See pictures of my stay :
http://travel.webshots.com/album/578275939mMyNvA
After a delayed AO flight from Athens I had a pre arranged picked up for the transfer to the hotel in a comfy Mercedes. I was welcomed by Elena, guest relations. She was very efficient, very friendly and very informative.
Before my visit to the hotel I had mailcontact, considering an upgrade. This was rather difficult to accomplish and the hotel did not upgrade me in advance, like many other Starwood hotels can do for me. She told me however I was upgraded to a junior suite and even that was not enough so the hotel would upgrade me 3 nights later to a suite. Wow…, only I had already made reservations for the juniorsuite myself .Well still a very welcome attitude of mrs. Elana.
She accompanied me to my room and we had an informative chat. Upon entering the wide corridors I noticed outdated chair snear the elevators. The carpet felt new, very soft when walking.
Upon entering the junior suite I noticed it was smallish and I would have called it a Grand deluxe room. The accomodation offered a King bed, a comfy couch and a chair, a LG flatsquare tv standing on a small desk, a small wardrobe, a safe and a small minibar.
On the table I noticed welcome fruits, water and a greek red wine. Wow, I liked it!
The furniture in the juniorsuite was outdated, one could tell. I noticed damaged doors and furniture. In general the room was in light colors and bright.
The bathroom was small considering this should be a junior suite. I could not imagine why the hotel had painted one wall in the bathroom green. It looked very cheap. The usual Sheraton Smile bath amenities were presented and different branded fluffy towels. I would suggest to offer upgraded bathamenities.
The balcony was quite spacious and according to mrs. Elena the view from here was beautiful. The balcony offered two chairs.
I was tired, hungry and wanted to have some dinner ( time 22:30). Mrs. Elena accompanied me to the Asia Imperial. Well my favourite food is Asian, so I felt lucky. I received a nice drink from mrs. Elena and I had a nice seat on the terrace.
Service was friendly, but a bit slow considering I was soooo hungry. It was the only time this happened in this wonderful restaurant however. I did not have very high expectations of an Asian restaurant on the island of Rhodes and have developed a quite spicy taste myself. The food tasted however so gooooood, it was just Heavenly good. Wow! And no, it was not just because I was hungry. In the Asian Imperial ( I guess the name Imperial is still from the former Imperial hotel) the professional supervisor and Julia the waitress have a very professional attitude. One can notice the pleasure and commitment they have in serving the guest and pleasure the guests. The Dutch chef manages this team wonderful
During my stay this became the restaurant to have dinner, during the day I noticed I was even thinking about the heavely food I would have that evening! Every night I tried something else, though the menu is simple the chefs of the restaurant are very flexible and creative. As the supervisor told me: they put their heart in the food, and one can notice this!! To be honest, I even miss the Asian Imperial very much. The friendly and professional service, the high quality of the products, the fine and heavenly taste of the food, the view of the sunset during my dinner, the fine Greek wines……
During one of my dinners I asked if the restaurant offered the Wines of the World. Well it did not, only the buffet restaurant. The Asia restaurant tried to focus on delicious Greek wines. The supervisor served me 4 or 5 delicious Greek wines, just to taste. Well, no need for the Marques de Riscal, my favourite Wine of the World.
The restaurant offers beautiful relaxing music, not just the regular sound one hears. It was such a pleasure to have this during dinner. One sad influence, the music and sounds of the Mediterranean restaurant/a la carte near the pool was so dominant, it drawned the music. It destroyed the tranquility of the atmosphere in the Asian restaurant and it was very annoying.
In general the restaurant was busy and the supervisor and Julia seemed very busy. Still, they were very patient, even to rather impolite and brutal guests. I was happy to see they received help during the last days I had dinner here so it was easier to cope with the demanding guests.
Was this a restaurant up to the standards of Starwood and to my expectations??? Yes.., yes… yes!!
When I arrived in my room I was tired and sleepy. Though the a/c was turned on MAX and on level100C the temperature was stuck on 270C. I went on the balcony and noticed a terrible strong noise. It was like the room was build near the engines of the Titanic. I could not understand from where the terrible noise was coming from. Well tired as I was I went to bed. The bed was large and very comfortable. Not sure if this was the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper, though I noticed the Sweet Sleeper pillows. In the morning I was having a terrible headache, the temperature in the room was still 270C and the noise of the engines was present.
Breakfast this morning. Quite another story… I notices a good organization while it was very busy. Never had to wait more than 10 minutes. Coffee was ok and strong enough, the double expresso served a duch waitress was excellent.
Bread selection was very poor and limited, only white or darkbrown bread, no wheat bread which I like and is healthy. The croissant could be for children only, so mini so small! However the quality of the bread in general was ok.
