swiss_global

I stayed may times in the FourPoints Sheraton in Santiago and truly liked it. This time it was booked out and I opted for the more expensive Sheraton and ended up "upgraded" into the San Cristobal tower.

Well, to keep it short: Not worth a cent more than the FourPoints (if available, of course) ... Service was extremly poor and the room in the San Cristobal definitely worse than the one in the FourPoints. Price is the only luxury.

chuck1

Plat upgraded to suite with living room and separate bedroom. Half bath in living room and full bath in bedroom. Overall nice service with a decent buffet breakfast on 21st floor but nothing too special. I chose continental breakfast for my Platinum amenity and they kept asking me if I wanted cooked items like eggs, sausage or bacon. I told them I just had the continental included but I did ask for some sausage and took some eggs off the buffet. They asked me to sign the check and told me it would be removed by reception. It was on the bill as full American breakfast but was removed without question when I reminded them I chose continental as my Plat amenity.
I thought everyone was very friendly and helpful.
The road from the airport makes this hotel so easy to get to. I think on Sunday morning we made it in 15 minutes.
Room service dinner was okay. Waiter was very polite and food was decent enough. I'd prefer to try some other hotels in SCL but the rates are okay, the upgrades good and the stay credit is nice.

onebagtraveller

Thanks for the review!

Is it a buffet breakfast on the 21 st floor part of the regular platinum benefits...treated like a lounge benefit? Or is it because you had the breakfast selected as your amenity? Would the bacon, sausage, eggs have been included then ( since they removed the charges at check out) ...that sounds more buffet than continental which would be great!

Did you just take a taxi from the airport or is there a hotel shuttle?

chuck1

The buffet on the 21st floor is part of the Platinum continental breakfast option. Most of the buffet is cold and you could make a substantial meal out of it. It is not an executive lounge or club or anything like that. If your rate does not include breakfast, you need to choose it as your amenity if that is what you prefer. I'm not sure how much breakfast costs but I have enough points so I went ahead and chose the breakfast option.

I get the impression this is how it goes..
-you choose continental breakfast as your option at check in
-you serve yourself at the buffet which has scrambled eggs
-the waiter asks you if you want sausage, bacon or another type of egg
-I said sausage but I reminded him I had a continental only included
-I got a bill to sign that said American breakfast which he said reception would remove at check out
-When I checked out it was on the bill, but it was removed when I reminded them I chose the breakfast option

This is different than when I chose the continental breakfast option today in Vancouver. The Westin front desk rep gave me a certificate that clearly said continental and told me I could upgrade for $15 to the full buffet. When I presented the certificate to the server, she reminded me there was an upgrade fee. It seems some hotels are serious about the upgrade charge and some kind of ignore it.

The hotel doesn't have a shuttle. I took a taxi and it was quick. The relatively new highway is great. Shouldn't be more than 20 minutes or so unless there is some traffic problem. Just buy an official taxi ticket from one of the vendor booths right outside of customs.

Also, you will have to pay $140 in cash or credit card when you enter Chile as a reciprocity fee since the USA charges Chileans that amount to apply for a visa. Argentina has a fee too. It is $160 at the the airport. Just make sure you follow the sign for the booth pay for the fee before you go through immigration or they will send you back.

ajnaro

There is quite a mixture of issues in this thread, but here goes:

I had to choose the Platinum breakfast option recently at both the Westin Paris and the LC Hotel National Moscow because it was not included in my rate. Both of them gave me a little grey folder that clearly stated 'continental' breakfast. At both I simply took whatever I liked, either hot or cold, from the buffet. As far as I could tell neither was offering any special items from a menu (or if there was a menu, they simply didn't give it to me). There was no bill to sign and no charge.

This seems to be a wider issue than Starwood alone, because at the Hilton Tokyo Airport Hotel I was given a little yellow chit that also clearly stated 'continental' and explicitly stated a fee for upgrade to full breakfast, but the
host said something like 'just take whatever you like'. That apparently included from the omelet station.


Brazil is even tougher. You have to go through the full visa application process before travel. And until recently there was a policy of rejecting US applicants for Brazil at the same rate as the US rejected Brazilian applicants for the US. However, with the drastic decline of the US dollar and the economic slow down there, the flow of immigration has reversed course and the US no longer feels the need to reject Brazilians at a high rate. To the contrary, Brazilian tourists are now a major support for Florida and New York. As a result, Brazilian visas are now pretty much a formality, albeit a time-consuming and expensive one.

jammanxc

I'm having a hard time believe that the Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center and the San Cristobal Tower is ATTACHED next to each other... can someone please confim?

airoli

Yes, they are attached and you can walk from one's lobby to the other's indoors. They also share some of the below-ground facilities (gym, pool etc.)

jammanxc

so google maps is wrong?? the two hotels look so far in distance from each other...

ytong888

Standard room is super small and dated at this property. Not worth the money. And gold member has no extra benefit as mentioned in the earlier threads. Just choice of Internet. And the hotel breakfast is ~$25.

