IceTrojan

Does anyone else think this place does NOT deserve their AAA 4-diamond rating? The room I stayed in reminded me of a run down motel. It was a smoking room (my fault for not calling ahead.. I accept it) but there was about a 2" gap under the door to the neighboring room, which allowed those guests' smoke to absolutely infiltrate my room. I had to put a wet towel down to reduce the flow (but it didn't completely stop). This of course ignores the fact that one could still hear their amourous noises through the crack.

Later that night, in between the double beds, I discovered that the carpet was damp. At first I thought I was my imagination, but I touched it, and getting closer there was the distinct smell of mold and mildew.

After two nights of this (I was supposed to be moved after the 1st night but the manager effed up... this has been brought to the attention of CS) I finally got "upgraded" to the "deluxe" room... same room as before (actually, smaller b/c of the slanted roof/ceiling), but just renovated to come UP to the standards of a decent hotel room.

Such a poor property with such great potential.

tgw

I stayed here somewhat recently and had a great experience with none of the things you just mentioned. Just goes to show you that even in the same hotel, rooms can be drastically different from each other. The room I was in definately lived up to its 4-star potential. I guess sometimes, we just get stuck in the wrong room at the wrong time.

777 global mile hound

Been at the property for years and been very satisfied.
Sorry to hear it didn't go well for you.
Sounds like you experienced a very unusual situation
Now with the Sweet sleeper bed throughout the hotel it should be even better.
A simple mention of one's favorite room and they will happily accomodate if available.
Some of the public areas could use a little renovation attention here and there.
And the bathrooms were always a bit average.
The health club being the only very sore point.Hopefully that has changed

It is best when possible to solve these issues while still in house IMO.
The front office manager has always been a first class act and hails from the former Hilton in SF where I knew him there as well.
Hopefully you will do better in the future.
My suggestion is give the hotel another chance .
I bet they go above and beyond to make your next stay great should you choose to stay with them again.
Cheers

777 global mile hound

This hotel has certainly taken a lot of criticism in the past. Perhaps some of it justified but certainly not all of it…………
Let us get to the great news first.

The Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf is about to get a major renovation makeover with all new smart looking furniture, lamps and carpeting. ^
The nice Sweet Sleeper Beds are already there with the nicest duvets in blue.
Usually they are in the very loud/bold red
One room has just has been completed and one of the managers there was kind enough to offer me a sneak peek of the finished sample room.

Do not come with the expectation of landing the new room. It would seem highly unlikely you will be able to receive the room at present with the single room in inventory.
The rooms will start to be redone starting next month if I understand correctly
Sounds like an ongoing work in progress...........The outside of the hotel has much work ongoing too........

The Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf and general area has been slammed for being touristy.
Ok it is…………so what? And Union Square is not?
Or the Moscone convention center area?.
San Francisco is a tourist destination and the entire city is filled with them. Self included when not doing business there.........
IMO that is precisely what makes it part of the fun with a number of interesting folks from all over the world.
I admit to avoiding the area for years with the same its too touristy for me perception.
But the truth is I regret that as there are some very nice simple seafood restaurants that one can enjoy along with inspiring views of the city and the waterfront.

The hotel has mixture of polite professionals and a few at the front door that probably could use a refresher course in guest skills to put it politely.
At check in I was told my room would be another hour but they managed to find a very nice guest room on the 4th floor which is a club level room. A suite was unavailable.
The room itself was very nice.
Obviously it had a Sweet Sleeper. A good size TV in a large wall unit and the unexpected happy surprise of a refrigerator. The bathrooms are small but manageable.
The sink area is in the room leading up to the bathroom which might come in handy when sharing a room. The shower was satisfactory.
My only concern was noise. My room overlooked the driveway of the hotel. The heater /AC unit took care of that by putting the fan on. And it was a nice modern unit that buffered the noise just enough from the outside.
Besides some nice dining options in the area there is Barnes and Noble nearby,A Safeway Supermarket (across the street that offers United Miles for shopping)Trader Joes's and a Cost Plus (one of my personal favorites) among many others........

