I had a recent stay in Rome at a Sheraton (I'm SPG Gold) and used points. Check-in was an ordeal, with the first room having the wrong key card, the second room was occupied and the third room was finally right (though not the type of room I reserved). They also had a shuttle service to Rome that stopped at both parts of the property - problem was, the bus filled up with folks on the other side of the property and couldn't take our side, and the extra bus they got never showed up.

I requested full refund of my points (it was a one night stay) and SPG Gold had them back in my account two days later.