[Has left Marriott] Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk [Master Thread]
May 25, 2007, 9:50 pm
#19
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SAN
Programs: UA-GS,1.95MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Explorer
Posts: 423
Tampa Sheraton Riverwalk
What a horrible stay!!! I'm a Platinum, so I expected a somewhat better experience. I did get upgraded to a "Junior Suite", so I was upbeat, but I was shocked when I got into my room. The carpet was literally filthy. When I looked out my windows the calking around the windows looked like it was from a 1950's farm house. I was very dissapointed,but the alcohol in the lounge calmed (or fogged) my complaint! Oh, no free parking....only valet.
I was traveling with a co-worker who had a much worse experience! The alcohol did nothing for him and I'm frankly stunned that this place is still open. Steve also is a Platinum and was upgraded to a Jr. Suite. He specificially asked for a non-smoking, but got a smoking room. He went back down to the desk and asked to be switched, and got a new room. The first thing he noticed was the greeting card for Mr. XXX. Going to use the bathroom, it became obvious that Mr. XXX left huge skidders (aka poop streaks) in the toilet. Steve suspected the room had not been cleaned. This was confirmed when upon unpacking he found some Mr. XXX's used underwear in the drawer. He called the manager.....she saw the underwear and skidders and promised to clean the room. She asked what could be done to make things right and Steve told her some points would go a long way.
End result....... I got a dirty room...... Steve got dirty underwear/dirty sheets with pubies/and skidders...... He even got 500 points for his experience! What a joke! There is no way the Platinum amenity is the same as skidders and used underwear!
Avoid this place! Even a Motel 6 is better.....
I was traveling with a co-worker who had a much worse experience! The alcohol did nothing for him and I'm frankly stunned that this place is still open. Steve also is a Platinum and was upgraded to a Jr. Suite. He specificially asked for a non-smoking, but got a smoking room. He went back down to the desk and asked to be switched, and got a new room. The first thing he noticed was the greeting card for Mr. XXX. Going to use the bathroom, it became obvious that Mr. XXX left huge skidders (aka poop streaks) in the toilet. Steve suspected the room had not been cleaned. This was confirmed when upon unpacking he found some Mr. XXX's used underwear in the drawer. He called the manager.....she saw the underwear and skidders and promised to clean the room. She asked what could be done to make things right and Steve told her some points would go a long way.
End result....... I got a dirty room...... Steve got dirty underwear/dirty sheets with pubies/and skidders...... He even got 500 points for his experience! What a joke! There is no way the Platinum amenity is the same as skidders and used underwear!
Avoid this place! Even a Motel 6 is better.....
May 25, 2007, 10:06 pm
#20
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: YOW
Programs: UA-1K, Hilton-Diamond, Starwood-Platinum, Marriott-Platinum, Hyatt-Diamond
Posts: 8
Paul forgot to mention that my room also had no working HVAC (Air Conditioning). It was a memorable stay, all the free alcohol in the lounge and the pleasant hostess in the lounge couldn't compensate for the NASTY room. Oh and Paul forgot to mention that I paid the airline to move up my flight since I couldn't sleep in the overly warm room. Never again will I stay at the riverwalk.
By the way...The Riverwalk is like NY's East River without a path around the river. It is on a nasty dirty river and you can't even take a stroll or jog around the river. I am a diehard Sheraton customer, but this hotel does not rate the Sheraton branding.
By the way...The Riverwalk is like NY's East River without a path around the river. It is on a nasty dirty river and you can't even take a stroll or jog around the river. I am a diehard Sheraton customer, but this hotel does not rate the Sheraton branding.
May 26, 2007, 1:05 am
#22
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Tampa, Florida, U.S.A.
Posts: 7,664
Paul forgot to mention that my room also had no working HVAC (Air Conditioning). It was a memorable stay, all the free alcohol in the lounge and the pleasant hostess in the lounge couldn't compensate for the NASTY room. Oh and Paul forgot to mention that I paid the airline to move up my flight since I couldn't sleep in the overly warm room. Never again will I stay at the riverwalk.