Pastries tasted very well, very good pies! ( I tried small pieces of them all, yummie)
Waffles and pancakes, 6-8 hot dishes and egg products. I tried only the scrambled eggs and waffles. The structure of the scrambled eggs was to large, and tasted not very good. The waffle was just fine and even crispy….
Selection of cold cut meat and cheese is ok, quality of the ham and feta was low. Fresh cut fruits was rather limited to red and green melon, soooo limited! The last days I noticed a bowl with strawberries, but no tropical fruits like mango or pineapple. I noticed baskets with apples and oranges. In the morning I do not want to peel first all kinds of fruits! I was quite disappointed with this small selection of healthy fruits.
No low fat products available! I had to ask for the low fat Greek yoghurt, had to wait every time 10 minutes before it arrived. Very strange the buffet did not offer this. The waiter said: this is EXTRA sir!
The last morning I had to depart early for my flight, so 7 o’clock sharp I was at the restaurant. I wanted to have my last breakfast on the terrace I told the lady in charge….. but she said NO! The tables on the terrace had to ready first, I was not allowed. She would warn me if I could sit outside….. Well after 40 minutes the terrace was ready and I was ready with breakfast…. Did regret this, and is it normal that a restaurants opens for breakfast at 7 o’clock but the terrace 45 minutes later? While the majority of the guests wants to have breakfast outside!
Staff works very hard in general, friendly attitude and helpful. Once I spilled my cup of coffee over the table and ground. The first question of the waiter was: did you hurt yourself! I think this is a very adequate first question. Two waiters helped me out and cleaned it up.
Overall the spoons, forks ,knifes etc. are warn and not suitable for a 5* hotel. I think it needs to be replaced.
After the breakfast I headed to the reception, I told Elena about the terrible noise in the room and she answered immediately: the air-conditioning machine on the roof.
It was clear to me, everyone in the hotel did know about the noise of those machine in the rooms on the 12th floor. I did not understand why they had put me there. Since I asked for a room with a better a/c and not noise the supervisor of the reception, the front desk supervisor wished to see me. He was a very friendly man. He also knew immediately what the problem was…. He showed me a junior suite on the 11th floor, far away from the noisy machines. This suite was much more spacious and offered a spacious bathroom, no separate shower. The bathroom also had a painted green wall. The same worn furniture but also the flatquare tv. The interior was quite the same as my last suite. The a/c would be working better…..
Since he promise me a very big suite ( largest of the hotel, the Aegian suite) the day after this night I hesitated to change rooms. But when I was thinking of the heat and the noise I finally did. He promised the hotel would help me with moving.
And so it happened. I was very happy with the juniorsuite with no noise and it was indeed somewhat cooler. However it appeared the temperature was stuck on 250C in this suite, and again in the morning I had a sort of headache of the heat.
Next day the very friendly Front office manager, mr. Stamatis Lahaniatis, showed me a suite. It was nice and cool in this suite, and only a slight noise of the A/C machines. I did not think of the Aegan suite anymore he had promise to me..I just wanted a cool suite and this one was cool, 21o C!
So again, I moved, now to this suite. I was happy with the temperature here, the a/c was stuck on 210C, much better and I had good sleeps without the headaches anymore. ( the suite offered one a/c in the livingroom and one separate a/c in the bedroom.) According to this manager the temperature in the first junior suite was stuck on 27C since it was on the topfloor and the hotel had a flat roof…
The temp. of 25C in my second suite was fine, since it was very hot outside…. Well, I have never experienced this in a Starwood/5* hotel in other places and do not think this is appropriate.
Regarding the temperature, when I was going to the toilets on the 6th floor, after dining in het Asia restaurant, I was going into a sauna. It was incredibly HOT in this place and the water in the urinoirs continued flowing, so a nice post for water consuming I guess. It was a disgusting experience going to this toilets on the 6th floor.
When thinking of the terrible noise of the a/c machines on the roof ( see my pics), the temperatures stuck at 270C and 250C in the first rooms, the sauna experience in the toilets on the 6th floor I can assume the hotel could have a problem with it’s a/c machines!
Regarding the lightning, I did not notice any energy saving lights in the rooms. I guess the electricity bill of the hotel can be much lower and it would be better for a green environment. The same situation regarding a good working a/c, one does not need to have max a/c when the a/c works as it should be and on the long term it would take less energy,very good for the guests, the electricity bill and the green environment.
When I went out to the so called private beach of the Sheraton Rhodes I was looking forward to some drinks and fingerfood while sitting on my sunbed at the beach. When I arrived I notices well organized placed sunbeds and umbrellas. And this was it!
