Oceanbound222

I will be in Sana'a Yemen for 5 nights. I have a reservation at the Sheraton.

Has anyone been there? Impressions? Club floor worth it ??

schriste

I was there many years ago. It is on the edge of town so you will need to take a taxi to the old town. As I recall it was an OK place. Nothing great. The rooms were pretty beat up, but that was 7 or 8 years ago.

365RoadWarrior

I'm headed to this property in December - provided that I can get them to reply to my inquiries and visas and visa support. Any recent experiences?

365RoadWarrior

I spent two weeks at the Sheraton Sana’a. It’s got kind of a Sheraton feel – a little dark, somber, damp - but it’s also something of an odd duck.

Getting visa support and answers to questions was impossible, without multiple interventions by SPG staff.

Security is high. There are heavily armed guards at two (consecutive) stations in the entry drive. I saw armored, military looking vehicles about on a couple of occasions.

Guests enter the hotel on the sixth floor; there are several guest floors below, and two ‘executive’ floors above. The executive lounge is on the main (sixth) level. Lounge fare includes a decent breakfast (hot and cold with British and American favorites). There’s hors d’ouevres in the evening.

Front desk staff is numerous, but there seems to be a strong “not-my-job” philosophy. Calling the front desk is not effective.

My room was nothing to write home about. A bed, a desk. Things were functional and clean. Not bad for Yemen.

The fitness center (rather ‘centers’) is divided, male/female, and, while no marvel, is generally okay. (It took a couple of days to get some equipment fixed, but it did get fixed.) The power tends to go out several times a day.

I ate in the Indian restaurant. Staff tried hard. “Overbearing” is the word that comes to mind. If nothing else, they had me handily outnumbered.

Here’s a list of oddities that comes to mind at the moment:
Anything you touch, eat, take from the lounge will generate a receipt that you need to sign. I was a little wary, but the bill never came. I suppose they’re trying to battle inventory shrinkage, but you do feel very much ‘watched’.

Sitting in the pool or lounge area generates a minimum charge. It’s not terribly high, and apparently can be met by ordering from bar, café, or ??? But if you’re simply waiting for someone in the lobby, this can be a bit of an aggravation. I’m not certain that the charge was consistently pursued against hotel guests.

Most disconcerting, it’s really tough to get a straight and consistent answer from staff about what would seem like factual matters. When does the fitness center open? And, later, what do you think ‘open’ means? Can you get me a taxi?

If you get even slightly confrontational, staff tends to resort to blatant lies. “You said the fitness center would open at 8:00AM; it’s now 11:15AM. When do you now think the fitness center will open?” “It’s closed for maintenance until another day.” Another front desk person, standing immediately next to the first one will give a completely different story and neither person will recognize or acknowledge the inconsistency.

Not that I’d actively discourage anyone from staying at the Sheraton, but just FYI, there’s a brand-spankin’ new Movenpick about 700 meters away. It wasn’t fully open during my stay, but it’s still shiny new, and I haven’t run into anyone else who is aware of it.

Further aside: the people in Yemen are among the nicest I’ve encountered anywhere. Unfortunately, outside hotels, restaurants and other visitor infrastructure is weak; outside Sana’a, things are even tougher.

vivrant

This is waaaaay O/T, but I never even of Sana until I read this article in NY Times Magazine this past week. Politics aside, but given the situation described here, I doubt I'll be visiting this city anytime soon.

jja34-1

I'm planning to be there in the next few weeks for work....will try and give a short report when I get back.

dmilsi

Has anyone been to this property since January? If so, has it improved at all? I stayed there in 1981 when it fairly new. I'll be going to Sana'a in December and wasn't sure whether to stay at the Sheraton or Mercure, which is newer and closer to town.
Thanks for your assistance.

jja34-1

The place is definitely showing its age. Not a bad hotel but it could do with a refurb. The service in the restaurants was pretty good, though.

Our preferred hotel is now the Movenpick. I've only seen it from the outside, but everyone who has stayed says it's pretty nice.

MAN Flyer

Any recent stays at this place ?. I've booked it anyway, despite the reviews not being the best. It's just for an overnight before going elsewhere so not fussed if it's in town or not.

James Luckard

Leaves Starwood January 1, 2013

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...propertyID=491

365RoadWarrior

A shame. I love Yemen, and this was my go-to hotel in Sana'a.

dcstudent

The hotel is leaving to become diplomatic housing for U.S. diplomats stationed in Yemen. According to today's article in the Washington Post, the hotel has been diplomatic housing for almost a year, with no one else allowed to make reservations anyways.

The article is also funny as it quotes an unnamed dip who laments not earning anymore *points as of Jan 1.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...22d_story.html

RTW1

Damn... I was just reading "the Panther" by Demille and this seemed a good idea to earn some point (and hopefully live to enjoy them ).

GUWonder

The hotel already became US military and diplomats' housing; the hotel affiliation dropping off is the result of the hotel plant becoming a de facto base for the US Marines.

Who owns/owned this hotel? Must have gotten some big baksheesh straight from Uncle Sam.

365RoadWarrior

Double bummer: it's a non-participating hotel for the current bonus points promo.