By the way...The Riverwalk is like NY's East River without a path around the river. It is on a nasty dirty river and you can't even take a stroll or jog around the river. I am a diehard Sheraton customer, but this hotel does not rate the Sheraton branding.
By the way...The Riverwalk is like NY's East River without a path around the river. It is on a nasty dirty river and you can't even take a stroll or jog around the river. I am a diehard Sheraton customer, but this hotel does not rate the Sheraton branding.
You want to see a dirty river go look at the cesspool known as the Schuylkill (wont make any commentsa about the adjorning large city
)If you took the time to cross over Kennedy Blvd there is a nice jogging/walkway path along the river going north past the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center for quite aways.
That same river above the bridge by the Sheraton is used extensively during the spring/winter by NE colleges (like Penn State ) for many years for rowing practice do you really think that if it was that dirty it would be used by kids who physically have to enter the water to place their skuls ???
mike
Last edited by ldsant; May 26, 2007 at 1:14 pm Reason: personal attack; violation of FT TOS
May 26, 2007, 10:00 am
#23
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: UA Plat, DL PM, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 374
I totally agree with the comment that the Hillsborough River itself and the proposed Riverwalk is an absolute joke. I lived in Tampa for 6 years, living on Harbour Island and Hyde Park during those years. Every summer we dreaded having to drive near the river because of the incessant smell of rotten eggs. I did an environmental cleanup on that river two years ago and you would be amazed at what we found in there! Suffice to say, the posters are correct. This is a nasty, dirty, ugly, throwback hotel that has no business being in the SPG family.
May 26, 2007, 12:36 pm
#24
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: DL Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 142
Frankly I find this statement at best incredible " Every summer we dreaded having to drive near the river because of the incessant smell of rotten eggs" in the 28 years I have lived here the only " smell" I have noticed was due to " red tide" a problem related to orgasms in bay itself.
You did an "envoirmental clean up" did you??? .... very interesting.
mike
You did an "envoirmental clean up" did you??? .... very interesting.
mike
Nov 5, 2007, 1:44 pm
#25
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: DEN and a barrier island near RSW
Programs: 1K (I know, my screen name is outdated), Marriott Plat, *Wood Plat, Five Star, Amex Plat
Posts: 1,360
Just returned from the Sheraton Riverwalk and have to agree with most of the previous comments however I will add a few more.
The room doors are very thin and allow hall noise into the rooms as though there were no door at all. There were a group of 20 something males with several rooms at our end of the hall. They were up all evening running from room to room, banging on doors and making extensive noise. The final straw came at 5:15 AM when one of them urinated into the stairwell just outside my door (301) and then kept banging on the door across the hall (302) which didn't belong to him although he thought it did. A call to the front desk was greeted with an apology and a promise to send up security. Security found the offender in the hallway, in his boxers and asked him to return to his room. Noise continued the for another hour or so.
The next night was a repeat of the first night with more calls to the front desk and little to no follow up aside from a "security guard" asking the guys to quiet down. I know hotels can't control their guests but the doors are thin and don't do an adequate job of creating a reasonably quiet room.
Not only was this an issue at night but also an issue when housekeeping was cleaning the rooms. They would simply allow the doors to slam into the metal security lock they would turn into the doorway opening. This would sometimes happen 5 or more times in a matter of minutes.
The rooms were not very clean.
The carpets were stained.
The bathrooms were very small.
The balconies were gross and covered in bird poop. I wouldn't even venture out onto the balcony given its disgusting state.
$16/night for valet parking on top of the $259/night rate I paid. I was there over a weekend when rates are usually lower than during the week!
The elevators are under renovation so the already slow elevators were even slower because only one was in service.
There are a few bright spots:
The valets were very quick and efficient.
The front desk staff was very friendly.