Starwood Lurker II

The hotel did not offer you a choice of amenities?

Perhaps you can drop us more details on the issue via email.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Shareholder

Same set up in Buenos Aires with the Park Tower and the Sheraton.

ajnaro

On some floors you can actually walk through a door from one building to the other. The main front entrance leads to the Sheraton lobby and, within a few short steps, the San Cristobal lobby. San Cristobal also has a direct entrance on a side street.

Shareholder

Staying here for the first time to "try it out". Most disappointed on so many counts. Like swiss_global, I have stayed at the Four Points and found it a much better property with a superior location. Only plus at the Sheraton over the Four Points are the views of the city. Otherwise...

1. No upgrade as a Platinum. Just a poorly provisioned SPG Floor room. No bathrobe or slippers; only one small bottle of mineral water; emptied minibar.

2. NAmerican electrical outlet not working over the desk or in the bathroom. No plug adaptors provided on loan...required to purchase one from the gift shop! Unthinkable for a world-class international hotel! (Even the Four Points had both functioning NAmerican/Japan plug over the work desk and comp adaptors at the front desk, as also provided at the Sheraton Miramar Vina del Mar.) Had to call maintenance and they finally provided me with a electrical conversion "generator". Not sure why they couldn't just give me a plug adaptor so I could use the functioning local outlets. (Yes, I know, and I usually do travel with a full set of adaptors but this trip I took the same type as I had used in Argentina and mistook the European one for the one needed in Chile.)

3. Soap holder in the shower fell off when I put soap onto it this morning! (No second bar of soap provided in the bath/shower.)

4. Club lounge evening food and drink offering was pathetic and not replenished after most items were consumed in the first 15-minutes of being displayed! No crackers or bread to go with the cheese offering. Unopened bottle of red wine and a bottle of opened white and sparkling were the only drinks on display (along with orange and apple juice) but nothing else openly available. BTW the attendant never asked for a room number, there was no locked door on the lounge or access to the 7th floor Club level. One can easily walk up the open stairway or use the elevator to get onto the floor and just walk into the lounge in the evening and through the day, though don't try this at breakfast where they're a bit more attentive. Breakfast was somewhat better though service was mixed, and one was presented with a bill to sign (albeit $0) which is unusual.

5. Location is in an isolated part of the city, across the river from Providencia. Walk to metro is about 20-minutes. Roadways make it impossible to walk to Bellavista on this side of the river (around the other side of the mountain) so cabs are essential.

6. Hallways look like a Quality Inn or Hotel6, dull and institutional. Not sure the beds are really as advertised either. TV remote doesn't turn the set on/off though does work the channels and sound. (One positive over Four Points, it does offer CNN International English along with the Spanish International and Chilean CNN networks. BBC World only English network on offer at the other two properties I mentioned.)

All in all, very disappointing. I can see why the Sheraton is ranked in the category it is, though at over $300 a night also glad I used 2800 SPG points and am paying just $45! I recommend the Four Points if you want to stay at a Starwood property, though there are some issues with it too.

illico

I was there last year and was upgraded as a platinum. A fairly nice suite.

To be honest, i liked the location of the 4 points much better. Right off av. Providencia and a stone's throw from Las Leones metro station.

ac777

I have just returned from Santiago and stayed at the Sheraton. Was upgraded to a suite, was given a bottle of champagne and a note from the Room Manager. He called me a couple of times and we finally met. What a charming and pleasant gentleman. We talked about his time with Sheraton, my qualifying as a lifetime Platinum etc. He asked me if I was happy with my suite! I thanked him for the bottle of champagne and then he asked me what amenity I'd like for the next two days!! ( I was there for 3 nights C & P) I was quite taken aback and did not want anything else. He sent up a large fruit plate anyway. I had a small trouble with the ATM Machine at the hotel and when I asked him for help (as I have very little knowledge of Spanish) he dropped everything he was doing ( the hotel was extremely busy as Iberia had cancelled their flight and he was having to find 120 rooms) and took me down to the business office to get the matter straightened out. This was one of the best experiences my wife and I have had with hotels and were quite impressed. I will have no hesitation in going back to this hotel and the staff. If this is the new standard of care for the guests, I must say I will remain impressed. (egI don't expect this type of service from the Westin Edmonton!!)