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Sheraton Vina Del Mar Chile [Master Thread]

Sheraton Vina Del Mar Chile [Master Thread]

Old Mar 5, 2006, 4:41 pm
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Sheraton Vina Del Mar Chile [Master Thread]

Has anyone stayed in his new hotel? Any comments would be great
BillBigD is offline  
Old Mar 5, 2006, 5:49 pm
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Originally Posted by BillBigD
Has anyone stayed in his new hotel? Any comments would be great
Haven't stayed there, but drove by on a recent trip to Vina, the hotel looks amazing, however I question the location, seems far from the main areas in Vina (althought that may be the point.)

The hotel is set on a very interesting jot of land, hopefully the service does the hotel justice - it is a beautiful building.

T.
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Old Mar 6, 2006, 5:50 pm
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When did this hotel open? I second the request for any recent feedback from stays here.
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Old Mar 7, 2006, 7:03 pm
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On January 3rd I returned a rental car to the Budget desk at the new Sheraton in Vina and then stayed for lunch before boarding a cruise. The public spaces are impressive, very contemporary and very upscale. It is certainly one of the more luxurious Sheratons I have ever been in, more luxurious than most of the Westins I have been in.

We had just checked out of the San Cristobal Tower in Santiago. It needs a redo badly and is inappropriately branded a luxury collection property. The Ritz Carlton is comparably priced, far nicer and in a much better location.

Do go to the Sheraton in Vina. We had also stayed at a Relais and Chateaux in wine country and the Chilean owners said the new Sheraton was reputedto be the best hotel in the country.
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Old Mar 20, 2006, 5:18 am
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Checked in yesterday. The property is just beautiful. All the rooms have balconies and are ocean front. The balconies practically hang over the ocean, the waves sound are just magical at night. Kept my balcony door open all night. The room is good size. I have a king bed and you could easily fit 2 more kings in here. The bathroom has a separate deep tub and a glassed door shower. Very nice. The balcony is a full size(~20 ft wide x 5ft deep), as in the width of the room which at that point is very wide as the design of the property is a semi circle with the entrance door at the narrowest point(~12ft) and the balcony at the widest. No balcony chairs , but I will try to see if I could get some today. ~30in Plasma HDTV, but the problem is that many of the local channels do not have great transmission/camera equipment so the signal from these channels is not looking good on this beautiful set. ONTH HBO and such look great!
Nice work desk with high speed internet available for a charge. Had little problem with hooking up, but it was taken care of in about 30 minutes. Big closet with a safe. Everything is very new and still shiny....

The lobby has a very nice lounge and a separate restaurant. Both seemed empty early in the evening yesterday. There is a nice open deck on the lobby level with lounge chairs. Saw many people getting some sun rays in the late afternoon yeasterday. I do get a wonderful sunset from my room but I'm somewhat tired of and not so easily amused by sunsets as I live on the west coast of Florida and only a 1/2 block away from the beach on a tropical island. Did not check out the pool. There is a sandy beach right next door and there were many locals hanging around on Sunday afternoon, but the water is FREEZING. There were some brave souls jumping around with the waves. Not for me.

The location is a little remote. It's about 1/2 mile walk to anything in town. It's an easy walk along the ocean. It's about a mile to the city main square. The taxis are cheap so that's always a possibility. The town is just a beautiful Pacific ocean resort town. I will get to see more of it today.

The hotel is one of the best Sheratons I've ever been to. I'm a Hilton guy, but during this trip I stayed at the Rio Sheraton Hotel and Towers and Four Points Sheraton Montevideo. Both were just ok, but this property is superb.

Highly recommend.

The only problem? Check in.... These poor front desk people have to go through (and I'm not exaggerating) 10 procedures for a check in. Since foreigners don't pay hotel taxes when paying in foreign currency as in Dollars, Euro, etc..., they need to copy your passport, your this and that, you need to fill out a W2 form (ok, just a little exaggeration), but not by much. It took good 15 minutes to check in and I had to wait about 15 minutes before and there were only 2 guests in front of me checking in. Only 2 clerks which turned into 1 just before I was suppose to walk up to the desk.