I was upgraded to a "Junior Suite" which is basically an oversized corner room. All this meant was I had twice the amount of stained carpeting and lousy decor as my neighbor and the same small bathroom.
In summation; a dump of a property with a friendly yet clueless staff. Needless to say I won't be returning and I would strongly discourage anyone from staying here.
The room doors are very thin and allow hall noise into the rooms as though there were no door at all. There were a group of 20 something males with several rooms at our end of the hall. They were up all evening running from room to room, banging on doors and making extensive noise. The final straw came at 5:15 AM when one of them urinated into the stairwell just outside my door (301) and then kept banging on the door across the hall (302) which didn't belong to him although he thought it did. A call to the front desk was greeted with an apology and a promise to send up security. Security found the offender in the hallway, in his boxers and asked him to return to his room. Noise continued the for another hour or so.
The next night was a repeat of the first night with more calls to the front desk and little to no follow up aside from a "security guard" asking the guys to quiet down. I know hotels can't control their guests but the doors are thin and don't do an adequate job of creating a reasonably quiet room.
Not only was this an issue at night but also an issue when housekeeping was cleaning the rooms. They would simply allow the doors to slam into the metal security lock they would turn into the doorway opening. This would sometimes happen 5 or more times in a matter of minutes.
The rooms were not very clean.
The carpets were stained.
The bathrooms were very small.
The balconies were gross and covered in bird poop. I wouldn't even venture out onto the balcony given its disgusting state.
$16/night for valet parking on top of the $259/night rate I paid. I was there over a weekend when rates are usually lower than during the week!
The elevators are under renovation so the already slow elevators were even slower because only one was in service.
There are a few bright spots:
The valets were very quick and efficient.
The front desk staff was very friendly.
I was upgraded to a "Junior Suite" which is basically an oversized corner room. All this meant was I had twice the amount of stained carpeting and lousy decor as my neighbor and the same small bathroom.
In summation; a dump of a property with a friendly yet clueless staff. Needless to say I won't be returning and I would strongly discourage anyone from staying here.
Nov 9, 2007, 12:14 am
#26
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: NV
Programs: Marriott LT Gold; AAdvantage Gold; HH Gold
Posts: 141
I've stayed at the Riverwalk several times and never had any problems.
Out of curiosity, if you just returned from a stay at the Riverwalk to make a post about it on the 5th, were you staying at the hotel on or around Nov 3rd? Tampa's USF's football team is having a fairly unique season and was playing host to conference rivals Cincinnati that weekend. I'm sure there were a whole lot of hotels in Tampa that weekend jampacked full of rowdy, 20-something young men.
If you were there different dates and so the football game isn't a possibility, my apologies. I'm just throwing guesses out.
At the end of the day, though, you are right in that the doors are quite thin. I've occasionally found myself wondering if people can hear me singing in the shower as easily as I can hear them chatting in the hallway.
As for the river itself and comments about it... I can understand general complaints from some about a hotel's neighborhood and surrounding area. But phrasing it in a way that makes it seem like it's the hotel's fault or that Sheraton should fix the river or build a dam or goodness knows what else just doesn't seem right and makes it seem like people are, at times, grasping for complaints. It kind of lessens the value of legitimate complaints and concerns to start blaming the hotel for something like that, IMO.
Regardless, maybe I've just been lucky and gotten good rooms each time I've stayed there? Maybe I've stayed there when the crack housekeeping squad was on duty? But I've just never had any problems like many of the ones mentioned.
Inconsistency and varying between such drastically good and bad service/facilities isn't a good thing. So despite my positive experiences, if so many have had such negative ones then there is no A for effort and the only real verdict is that they desperately need to improve. There's no denying that. But I just felt the desire to mention that I've never had any problems the likes of which have been described.
Guess I've just been lucky! Multiple stays, no problem. So maybe the wrecking ball doesn't need to start swinging just yet.
