vandalby

I'm going to be staying pretty extensively at the Sheraton in Mahwah, NJ for the first 3 months of 2007 (about 3 nights per week). Anyone have any experience with this property? I'm SPG Platinum and am curious to see if upgrades have been available. Any other hints, tips, suggestions would be great!

West Coast 1K

I stayed there a bunch in 2004. Pretty good track record of upgrades to junior suites and a decent lounge for breakfast. Hotel is fine but certainly nothing to get excited about. Seemingly not a lot of food options around except for fast food and diners.

ptcflyer

Stayed at this property about 20 times during past year. It is a good Sheraton. A bit on the pricey side. It tends to "book up" for mid-week stays... so get your reservations in early.

The rooms are all done nicely...

Before the lounge was refurbished, they gave free breakfast downstairs... which was very good. However, the lounge is open and the food there is a bit "skimpy"..

The a.m. lounge hostess is very nice and will "talk up a storm" if you invite conversation. Very friendly.

Ask for a corner room... There are at least 4 corner "junior suites" and two in the middle of each floor. They are a bit larger... although oddly shaped. The views are very nice.

Don't be fooled by the size of the building... as the bottom 2/3s is office space. The hotel floors are on the top. It never seems busy and generally has a very quite atmosphere.

When booking... don't just take whatever rate that comes up for the whole week.. check each night individually. If they are full mid-week.. often, the Thursday or Sunday will have less expensive rates. I've split my bookings up several times and saved a lot of money over what was quoted on SPG.COM.

Has a nice pool / workout area. Never seems busy.

troyb

I live in the area and know of some better food options. For example, there is the River Palm Terrace, a pretty decent steakhouse, just down the road I believe on Rt. 17. There is also the Mason Jar, with less expensive, but still tasty, Friday's type food. You can also head down Rt. 17 towards Rt.4 and there are a ton of options around there. Hope this helps.

prishacoby

hello,

we are going to stay in sheraton crossroads at mahwah , NJ from May 20th to 23rd. i think my husband had gold status till March. any way we got this hotel thru priceline. does the room come with breakfast or we need to pay for it. when i checked their website i did not see menu/prices in their dining options.

another question is does each room come with microwave and refrigerator or only suites come with that option

thanks

CWAnderson

They don't comp breakfast for platinums in the dining room now that they have a Club Lounge with Continental breakfast on the club floor. They have excellent food on the breakfast buffet by the way, but it is costly.

No microwaves/refrigerators in the rooms that I can remember.

ldsant

Booking through Priceline means you do not receive any points or stay credit unless you charge for incidentals (points only). No, you will not get breakfast comped.

prishacoby

thank you guys. my husband got a job in Ramsey, NJ. we are planning to stay for couple of weeks in hotels and look for an apartment. we did not want sheraton may be something with a kitchenette would have worked out better for us but on impulse we bid on priceline and got sheraton. anyway this info helps us to plan a little

etsmyers

I thought I would give an update on this property.

I stayed here 4+ years ago as a lowly silver. It was nice enough, but also memorable enough that when I came back, I remembered this property.

As I arrived, my first 5 minutes were harsh. The FD clerk was abrupt and a little harsh regarding my GOV ID. At the moment, all I had was a badge and gun, and felt they would have upset the other guests checking in. Her next line was that I needed to get it to her or she was changing me to rack rate.

She WAS nice enough to acknowledge my status and upgrade me to a junior suite. As I just drove 3+ hours, I dropped my bags and hit the lounge. There was a great spread, including free wine. The evening presentation was great, and I was forunate enough to chat with the Sales mgr and evening MOD, both named Will. I shared my FD experience with both who promised to rectify the situation. I spent a little time in the lounge, then hit the bar for a meal. I ran into MOD Will who again promised satisfaction and correction. I had both of their cards and they offered me pre-arrival assistance in the future. My meal was cut short for an email of the on line bonus . While making the next few weeks reservations, I noticed the FD clerk had already changed me to rack rate of $199. A quick call to Will again cleared this up. Of course, I am a tad nervous for the folio under the door in the am.

So, the hotel recently renovated the rooms. All the rooms I saw looked great. My junior suite was great, clean and comfy. The meal in the bar was PHENOMONAL. Service was prompt and polite.

