ohmark

Great stretch of beach to walk on. Very good Columbia restaurant across the street. One comment that's neither here nor there: we couldn't help but notice that when guests walked by the front desk, the staff invariably averted their eyes, rather than smiling or greeting as in most Starwood properties. You could call the hotel and ask about current lounge status.

number_6

Good hotel, bit old but well run, location is a bit remote but that makes it nicer and different from the rest of the hotels in the area. Funny to talk about remote when it is surrounded by high-rise buildings, but you'll see when you get there. Not the place for parties but a place for quiet.

ohmark

Was told at the front desk that lounge is no longer for elites; used by the hotel to rent out for private groups.

MOJayhawk

Hello all - new here so please be patient with me for a few posts! Question - I am Gold (or lowly gold as I have seen referenced) and just booked the Sand Key (Clearwater Beach) for a mini-vacation. Booked an upper level ocean view king - best room I could find short of a suite. If a suite is unoccupied on my arrival day, what are my chances of getting upgraded? I will call that morning, but from reading this forum I get the feeling an upgrade to a suite seldom occurs unless you are Plat. Thanks in advance for your responses!

Starwood Lurker

Welcome to Flyertalk!

By policy, all a participating property has to give to a Gold member as an upgrade is a Preferred Room, subject to availability at check-in. If you book a category of room that is higher than Preferred...and I can assure you that an upper level ocean view room at this property is just that...then they are not required to bump you up any further.

Of course, some hotels are more generous than others, so you may find some selective success in doing this, but all the program expects is for them to meet the Preferred Room requirement, subject to availability.

Regardless, good luck and enjoy your stay.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

1st Class Gekko

I just wanted to say I had the most perfect stay at the Sheraton Sand Key resort in Clearwater beach this weekend.

We had reserved the least expensive room in hopes of an upgrade. This panned out beautifully. The resort gave us a king bed suite with a view of the Gulf of Mexico. Theroom had been recently redone, itincluded a 42 inch plasma tv and very attractive decorating.

The beach club service was superb and overall were impressed with the level of service at the property. A superb recognition to the staff at this resort!

CUSTOMDIRECT

Hi All,

Does anyone have any feedback on the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater, FL? The place looks great but:

Are they "Platinum Friendly" regarding suite upgrades, etc?

Any sugestions on room catagories to request? The Gulfview Suites look very good on the website.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks and safe travels!!

The Weekly Flyer

I'm staying there the first week in October. If your stay is after that I can provide an update then.

I hear it has a great beach.

Flyfarfar

CUSTOMDIRECT

I'll be there Sep 26-28 but thanks.

The beach is teriffic as I recall. I used to live in Clearwater years ago as a student at USF before they built the hotel and Sand Key was still undeveloped. The "development" of Sand Key was held up for years due to strong opposition form environmentalists and locals alike. This trip will be my first trip back to Clearwater beach.

I'll post an update late in the week.

The Weekly Flyer

I stayed at the Sheraton San Key this weekend. I live in Tampa and the main reason we decided to stay at the resort was because we had 2 weekend certificates to burn before Dec 31st.

First off it is a quick 25 minute drive from TPA International Airport. Once you drive over the bridge to clearwater you make a quick left over the bridge to Sand Key. Just as you cross over the bridge there is a national park to the right. Just after the park is the Sheraton San Key facing the gulf. On the other side of the street is the marriot, which faces the intercoastal.

Checkin was a breeze as we were checked in at the SPG line (clearly marked). Upon checkin we were told we were upgraded to a suite and given our choice of platinum amenity (took the points).

Our suitte was on the top floor of rooms (838) and had a partial ocean view and a full view of the park & the channel from the ocean to the intercoastal. We had a approx 42 inch flat screen tv, small dining area, refridgerator, King Bed, two doors to balcony. The bathroom had granite-ish countertops, new tile flooring, new tub, new shower, Westin Shower style nossle, double sinks, etc. The bathroom felt very very clean as did the room in general. Our immediate impression was this was the newest room we'd ever had in a Sheraton. The only thing I wasn't thrilled about (not a big deal) was that the airconditioning was the wall units, but was centrally controlled by an electronic wall unit.

The lobby had two restaurants Rusty & Island Grill which we did not venture to try. Instead we went to Island Way grill which was an $8 dollar cab ride. www.islandwaygrill.com. We had Sushi, Filet, and a bottle of Silver Oak

On Saturday we woke up and had access to the club Lounge (9th floor - no rooms here just lounge and workout) where breakfast was served until around 9AM (I think), which we took full advantage of. Bagels, fruit, juices, etc. The lounge had a 180 view of the intercoastal and channel, great views.

We went to the pool around 10:30 and had our choice of lounge chairs. There were towels at the towel stand and we set up our own chairs (although there was an attendant ready to help). The pool is a bit small but adequate. Pool was very kid friendly, so we went to the beach once it got a bit hectic.

