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In July 2009 I traveled to Sao Paulo. After a comfortable transfer to the hotel from the international airport, arranged by the hotel, a friendly receptionist welcomed me. She tried to put me at ease since I was concerned about my safety. I did read so much concerning safety issues in Brazil. The reception arranged a private citytour for me.

I was upgraded from a Clubroom to a stylish Design room, specially appointed for me! It was great, only.. just a few meters from the room on the streets a machine was making a heavy noise. It was work in progress in the street so the machine would probably make noise all night.

I called the reception and they gave me a very beautiful designed room, in Japanese style. It offered a spacious bathroom with bathtub and separate shower. Wow it was great until….. I hit the bed. Perhaps this was a kind of Japanese bed, but it was ROCKhard. The reception was very accommodating for me and arranged a suite on the top floor. It was not renovated but spacious and with a sitting area. The bed was ok, so I could have a night of sleep after my long flight. The view from the suite was ok, and I could have a view of this big city.

When I asked the reception if the hotel did have Sheraton Sweet Sleeper beds, suddenly it appeared the renovated Clubrooms on the lower floors did offer them. So actually the room I had made reservations for. I did have a look inside and the rooms are very stylish. The view was not interesting however. No Clubroom was available for me, and the hotel could not offer me other renovated rooms. So I stayed in my suite with a view on the highest floor!
The suite itself was not a Starwood / Sheraton room. Since the room was not renovated yet, everywhere I noticed the WTC labels. It was a strange feeling. The bed was ok, but of a rather low quality, a big contrast with the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed.

The Clublounge is beautiful designed, spacious, luxurious and the lounge offers during the day snacks, Nespresso coffee, tea and drinks. In the evening alcoholic drinks are available with small snacks and fingerfood. All of high quality. Most butlers do not speak English. Some businessmen became angry, since the butler did not come back after they asked him to refill the Nespresso machine with water. Even when a supervisor came to look and I asked him to refill the machine. He said ok, but never came back. One of the businessmen went to his room to get the water for the refill and I helped him with the machine…
Guest of the Clubfloor can use the laptops which are placed in the lounge for free.

Breakfast is being served on the topfloor of the hotel, in a sort of lounge. Selection is ok, and the quality is high. The buffet is tastefully displayed.
The butlers make a Nespresso if you want to. They are friendly, efficient and take one step further to help you.

Dinner in this hotel was a very big disappointment. The restaurant is not owned by the Sheraton, it’s another company. The restaurant is a sort of large bar with tables and a big tv. The waiters do not speak hardly English so I had to go to the reception so they could explain the menu to me.
The wine I had was excellent. The food however was tasteless and of a very low quality. The vegetables tasted very strange. It appeared no potatoes or rice was being served with this meal. So I asked for it. It took a very long time, I even asked the waiter a second time. So when I had almost finished my dinner the French fries were being served. The waiters did their job but without much commitment to the guest. I did notice many guests had to wait long for their food. The food came from very far I guess, the waiter had to go out of the restaurant via the reception and lobby to collect the trays with the food.
Hope the hotel will offer better dining experiences in the future.

The Health club was claustrophobic small, with only a few machines. The outdoor swimming pool looked rather nice, but was under construction.

The hotel surprised me with a birthday cake, it tasted good and I shared it. See pictures.


Would I go back? Well the renovated Design and Club rooms are great, and the reception told me the Clubfloor rooms will also be located on the higher floors. Service is friendly and the personnel tries to do its best. The hotel is still changing from the WTC to the Sheraton hotel standards. I noticed the personnel experienced this changing in standards as a very big change for the better. They were still struggling with it. I guess the hotel still needs time to bring its standards up to the standards of Sheraton / Starwood.
But I do hope the hotel will offer better dining experiences for their guest, with a higher quality of food! I noticed many guest are going to a shopping mall which is connected with the hotel. It offers some restaurants. Only on Sundays they are closed.

I want to thank Aline Passucci of guest relations for all the professional service and friendliness she gave me. I felt already at home before my landing in Brazil!


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