No stay will ever be perfect. A properties ability to acknowledge a shortfall, correct it and focus on the positives, will always win.

I would say this is one of the top 3 Sheratons I have ever stayed in, Toronto, Copley, and Mahwah.

sjuhawk_jd

Just stayed at the Sheraton in Mahwah. Stayed on a Saturday night, paid stay. Was given a corner junior suite as a plat upgrade. At the time of check-in, when I asked about the breakfast - came a very stern answer that the club lounge is open from Monday (or Tuesday) to Friday only, so no "free Breakfast" for me. I asked if they will give me vouchers for the breakfast in the restaurant, the answer was no. I did not make a big deal out of it since I eat very little breakfast anyway.

Next morning, I woke up at 10 AM. Went to the downstairs "convenience store" to get a muffin and had muffin and coffee in the room. I wanted to check emails, so I called front desk for "free internet" as my plat amenity: answer was no. I asked for free bottle of water: answer was no. I asked if I can use the computer in the business center for free: answer was no.

I got pissed-off and called the SPG platinum desk. SPG called the hotel manager since they were suppose to provide the breakfast vouchers for the restaurant if the club lounge was closed. It is 11:10 AM now. A bell desk person brings a breakfast voucher to my door now saying that you can have free breakfast but the restaurant stops serving breakfast at 11:30 AM. I refused the breakfast voucher.

Few minutes later, I called the front desk and asked to speak to the manager. He got into an argument with me, saying that we do not provide breakfast vouchers for the restaurant, but I sent one for you since you "begged" for it by calling SPG. He did not use the word begged, but his tone was along those lines. I told him that he should have provided it to me in the first place as per your agreement with starwood. To end the argument, I said "can I get the things that I want: free bottle of water and 15 minute use of internet (which was $3 only)"? He said fine, use those two things and I will comp them on the bill.

Needless to say, I will not be staying at this hotel again. If you do stay here on a weekend, insist on BF vouchers for the onsite restaurant and do not take no for an answer.

SWG

Am I missing something? Since when is comped breakfast an entitlement.

Starwood Lurker

No, you didn't miss anything. It isn't an entitlement.

d. Access to the Club Level when staying at Sheraton hotels or access to the Executive Level when staying at Westin hotels, even when not staying on the Club Level or Executive Level floor(s). At Sheraton properties, access to the Club Level does not mean access to the Towers Level, even if there is no Club Level in the hotel and there is a Club Level in the Towers. Access to Towers Level is determined by each individual property. These benefits are limited to the member and one guest IF that guest is in the same room as the member. Lounge access is not available if a lounge is at maximum capacity or if a lounge is closed for any reason.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

sjuhawk_jd

Bill, I am sure you are very knowledgeable on these issues, but somehow your cut and paste answer has no relevance here (as described to me by the Platinum desk). The Plat desk person read the terms and conditions of this particular property and said "if the club lounge is closed, then the plat guests get voucher for free breakfast at onsite restaurant." The club lounge was closed on the weekend (during my stay) and I did not get the voucher for the onsite restaurant, even when I asked. If the club lounge was closed and the hotel was too cheap to give out the "onsite restaurant voucher", they could have given a free bottle of water or free internet (especially when I asked).

How is your answer shedding any light on this? Did the plat desk person I spoke to from the hotel told me something that was incorrect?

As I said earlier, I did not care for the breakfast, but I do get free breakfast at most properties, even places like Aloft (no lounge and no onsite restaurant) gives you free voucher to pick a hot beverage or something like that. So, yes it sort of becomes entitlement when I give thousands of dollars to starwood each year for my business to maintain the plat status!

hotelfanatic

I agree they should have given you the BF voucher. I am here weekly and they always give it to me (weekday stays). They provide the voucher because the lounge is not open for BF. Also, I don't think many plats come up here (Mahwah) so the weekend staff may not know the rules - btw, i usually don't see anyone in the lounge in the evening. As of 8 pm tonight, i only saw 2 names on the sign in sheet.

Overall is a nice hotel and has a nice indoor pool and a small gym.

Starwood Lurker II

Well I guess William was trying to answer member SWG's question.

Officially, comped breakfast isn't an entitlement even though individual properties have been providing them to the guests on their own will even when their lounge is closed for various reasons.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd