TomT

A short stay report on Springfield, Mass, Sheraton

Location nothing much, center of "city", no restaurants worth note to walk to.
Good for Eastern fair.Working in the area.... a stay
Indoor parking, no self, $10.00 per night.
Easy check in, leave car at main door walk to desk check in .
Check in was short, professional, asked what I wanted (points, etc) No pre check in folder made up (Some how I reserved a club room, shame, shame!!!) and did not get upgrade...to suite....paid for club floor.$135.00++
Room was club floor ...clean, organized, ...a club floor room, bottled water
Club floor by room key...12th.floor.
Club was small but again well organized. Excellent lady working the bar and snacks. snacks C+, free water, soda........name your booze for $4.00 per, Breakfast was the usual cont., nothing special
Main dinning looked like what it was......hotel, prices hotel prices.
Pub, small but good, lots of beer on tap, service excellent, food not bad(sandwichs) Excellent bar persons....a sport bar setting in all, prices what you would expect.
When you make reservations ask for "river view", otherwise you are looking at the city . All in all......we have a saying in sailing when a boat is nothing to speak of "It was an average white boat".

nehopper

There are a couple of good dining choices in Springfield, all within a few blocks of the Sheraton.

Two blocks north (the Marriott is north of the Sheraton) is the Fort/Student Prince, a real old-fashioned restaurant specializing in German food and game. Great bar and decorations. Been there 50 years. Be prepared for a substantial meal.

Three blocks north and one block east is a section with some more modern-style restaurants and night clubs. I've had some good meals in those restaurants, too.

ant_west

Stayed there a couple of weeks ago for 1 night - got a nice pretty large corner room with the sleeper bed, very comfortable all round. Usual gripe with a number of Sheratons that the bathtub is too shallow (same at the Westin Harbour Castle Toronto and Sheraton Inner Harbour Baltimore that I stayed in that week) but I can live with that!

When I arrived at the hotel, there was only 1 person working reception and she was dealing with someone asking about rates for that night. Was impressed that on seeing me arrive she called someone in the back office to come out and check me in.

As I say, room was fine; only other gripe would be that I found the wireless internet connection a little tempremental (this was on the night I arrived, in the morning before I left it was fine).

Don't think the hotel was at all busy when I stayed - there was only 1 other table occupied at breakfast the next morning.

studio253

I was there two weeks ago for two nights. I've stayed here a few times before and it's very hit or miss. This stay was a bit better. The staff was friendly but a little green. I had to ask for club level and my points amenity. In full disclosure I did arrive at 1am and I think the front desk guy was new.

The club served little quiches at night with fried shrimp. The breakfast was traditional continental.

EnvoyBoy

Am here now and this will be my last visit. The unsmiling girl at the front desk took pride in telling me I'd been upgraded. This hotel has 12 floors, with views of the river and hills in the distance. As a Plat, I've been "upgraded" to a room on the third floor with one window that's barely bigger than the tv that overlooks an alley and the parking garage of the Marriott next door. And for reasons I don't know, the last 15% of the ceiling is slanted down (think room on third floor of a house around the dormers), adding to the claustraphobia. The best is that there's no "sheer" curtains so the only way to get privacy from the parkers across the alley is to pull closed the heavy curtains, blocking out what little light I had.

Unfortunately I was in a rush when I arrived so didn't have time to realize all this or to address it but I shouldn't have to! A quick check on-line shows a number of rooms for sale and the events board here is pretty empty so no large group in-house. Pictures on the website are hysterical: beautiful sleigh bed, with two lounge chairs in the background and behind them not one but two large windows with lots of light.

Me? In a cave.


The next morning…

I can report that the wake up came as requested although the recorded voice sounded clinically suicidal. It was the worst wake-up call. Ever. Now, there’s lots of things and touch points out of control of management but you can pick pretty much anyone to record your wake up call and you can re-do it countless time until it’s near perfect. That they couldn’t even bother with that much told me all I need to know.

