TomT

Greeting:

I stayed at this location on 07/09/10.Cash stay,$80.80 (91.91AI)

Location = C.....55 miles from 95...Nothing special.
Parking = C.....Self, normal parking, no fee
Check in = A.....No problem, folder all set, Plat. 500pts given
Upgrade =..A.....Suite, # 633
Room =...A.....Frdge, micro, siting room, bedroom (Attached) excellent
Service =....A.....All infomation given up front, all questions ans., just nice.
Club =........A.....PM Two drinks free, soda, water free, excellent food (Checken wings, etc)AM= Good cont. breakfast.....service both AM and PM excellent in all ways.

Note: We were taken back when we walked into lobby, convention checking in, (A very happy convention!!), people all over, we checked in at Starwood counter in 5 min.,the Sheraton people were under a lot of pressure but it never showed, smiles all over.

The Club:
This was our third stay here, club had never been opned before, they have strange "hours" Monday AM & PM,Tuesday AM & PM, Wed AM & Pm and ThursdayAM...because of convention they were open for our Friday stay.
The club has 10 tables and service such as you find in Thailand.

Price: It goes up and down, at 80.00 this stay it was excellent,but, does run up to 140.00+ at times.

All in all...we shall return and would suggest it is well worth trying.

Enjoy.............................

ewtroan

The location is actually right in the middle of the Research Triangle Park, and about a half mile from I-40. If you're coming to the area to visit IBM, Cisco, Netapp, Glaxo, etc., the location would be very good. Esp if you're here for an 8am meeting.

Erik

Helena Handbaskets

It's also convenient to RDU airport, and until the recent opening of the RDU 4 Points, was the best choice if you wanted a Starwood "airport" hotel. If you want a suite upgrade, it's still a better choice than the 4 Points, as I have heard there are no suites there.

TomT

Greetings:

I should have said the location is what you make it....I made it a stay......no Mts, no seashore, nothing special, a very good Sheraton....to me a "C" , to you making a flight ,perhaps an "A" location, making a meeting down the road perhaps an "A" but no matter, a very good Sheraton.

sunspotzsz

:-)

I work in the building across the street.

We typically have our vistors and interviewees staying there.

firstglobal

The location happens to be in the middle of a metro area of around 2 million people, with some really interesting cultural, historical, and natural things to see and do. I'm glad you made it back to I-95 safely though!

TCnSanDiegoCA

I think the location is fine if you have business in RTP. If you want to explore the greater triangle area, this hotel is pretty much smack in the middle as you say, and would be a convenient drive (15-25 minutes) to most attractions.

That said, I would not normally choose this hotel unless 1-I had business in RTP, or 2-I needed to be close to the airport. But I would have no reservations about staying here either. On weekends the property is not busy at all unless there happens to be some sort of group event going on in the hotel.

If convenience to I-95, seaside, or mountains plays into your rating, nearly every SPG property in the state (except Sheraton Atlantic Beach and Four Points Asheville) would get a "C".

River in Sight

Last year, I stayed here twice about three weeks apart and found the club lounge to have really warm, friendly service. For instance -- the first time that I went, I had a diet coke to drink; I showed up again three weeks later and the same lounge attendant brought me a diet coke without me asking and said "welcome back!" I certainly don't have the kind of memory to recall what someone drank three weeks prior, so I appreciated that.

Similarly, I looked over the snacks and nothing appealed to me; the lounge attendant seemed to have noticed that (I did not say anything) and about five minutes later showed up with a bowl of freshly-popped popcorn for me to munch on. There were a few other nice little touches as well; for instance, when I was there the oatmeal was packets of instant oatmeal, and as soon as I picked a packet out the attendant hurried over and fixed it for me in the microwave.

Anyway, I haven't been back in the area in a year or so and don't remember too many other details about the hotel, but the excellent service in the lounge certainly made a positive impact on me. ^^

NDDomer86

This hotel is also next to the Triangle Regional Transit Center which can take you to Raleigh, Durham, or Chapel Hill

jb3t

Quick Update....

Stayed here for one night this week and I have to say, I was impressed. A few notes...

