wahoo88

Anyone stayed here recently? Thoughts? Also, I am Gold status...can I expect any upgrades or other perks here?

Thanks.

sc flier

I suggest that you start by reading these two threads...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ghlight=lucaya

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ghlight=lucaya

Personally, I'm a big fan of the Westin there, but not as much of a fan of the Sheraton unless you're bringing young kids or need to save the small (usually about $30) difference in price for the Westin. I still think that the Sheraton would be better categorized as Category 3. At least it is available on the Cash & Points lists more often than the Westin. You'll also find these properties on the multi-night promos sometimes. (Buy 2 Get 1 Night is sometimes their best offer.) AAA rates can also be favorable.

Perks for Gold would probably be to get a pool view room instead of a garden view. The Sheraton is only a few stories tall and is set back from the ocean a bit, so there are few rooms that have an ocean view. I don't think that the Sheraton has many suites, and I don't know the odds for a Gold to get one. You could call the hotel's SPG coordinator directly to ask. They have a toll free number from the U.S. on http://www.ourlucaya.com/

If you do a search, you'll find that I've discussed these two properties often. Most of my experience is as a Plat at the Westin, though.

wahoo88

Thanks sc flier...very helpful information. Since we are bringing our children (10 and 6), we felt like the Sheraton would be a better choice and you response has confirmed it.

wahoo99

I have stayed at both and the Sheraton is DEFINITELY more kid focused. But the best part is that you have access to all the facilities of both hotels staying in either. Their is an adults only pool at the Westin, which was definitely welcome to get away sometimes from the kids everywhere at the resort. I believe they also have kid activity programs to occupy the kids, so if you want some time away on your own at the adult pool, all the better for you. One thing I remember is that the food is mediocre and very expensive, but you can eat a lot in the marina complex across the street, I think they even had a Subway in there. Also, don't count on great food or service anywhere, things run reallllly slowly in the Bahamas, you just have to take it with a grain of salt and enjoy your surroundings.

wahoo99

One other thing, I was a gold when I stayed and got upgraded to the Perferred Guest floor at the Sheraton and had an ocean view room.

AskTravis

Hi all -

Some quick notes from a Cash&Points stay at Sheraton Our Lucaya this past weekend. I got engaged to my girlfriend (now fiancee) at the hotel this weekend, and we had a blast! A few sour notes, but overall, would stay here again for sure.

Sour first, nice later

Check-In - As this was a special occasion, I had called previous to the weekend and asked about the 'Accessible Room' that I was reserved, but didn't need (i.e. please give me a nice room The woman on the phone said, "no worries, I'll take care of it and make sure everything is perfect"... of course, when we get to the room, its the same accessible room I started with. The room had a few things wrong with it - a) the shower floods the entire bathroom (as there is no bathtub for accessibility) and the b) sink stopper would not stay open, I had to pry it out with my fingers... gross. I returned to the front desk to ask for a different room and they said I would have to wait until the AM... grrr.

Room Service - After a nice dinner at the Marketplace (Le Mar I think it was called) we came back and this was "the big night", so we stopped by the front desk to see if I could get 2 wine glasses and a corkscrew brought to the room. "no problem, no service fee". 30 minutes go by, still nothing... I call room service and ask when it is coming, they have never heard of my request and there is a $4 service fee... so I take my wine bottle to the front desk with me to see where I can get it opened for free (I'm cheap, but not lazy and the front desk agent sends a bell staff to get it for me... 20 minutes later, we are cracking up the bottle finally.

now the good stuff:

Room Change - Day 2, we go to the front desk at 10am to see if we can change rooms. We are handed keys to check out the room, we can move our stuff ourselves if we wish (not an issue). The room is beautiful! Room 4109 if I recall correctly, top floor, end unit, with great stair access and great balcony overlooking the ocean... it MADE the rest of the trip...

The facilities at the Sheraton/Westin are great - a number of swimming pools and restaurants, and we utilized them to the max. The Westin has better pools (more adult - swim up bar, etc) but they are all so close you could alternate every hour if you wished. The beach is right beside the pools, so lots of options. It never seemed busy, except for at the swim-up bar.

The real key to this property is the proximity to the Freeport Marketplace, a 2 minute stroll across the street. The restaurants we went to - Le Mar, Zorbas (lunch) and a nice Italian place (whose name escapes me) were all fantastic, and much cheaper than the place we ate on the resort - China Beach (which was tasty as well). We also did a snolkeling trip from the marketplace - $35 for a 2 hour trip, great reef and nice boat (50ft cat) which made for some very burnt shoulders.

As an aside, of note is the additional fees - $4/person Resort Fee (includes HSIA) and $8/person Bahamas tax is applied... so an extra $24/night for us (on $60 C&P)...


Great weekend, great weather... and oh ya, she said YES!

Safe travels,

T.

sc flier

Congratulations!!! In the event that you might also wish to get married on Grand Bahama Island, I can tell you lots about our experience doing so last fall. We stayed in the Westin's Lanai Suites, got married about 30 minutes away on vacant Gold Rock Beach (not as expansive and pretty as it was before major hurricanes hit in 2004 and 2005 but still very private), and had about 18 guests attending for the weekend. We had a mid-day ceremony and hosted an afternoon reception directly in our suite. In fact, our suite was even our "Plan B" for the ceremony in case of inclement weather.