Went to check-out and was the only one in the lobby. Approached the desk and asked to be checked out of room XXX. The girl said okay and began typing and never looked up again. I just stood there until I felt too stupid and walked away. She never asked how my stay was, if I needed a copy of my bill, if the charges should stay on my Amex, etc. She never thanked me for my business or wished me a proverbial nice day.

sbtinme

Short version: I had to be out in W Mass for an early meeting this morning, so I went down late yesterday to check in at the Sheraton Springfield. I've stayed here maybe half dozen times over the years and always had a marginal experience and, occasionally, had horrible experiences (see my earlier post in this thread!).

I'm sorry to report that this hotel just can't get it together.

Check in was fast and I'd been upgraded to the club floor (top floor), but the front desk agent advised that those rooms were tired and that I might be happier with a suite. He warned, however, that almost all of their suite inventory is on the low 4th floor with terrible views. I chose the suite and appreciated his candor and willingness to offer me a real choice. So far, so good.

Enter my room and it's precisely what I remembered about this hotel: they offer the bare bones essentials to meet minimum Sheraton branding guidelines, but not one iota more. Two examples: Maxwell House coffee (hadn't seen that in a Sheraton in about 2 full years) and no shower gel (even in a suite!). The living room furniture was in good shape, but of very low quality (shiny polyestery sort of stuff). The carpet had significant staining, including a fair amount of what looked like someone had poured a glass of cherry Kool-Aid all over it in the middle of the room. The bathroom had the very old composite shower walls and disappointingly dim lighting. The floor was the old-style 1-inch square ceramic tiles.

The single upshot was that this heavenly bed appeared to be quite new and was exceptionally comfortable. I remember that this property was VERY SLOW to convert to the Heavenly Bed and only did so LONG after almost the entire brand had installed them.

Anyway you slice it, this property just feels like 1979. In a way, I feel for the owners, since the whole area has dried up around it in the past generation and the attached Monarch Place was a bust from day one. It's really an unsellable pink elephant.

That said, some minor efforts could go a very long way towards redeeming the consumer's experience. My biggest beef with this hotel has long been the unacceptably crappy Club Lounge; it hadn't changed AT ALL since I was here last -- still just terrible. I went up last night around 6pm before meeting colleagues for dinner in the lobby at 6:30. Just ran up to grab a soda and maybe a tiny snack. I walked in and the young male attendant was leaning against the couch on his elbows watching the big screen TV. No attempt at eye contact was made on his part. I quickly scanned the VERY THIN array of snacks (veggie tray, sliced melon tray, small plate of cheese, and hot tray of deep fried Sam's Club thingys.) These were all no larger than a dinner plate, mind you. I looked around for crackers to go with the cheese and didn't find any -- I asked the attendant and he advised that "they were looking for some" downstairs. (Keep in mind the club had been opened a full hour at this point.) So, no dice there.

I decided to forego the snacks and just grab a soda. I walked over to the bar, which was on the far side of the lounge and it was fully stocked with probably 20 bottles of liquor and a few wines to the side. However, not a single soda in sight. I again asked the attendant about a ginger ale or a coke and he pointed to a low refrigerator under the snack display. Perfect, I thought. I opened the door and it was fairly full, but of only TONIC WATER and V-8 JUICE! No kidding. I couldn't believe it. So, I interrupted the attendant, again, from his compelling TV show to advise that the only thing in the fridge was TONIC and V8. He walked over and opened the fridge and let out a few mumbling words and walked out of the lounge. I grabbed a tonic water and just headed back to my 4th floor room. On my way out, I could see him rummaging through a supply closet down the hall -- presumably looking for those rare things like soft drinks. What a terribly run club lounge!

Had a great night with my colleagues off site!

