Heading to Bucharest/Romania for the first time with a friend and shacking up at the Sheraton from June 28th to July 2nd. Based on the reviews and feedback above, this looks like a great SPG option with excellent facilities.

A couple of questions to those who've poked around the city/hotel:
- I've seen reviews that happy hour in the lounge is 'extended' - in your experience, when have you seen drinks out?
- I know the location isn't the most central, but how walkable is the local area?
- Any tips on Bucharest in general? I've read that it isn't the safest but I'm sure a little prudence and care should allay any fears, no?

Thanks, everyone - will report back when I'm there!

khabah

There's usually more food options during the evening time as compared to the afternoon.

I've walked throughout the Central area from the hotel, it's a good workout so go ahead and do it. :)

I haven't really explored much of Bucharest but I didn't once feel unsafe when outside. Of course I didn't stay out after dark though.

I just got back from there a few days ago. The happy hour is from 19-22h I believe. Nice assortment of beer and wine. Plenty of cold snacks. A couple of hot items. It is always manned by someone, but the service is good and everyone is friendly. They also have a full breakfast in the lounge, so take the points as a Platinum amenity. (The local gift was forgettable and unimpressive.)

In re: location, the hotel is located near Piata Romana Metro, but the Metro is largely worthless and goes almost nowhere you'll want to visit. On arrival, follow the signs to bus, and get an Activ card. Don't bother with the machine, it's broken. When you exit the terminal, there's a manned booth on your right where you can purchase the card. It's all you really need to get around Bucharest. Bus line 783 will drop you off right near the hotel. If you do take the Metro, than the nearest stop is Piata Victoriei. It will set you back 2,50 RON / ride.

In re: safety,

With respect to public transport: just keep your valuable stuff out of the outer pockets in your bag. No one tried anything with me, but that's not to say you won't encounter someone at some point.

With respect to taxis: never hail one off the street or take a solicited offer. You'll be gambling with your wallet and possibly your life. Most major hotels, restaurants and shopping areas will have kiosks or devices that will hail one for you. You can also download an app and do it yourself.

With respect to everything else: Just stay away from stray dogs and you'll be okay. The city may seem a little dingy, but it is quite enjoyable when you get a feel for it.

Uber (UberX and UberSelect) is also available in the city.

I used it from the hotel to the airport.

Here goes, my massive review for my stay at the end of June... Enjoy!

khabah

***

As a devoted Starwood fan and SPG Platinum member, I decided that Sheraton Bucharest would be my nest for my four-night stay and first visit to Bucharest/Romania despite the hotel being marked as a little out of the way based on reviews I’d previously come across.

LOCATION: The hotel is located on Calea Dorobanților in Sector 1 of Bucharest [1 of 6] to the north of most of the city’s main sights. Despite previous reviews of the hotel being somewhat out of the way, mobility is extremely easy for those of you inclined to walk; sights like the Athenaeum and National Museum of Art of Romania are within a ten-minute walk, the Lipscani pedestrian street and the National Museum of Romanian History are twenty-odd minutes away and the Palace of the Parliament within forty minutes. The immediate area has a few restaurants as well as a supermarket. Uber exists in Bucharest and provides very easy, quick and extremely cheap transport; a twenty-minute ride from the airport set us back seven dollars!

That being said, Henri Coandă International Airport is within fifteen to twenty minutes away by car.

ENTRANCE/LOBBY: A former and total conversion of the dowdy Howard Johnson Grand Plaza, the Sheraton’s lobby is your traditional Sheraton fare - something which is in no way a dig. The lobby is a three-level open space decorated in dark woods with light furniture, lots of beige and pops of orange and purple. It is a very high-quality space befitting of the brand and of Starwood’s high standards, so there was no feeling of worry here.

Check-in took five minutes by a professional associate and her colleague, where both members acknowledged my elite status and produced the keys to a pre-arranged upgraded suite.

ROOMS: Three elevators serve the guest room floors and require keycard access for that extra bit of security.

I was given a Club Suite on the fifteenth floor of the eighteen-story hotel. Although the suite is obviously two standard rooms with the walls between them knocked out to create a separate living room and bedroom, the suite was spacious and very well-furnished in grey and beige to traditional, modern Sheraton standards. It was obvious that the suite was recently refurbished as all the furnishings and details were holding up in excellent shape.