Though Our Lucaya offers wedding planning services and has an outdoor wedding gazebo by the Westin's beach, we did not use their wedding planners at all. We had the time and interest in making most arrangements ourselves. We wanted a more private setting for our ceremony without a bunch of gawking tourists passing by. And we saved a lot of money.

The hotel staff treated us wonderfully. My Platinum status (and perhaps my wife's Gold status) made a huge difference. We got upgrades to oceanfront rooms or suites for all of our guests. We did not find group sales to be helpful for our small group. I tried making arrangements through them, but they could not offer me competitive rates. We were better off reserving rooms during a sale.

The restaurant name that you are trying to recall is "Le Med." In addition to serving us the best lobster that we've ever put in our mouths, they also served a pretty good breakfast.

We took our guests to dinner at Luciano's (French) and La Dolce Vita (Italian) -- our two favorite restaurants in the Port Lucaya Marketplace (not to be confused with Freeport's run down International Bazaar). The owners of Luciano's also run Le Med. I have August 2005 photos of the menus for most of the restaurants in the Marketplace and in the hotel. If anyone's interested, please send me a PM.

We had the added pleasure of a "planning trip" during the summer so that we could line up many of the arrangements for rooms, dining, drinks, flowers, minister, a steel drum band, transportation, and event location. Most significantly, we scheduled this trip so that we could get our marriage license in advance.

Our engagement was also Starwood-based. I asked her to marry me when we dined in Aspen at the Caribou Club while spending a ski weekend at the St Regis.

AskTravis

Great story, sounds like *wood will be heavily involved in ours as well, so at least I'm not alone

La Dolce Vita - that was the Italian place we went... unbelievable Gnocci and Shrimp apps... I miss it!

T.

flyerguy

Anyone have experience at sheraton lucaya? I've stayed at the westin a couple times, but never sheraton. I think it seems as if they have redone it recently? Older reviews seem bad, but recent reviews seem better.

griffinj

I checked into the Sheraton Our Lucaya in Freeport, Grand Bahama with my wife earlier today. This is our second time staying at this resort, the last time we stayed at the Westin.

During check-in we were shown a notice by the front desk that effective September 10, 2007 the 2 pools at the Sheraton would be closed for maintenance. One of the pools is scheduled to reopen this weekend, the second pool is expected to remain closed "much longer".

It was the convenience of having the pools right outside the door of the hotel that brought us to this resort. We chose this hotel because we wanted to lounge by the pools for an extended weekend getaway.

The alternative for us is to walk to the Westin to use the pools. While this is a fine alternative and the Westin has very nice pools, instead of having a pool right outside out door we have to walk across the resort to the Westin's pools.

This is an inconvenience, and while not the end of the world, had I been notified that the pools were closed prior to my arrival, I would have canceled my reservation with the Sheraton and booked at the Westin for the convenience of having the pools close by. We like to get away for 3 or 4 day weekends throughout the year and cherish this time.

I have verified the announcement sections of the Our Lucaya properties web sites on starwoodhotels.com and found nothing to mention to closing of the pools.

As we've already checked-in to the Sheraton, what are our options for checking out and canceling the remainder of our reservation? Should we be due some compensation from the resort for this inconvenience? Perhaps a room at the Westin for the price we're paying for the room at the Sheraton? Maybe some extra points?

Since it's evening I figured it best to wait until morning to try to discuss with hotel management.

Any advice from FTers or William from Starwood in how best I handle this situation is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

griffinj

Starwood Lurker

My apologies for the surprise at check-in. I would suggest the following course of action:

It depends upon how you want to handle it. If it were me, I would call Hotel Customer Service from the property and give them the details tonight as that gets the ball rolling for you in the morning. But, if you want to give the hotel a chance to do good first, then in the morning, ask to speak to the manager of the complex and see if they can move you to a pool-side room at the Westin instead. Failing that, I would for sure call Hotel Customer Service and ask for their assistance. 800-328-6242 or by email at [email protected].

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

griffinj

William-
Thanks for your quick response. My wife emailed customer service before I posted here. After a short period they responded with a somewhat generic message saying that they will forward my comments to the property's general manager to assist in resolving the issue. But it may take up to 5 days to investigate my issue and take appropriate action. By then I will be back in NY

They did provide me with a reference # that I can use to follow up with customer service.

sc flier

The following announcement is on this Sheraton's homepage. I don't know when it was added.

Temporary Facility Closure
Please note that the Sheraton swimming pool will be closed beginning September 11 for general maintenance. The upper pool will re-open on September 15 and the lower pool will reopen at a later date. The sugar Mill Restaurant and Bar will be closed at the Sheraton pool deck until further notice for maintenance.

I would ask to be moved to the Westin for no additional charge. Or for no more than the Westin's current lowest rate ($140/nt or less) plus some small compensation for the hassle -- some Starpoints or free continental breakfast if that's not already included in your rate or benefits.

Is there any clear reason why both pools would have to be closed at the same time for this maintenance? Is this poor planning or just the nature of the design of the two pools?

OTOH, I'm not sure what your Sheraton rate is. I'm seeing $95/nt as an internet non-refundable rate for this weekend. If you're paying more than that, maybe ask for this lower rate and stay where you are.

bpoe19

I guess I really don't understand the inconvience due to distance of pools. The Westin pool is literally 20 yards away from the Sheraton pool.

I agree that it's very weird to close both pools right at the end of peak season, though.

fireworksboy

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7130e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

I agree it's not that far of a walk but my problem would be is the lack of notice. If the pool was going to be closed, guests shouldve been made aware prior to arrival.