Went up this morning early to grab a simple breakfast before a long day. Was surprised to see TWO young female lounge attendants on duty this morning, BOTH OF WHOM WERE GLUED TO THE TV and watching MTV! One was standing no more than 30 inches from the TV the ENTIRE TIME I WAS IN THERE. Again, there was no eye contact whatsoever from these two. Breakfast spread was as poor as the evening spread. Again, a few small plates of things and a low end array of prebaked, prefab breakfast breads. There was a cereal sized bowl at the end of the run with what looked like maybe six strawberries sliced in it. I've heard of cost controls, but this was unreal.

I grabbed a tall cup of black coffee, which was Starbucks and delicious and sat down to scan the paper. I chose to eat none of their food offerings. It was amazing to watch these young gals at work. They were both wearing street clothes and simply glued to MTV. One was fairly large chested and was wearing a skin-tight thin summer sweater with a plunging neckline. She had chosen to affix her name tag to the lowest point of that plunging neckline, so that the namebadge was squarely positioned between her breasts. I couldn't believe my eyes -- you just can't make this stuff up.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'm just plain mystified how this place stays in business. They excel at nothing and it's obvious to anyone that the management's focus on excellence and training must be their dead last priority. The front desk clerk was efficient and helpful, but he was the only employee I encountered who had a clue. The lounge was poor and the staff there was the worst I've seen yet.

The entrance and exits of the lobby can be confusing since the doors are automated. Last night, while waiting in the lobby, I witnessed probably half a dozen guests attempt to enter through the EXIT door. Once realizing their error, they had to backup and walk around the barricade and reenter through the proper door -- I noticed that the doorman on duty was standing on the sidewalk and he also watched all of this take place. Now why on earth wouldn't he have offered a helpful word to each of these folks guiding them to the proper entrance?? He just stood there slackjawed as guest after guest attempted to enter the hotel's primary lobby entrance the WRONG WAY.

Good grief! Absolutely ***ALL*** of these issues point precisely to the owner's lack of committment to hotel management excellence. It's obvious that they pay their staff rock bottom wages and the quality of that staff surely shows it. On top of that, there must have been no effort or resources put into continuous improvement training or "back to the basics" customer care training.

I shall not stay at this hotel again. It simply doesn't warrant any further business from me. The Marriott next door is well run and well tended to.

Case closed.

drron

One night stay here last night and we did not find it as bad as some previous reports...but.Upgraded to club floor room.Reasonable sized room,renovated,poor lighting in bathroom and bathroom fan ran continuously.
lounge-advertises breakfast M-F 0630 to 0900.At 0840 when we were at breakfast the attendant was putting things away-prior to that she was watching TV.Whilst mrsdrron was waiting in the lobby she saw the attendant walk out the front door at exactly 0900.Also it appeared that it was the manager who walked in whilst we were there.Waved,asked "How's your stay".But walked out without awaiting an answer.
Now in the evening(advertised as M-Thurs. 1700-2100)it was much better.A reasonable selection of snacks(by USA standards) and the attendant was personable and talked to the guests.
Certainly not the worst Sheraton in the USA that we have stayed at.

jb3t

I would not listen to the negative comments about this hotel. I have stayed here many times on business and on weekends for kids sports tourneys. It's no W New York but this is a decent hotel.

As a Plat, I'm nearly always on club floor. Sometimes in corner room with fire place. Club lounge is average. There a good little sports bar there with good popcorn. Get free Breakfast coupons on weekend and the buffet is very good... They will fry up omlets right in front of you.

On weekends, there lots of groups there and a lot of "buzz", which I like. Don't like paying for parking.

No problems.

wharvey

We just got this hotel on Priceline last evening for a weekend stay in two weeks.

Any update on the property?

signothetimes53

I stayed there last week, and previously in early August.

A very mixed bag.