Just a little tip: I was checking on Starwood site for rates and their cheapest was $225. I walked into a Santiago travel agency and they were able to get a room for $200 per night. Not much, but still a little saving. I'm here for 3 nights so $75 is $75. I gave the clerk my Starwood (nothing) card and she gladly put my number in, so it looks like I will get points.

Also, if you are flying LAN Chile from Santiago, LAN runs a luxury bus from Vina Del Mar about 3-4 times a day for 5000 Pesos, $10US from here to the airport which is about 100km or 60 miles away.


EDITED TO ADD THE FOLLOWING:

I had a chance to actually look at the hotel from the ocean side and I discovered that not all rooms are in the semi-circle configuration. The rooms in the middle of the hotel appear to be very regular configuration style, so I assume these are the least expensive smaller rooms. They account for about a 1/3 of the rooms on each floor and they face out to the ocean ONLY, well, unless you want to stick your neck out and look either way, south or north. There are about 5 rooms on each floor right in the middle and with the smaller balconies. The semi-circular configed rooms are to the sides of the building and at the very least, the balconies are much bigger, and I assume so are the rooms. These may be the next level rooms, although I don't know how I got one as I paid a cheaper TA rate than Starwood site had for the least expensive, standard room.

Last edited by andrzej; Mar 20, 2006 at 12:20 pm
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Old Mar 21, 2006, 7:44 am
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I do have 1 problem to report, and I've exprienced this with few other properties in South America, but what's up with the mini-bar restocking person and the housekeeping managers knocking on your door when the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign is clearly posted on the door handle?
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Old Mar 22, 2006, 12:42 am
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Nice Hotel, But Far from the best!

Just stayed here 2 weeks ago, for 2 nights, and as a Platinum member, the arrival clerk offered to upgrade us to "the best room available"......CAUTION..... this did not mean anything, as we got a nice room, but facing the road/ocean...at the end of the building. I wasn't happy as it was very noisy and for a hotel at 20% occupency.....just plain stupid on their part! I asked for a quieter room, got one ocean front, smaller, but better view and much quieter, although no balcony furniture on any balconies.

Asked at checkin if there was an executive floor or lounge, told no. However there IS an executive floor, but no lounge....guy just didnt recognize Platinum could get that type upgrade. The next day asked different clerk about those rooms and told they would upgrade us, but didnt take them up on it as we had already un packed and all.....wasnt that big a deal, just wanted to clarify the point. That agent also said we should have be given a welcome drink coupon at checkin as Platinum members, and because of the non-upgrade and no drink coupons they'd send a bottle of champagne to the room....again not asked for by me. Funny thing at check out that champagne showed up on the bill.....but was promptly removed at my direction.

The breakfast buffet was great, lounge was nice and lobby immaculant. Lots of security, actually as there was virtually no one there, we had the place alone almost.

Staff is very new....Sheraton did a poor job training them on SPG program, room maintance issues, dry cleaning ,etc....but I'm sure they will learn over time. Several people very friendly, smiles galore everywhere....but not very well trained, thats only issue I had with the place.

I'd recommend the location, but if Gold or Platinum.......print out your reservation ahead of time and ask for a room on the Executive Floor where you get the best views and a nice jacuzzi bath from what I understand. @:-)
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Old Sep 19, 2006, 10:09 am
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I spent a night at the Sheraton Miramar in Vina Del Mar during September 2006. I pretty much agree with what andrzej has posted. Also thanks to andrzej for mentioning the LAN bus... I used the service to return to the airport (90 minutes).

I checked in and was informed that the hotel usually tries to upgrade platinum guests to a suite, but since I came during a 4 day holiday weekend (Chilean independence day) I was out of luck as the hotel was 100% full. Rats, but at least that explained all the Chilean flags I saw everywhere. I asked about a platinum amenity and I was told that since the hotel “was new” they have not figured out how to do that yet. I said I though that was strange as an amenity is a standard worldwide benefit of platinum status… he said yes he knew that, and it was explained to them during training! However… they still don’t do it. Rather odd, but he said he could send up a bottle of champagne and chocolate. I said… ok. Oh… I also received a welcome drink (Pisco Sour… most enjoyable)

I was given room 515 which is one of the regular rectangular rooms andrzej mentions. About 10 minutes after I arrived in my room there was a knock on the door from room service. I answered and a young woman wheeled in a table with 2 drinks and two covered plates. My reaction was WOW! what an amenity. But after a moment I was presented with a bill that listed various lunch items. I explained I had just checked in and had not ordered lunch. She apologized and wheeled everything back out of my room. About 5 minutes later there was another knock… this time it was my bottle of champagne (Chilean) with 3 chocolate truffles.

