Simpo

I saw some pretty mediocre reviews about the Fresno four points property. Most notingly that some of the rooms are pretty run down. However, no one mentioned which rooms these were.

As a plat, is there anything I should request to get (or not get)?

Thanks!

sy7

I stayed there last month, and the room furnishings and decor were fine and actually looked fairly new and chic (at least in the 'deluxe' room).

However, the room(s) had a general odor of dampness and mildew which was odd to me because I didn't think that Fresno generally has a humid climate. Opening the windows and then using the air-conditioning helped, plus we were only there for 12 hrs or so.

You'll probably get the deluxe courtyard/pool view room instead of a parking lot view as your upgrade.

365RoadWarrior

I think sy7's pretty on-target. It's not a dreadful hotel, it's just not one where the advantages are obvious, if, in fact, there are any. It's in a now-old section of town, but not far from more enjoyable spots. The lounge has been closed for years. Breakfast in the neighboring restaurant is no great thing. (As a vegetarian, I had to simply leave.) The pool area is nice. The fitness center is small and undistinguished. Staff runs the gamut.

I've never gotten anything other than the breakfast discount - even the pool/courtyard view - in two dozen stays as a platinum.

Wait, perhaps there were some drink coupons for the same neighboring restaurant. Bud or Bud Light?

kevinsac

It's certainly not a 5* property, but for Fresno (or any small town), it's an OK property. There is nothing wrong with the property. I'll stay there again, if nothing else, for the *wood benefits.

365RoadWarrior

From the County's website:

According to the 2000 Census, Fresno County is one of the largest, fastest growing, and most diverse counties in the state of California.

With a population of 823,900 (as of Jan 1, 2001) Fresno County is the 10th largest county, up from its ranking of 12th in 1990. The largest city, Fresno, population 441,200, remains the state's sixth largest city. (Fresno Bee 3/30/01)

Fresno MUST be over a half million by now. There's a new Hampton Inn, and someone else is building there - I've forgotten who - but that's pretty sad for a booming and not-small place. Oh yeah, and the Residence Inn near Blackstone and Shaw, and a couple of Picadillys and a Courtyard at the Airport.

Non-NonRev

As of Census Bureau figures released on June 21, 2006 (for 2005), the City of Fresno's population is 461,116. 36th largest city in the US, 6th largest in California. Its just smaller than Long Beach and just bigger than Sacramento (!). Its largest bedroom community, Clovis, itself has over 86,000 people. So I'm sure that the County (which is the #1 agricultural-producing county in the nation) is around 1 million, if not over.

I grew up about 1.5 miles from what was built as the Smugglers Inn - it was a consistent Mobil 4-star winner in its heyday, well before the 4 Points takeover.

acalispice

THis is a decent property...Much better than it used to be. About half of the rooms have been remodled and updated with a "modern" look. The area/neighborhood itself is not the greatest. As a Plat, expect to get coupons for two free drinks in the evening, and a free brerakdast buffet in the morning. It is the only SPG property in town. Hampton and HGI are new properties, and Marriott has several decent properties in cleaner areas of town.

365RoadWarrior

Ah, memories. I lived in Fresno in the 70s and 80s. A former Bulldog, even.

FATFlyer

There is a mini-hotel building boom going on in the area right now.

Plans are in the works for 2 full-service hotels.

Fresno State is working to develop property between Freeway 168 and the new arena into a shopping area. They have a deal with Lew Wolff (Oakland A's owner) to build a 200 room hotel. He has interests in Hiltons and Fairmonts but who knows how he will brand this. Maybe Sheraton?

There is still talk of a full-service hotel in downtown Fresno.

Chukchansi Casino started construction to add another 200 rooms and a spa to their complex 30 minutes out of town. The Tachi Palace casino south of town just completed a 200 room hotel also.

In the Fresno/Clovis area there are also plans for new Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, and others.

To the south, the Radisson in Visalia is being converted to a full Marriott. Remodeling and rebranding should be done by Nov.

365RoadWarrior

Thanks. I like good news.

Simpo

I'd like to report that I came back from Fresno, unscathed. And even bought a bulldogs shot glass for the memories .

All kidding aside, the 4P was a very decent property. The buildings looked old, but I had a nicely remodelled room. I described the property to my wife as "a motel that invested in very nice furniture".

kevinsac

I was there again this week and I have no complaints. I was pleasantly surprised at the newly remodeled rooms.....very nicely appointed, fresh looking, etc. It's one of the few Starwood properties I can think of that offers a true recliner chair!

I was assigned a pool-room view, which I believe is their offered upgrade.