The living area included a couch and armchair with a coffee table, full desk [with a fruit platter and the general manager’s card], television, two sets of recessed shelves with the minibar and a half bathroom with toilet and sink. The bedroom was separated by two sliding doors and included a plush, massive Sheraton Sweet Sleeper king-sized bed, full desk, another television and - my personal favorite - a cushion on the deeply-recessed window platform to create a window seat to peer over Bucharest. Lovely, lovely touch, especially as our suite had a view towards the magnificent if garish Palace of the Parliament.

The bathroom included a sink with very generous counter space and a wooden shelf beneath it, a toilet with shelf above it where the flush buttons were and a bathtub with adjustable showerhead. Water pressure was a bit on the softer side of things and the step up to the tub is a bit high, so be warned.

Wi-fi is free for SPG members and was very fast with good connectivity across the property.

FOOD/BEVERAGE: Being in a Club Suite meant I had access to the Club Lounge on the eighteenth floor [also accessible by keycard]; this is where I consumed all but one meal at the hotel.

Breakfast was available from 6:30 AM to 10:30 AM during our stay and included a great spread of staples like scrambled eggs, bacon, cold cuts, pastries and fruits/vegetables. Everything was freshly prepared and replenished as need be by the frankly incredible and very attentive staff on duty.

After breakfast was cleared, snacks like nuts and cookies come out at 11 AM… Along with a fridge of complimentary beer and white wine. Beer and wine! At 11 AM! I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this level of generosity anywhere else. Happy hour begins at 4:30 with a delightful spread of savory items like salmon tarts, sandwiches and a sushi boat, desserts and beer as well as red, white and sparkling wines [all of which were Romanian products], lasting until 10:30 PM. I’ve never had six hours of happy hour so this hotel gets two very high [and possibly sideways] thumbs up.

I had breakfast once in the hotel’s main restaurant, Avalon, located on the first floor above the lobby. Although it was packed with guests and package tourists, we found the spread there to be a bit bigger than in the club lounge but if I could do it again, I’d stick to the lounge purely for its quieter atmosphere and to deal with the awesome staff. There is also a Benihana restaurant onsite and part of the main Avalon space for the Japanese cuisine lovers among us.

LEISURE: The hotel lacks a pool [sadly - how perfect would that have been?] but does offer a keycard-access fitness center on the second floor with a gym and separate saunas and steam rooms for men and women. The gym was of a good size with a great selection of relatively new equipment. The separate men’s and women’s areas also included rooms for massages and beauty treatments, all of which are very reasonably priced.

FACILITIES: The hotel offers several meeting rooms and a business center; these saw frequent use during our stay but were never detrimental to the quality of the stay itself. The hotel also offers a casino in the same building; this is accessed from the mezzanine inside the lobby or through an external side door just to the right of the entrance.

SERVICE: The service at this hotel was a major standout - what a wonderful and well-run show. The staff are all clearly highly trained and enjoy their jobs, something that reflects in the cheerful and helpful way they interacted with my friend and I as well as other guests during our stay. For example, Andreea spoke to the Palace of the Parliament by phone to arrange a tour for us due to our inability to speak Romanian while the energetic Magda provided a lot of tips for us to see things around the hotel [as well as constantly resetting our demagnetized keycards]. The ladies in the club lounge, Adina and Florina, deserve a particular mention for their attention to detail including memorizing our drinks orders and constantly keeping the glasses full, providing excellent service and for just being downright wonderful to talk to. All these associates deserve the best and they get my biggest thanks for making this stay a success.

OVERALL: As you can obviously determine by this point, I found my stay at Sheraton Bucharest to be truly enjoyable in every respect: being in a secure location that encourages on-foot exploration, enjoying a very comfortable room, consuming high-quality food and drink and dealing with excellent staff. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough and will easily use it again on any future visits to Bucharest. Job well done.

Was there 2 weeks ago and my feedback is different. They have change policies regarding lounge and i was really disappointed. I would not recommend this property, they are much better options in town.