I had some other strange service issues during my 1 night stay. I noticed there were no bathrobes in my room so I called housekeeping to ask if the hotel provided them. I was then transferred to room service. I explained I was not looking for food but wanted to know if they had bath robes. The person said… ah, yes I understand and said she would send someone right up. About 5 minutes later a service technician arrived to fix my bathroom. I called the front desk and explained I was looking for a bath robe… he said he really understood what I meant and would send one up. About 5 minutes later he called back and said he could not locate any. I said ok.

My impressions of the hotel:

Great modern design. Excellent public spaces with considerable attention to detail. Room has nice entry area (wood inlayed ceiling) , fairly quiet A/C, dimmable halogen lighting ( ^ ^ ), great separate shower with plenty of umpf , great view, still no patio furniture . The builders could have spent another 5% and made this a Luxury Collection property. The soft goods in the room do not match the rest of the hotel – standard Sheraton towels and toiletries, no robes, so so bed. The Breakfast buffet was IMHO very disappointing, but YMMV.

My impressions of Vina Del Mar:

If you read the literature you might be picturing something like La Hoya, Miami Beach or Monaco. But I’d say it is half nice and half run down. You will find stray dogs running around everywhere, modest amounts of litter, tons of graffiti, etc. Don’t get me wrong it is an interesting place to visit in conjunction with Valparaiso, but it is not the sort of place you would want to fly to and spend your entire holiday (IMHO).

Caution: Be prepared for fog, fog and more fog.

Last edited by schriste; Dec 16, 2007 at 9:32 pm
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Old Sep 19, 2006, 11:51 am
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I know of this as the Sheraton Miramar. Has their name changed? I have identified this as their location in Google Maps. Seems to be a satellite photo prior to property completion.
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Old Sep 19, 2006, 12:13 pm
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Originally Posted by sc flier
I know of this as the Sheraton Miramar. Has their name changed?
No it has not changed. It is the Miramar.

You can also see the Valparaiso Metro under construction just to the south of the hotel.

Last edited by schriste; Sep 19, 2006 at 12:19 pm
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Old Oct 21, 2007, 11:00 am
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Does anyone have any more recent stays here? We're thinking of the end of November with C & P being available.
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Old Oct 22, 2007, 9:21 am
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Stayed there earlier this year. This is without a doubt the nicest Sheraton I've ever stayed in. The rooms, common areas and views are wonderful. The service is exceptional as well. I really didn't want to leave.

You may want to rent a car if you are planning to venture up or down the coast. Also, there are a number of wineries about 45-minutes away.

Enjoy!
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Old Oct 29, 2007, 12:56 pm
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Sheraton Miramar - here right now

I just posted this on another thread, but thought you could use it here too:

We are in Vina right now staying at the Sheraton Miramar. Very nice hotel. SPG level is nice. Larger rooms are 524, 525 and 502. 521 and 522 have a larger balcony, but a bit of an odd configuation since they are on the corner. I like the larger balconies though. I would go for 502 given the choice - 524 and 525 overlook Wulff castle, but get traffic noise. ok with the door closed, but didn't really want to sit on the balcony.

Level 7 and 8 have suites, but both are smoking levels. 701 and 801 have nice views back to Valpo, but are more like Junior Suites (really not that much bigger than what you are going to get on the SPG level.) In fact, I think they are smaller than 524, 525 or 502. 801 has a bigger balcony than 701.

The suites you, if you can get them to give them to you, are 808 and 709. These actually have separate rooms.

