mnscout

Thanks for the tip.

ajnaro

I agree completely! It's a matter of apples and oranges -- they're very different from one another, even though they're both a type of fruit. For me, hotel stays are usually limited to four or five nights. After that limit, I look for an aparthotel or a temporary apartment. That limit would be much lower, by the way, were it not for SPG Platinum suite upgrades.

yuppietravelermi

I stayed at the JW Marriott in Lima. I would highly recommend staying there as well as going parasailing off the cliffs in the miraflores area while you are there. I stayed one of the casa andina hotels in Cusco as well as el mapi hotel in agua calientes. I would recommend all of these hotels for your trip to peru.

SethLevy

Based on some of the reports here on FT that this was a "very good" hotel, I believe some even called it excellent, I booked a 3-night stay. While I understand that people's taste vary widely, and what may be nice to some people is not great for others, I appreciate that. I also appreciate that some people can't afford to stay in nicer hotels or just have not had the opportunity to stay in them. That said, simply put, this hotel is a real dump. I was appalled from the moment I saw it from the outside until the minute I checked-out.

We booked a points + cash award at 1,600 points +$30, room type was listed as Club King. The low points/cash rate should have clued me in on what to expect, but they were listing regular room rates at $259.

The hotel lobby looked like a train station, with cheap furniture and a bad smell. The front desk agent assigned us to a room on the 18th floor, right next to the "Club lounge", which was a converted hotel room or junior suite. The room was disgusting, old, with brown carpet, mildew smell, spider webs and dust in the corner, very small and dated bathroom, poor windows, that even on 18th floor had a bar on them. Soundproofing was very bad, TV lacked good reception, bed was lumpy. Mold was in the bathroom in the corners, towels cheap and worn, poor soap and shampoo products. In short, motel of the 1960s decor and quality. What was most surprising is the hotel does not have proper a/c or heat. There is no thermostat, only a button to regulate the speed of a fan, the vents of which had been collecting dusts for what looked like years. The temp outside was at least 80 degrees, but the fan just blew warm air. When we called to complain, we were told front desk manager was busy for at least 2 hours, general manager did not speak to guest, but that the concierge would help. The concierge confirmed that the hotel did not have a/c, only heat, until at least the next month, when all they would have would be a/c and no heat. He confirmed that they could bring a portable a/c unit to the room, and that they would upgrade me to a jr suite. The upgraded jr suite, smelled as well, was much newer, but still tired. Yellow collared cinder block walls, poor sound proofing, vents clogged with dust. The portable unit need to be vented through the windows, so many bugs came into the room, and the unit while blowing cold air also blew dusts all over the room. This was just one horrendous experience.

The lounge was extremely poor. It is only open a couple hours for breakfast and a few hours in the evening for snacks. Beer and wine are free, but we were charged for soft drinks and hard alcohol, and the agent at first insisted that we settle our table in cash. Worst lounge experience ever.

While we had booked 3 nights, we actually had a flight after 1 am on the last night, so we were checking out at 11 pm and not staying essentially the last night, we did this as the rate was so low, we wanted to be able to shower before heading to the airport. After one night, we left most of our items and stayed the second night at the JW Lima, at a rate of $260 Club Room (Sheraton wanted $259 for the same night on a paid rate). Hand's down the JW was much nicer, night and day, a true hotel. They spoke English very well, rooms were impeccable, lounge spectacular, free soft drinks (lounge is open 24 hours a day). After one night at the JW, we sadly went back to the Sheraton for the remaining hours of the day (until 11 pm).

I post this long review so people will know my experience with the Sheraton. For me, this was one of the worst, if not worst, hotel experiences I have ever had. Our initial impressions of Lima was soured by this hotel. While I know Sheraton is not a luxury brand, this hotel is a reminder to people to pick your hotel with care. In short, Starwood should be ashamed to have this motel in its collection.

honu

Wow! That's quite different from what we experienced. We also had a recent C&P stay, and, apart from the outside noise being audible (but we were there at a time when there was big event in the convention center next door), we had none of the problems mentioned above, and - with one exception - we received excellent service, especially from the morning lounge attendant. We were also quite satisfied with the lounge offerings: excellent brekkie and very nice evening food and drinks (BTW, our soda waters were always free). It wouldn't have seemed such a good deal at $229/night for it (the current rate for a club room) as there are lots of options in Lima with better rates and similar offerings, but for our C&P rate we were absolutely delighted. The only drawback was that we were given totally incorrect info by one of the concierges (perhaps he was ignorant, or maybe he just wanted to sell us one of the overpriced hotel tours instead of providing the info that would have allowed us to do our own planning), and the internet, as is often the case with SPG properties, was not free (and the speed could have been better). The location is not bad at all if you want to explore Lima's old town. I'd certainly go back if I could get the same or a similar rate.