1. Hotel is ok, but rooms are small (even suites) / bathrooms are very very small. My opinion is that this hotel is a Four points, not a sheraton regarding rooms and bathroom (remember it used to be a Howard Johnson). It's clean but small and nothing fancy. Typicall Four Points.

2. Lobby and bar : poor and depressing in my opinion. Would be perfect for a Four point or a Doubletree for example. Nothing to compare with hilton (english bar is a must) or radisson.

3. Lounge : very nice but big issue right now. Management applies their own policy : no breakfast for platinum at the lounge (or you have to pay 22 euros).

They have a list in the morning (even if you are upgraded to club suite, you have to pay to get access the lounge in the morning). They have changed the cocktail : it's now between 5.30pm and 7pm... useless for most of us. Greedy management if you ask me :))))

4. No concierge after 6pm.... sorry but this is not a 5 stars hotel.

And some other details was really annoying. I gave it a try and i go back to Hilton Athenee Palace next time i stay in BUH (even if the room are dated, the property, location, bars, restaurant, etc are much better + they have a pool).

PS : starwood is investigating and dealing with the hotel in order them to apply the starwood rules.

PS 2 : they do work with Make a green choice but don't leave the leaflet and don't post the points. You have to a manual claim.

Sorry I didn't understand your post regarding breakfast and lounge access.

You mentioned breakfast is no longer provided in the lounge so am I right to say we can have breakfast in the restaurant? I assume we have to choose breakfast as our Platinum Gift instead of 500 points? Or they provide breakfast in the restaurant with 500 points?

As for lounge access, is the lounge closed in the morning or it's still open but you need to pay the 22 Euros to enter in the morning to have breakfast? If that's the case, what time are you allowed in the lounge if you don't pay the 22 Euros? If the lounge was closed in the morning then that's fine but if it's open, Club guests and Platinum members should have access in the mornings as well.

The cocktail/happy hour timing is pretty okay actually. I stayed in the Club Suite and it was fine. No concierge after 6pm is a surprise. I'm guessing lots of cost cutting?

I have the same feeling : cost cutting. Even nobody to take care of luggage when arriving and leaving. There is one guy around by busy with ton of different things as i have seen.

For breakfast. The management has set up a new rule (saying that is a SPG rule, but SPG is asking them to follow the rules of the program) :
- Lounge is open
- There is breakfast at the lounge
BUT if you are not on a paid club room or suite you have to pay 22 euros. They have a list at the entrance of the lounge in the morning. Basically platinum does not have access to the lounge in the morning if they don't pay the extra.

For happy hour i prefer 7>9 for example or 6>8 as it's the case in most of the properties in Europe.

of course if you choose the breakfast at the restaurant instead of the points it's working (same with the lounge : 22 euros or 500 welcome points for breakfast). But this is not the rule of SPG... if lounge is open, the property does not have to do a list and asking the Plat members to pay fee to enter the lounge.

I am going to stay here in a couple of weeks. Reading the reports here and all the bad reviews on TP I am starting to get worried.... Maybe I should stay at the Radisson instead?

Did anyone stay here since November, and did they change their breakfast policy?

I finally wrote about my stay at Bucharest last year. I don't know if it is still relevant, but I guess a bit of sharing shouldn't hurt.

I took a cab to the hotel and still got overcharged.
I wanted to seek help but it was a little late and no one was at the door to seek assistance from.

I shared this on Facebook and some guy remarked I should have read about the scams first (which I had of course), implying that I was ignorant in his reply.

Anyway, back to about the hotel, I had to use my plat gift for breakfast too. It was for 3 nights so definitely worth it.

http://goodhotelreview.blogspot.com/...-sheraton.html

I took the public bus from airport to a subway station.

There apparently is a public bus that stops right near the hotel from the airport. There's also Uber in Bucharest but there weren't any cars available. From hotel to airport, there were cars easily available.

It was rather late, if not I may have done that.

The lounge breakfast is free again! also I got upgraded with an SNA to one of their high tech apartments!

Took them 2 years to apply the SPG rules... anyway i avoided this property but maybe will go back there to give it a try. Was quite insulting for platinum 100 to be denied access at the lounge during breakfast time to be honest!