hoteltraum

I have stayed there as a Plat 6x this year. Great staff and I get usually an upgrade (from the cheapest room booked). The breakfast is excellent (you can choose from the club lounge or the breakfast restaurant). Unfortunately, hotel prices in Israel are in general very expensive.

yosithezet

The kids are also welcome to play on the computers next to the lounge reception desk.

I agree that the policy is annoying. Parking is also very expensive. I've got a great upgrade ratio, so there is that.

If you booked a prepaid rate, you may have a case for cancelling because of not knowing about this policy.

lewinr

At the Tel Aviv Hilton they have the same policy but if you push a bit (and possibly only if you're a diamond) they'll waive the upcharge for breakfast in the main restaurant.

Remcod

I did not book a club room but a standard room, so obvioussly i did not go check the t&c's for the club rooms.

Had some chats with the hotel last week, was even more dissapointed after my calls. The person i talked with never even heard spg plat members often benefit from complementory continental breakfast. According to her this is only possible as the welcome amenity...
Decided to keep the booking anyway. My little family prefers staying opposite the beach, for my next visits to Tel Aviv i will consider other options though.

mahasamatman

She is correct in a literal sense. Lounge access is guaranteed. Breakfast (in the absence of a lounge) is an amenity. She may not have made the connection that lounge access includes breakfast.

yosithezet

Further, she would only be aware of how things are done at properties where she has worked. The fact that many properties are giving us breakfast outside the lounge without using the amenity is something that she would not be aware of unless she heard about it from guests or from someone who worked at a property that does this.

The Sheraton in Hershey/Harrisburg, PA also has an age limit I think on breakfast. So what they do is give you breakfast coupons for the main restaurant in the event that you have children with you, IIRC

The Sheraton in Tel Aviv is very gracious towards guests and I have a great upgrade ratio you. But they are generally by the book. In fact, while I was working in the empty lounge earlier this year, after the wine and cheese service, my gf dozed off with her head on my shoulder, not lap. The lounge attendant reminded me that there is no sleeping in the lounge.

d'Yquem

Since the new GM (Franco Vella) joined, the experience at this hotel is much improved. I'd even go as far as to say the service is better than any other Sheraton I've stayed at. The attitude of the staff is very positive. They have a new executive chef just started. It will be interesting to see what changes he makes. The posh restaurant (Olive Leaf) is already excellent. I found the food in the main dining room at weekends to be very good, albeit too many dishes with nuts (I have a severe allergy).

The Sheraton is my first choice when visiting Tel Aviv. I got fed up with the lousy attitude of the Hilton Tel Aviv staff, particularly the totally-invisible GM.

Remcod

Stayed at the Sheraton TLV during the first week of August.
Can't say I was impressed with my stay and that's an understatement.

Plat recognition:

I got in touch with the hotel way up front to inform I was coming with my family and an upgrade would be appreciated if this was possible.
The reservation manager seemed to be very helpful, but she informed it would be extremely difficult and even had to waive SNA's as the hotel is fully booked.

When arriving at the hotel i was really happy when we were informed we got upgraded to a studio suite after all.
But when we entered the room we noticed a strong musty smell, also the room was not a renovated one and gave a really sad impression.
So we told we preferred to be in a renovated room, even if it was not a suite.
In case they had nothing better, we prefer to move to another hotel in the morning, as I found many options at the rate of $290 in TLV.
what followed was really surreal, they showed us 6 other available suites, while they initially said they had no suites available. We ended up in a great renovated Deluxe suite.
They dealt with the situation, but only after I said I would leave to another hotel.


Pool

I only used the pool twice during my stay, but at both times it was not great at all.

The first time my son got bullied by one of the lifeguards because he jumped in the water.
True, there are signs everywhere indicating it is not allowed to dive in the water and rules are there to be respected.
But the pool was completely empty except for us, so there was no need to get angry at my 7 year old...
If the lifeguard would have told this in a way like he did it because he cared for his safety instead of shouting at him, it wouldn't have ruined it for him.
Now my son just got scared and didn't want to come to the pool anymore.

A second incident was at the last day of our stay, it was shabbat and very crowded at the pool.