Again, floors 7 and 8 are smoking.....I am in 701 right now and have "febreezed" the crap out of this place, yet everyday I have to do the same thing. I am very definitely sensative to cigarette smell though. The carpet is also very dirty and the couch is in need of replacement (cigarette hole and did someone spill a whole bottle of red wine on this thing???) Someone apparently threw a party in here and practically destroyed the place.....it looks a lot more worn than any of the other rooms we have ever gotten here.

It seems like the front desk is really reluctant to give you a suite unless you specifically ask for it. I guess there are only really 2 real suites, and 2 "junior" suites, so apparently they hoard them. More than a couple times we were told there were no suites available for upgrade, but then they suddenly "became" available as soon as we figured out they were in fact available.

All rooms have ocean views.

For SPG Plat gifts, the bottle of wine and cheese at the Miramar is really super nice. We thought we would get a couple cubes of cheese, but got an entire plate of different cheeses, crackers, olives, prosciutto, turkey, salami. The champagne and chocolate sounds good too. This is one place I would get the gift instead of the 500 points.

Parking here at the Sheraton Miramar is $3,300 CHP (about $7). We always valet, but I don't know why.

Pool is nice, but can get crowded on weekends. It is oddly filled with salt water. You can also swim in the "ocean pool" below - basically a naturally (? at least it is meant to look natural) formed ocean pool complete with seaweed and freezing pacific waters! If you can handle the temperature, go for it!

Fitness center is really pretty darn nice - it is a Balthus. They use "techno-gym" equipment - Italian brand - never seen it in the U.S. They have an aerobics rooms and classes, spinning room and classes. The work out area is also ample and pretty large compared to most hotel gyms I have seen. Probably one of the best I have seen really....ocean views to boot!

My one complaint - there is no co-ed hot tub. There are luke warm hot tubs in the locker rooms for each gender, but the closest they come to a co-ed hot tub is an indoor pool that is heated.
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Old Dec 16, 2007, 5:47 pm
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Thumbs up Mini report

We had a wonderful 3 days here on C&P in early Dec. We had a room on the SPG floor slightly on the corner with the larger balcony. It was a great view of Vina del Mar and the ocean. Staff was very friendly and helpful. I really appreciated the design of the hotel - both inside and out. We rented a car for one of the days and drove up and down the coast to places recommended by the concierge. We went to Isla Negra to Pablo Neruda's house south of Valparaiso and to small fishing villages up the coast to have wonderful shrimp empanadas. I definitely recommend this hotel. ^
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Old Dec 28, 2009, 7:44 pm
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We just completed a 3-night stay at the Sheraton Miramar, and I can't say enough good things about the hotel or its staff.

We arrived a little before 3:00 p.m. on Christmas day. After a brief wait, we were greeted at our car by someone who took our luggage and car keys. Brigitta welcomed us at the front desk, asked us how we were doing, and told us that we had been upgraded to a suite. She asked which amenity we wanted, and then said that the room was not quite ready. She invited us to enjoy pisco sours, compliments of the hotel, on the patio and she would get us when our room was ready. When we walked outside, the view and the relaxed atmosphere overwhelmed us. We enjoyed our drinks and before we finished, Brigitta came to tell us that our room was ready.

When we arrived in Room 701, which is really a junior suite, our bags were already there. The view was simply spectacular: west toward the Pacific and south toward Valparaiso. The balcony had two comfortable chairs, and there was no smell of smoke as had been previously reported. However, there was a territorial seagull that squawked at us during the entire three-day stay. I don't know if it hated us or all occupants of Room 701, but be forewarned!

Breakfast each morning was served buffet style. There were hot selections (scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, and grilled tomatoes), but the pastries, cheeses, fruit, and smoked salmon were better. We had room service one evening and ate on the patio the next. There was not much difference between the prices between the two, and the food was good.

We used the wired internet in our room. The charge was 8500 pesos per 24-hour period or 3000 for 3 hours. The speed was good and we did not experience any interruptions.

As good as the facility itself is, the people were even better. Brigitta at the front desk, Cristian (one of the managers), and Roque (who helped with any question we had) were the ones who stood out, but everyone we came in contact with made us feel totally welcomed and cared for.

Our stay was a cash and points stay ($60 + 4000/night). We did not want to leave and would return in a heartbeat. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Via del Mar or Valparaiso.
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