on the "SPG preferred" level I was on, didn't get the executive lounge level as I am currently only Gold) didn't have the former thin layer blanket (or thin comforter) with thick comforter combination. That allowed you to throw off the thick layer if too hot, but still keep a thin blanket or comforter over you. Instead, all it had was one thick comforter, which I found too hot. (I'm not including the top layer, i.e., the bedspread, in this discussion, that is yet an ADDITIONAL layer which I would normally throw off anyhow.) Also, the thick comforter was just a crappy low-quality polyester-batting-filled comforter -- somewhat stiff and unyielding. Anyhow, a loss of comfort overall.

OK, sorry to sound so negative, but to me, the comfort, convenience, and practicality issues are HUGE. And it distresses me when renovations do not result in improvement (or at least maintenance of the status quo) in these areas. :(