For this guest it is about value and the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf delivers. Especially for Platinums.When you consider my SPG 50% off rate delivered a rate of 129 per night this makes it one of the more compelling choices in the city.
For example the club floor complimentary for Platinum’s had a very nice spread of sliced cold fruit, Krispy Crème donuts, muffins, scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese? Guessing I didn’t eat them, cereals, bananas, apples and other assorted breakfast items.
Best of all complimentary newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. A Four Star hotel in the Downtown I had been in recently had nothing to offer me as an elite guest for approx twice the price. Except more elegant attractive hallways and a stuffy staff.

My personal concerns that would stop me from longer stays at the Sheraton Fisherman’s wharf are an inadequate out of date health club and lack of a complimentary 24 hour business center. It would be nice over time to see some updating to the public areas as well especially the hallways.
I had a very nice stay all things considered .Even in a room without the all new set up.When one considers the escalating rooms costs in San Francisco more recently I would say this remains a city best buy.
I would consider it first anytime in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. I have heard there are some very tired rooms on property from other reports. As an elite I have personally never seen one. But I imagine that won’t be the case in the coming future elite or not once the renovations are complete. My advice by all means enjoys a stay here very soon especially before the weather gets colder or the rates go higher…..

Cheers

kluau88

I work very close to this property and have seen rooms on two opportunities. As the OP mentioned rooms are run down. At this property you're paying for location and that's about it. As was mentioned in more recent posts it seems they are doing some well needed renovations. Over the summer portions of the building were covered with scaffolding and netting. The exterior remodel seems complete. When this places charges $200 a night it's not worth it if you ask me. You're better off paying the same money as the Westin St. Francis or W.

thelark

I stayed here once a couple of years ago and vowed to never return. 'Nuff said

777 global mile hound

I haven't seen any two hundered dollar rooms weekedays at the W or the Westin as of late.......Perhaps if you are lucky on the weekends.

While some rooms may be worn there are others that are just fine including the one I was in 4110.Very nice in fact.When the renovation is over I expect it to be one of the very top choices in the area

FYI
The Sheraton Fishermans Wharf has a holiday special with full cancel policies
Not all dates are available but the rate is good before,during and after the holidays for a daily rate of 99 dollars.

IMO it is a great deal especially for Platinums who receive breakfast in the Club Lounge.
For those who are not Platinum a club floor room and access can be had for 35 dollars extra
If any one is interested I will post the code to use online
I will assume it will work by phone as well........
Cheers

danam

If there's one thing worse than getting a smoking room for me it's getting one with an adjoining door so you can enjoy the smoke from nextdoor too!

I stayed at this Sheraton for a few nights earlier this week and was expecting a rough experience based on what I've read on various sites. It didn't look great when no amenity was offered at checkin but they gave us a club level room which I assume is the same as others but on the top floor.

We asked for a non-smoking room and that's what they gave us.

The place is a little tired and they are working on the outside of the building at the moment. This didn't cause us any problems but I could see that people were in the rooms behind the scaffolding.

The club lounge offers a pretty good spread in the mornings and snacks in the evening too. We started our days there.

The room was fairly average, an old style air conditioner unit in the window and the blind waterstained. The bathroom is small but everything seemed clean.

If I was in the area again I wouldn't be too upset to stay there.

alive2maro

No availability at the St. Francis has forced me to stay there three times in the past couple months. Each stay was worse than the previous.

The one upside was I got 8000 points as compensation for the bad experience. The St. Francis is a much better bet (the W and St. Regis are also good though often a much higher rate).

777 global mile hound

There is no question as posters and online reviewers we tend to be some very tough critics here self included. While certain standards can be faulted or fall short for this hotel they can and do at some of the other properties mentioned.
I have been in the lions share of many SF properties of alll brands for many years now including the St Francis the W and the Palace.
And this hotel still gets a seal of satisfactory approval rating ^

While I agree the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf will not win any lifetime achievement awards in the service dept it is of my opinion that they get slammed far harder then they should. It is the hotel everyone likes to pick on.
I feel there are others that are far more deserving of this FT mob lynching