SethLevy

I think it depends on what style or class of hotel you are used to. I generally stay at newer luxury type hotels. if you stay at holiday inns days inn, and lower category hotels, then I would assume this hotel would be fine. If you are use to upscale Sheratons (which there are not many) or St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, Park Hyatt JW Marriott brands, then I think you will be very disappointed in this hotel.

phlashba

I agree with SethLevy: it is a flashback to the 70s --- big open atrium-style convention hotel and best avoided. As to the lounge: the evening attendant was so obnoxious and overly solicitous that it made me uncomfortable. But the fact that the whole property reeked just made me feel nauseous. As bad as it was however -- one glance outside at the neighborhood made me want to stay indoors.

Zone1

I liked this property, but I would probably be a little angry if I paid $260 for it considering the JW Marriot and Westin are in that range. I paid about half of that, and it included breakfast and an automatic upgrade to a renovated club floor room. It is a decent mid-range property in Lima. We liked it a whole heck of a lot more than the Doubletree, which was in the same price range.

Dreamworks

Any recent stays? We're going to Lima in September and it seems clear that no one walks around there at night and the Sheraton is a little tired. Someone mentioned the shuttle to Miraflores. Do they have a service that takes you to there?

I'm guessing that if we stayed there, we'd be taking cabs home every night.

jammanxc

stayed here last year as a SPG Platinum

was given 500pt amenity
upgraded to junior suite
4pm late checkout
access to Club Floor for evening appetizers/breakfast
welcome fruit basket
voucher for a FREE welcome drink (Pisco Sour) at the Lobby bar

There is a supermarket with small shops right next to the hotel. I took the tico (ghetto cab) to miraflores for a few bucks. The cab drivers drive like maniacs and everything is REALLY CHEAP in Lima. I felt safe walking around the area and its very walkable to Plaza San Martin where the main plaza of historical Lima is located at.

I would advise you to take a cab to the Larcomar in Miraflores. I walked from the Larcomar to San Isidro and you can also cab it to San Ysidro for a few bucks as well.

I would highly recommend the Sheraton Lima as it is in the historic part of town. To get to the sheraton, I would HIGHLY recommend a Radio Taxi (and not a tico) if you're arriving to the airport late at night. I've heard horror stories about tourists taking the wrong cab and robbing them in a desolate area and stranding them in the worst parts of Lima.

INTERNATIONAL TAXI TIP: always look for older drivers and go to the departures area of the airport where they dropped someone off.

phlashba

During my most recent stays the staff has gone out of their way to make up for my less than favorable impression from my first visit. I am back to using this as my default property in Lima as I just find the pricing at the Westin to be ridiculous.

ajnaro

My information may be out of date since I haven't been to Lima for a few years. My experience in Lima is that there are no real taxis -- people just put a hand-made 'taxi' sign on ordinary cars and offer rides. You flag one down, tell the driver where you want to go, and negotiate a price. It worked out fine for me since I speak Spanish. I never felt unsafe using this sort of taxi.

Walking around at night in the downtown area where the Sheraton is located is certainly not viewed as safe by the local population.

You'd be better of staying in San Isidro or Miraflores, which are considered perfectly safe.

honu

From what I was told last year, the practice of hiring taxis right off the street can end in tears now (many cases of armed robbery that way). However, there are several reputable taxi companies all over Lima (Taxi Green at the airport is one we used which comes to mind), the Sheraton has its fleet of higher end taxis just outside the lobby, and, if that's too expensive for your budget, there is a cheaper taxi company in the shopping mall right below the hotel. We also ended up hiring a car for a full day, so the morning lounge attendant put us in touch with a reliable and reasonably priced taxi driver.

ajnaro

Are these other services official taxis, with meter and all? I don't remember even seeing a vehicle that looked like a standard taxi you would see in almost any other city in the world. I do remember the 'remise' that the Sheraton was offering, but that was on the order of 10 times more expensive than the unofficial taxis in the street. Perhaps conditions have changed for the worse, but, as I said, we never had any trouble with the street taxis.

By the way, we did not stay more than one night at the Sheraton because the neighborhood was just too depressing. We moved to a very attractive aparthotel called Suites Antique in San Isidro for the rest of our stay.

lotuspad

We have a trip coming up soon and have one night booked using C&P. First time traveling there and we are bringing my mom. We weren't able to add my mom to the reservation. Do you think the hotel is going to have an issue with a 3rd person on a C&P reservation? We are also upgraded to a club floor.

Thanks!