Guests from other hotels however also used these beds. The first times I did not notice any personnel of the Sheraton. I did not bring towels with me out of my room, and wanted to have a towel. However totally no service at the beach. Other guests told me I had to get the towels in my room ( 11th floor/ two elevators and a walk) or get it in the SPA. So after 10 minutes I went to the socalled SPA. Well do not expect any luxury here, smelling toilets, hot temperatures and shabby treatment cabins of such a low ambiance I cannot describe it. Never seen this before in a Starwood property! Well, back to my towels. First the discussion with the woman in charge at the reception. First she wanted me to get the towels in my room, while she had many towels in front of her. She was understand ing the situation and finally presented to me two towels. And I went back to the beach. First I took a nice café frappe of 3,20 euro at the poolbar and went to a sunbed. I placed my café in the sand since I did not notice a table. When I was ready after installing myself on the bed I grabbed my café. … But lucky me! Since the café was in a light plastic glass it was fallen into the sand, bye bye café!
At this side of the island the wind is very strong, it has a cooling effect what is nice with these high temperatures. I spend some nice time with sunbathing and listening to the sound of the waves. Well after a while it was time for a swim. It appeared not to be easy to walk on the stones into the water, and one can easily slip and fall. The water is really nice, clean and has a good temperature. Very relaxing to swim here. On the beach is a lifeguard, however not always visible to the guests.
Getting out of the water was most irritating, the stones are so hard ( ofcourse they are hard) and I slipped several times ( and exclaimed some angry words..) before I managed to come out of the water.
Some guests walk to a small shop nearby to get some drinks. Once a day one can experience a sort of market. A man in a sort of shabby shirts walks along the sunbeds and shouts like, meloooooooooooone, oraaagggggggggggeeeeeeeees, etc. It’s quite an experience, but not suitable for a 5* Sheraton hotel resort, i.m.o.
No tours are offered at the reception. No concierge is available. Reception personnel are multiple tasking. Have to do concierge work, guestservices work, give information concerning the Sheraton link, etc.
The reception offered a tour with a private taxi. They called the man, Nikos of Taxi Rodes, tel 6959634950, and we agreed for the price for a tour to Lindos. 120 euro with one hour for visiting the temple on the mountain. Per extra hour it would be 20euro more.
Though I found this rate very high, I did not want to have the other option: standing in overcrowded public bus for the whole trip with change in the City of Rhodes. The tour was perfect, Lindos is beautiful if you go off the beaten track and so you do not get frustrated by the souvenirs and touristy things here.
A taxi to Faliraki will cost you for a return 20 euros. A taxi to Rhodes city will cost 10 euro, for a 5-10 min. drive. Since the hotel does not offer a concierge I had once to cope with three angry taxidrivers. No help of a concierge who takes care at such moments. In general taxidrivers did not want to turn the a/c on. During my trip to Faliraki, the temperature was 380C inside of the car with open windows, f.i. Taxidrivers here seemed to be a sort of mafia for me. I did not like their mentality. When I refused to give the driver a tip because he did not turn on the a/c he yelled at me I was a capitalist!
The swimmingpool at the 6th floor is cool! Service at the pool is ok, but not up to standards of a Sheraton hotel. Pools at the low level are busy, many children, and the sunbeds are placed rather close to each other.
Well, .for the 6 days I was in the hotel, I could almost write a book. And I was not really looking forward to write this review since the hotel is actually having major renovations this coming winter.
What I find so annoying is, the hotel has the brand name of Starwood/Sheraton on the façade but cannot offer its guest the quality of a Sheraton hotel while the guest have to pay rates and prices as if the hotel was a Sheraton. F.i. it is impossible to leave a paying guest up to the taxi mafia practices, as I experienced during my stay. It is just not correct!
In my opinion the hotel should have been fully renovated before it would open its doors with the brandname Sheraton… I spoke to several guest by coincidence, who are used to 5* star (Starwood) properties and they did not want to come back. This way the name of the hotel can have negative associations. Issues concerning the below level breakfast, old and bad rooms, the noise of the a/c machines and the traffic on the road in front of the hotel, low quality of the food in the buffetrestaurant, are a few to mention.
Moreover, it took me a lot of time only to describe my significant guest experiences in the hotel.
Well, will I come back?? I tried to write my experience as positive as possible, but it was hard.
Positive for the hardworking, helpful and very friendly personnel and of course the wonderful Heavenly ( I know it is not a Westin) Asian Imperial restaurant with the Heavenly food and professional supervisor and waitress Julia! I remember the friendly and efficient mrs. Elena and the helpful front office manager Stamatis Lohaniatis, and the friendly and professional Dutch chef. Efficient and friendly check-in and check- out, good arrangements for my transfer from and to the airport. The hotel also offers a ATM, which was very handy.
Negative for….. well the list is just much and much too long.
I guess the management could need some help here….?!
See pictures:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/578275939mMyNvA