The hotel is a reasonably solid 3 star hotel that has been making steady improvement with a fairly impressive ongoing recent renovation.
In fact I almost like the rooms better there now then the W.
Perhaps some are saying has the Global Mile Hound gone mad? Perhaps
But the new rooms have a nautical theme and the Sweet Sleepers have the nicest blue color scheme since inception of the product with the loud red.
And in the new rooms new is still new ^

Location like the hotel is a subjective thing
I like the Sheraton location. One can walk to a Safeway supermarket across the street, Trader Joes, Barnes and Noble & Cost Plus and a number of very nice high value restaurants
Easy enough walking distance to the financial district and close enough to the Embarcadero historical Ferry building market place.A not to miss upscale open market with great mix of food and beverage/bakery shops to eat in or take out What more could you want?

I like FW better then the mall like sterile ambience of Union Square with its overpriced designer shops which still can be reached easily by tram, bus or taxi.You also don't have to see as many homeless or deal with the Tenderloin area or whatever they call the seedy area.Ok if you can't imagine life less then two blocks from Neiman Marcus (Needless Markup) then I understand having to be in Union Square

Fisherman’s Wharf is touristy but so is San Francisco
Not always a bad thing though. It’s exciting to see visitors from all over the world enjoying SF
Nice access to dining or playing tourist at the Pier.The waterfront has its charm as does the fresh seafood.

Downsides to this hotel are inadequate dreadful fitness center and a few unfriendly and unhelpful poorly motivated staff.
That is not everybody at the hotel just limited to a select few.
The front office has some very helpful folks that have always gone out of their way to honor any special requests for quiet rooms or other needs.
I continue to consider them when in the area, the price is right and Hyatt is not running Faster Free Nights.........so I can consider the other brands I like to stay with too

I give full endorsement of the hotel provided you don't need a formal upscale lobby or a hip and trendy ambience.
If the rate meets your satisfaction I wouldn't hesitate for a moment :-: :-: :-:
Enjoy the stay in SF.Great city ^

norse_aztec

I can't comment on the hotel itself, as I have never stayed there. However, I can comment on the location. Personally, I don't see the attraction of staying in downtown SF. The St. Francis, the W, the Marriott - all very nice hotels but the local neighborhoods are not so nice. It's a great location if you are into shopping or need to use the local transportation system, and there are some very good restaurants in the area, but walk a couple of blocks in the wrong direction and you're in the middle of the Tenderloin district - not a place for tourists. During weekdays, downtown is crowded with business people and it's a lively area, but it changes at night and, to a lesser extent, on the weekends. It's not a place to take a stroll at 9:00 PM.

On the other hand, since the projects were torn down a few years ago, the wharf area offers more for the tourist, and the environment is much more comfortable. Instead of a concrete jungle, you have nice views of the bay, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate, Coit Tower, etc. And if the tourist stuff turns you off, it's a very short walk to North Beach, the Italian section of town that is very local. For some more local flavor, walk another 5 minutes to Chinatown. IMO, the wharf area offers a much better experience than downtown.

Another option are the Nob Hill hotels. They're a bit isolated, but excellent hotels with superb views and not bordering a depressed neighborhood.

777 global mile hound

Agree fully norse_aztec ^

danam

I wouldn't be too hard on the Sheraton Fishermans Wharf. The place certainly needs some work and the customer service reflects the fact that the place is used by package companies extensively.

But, it is cheap and if you want to stay in that area for a little while it's a perfectly adequate place to stay. They put on a half decent free breakfast in the lounge too.

The Palace is one of the best Starwood properties I have stayed in, got a fantastic suite on a low rate and I really like the location. I try and stay there if I can.

Can't comment on the W, St Regis or Westin. I will give those a try next time.

fromYYZ_flyer

Now I have cold feet about the Sheraton FW. I found the others too be too expensive for our budget. Is there another decent property even if its non-*wood?

777 global mile hound

Why are the feet cold ? What are your serious concerns?Just curious
The fact is until you get to the top 4 or 5 star properties there is always going to be a slight compromise I am sorry to say.
The St Regis should be incredible too.......but the highest $$$ of all
The Hyatt is satisfactory in FW and the Union Square location better then all.
They sometimes have a good triple AAA rate