The beach is a bit of a walk, however there is nothing to complain about as it is almost empty and you will find plenty of room bake in the sun. The water is crystal clear and the sand in the water is grade A (but the sand between the water and hotel is a bit hard on the feet).

Last night we went back to the lounge for a complimentary drink and appetizer, before heading out to the Bellview Biltmore (spelling). It has a great view of the ocean and is just south of the Sheration. Great food but I liked Island Way (great outdoor deck) a bit better.

Other items:
Free parking, great hot tub, very friendly staff.

Overall it was a great way to burn the free weekends and I would definitely go back on points (rates are good to I think it was $140 a night when we were there).

I'm sure I missed something so if you would like more details hit me back with a pm.

p8riotsfan

Stayed there for two nights last weekend and was terribly disappointed. This was NOT a Four Star Resort now or one year ago. A number of disappointments:

1. This is a run down resort that completely capitalizes upon its location (which is questionable since it's about a .25 mile walk to the beach.
2. The rooms are tired as evidenced by old carpet, peeling wallpaper, a hybrid A/C system. Seems as if it were a wall unit now controlled by a digital wall thermostat. Bathroom accommodations were clean but also run down. For example, the shower head adapter which connects with the wall tile was disconnected, exposing the inside of the dry wall.
3. Bar/Restaurant service and quality very weak
4. No Gold recognition and placed next to an elevator (which they changed upon my request, but to a lower room.
5. The pool is incredibly unremarkable. Twenty people is intolerable. It's like a mosh pit.


Staff was friendly but really could not do anything to satisfy me given that complaints would be irrepairable.

Unfortunately the hotel really matched the quality of the Clearwater beach area. It reminded me of Ft Lauderdale twenty years ago. In fact, this resort reminds me of Yankee Clipper/Trader Status. I'd save my 3K points per night and stay at Tampa Suites or thereabouts.

Anglo Large Clawed Otter

Hooray for search! Anyone have any recent experiences of the Sheraton Sand Key resort in Tampa to share (at least within the past five years?). The Significant Otter and I are headed there at the end of September, and I'm particularly interested to hear about Plat treatment at this hotel. Do they have a large number of suites; are said suites considered "standard" for the purposes of Plat upgrades; Are they generally generous with Plat upgrades?

Thanks in advance.

vandalby

I was just there last week for a stay. Overall, it was a pretty ho-hum experience. A couple of points:

- Yes, it's pretty far from the airport, you'll need to go over the causway, across Clearwater to the Gulf and then, obviously, out to Sand Key - so be prepared for a little bit of a hike.

- You'll want a car once you're out there unless you plan to stay on resort property; you'll probably exhaust that fairly quickly

- The rooms are a little dated, some can be a bit musty (which makes sense with all the humidity); the air conditioning units are very loud; it's ok if you're a heavy sleeper or the type that likes white noise, if not, you may have trouble sleeping

- Most rooms seemed to have a nice sized balcony

- I don't really agree with the 'long walk' to the beach; sure it's set back, but the property is right on the beach; probably a couple hundred foot walk

- When I was there, they weren't doing much in the form of an upgrade for my platinum status; obviously this was one situation at one point in time, but I'm sure there was availability

- The club lounge on the 9th floor is very nice - good workout center on one side, the lounge side is small, but the drinks, including alcoholic, are free and there is a nice little spread with one hot item and some cold sandwiches; most of all, the staff in both the morning and evening are top notch - really an asset to the resort

If you just want to hit the beach and enjoy the pool, this is probably a fine option. If you're looking for a truly special resort getaway experience, you're probably going to be left wanting.

MOJayhawk

Our stay last year was great enough that we planned another one for this year. We were (by request) upgraded to suite, and got spoiled by it so have reserved one for this fall. Service was great, food (at least what we ordered) was fine as well. A/C was loud as previous poster stated. I didn't know there was a club level - since we booked a suite should we get that bene? (We're lowly gold.) For those of you going have a great time and report back in!

1st Class Gekko

This is a a follow up to my last stay at the resort, which was slightly over a year ago.

I was given an older basic room near an elevator on the club level floor with a slight view of the gulf.

The front desk lady was very aloof, never recognized my status and seemed to be going through the motions. At check in I asked for a late check out and was told to check back the day of departure. I went back on the date of departure and spoke to the same lady and was given the standard answer of 12:30pm would be my check out time. I looked her in the eye and said "even for platinum" and reminder her we spoke and didn't remember. Eventually after being denied (for no reason given) I said that I had a late international flight back home. Then they felt compassionate and decided to give the late check out.

In summary it seems concistency is very questionable at this resort. As long as you don't interact with the staff I think you'll be quite comfortable here.