All of a sudden everybody could do as he wish at the pool.
While there is a non smoking policy, people were smoking cigarettes and marihuana on the sun-loungers next to us all day and nobody seemed to care about that.
We decided to go to the room as we did not feel comfortable wit our kids.

When I later informed the front desk manager about the situation at the pool, he said I should have warned the staff.
Maybe thats true, but everybody could see and smell this, they were being served with food and drinks all the time, nobody said a word.
I am a guest and I don't feel it is my duty to inform anybody.

Lounge

Well... I had a baby and my son with me, since they have a 'no children policy' it took me till the last day to actually go try the lounge.

After the pool incident we decided to watch some movies at the room so I went up to the loung to grab some bites, but was told I can't take plates with me and I have to put it all in a napkin...
This is a 5 star hotel and they tell you to put your bites in a napkin??? really?

I understand about the no children policy, but it would be great if, as one of the most expensive hotels of TLV, the hotel would anticipate on this policy and give something instead for families with kids.

Location

Right in front of the beach, could not be better!

staff

While I really didn't like the hotel, I really appreciated the staff of the hotel.
They always made their best efforts to help us out when we needed something.

I talk with the front desk manager about what happened at the poolside because he was really annoyed with the smoking (pot) at the pool and he told me I should inform him when I would come back back so he would make sure I had a good stay.
Well, I am sure of one thing, I will have to start reading really good reviews for me to ever go back to Sheraton TLV.
I would not recommend families with children to visit this hotel as we did not feel welcome at all.
For me this stay was a waste of money and I would not risk to go there again.

anchor79

can someone please comment the hotel's renovation progress?

I see there are different category of rooms. What are the differences between club room and "executive" club room?

syntxerr

I'd love to know as well if the towers club still exists? I dont see anything like this on their website (only club lounge).

Does anyone know what the diff is between exec club and club rooms?

Any recent points bookings with upgrades to club floor or know if amenities can be purchased at check-in?

J S

My thoughts after a recent stay:

1) This is not a great hotel. It isn't a terrible flee-trap, but from the dark and slightly musty halls to the odd layout of the suite (door opens into the bedroom instead of the living room), the general feeling is that this is a slightly run-down Sheraton in need of a top-to-bottom renovation. The basics (e.g., cleanliness of the room) were fine, but no one is ever going to say it is a great or memorable hotel.

2) View from our suite was out the back of the hotel and the suite--which was advertised as having lounge access, was 10 floors away from the lounge.

3) The policies are obnoxious and not always well or obviously disclosed. There has been much discussion of the fact that children are barred from the lounge. The rationale given: we serve alcohol in the lounge (of course, so does every restaurant and airline...). I don't agree with the policy and find it obnoxious, but it is what it is. However, if you book a room that includes breakfast in the lounge, it would be simple, fair and reasonable to provide breakfast in the restaurant instead. Similarly, when I went to the lounge to get a snack for my child, they stopped me from carrying the food out of the lounge. That was just petty. Similarly, I was surprised by another charge that had not been disclosed at booking.

I guess I don't have that much else to add: a ho-hum slightly run-down hotel that may be fine--albeit forgettable--for a business person, but a poor choice for families. There are a couple of Marriott options (Renaissance and a Ritz). I can't comment on those, perhaps they are better if you really care about points.

J S

I cannot comment on the progress of the renovation (or if there has been any progress at all). The entire hotel seems to need a gut renovation at the moment. Pretty musty.

d'Yquem

Sounds like you had a studio suite on one of the non-refurbished floors. The refurbished floors are really a lot better.

I find the hotel very good. I like the GM and his team - so much better than under his predecessor.

As for the lounge policy, it's your right to find it obnoxious. But I find screaming kids obnoxious too. And I'm very happy they aren't allowed in the lounge.

J S

The policy does not bar screaming children, it bars all children. My child has never screamed in a hotel lounge.

The policy also does not bar loud, obnoxious and potentially screaming adults.

But, like I said, they are free to set the policy.

However, my primary complaint was that they did not make common sense, free and simple accommodations for those they bar from the lounge while simultaneously charging for lounge access.

ilanaks

Has anyone had any problems using a corporate rate at this property? I have one from a friend that drops the nightly rate by $85!