- check in staff was very friendly. I got their early (12pm) and she was able to move things around so that I got a suite (I'm Plat). They did have me upgraded originally but as I got there so early, my suite was not available yet. Bottom line, I got a decent sized suite.

- lobby was nice. There as a lot of "buzz", which I like.

- grounds were nice. I was able to get a few miles in on a power walk by following walkways around the business park. This place is in a business park by the way... A rather nice one.

- Club lounge in evening was awesome. I don't know if I just hit a good night but they had pizza, wings, ice cream, pie, cake, and the regular munchies. The had the WII set up for video games as well. You also get two free drinks. The woman running the club Lou ge was very friendly. I was very impressed. One of the better club lounge experiences I have had.

- Club lounge in AM had your typical stuff. Breads, cereals, and a great coffee/expresso machine.

Overall... Next time I am down there, I will definitely stay here. The only negative was the TV Remote. It was not LodgeNet so I could not use my iPhone app.

Dr. HFH

Here now on a one night stay.

First impression was OK. It's a hotel in the middle of an office park and no PLT upgrades on a Saturday night? It's only for one night, so I didn't ask, just took what they gave me. Room was spotless, except for one large and noticeable piece of lint on the carpet. Other than that, impeccable.

Called Room Service for dinner, ordered onion soup, turkey club (comes with fries) and extra ketchup. I was asked for my room number and told the person taking my order. I called back about an hour later when nothing had arrived. The person who took my phone order apparently wrote down the wrong room number, -- this person apologized and said that dinner would be right up.

It arrived about 10 minutes later. Onion soup was fresh and hot. Sandwich/fries, however, were not. They had obviously spent the last 75 minutes under a heat lamp. No extra ketchup. As delivery person was leaving, he turned and said over his shoulder that I could call the restaurant manager if I wanted a credit on the bill.

Predictably, soup was good, the rest was not. I did call the restaurant manager. He was very apologetic, offered to replace the entire dinner and told me that there would be no charge. No thanks, it's getting late and I don't really want to eat any more. About 10 minutes later, the phone rang. It was someone from "guest services." She had been informed of the problem with my order, and was calling to apologize and, once again, offer me a free dinner or whatever else I wanted off the menu. Again, I declined.

All in all, I give them credit. Mistakes do happen, people aren't perfect; and although this one really inconvenienced me, the hotel couldn't have handled it better. The lack of PLT upgrade, however, was inexcusable, IMO.

MSPeconomist

The mistake that I experienced in my last of several stays was failing to send the airport shuttle to fetch me when I called, then lying and saying that it had been sent, then the driver saying that he hadn't been sent to get me an hour ago but otherwise being rude and ugly to the point of being scary, and then failing to have the manager contact me about it the next day as requested or indeed ever when requested again as I was leaving. Inexcusable.

OTOH, I've had nice suite upgrades. When the lounge is closed, I've been given drink/appetizer coupons for the bar and breakfast has been comped, either the big buffet or stuff ordered from the menu.

rsking

Unlike the OP, I think the location is ideal because it's next to the airport and convenient to both Raleigh and Durham. Since I do most of my business in RTP when visiting the area it really can't be beat.

It's a pretty typical Sheraton: nice lobby, friendly front desk, clean rooms that desperately need new carpet, and lots of conference space (and thus lots of conferences, which can make the rate change wildly). I've seen rates from under $100 to over $250 for the same room.

I've stayed at every Starwood in the RDU area, and this is my go-to when the rate is reasonable.

heakja

Has anyone stayed at this hotel AND the Sheraton Chapel Hill, and can say which one is the better property? Stayed at the Sheraton Chapel Hill last year, and felt it was very tired. Thinking about trying the Aloft, but do not care very much about the Aloft rooms (esp. the bedding). Locationwise, we have a car and are happy if any decent shopping/dinner is with 15min driving distance.

Moriens

The Sheraton Imperial is much better than the other two Sheratons in this area.

The Four Points at Southpoint (in Durham) is also nice, though the atrium-style layout makes it loud during (relatively uncommon) evening events.

The Marriotts at RTP and Crabtree are both quite decent.