Both times the Front Desk performed poorly. They appear to be among the least well-trained *wood front desk people I've ever encountered. On neither occasion could they be bothered to acknowledge that I was Lifetime Platinum, I had to inquire about an upgrade. Last week, the Front Desk person had no idea what my Lifetime Platinum card was, ("Oooh, this must be a really old card! What is it?"). She didn't even know there was such a thing as Lifetime Plat, so I had to explain it to her. Once I did, I might as well have been speaking Chinese to her, because she really didn't care that I was a frequent *wood customer. Indifference and boredom was the rule of the day for her.

In August I was given a room on the Club floor....to my regret....because the Club floor rooms are in desperate need of a renovation. Tattered carpeting, bathroom that needed reno, an old TV the size of a VW Bug, noisy A/C. Pathetic, really.

Last week, I was given a room on the 8th floor when I checked in at 3PM, told that it was preferable to the Club floor since it had been recently renovated. She was right, the renovated room was decently executed. But I made one simple request, which she totally botched: please don't assign me to an "adjoining" room. I told her I really hate listening to my neighbor talking on the phone, watching TV or using the toilet at all hours of the night. The noise transmitted under the door gap in an adjoining room is usually excessive to me. I told her I wanted a good night's sleep. I was assured, no problem, it's not an adjoining room.

Get up to #820, and sure enough, it's an adjoining room. I had a business meeting I had to get to, so when I got down to the lobby and discovered a long line, I knew I was not going to be able to wait to get a different room assignment. So I decided to hope for the best that my neighbors would be quiet. I come back from my dinner meeting at 10PM, crawl into bed, and 20 minutes later, in comes the neighbor, and the TV goes on full blast. I turned on the A/C to drown out the noise....'cuz the A/C was plenty loud, and the white noise was preferable to listening to #819's TV.

5AM rolls around, I'm blasted awake by the neighbor again, TV full volume, shower running, toilet flushing, and talking at top volume with his wife/gf, whatever she was. My night's sleep was over early.

At 8AM checkout, I was asked how my stay was....and I was honest. Told them it was terrible, told them why, told them it was my second consecutive stay at that hotel that was substandard. I was offered points, and I said this: "Why not just do it right the first time? I get the good night's sleep I wanted, and you don't have to pay me points." Yeah, I took the points, but honest to pete, why don't hotels understand that I'm a happier customer when they do simple things like properly research my direct request not to be assigned an "adjoining" room. It's not as if I expected the Presidential Suite as a Lifetime Plat....just a simple non-adjoining room, and maybe at least a thank you for being a loyal, long-time customer. Apparently that is too much to ask of the Front Desk at the Sheraton Monarch Springfield.

sbtinme

That would be terrible advice to any who would heed it. This has been a very bottom tier Sheraton since at least about 1985. There simply can't be any denying it. Every hotel brand has within its ranks the laggards and this is surely one of the Sheraton brand's most lagging laggards.

It was among the very last of the domestic Sheratons (perhaps THE last?) to convert to the sweet sleeper bed and they've somehow been able to put off their long-overdue room renovations for years beyond when they should've been done.

This has never been a nice hotel, it's always been an average hotel. On most days, it's run as a far less than average hotel. What a shame.

signothetimes53

Indeed.

This hotel doesn't do much right, but if your standards are set low enough, it can be acceptable, but not much more than that.

NBSPGMEMBER

The last post is 2 years old, so I hope this place has improved. We are planning to stay here for a weekend using Starpoints and we are booking a club level room with 2 double beds. We are heading to Six Flags New England which is only a 10 minute drive and that's why we chose this property. Any recent and decent experiences?

PTahCha

My last stay was a year ago. The property was decent, friendly service. It could also because I had both of my bulldogs with me. Old school atrium in the middle.




Upgraded to a club level room as Platinum.



The Club had both hot and cold Hors d'oeuvres with an assortment of beer and wine.

Decent sports bar/restaurant, and it's a layover hotel for DL and express carriers.

Overall, it was a clean, comfortable place to stay.

NBSPGMEMBER

Love your dogs! So grumpy they're cute!
Reviews of this place are horrible, glad to see it might be doable.