socalterp

Quick update:

Decided to take a club floor room instead of a suite. Worked out fine, especially as it was closer to the club lounge (which is on the 10th floor) The lounge is now open for breakfast on weekends, as well as evening hor d'heurves from 5-7, or something like that. Food was decent, there was a fridge stocked with sodas and water (useful to take skiing) - did find it strange that the lounge charged for beer/wine in the evening. Club level room had complimentary water, but otherwise looked the same as a regular room we had last year. There appears to be a large suite on the 10th floor, #1025 I believe. The other suites look to be in the older, low buildings.

Other notes: Hotel does not charge Plat guests for self-parking, otherwise it is $10/day. Was able to connect to wireless internet for free, though it was sometimes slow. There are now a bunch of pretty decent restaurants within easy walking distance of the hotel...beyond the chain stuff like PF Changs and Buca di Beppo, we really liked Squatter's Brew Pub and Settebello Pizza.

sc flier

There's one more beer left in my fridge from Squatters! IIRC, the food's better around the corner at Red Rock Brewing. I believe that you can order a flight of small beers at both places if you want to sample more than a few.

SLC has a number of good restaurants downtown. One of many that I like is Bambara at the Hotel Monaco.

How was the skiing?

My fingers are crossed that my client out there lines up a trip for me next month.

socalterp

We actually liked the menu and food better at Squatters...more adventurous, locally sourced, etc. But Red Rock was good as well. We just did pitchers at both places, and both were good. There's a Squatters location in the C concourse of the SLC airport as well that has good food for the same prices as the downtown location.

Skiing was great...we skied 2 days @ Alta, and 2 @ Solitude. One of the days was snowy/windy - but in exchange you got great powder. About 2 feet of snow fell in 2 days when we were there, so no complaints at all.

Starwood Lurker

ick. The Italian version of Taco Bell.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

sc flier

Aww, geez! I saw Starwood Lurker's name show up in the list for this thread and expected something like an explanation about the 10th floor suite. And this is the valuable information that I get?!?

It seems that there is a 10th floor Presidential Suite there. I was not aware of it. On the hotel's starwoodhotels.com webpages, there are two photos of guestrooms. One is labelled, "Presidential Bedroom." Looks pretty much like all of the other bedrooms in the tower. I assume that there must also be an attached Presidential Living Room.

FWIW, this hotel also has an independently-run website that includes special offers, etc.

I also didn't realize that this this hotel was recently sold. From the PR:
Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. SHO announced today that it has completed the sale of the 362 room Sheraton located in Salt Lake City, Utah for gross sale proceeds of $33.3 million to affiliates of Driftwood Hospitality.
...
Sunstone estimates that the property would have required approximately $15 million in renovation expenditures in 2008 to comply with Sheraton brand standards.

Based on the PR, I wonder what the future plans are for this hotel. Will Driftwood renovate or rebuild the old portion of the hotel? Or will they pull it from the Sheraton fold?

Driftwood also owns the Sheraton Bellevue and the soon-to-open Sheraton Jacksonville.

andymo99

I stayed there for 3 nights this past weekend. First night I cashed in 6k points for a loft suite, as that was all they had available for points.

I used a standard award the next two nights (actually a 50% PRG - a dismal use, but still a small savings that we otherwise wouldn't have used).

The hotel linked the reservations and gave us the loft suite all 3 nights. We liked the suite a lot. We were out to ski, and usually we stay at the resorts. The loft suite has an oddly ski condo-esque feel. The extra room was nice, although we didn't spend much time there. There was no problem with 4pm checkout, which was great, enabling us to ski until 215pm and change/shower before 450pm flight.

As SPG Plat, I was given the free parking as well as lounge access. Breakfast at this property is served in the lounge on the 10th floor, including on weekends. (Loft suite is in a separate, low building, but not terribly inconvenient.) Breakfast included scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, hot and cold cereal, yogurt, juice, pastries and toast. Hot drinks included coffee and mixes for hot chocolage and hot apple cider. The eager lounge host did a great job of keeping everything stocked and tables cleared.

Appetizers are set up for a few hours in the evening. The lone night we showed up, they had two hot options (beef and something else that I forget), as well as bruschetta and Caesar salad. There is also a variety of packaged foods including granola bars, Doritos, Cracker Jacks, etc. The evening lounge host was also very attentive. They offer beer and wine for sale (perhaps a UT eccentricity) for only $2. Only downer was no local beer options.

