gregorygrady

I see you are Marriott Plat. If you wanna be IN downtown Tempe, there is a Courtyard right there on the main street of downtown Tempe, I stayed there once, it's a pretty decent CY. The Sheraton is about 1.5 miles away from downtown Tempe, whereas you can walk to anywhere in DT Tempe from the Courtyard. Actually, the Hilton is also closer to downtown Tempe than the Sheraton (even though the Hilton is in Phoenix and the Sheraton is in Tempe).

DENPremEx

Thanks for the info on the Courtyard, I'll have to look into it. I think I'll be OK with Marriott Plat for '07...its *Wood I'm concerned about so I'm trying to stay there whenever I can although its difficult.

andymo99

I've had a couple of recent stays here: in and out 1 night quickies. Each time, I've arrived late and the clerk proudly proclaimed that he had an upgrade for my Gold status. Neither time did the room seem to be anything special. On the first occasion, the clerk offered me access to the club room for breakfast, and coded my key for access. I had a breakfast meeting, so I skipped this.

A few nights ago, I checked in and found my room had not been made up. I returned to the desk and got a new room, and the clerk offered me lounge access for breakfast at this point. (This time, I tried the breakfast, which was serviceable.) Oh, upon check-in, I learned that the water in the hotel would be off from 9a-3pm the next day. I know they have to do maintenance, but I thought the hours started a bit early, and didn't appreciate the late notice at check-in... I had little recourse at that point.

All in all, I will continue to stay there based on convenience to the airport an my client, but this hotel is not among Sheraton's best.

gfowler-ord-1k

The Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel Tempe is undergoing renovations this summer. I was the first guest to check-in to the renovated club floor which reopened today. I arrived at 14:30 and I was offered an older room or I could wait until 16:00 for the club floor to open. It actually turned out to be 17:30 but I did some shopping and hung out at the temporary club lounge on the first floor. There is a note in the room stating that the fourth floor club lounge is supposed to re-open on 6/29/2007.

The front desk manager called me to make sure everything is OK and is sending up comp cake and ice cream.

The following items are new:

• 32" LG LCD HD TV although all channels are still analog
• wallpaper
• carpet
• lamps
• pictures on wall
• lounge chair
• curved shower rod
• shower curtains
• bathroom sink
• toilet

One nice thing about the TV is that it is on a swivel mount and can be viewed from the desk where the old tube TV could not.

There are 3 free computers with a printer for public use near the lobby lounge. There is another near the front desk but that one is only for printing airline boarding passes. Other URLs are blocked. There is another computer with printer in the exec floor lounge.

gfowler-ord-1k

The renovations are still in progress and the lounge is now back to the original 4th floor location. The furniture, carpet and TVs have been replaced. More rooms have opened on the exec floor.

The new desk lamp looks much nicer but the old ones had 2 power outlets on it. The outlet on the wall is difficult to get to and some laptop power supplies may not reach. BTW I always carry a small extension cord in my laptop bag for use in airports and situations like this. I mentioned the lamp outlets to to the front desk manager and it looks like because of my suggestion they will be adding a power outlet strip.

gfowler-ord-1k

The hotel has no suites and I was hoping that some would be added with the renovations that are going on now. But there will be none.

gfowler-ord-1k

A few updates.

• The pool still has not re-opened as of a few days ago
• The in room coffee makers have been moved out of the bathrooms and put on a small table just for it
• All the rooms that are for sale have been renovated. There are still quite a few under construction.
• The lounge has a waffle maker for breakfast
• The new lighting and carpet in the halls make it much brighter -- maybe too bright. It was gloomy before.

Overall the property is improving a lot. I hope the prices don't "improve" too much after all this is over.

dmfriedman

Unfortunately that hasn't happened yet. I don't understand how any "business-class" hotel doesn't provide sufficient power outlets for laptops, cell phones, etc.

360guy

I am staying there tomorrow night. I will report if there are any newer improvements.

gfowler-ord-1k

You can get an extension cord delivered to your room. Be sure to call in the day or early evening as there in no maintenance person on duty at night.

I left voice mail and sent email to the GM last week about this and 12 other problems with my last stay. He has not had the courtesy to answer.

I will be there again tonight and I am going to let someone know my displeasure. I don't want publish all the ugly detains but I will if I am not taken care of. I am a frequent stayer there and a lot of the staff knows me by name. But there are 2 employees there that if they worked for me would be out on the street. The rest of them have been great.

dmfriedman

I spoke with the GM last night by phone. At his house. Because there were so many problems caused by this hotel that they're now comping everything during my stay, including the stay itself. It doesn't surprise me, though, that he hasn't responded -- he doesn't have much to say.I'll be back there later tonight (unfortunately, but hey, it's now free, and I need the SPG stay credit)... hope your experience is better than mine!

gfowler-ord-1k

I gave a copy of my email to the GM to the front desk and received compensation points. Like I said before most of the staff is great but with a GM who does not care about customer service there is bound to be a trickle down effect. They have a problem now with having so much new staff. In the summer there was low occupancy and a lot the hotel was closed for renovations. The occupancy is increasing and most of the renovations are complete and lot of new staff was needed. However they are not properly trained.

One of the 12 items that I reported to the GM is that the half & half in the room coffee station was spoiled. It is clearly labeled "Keep Refrigerated". Since he won't respond to me I bet he will when the Maricopa County Environmental Services (health department) calls him. I have filed a complaint.

When I checked in Saturday I was quoted a rate about 50% higher than I expected. It turned out the the receptionist has selected another guest's reservation. Also she had no idea what a Platinum was. Another receptionist helped her out. I was the only 3rd person who she had ever checked in.

I ordered a power outlet strip for use at the desk. The alarm clock by the bed was not plugged in and it's backup battery was dead. Both items were quickly corrected but should have never happened.

The lounge now has a waffle maker with a big Sheraton "S" logo. The pool renovations are complete and it is open. Overall the renovations have made the hotel much nicer.

SanDiego1K

Our stay was fine on Friday night. Then, again, there's not a whole lot to go wrong between an 11pm check in and an 8am departure.

Another FTer was also at the hotel on Friday night. He expressed his dismay about the cream falling into his coffee in chunks.

gfowler-ord-1k

Click here to file a complaint about the chunky cream. Parameters to use:

360guy

I stayed there Sunday night and was not impressed with the hotel. Also stayed last week at the Four Points Sheraton Phoenix and received great Platinum treatment. Upgraded to a Cabana Suite, give free breakfast coupons and 4 drink coupons . The rate at the Four points was $89, however it is 30 minutes to Sky harbor Airport.