Stay #2. My second and final stay at the Sheraton Dallas. (I'm going back to Le Meridien Galleria and Sheraton Dallas North.)

I arrive at 11PM on a Saturday night. Another huge line to check-in and far too few staff handling the front desk area.

I went to the concierge desk to see if there were any other options to check-in to this hotel: there were also lines for the kiosks. I offered to give a cell number and go to the bar to wait for a phone call when the crowd had died down. I wasn't in a huge hurry, but standing in a long line to check into a hotel is unacceptable, period, so I was hoping for some other solution.

The concierge was helpful...went and located another clerk in the back to help me...but I could tell that clerk was exasperated that she'd been bothered. She quickly issued my key without saying hardly anything. At first I felt like it was a victory for both me and everyone in line...surely the clerk would notice people waiting and stick around to check more people in. But no - she disappeared into the back room , leaving me feeling a bit guilty like I'd pulled a trick to get checked in that benefitted no one else. I offered up the cell phone idea precisely because I didn't want to butt in the line...and that was sort of the end result.

Afterwards, I asked the concierge if he knew what the situation was...11PM on a Saturday, is this a huge unexpected walk-up for some strange reason? He said no...it's like this often.

On the plus side, my room was a large suite in the center tower. I had a regular King booked and this was a 2-double-bed suite, but it was just me traveling solo so I was fine with it. Only *possible* complaint I can see some guests having is that until I reached the room itself I had no idea about either the suite upgrade or the lack of a King bed. I think a better practice is for the front desk to at least offer the guest the choice when there's a suite upgrade available with the opposite bed type from the reservation.

On the minus side, I never did find the new lounge. It is supposed to be on the 27th, 28th, or 29th floor of the center tower. I walked through all three floors and couldn't find it. I gave up and hit Starbucks on the way out of town. Maybe it's still in the South Tower for another week or two...

The clientele was less rowdy than the prior weekend. I saw a lot of people wearing nametags from some sort of church organization or convention. That might have helped with the overall decreased number of visibly inebriated people in the common areas.

Long story short, this hotel seems to be rather poorly managed in the front desk area. If they can't manage to handle off-peak periods then I can't imagine what this place is like on a Monday night at 7PM. The rest of the hotel is...adequate...I guess.

I look forward to getting back to Sheraton Dallas North and the Le Meridien...two properties that seem to be managed well enough to handle the basics of a simple check-in procedure.