The hotel (based on the parking lot) seemed full on the weekend, mostly with skiers. It wasn't quite as full by Monday.

All in all, it isn't the nicest or most modern hotel, but it is an outstanding points value, especially on weekends. While my preference is to stay slopeside, I'd definitely stay there again if traveling without a group and just looking for a place to crash.

socalterp

Maybe we'll try the loft suite next time. As far as the 10th floor Presidential Suite, we passed it on the way to the lounge. I think the room # is 1021 or 1025. In any event, it is distinguished on the outside by its double doors....I caught a quick peek inside one day while it was being cleaned, and it did look like there was a separate bedroom.

tw1tch

I'm a little ticked off that the pool is closed for the season! I just arrived yesterday, and no where in my reservation or online does it mention this. The pool is definitely a selling point to this hotel, they have it in the photos and go on about the outdoor pool. I actually stopped by during my last visit to SLC to check out the Sheraton, and decided I'd try it out, with a big part of the decision being the outdoor pool (especially now when it's 95/100 degrees out). I wouldn't have bothered otherwise, it's not the nicest Sheraton.

I'm not normally one to complain but I'd like to this time (lets not forgot the toothpaste that never arrived this morning after giving them two phones calls and an hour to get it), I'm rather annoyed about the pool, was looking forward to some sun/water. Who would you contact to register a complaint?

DFWFlier

Looking at a one night stay with family...wondering if rooms are all renovated now, recent Plat treatment.

slidergirl

I stayed for one night in late September. The renovations were still going on. I had a room on a newly renovated floor. I thought it was very nice for the standard room. The decor seemed more modern that I expected at this Sheraton. I was only Gold at the time, and with a late night check-in, I didn't expect nor need anything special. If you want to be absolutely sure about the renovations, try calling the hotel.

As for the charging $2 for beer/wine in the lounge - it is a Utah law. They can't give out "free" alcoholic beverages and they can't make it a service charge for all - if you choose not to drink, you can't be charged for it. We had this at some cooking classes at Deer Valley. Wine had originally been included in the price of the class and meal, but the Beverage Control Board made them separate out the price for wine, so those who chose not to imbibe were not charged.

365RoadWarrior

I can't believe that I didn't post after my disastrous Thanksgiving-week stay.

My room was nice. The lounge was closed (no one mentioned this at check-in), and there was TREMENDOUS confusion about substitute breakfast for Plats. Heck, there was confusion about everything. I moved to the Hampton Inn mid-stay.

slidergirl

What kind of confusions? Just the things you mentioned would not be enough to make me move to the Hampton Inn. I'm really interested. Others looking to book might be interested. And, since we were asking, were the renovations still in progress or finished?

DFWFlier

We stayed there for one night on the 26th and were very pleased, especially at a rate of $75.

Free shuttle pickup from the airport was prompt (10 minutes after calling).

Assigned 2 newly renovated rooms on the 6th floor. Modern decor, Sweet Sleeper beds, new flat-screen TVs (although not HD). Rooms were on the small side, but bathrooms were very large.

Club lounge was closed (not clear if that was just for holidays or permanent), but we were given free bottled water and free coupons for breakfast buffet in the restaurant for everyone.

Platinum recognition at check-in. Everyone we encountered was very friendly and helpful.

Easy walking distance to many good restaurants.

Prompt shuttle back to airport.

All in all, couldn't have been much better. And double Starpoints from promotion!

365RoadWarrior

Glad to hear they have figured out the breakfast coupon thing. I encouraged them to clarify if there was any Plat accommodation for breakfast, but I got too many different answers. During Thanksgiving week, there was DEFINITELY remodeling work going on - power hammers and drills, all day. No one could tell us when work would start/end, or put and boundaries on the hours.

Other points of 'confusion': airport shuttles, local transportation (not hotel-provided), late check-out, virtually anything related to higher echelons of SPG status (amenities, upgrades...), opportunity to move to a room where construction noise was less than "deafening."

sc flier

While I have certainly encountered green front desk agents at this hotel who were less familiar with the elite perks and special requests, my experience with the managers at this hotel have always revealed outstanding knowledge and an ability to resolve issues well. I've had more than one time in which they've confirmed specific room upgrades for me in advance of arrival. I've stayed there many times, though my last stay was more than 6 months ago.