Out of curiosity, if you just returned from a stay at the Riverwalk to make a post about it on the 5th, were you staying at the hotel on or around Nov 3rd? Tampa's USF's football team is having a fairly unique season and was playing host to conference rivals Cincinnati that weekend. I'm sure there were a whole lot of hotels in Tampa that weekend jampacked full of rowdy, 20-something young men.
If you were there different dates and so the football game isn't a possibility, my apologies. I'm just throwing guesses out.
At the end of the day, though, you are right in that the doors are quite thin. I've occasionally found myself wondering if people can hear me singing in the shower as easily as I can hear them chatting in the hallway.
As for the river itself and comments about it... I can understand general complaints from some about a hotel's neighborhood and surrounding area. But phrasing it in a way that makes it seem like it's the hotel's fault or that Sheraton should fix the river or build a dam or goodness knows what else just doesn't seem right and makes it seem like people are, at times, grasping for complaints. It kind of lessens the value of legitimate complaints and concerns to start blaming the hotel for something like that, IMO.
Regardless, maybe I've just been lucky and gotten good rooms each time I've stayed there? Maybe I've stayed there when the crack housekeeping squad was on duty? But I've just never had any problems like many of the ones mentioned.
Inconsistency and varying between such drastically good and bad service/facilities isn't a good thing. So despite my positive experiences, if so many have had such negative ones then there is no A for effort and the only real verdict is that they desperately need to improve. There's no denying that. But I just felt the desire to mention that I've never had any problems the likes of which have been described.
Guess I've just been lucky! Multiple stays, no problem. So maybe the wrecking ball doesn't need to start swinging just yet.
Dec 6, 2007, 9:11 pm
#27
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 305
Warning: Construction at Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk
I stayed at the Sheraton Riverwalk last week, and was shocked at the commotion and construction.
Upon checking in, I saw a notice at the front desk indicating there were construction activities "this week" on the fourth & fifth floors from 8:30 am to 6 pm and that there might be some noise created by tools. As I was not assigned a room on either of those floors, I did not worry about it.
At about 7:45 am, as I was sitting in the room trying to get some work done before a late morning meeting, the housekeeping staff was being unusually noisy. At 8 am sharp, the housekeepers started knocking on the doors announcing "Housekeeping" and trying to open the door. I had the door locked with the swing latch from inside. When she got to my room, I called out that I was still in there. After she apparently made a pass through the entire floor knocking on the doors, it sounded like the entire housekeeping crew was hanging out in hall, calling out to each other in VERY loud voices, and talking about the people who were still in their rooms.
I finally gave up being able to work due to the incredible disruptive behavior of the staff, got ready and left around 8:20 am. On my way down the hall, I noticed they were covering the carpet with plastic, housekeeping was emptying out the rooms, and that there were numerous construction types all over the floor. On the elevator I met a bunch of housekeeping staff in uniforms from the Hampton Inn over in Ybor City. They explained that the Sheraton is their "sister" hotel, and they were over there helping with rooms because the Sheraton was getting new carpet and paint in the rooms.
When I got down to the desk, I stated that I certainly was not expecting construction activities on the floor I was on especially so early in the morning, and they laughed and said the sign was old, and they had finished the fourth and fifth floors and were moving to the other floors now.
My point in posting is to warn others of what is going on at this hotel - you may want to ask if the construction is finished before booking a room here. There is no reason for the rudeness and noise of housekeeping in the hall -especially at 7:45 am if they are not supposed to start until 8:30. I've never experienced this type of boisterous and disruptive housekeeping staff in 100's of hotel stays. Also, I happened to have stayed at the Hampton in Ybor MANY times, and would definitely say their housekeeping (and the rest of their staff) is MUCH more polite and considerate than the staff at the Sheraton. Funny that they are "sister" hotels.
I've stayed at Sheraton a few times, and was under the impression that it is less than 2 years since this place was turned into a Sheraton, at which time they presumably installed new carpet and painted. Did not seem to me like they needed new carpet & paint. But if they are going to do it, they need to have some consideration for their guests.