JDiver

My room, for a four night stay early June 2007, is a no smoking two queen bedded rooms (standard for "gub'mint" rate, $84 nightly,) with older-feeling decor, lots of dark wood, a waffle-patterned and elderly carpet (straw colored?) two very "square" armchairs and a very flat-bottomed and uncomfortable office chair at the desk, yellow and gold checked pattern wallpaper - definitely not one of the most recently remodeled rooms, but tolerably OK. The Four Points Four Comfort bed is topped by checkered neutral spreads and the usual variety of pillows (two huge ones for sitting up, one useless small one for decor, and two soft floppy ones that gave a number of us neck pain) and thick foamish blanket. USA Today is delivered to the room, Fresno Bee is available free in several locations (yesterday's big news is a bust of a number of Hmong and one retired CANG Lt Col for planning assassinations and a major attack in Vientiane, where I was a couple of months ago.)

The room is quite large by any standard, but age is also determined by the jumble of wires, and the air con works only too well - when I arrived it was set at 70F/ 21C! Useful for an unnecessary duvet and heavy spread in the hot Central Valley (94F / 34C today) but plurry cold for anyone just in from the warm outside, and the cold air blasts in even if the control is set higher.

The housekeeping starts early, and in my instance was quite good - late sleepers will be subject to vacuum cleaner noises, etc. past 7:30 or 8:00, and the 5:30 AM rubbish truck noise seemed to occur on alternate days. Soundproofing is an issue here - I heard my neighbor's snores, and am now listening to a happy baby making repetitive "aaaah!" noises - thankfully, not crying. At 6:09, another truck has pulled in noisily (air brakes, loud backup alarm and engine,) and some departing fool has decided to let us know with copious honking. More substantial curtains with sound insulation and light reduction properties would help.


The Ethernet in my room (309) apparently does not work, and the WiFi bleeding over from the lobby is about two (and infrequently three) of five bars. A very old, slow and sick computer with printer comprises the lobby "business center" - it has a cable for USB thumb drives, but the Windows 2000 Professional crashed when I connected mine, and it took fifteen minutes to get things back up, load a document and print yesterday! You can also send to a secured print queue from your room - the first four pages are free.

The bathroom is a two part bit, with the ante-bath with a closet (usual ironing board and iron, extra blanket,) a small fridge stashed under the separate makeup counter, which has a coffeemaker, ice bucket and complimentary bottle of water, which was renewed daily. The bath itself contains toilet and shower-tub combo with a newer bowed shower curtain rod, a sink with bath and facial soap bars that are truly tiny, accompanied by Caswell-Massey shampoo, conditioner and lotion tubes. The shower is OK if you are under 5'6" / 167 cm, but if you are over that expect to have to bend down to rinse.

The restaurant is OK - nothing especially bad nor especially good that I can see - mostly off the Sysco truck, I suspect, but reasonably prepared and not overpriced. My courtesy breakfast chit got me a pretty standard hotel breakfast buffet with some melons (mostly unripe cantaloupe and honeydew, plus watermelon,) scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, orange (only) juice, tea, coffee. The staff is accommodating and friendly.

There are four iDine restaurants within three miles, and about fifteen within five, for those staying a while and mobile (I can recommend Pacific Seafood and Venezia (N. Italian) about 3 miles north of the hotel. A small mall across the street has perhaps 12 OK restaurants. The neighborhood is a bit run down - some of the teens were actually passing a public phone back and forth, as they were obviously sans cell phone.

Since the last time I stayed, the grounds and buildings look pretty much the same - nothing spectacular, a definite dated look, but the rooms and staff have improved to a noticeable degree. The lobby is brighter, they served decent lemonade and three varieties of cookies ~5 - 7 PM yesterday, and when I inquired about the note in the room I encountered some time ago warning that cards parked on the grounds had been broken in to and guests were enjoined to not leave anything of value in their vehicles is not here - when I inquired about security, they seemed surprised at my question (my car was parked between two California Highway Patrol vehicles - that might also be a small disincentive to a potential thief.)

The usual here seems to be some small conferences and meetings, a bus or two (a large bus with Japanese placards arrived when I did,) and some folks on the way through to Yosemite, on the busy highway 99 or a few for business locally. All in all, I cringed when I was told this was my training venue due to my experiences the last time I was here, , though when I tried to book the Hampton two weeks ago, I was told there were no non-smoking rooms available, but I'd "probably" get one my day of arrival. Now that I've settled in, I've had an acceptable stay, though I wish the halls were a bit quieter / rooms were more insulated, and that the curtains excluded more light and noise from the outside (and they really should spring for a somewhat newer computer for the lobby!)

Yes, they did ask for "picture ID," but accepted my credit card with photo.

gleff

Thanks for the update! I grew up in FAT and still return and truly wish there was a better SPG property in town (I don't expect a new Westin, a tired Sheraton would do just fine!)

365RoadWarrior

Amen. I do wish Fresno 'all the best'; seems, however, like they're more often getting the 'short end of the stick'.