Upon checking in, I saw a notice at the front desk indicating there were construction activities "this week" on the fourth & fifth floors from 8:30 am to 6 pm and that there might be some noise created by tools. As I was not assigned a room on either of those floors, I did not worry about it.
At about 7:45 am, as I was sitting in the room trying to get some work done before a late morning meeting, the housekeeping staff was being unusually noisy. At 8 am sharp, the housekeepers started knocking on the doors announcing "Housekeeping" and trying to open the door. I had the door locked with the swing latch from inside. When she got to my room, I called out that I was still in there. After she apparently made a pass through the entire floor knocking on the doors, it sounded like the entire housekeeping crew was hanging out in hall, calling out to each other in VERY loud voices, and talking about the people who were still in their rooms.
I finally gave up being able to work due to the incredible disruptive behavior of the staff, got ready and left around 8:20 am. On my way down the hall, I noticed they were covering the carpet with plastic, housekeeping was emptying out the rooms, and that there were numerous construction types all over the floor. On the elevator I met a bunch of housekeeping staff in uniforms from the Hampton Inn over in Ybor City. They explained that the Sheraton is their "sister" hotel, and they were over there helping with rooms because the Sheraton was getting new carpet and paint in the rooms.
When I got down to the desk, I stated that I certainly was not expecting construction activities on the floor I was on especially so early in the morning, and they laughed and said the sign was old, and they had finished the fourth and fifth floors and were moving to the other floors now.
My point in posting is to warn others of what is going on at this hotel - you may want to ask if the construction is finished before booking a room here. There is no reason for the rudeness and noise of housekeeping in the hall -especially at 7:45 am if they are not supposed to start until 8:30. I've never experienced this type of boisterous and disruptive housekeeping staff in 100's of hotel stays. Also, I happened to have stayed at the Hampton in Ybor MANY times, and would definitely say their housekeeping (and the rest of their staff) is MUCH more polite and considerate than the staff at the Sheraton. Funny that they are "sister" hotels.
I've stayed at Sheraton a few times, and was under the impression that it is less than 2 years since this place was turned into a Sheraton, at which time they presumably installed new carpet and painted. Did not seem to me like they needed new carpet & paint. But if they are going to do it, they need to have some consideration for their guests.
Dec 7, 2007, 10:40 am
#28
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: DEN and a barrier island near RSW
Programs: 1K (I know, my screen name is outdated), Marriott Plat, *Wood Plat, Five Star, Amex Plat
Posts: 1,360
The sign should be changed. Instead of warning of construction activity it should warn people they just checked into an overpriced dump. I stayed here the first week of November for the Jimmy Buffett concert and I will never go back.
They should have initiated their renovation with dynamite and a wrecking ball. On the upside, everyone was very friendly and helpful.
They should have initiated their renovation with dynamite and a wrecking ball. On the upside, everyone was very friendly and helpful.
Dec 7, 2007, 12:58 pm
#29
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Long Island, NY
Programs: Delta PM, SPG Plat, Hertz 5*Gold, MR Silver, Avis Preferred, AMEX Plat/SPG/DeltaPlat
Posts: 194
I Just checked out today after staying there since tuesday night...ONLY ONE ELEVATOR IS WORKING!@*#@# UGH!@!!
The place is a mess, ugly, construction is everywhere...ridiculous
have to be back monday night, will be staying around the corner at westin harbour island
The place is a mess, ugly, construction is everywhere...ridiculous
have to be back monday night, will be staying around the corner at westin harbour island
Dec 7, 2007, 2:20 pm
#30
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 752
i have stayed at all the tampa properties a few times and i have to say that the westin, while a bit lacking in comparison to other westins, is the pick of the litter. the sheraton riverwalk is abysmal and should be avoided at all costs. the sheraton suites is basic, a little run down but usually cheaper than the riverwalk and you get much friendlier service....