Commie

Well against the recommendations of the board, I am staying at the Sheraton University City in Philadelphia for the next 10 nights.

Boy did I make a mistake with choosing this hotel. The people who said in a earlier message that they would rather stay at the park bench is not kidding. The room is small, bed is old, furniture is old, the walls are so thin that I hear every noises from outside, the air conditioner is so long I had to turn it off to sleep, then it gets too hot.

I got the standard room in the club level 20th floor, no mention of upgrading to suites. Even though I am platium, I asked the front desk at check-in and he plainly told me 'you are already on the top floor'...What happened to the best available room?

Anyways, being in the 20th floor, this hotel only has 3 elevators serving the entire hotel and they are old. In the morning rush hours, it took 5 minutes for an elevator to arrive and then it stopped at almost every floor to get down to the lobby.

I called SPG to see if there are any other starwood properties with availablity. Too bad they are all full. Using my 72 hour notice as Platium member to bump in at the Rittenhouse would cost $300 a night their rack rate, not my usual corporate rate. Thats a shame. I am seriously considering moving to another hotel chain for this 10 nights. Probably the Hilton in downtown. I just don't think I can survive 10 nights at this room.

Commie

Boomer

Get out while you can.

I hate to say it, but I WARNED YOU.

And just to set the record straight, I never said I'd rather stay at the park bench, but I would

I said "I'd sleep on a bench in the 30th street train station before I'd spend a nickle at that hotel"

My suggestion, find a nice motel 6, it'll be 3 steps up.

PHL

I've stayed at this property every other Friday from Sep-May since 1999. I'm in a program at Univ. of Penn and the tuition includes the room and board, so I can either commute from home for the Saturday class or take advantage of the already-paid-for room. You couldn't have hit the nail on the head more firmly...

Here are some comments from someone who's stayed there well over 30 times in the past 20 months:

1.) The hotel might as well be classified as a dormatory for UPenn and Drexel. The Universities use it for student overflows - especially in the early months of the school year. As the elevator slugs up floor by floor, you can see the kids playing in the hall and hear loud music blaring as you passed those 'student' floors. As of last week when I stayed, the Drexel students had still been calling the entire 9th floor their own. Also, Fridays during a school year are often hectic with visiting sports teams.

2.) The only rooms that are suites are the 02 rooms(802, 902, 1002, etc.). I've NEVER gotten one, despite being Platinum. I usually get a club floor(19 or 20), though. I was told the same thing - the Platinum upgrade is only to a club level room, which is the same in size to a standard room, but with club access, water bottles, and a newspaper. All the club rooms have just been upgraded with new furniture and 27" TVs. The work desk is more spacious, and there is a high-speed ethernet jack for internet access.

I have stayed in non club floor rooms and found they are still being upgraded to the new furniture, TV's etc. so you must have gotten a club room that wasn't upgraded yet.

3.) The bathrooms are pitiful. The tile is often mildewed or soiled, and I usually get a sink that doesn't drain very fast.

4.) The in-room heat/AC unit is LOUD. So loud, in fact, that it has waken me up in the night when it kicks on.

5.) The elevators, as you said, are horrendous. Often one doesn't work. There are 5, but one is the service elevator and one only goes to the parking garage levels(even though it could go all the way up to the room floors). So, there are only 3.

6.) Have NEVER gotten a Platinum Amenity. Granted, I've only been Platinum since 1/1/01, so this refers to the 5 times I've stayed there this year so far. I'm checking in tonight, so I'll see if they came through this time.

Twice this year the fire alarm has gone off late at night(after midnight). Both times the staff said the alarm was tripped on "the student floor"

Recommendations: If you have to be on/near campus, go across the street to The Inn at Penn. It's a brand new Hilton property that I've been bumped to on occassion due to overbookings at the Sheraton. I wish Starwood would dump this hotel and buy the Inn! If you need to be in center city Philly, definitely the Sheraton Rittenhouse(West of Broad St) or the Sheraton Society Hill(East of Broad St).

If the room weren't included in my tuition(no - I can't get a break for not using it), I would NEVER stay here. It's really the worst Starwood property I've ever seen and can't believe it's even part of the chain.

PHL

An update on this property -

Floors 15 through 20 have been upgraded in full. The rooms are more consistant with the 'new' Sheraton design. That leaves floors 7 through 14, which will probably take a while.

I had a bad experience with the front desk manager this past stay that I intend on writing corporate services about.

There is a suite on each floor, ending in the numbers '02'. This past Friday, my reservation was made for me, so I had to call in the AM to make sure they had my Plat. number. I also asked what they thought the chance of an upgrade would be when I checked in that night. The man said he'd "see what he could do". I checked in and asked if any suite upgrade was available. The desk clerk said "No" without so much as even checking. It was an immediate response. I got a low floor, nonsmoking with 2 doubles. I called and asked if a King was availble since that's what the room type confirmed was. The desk clerk (different person) said they were "sold out" and she could only find me something on the 7th floor. I asked if even the '02' suites were sold out and she said yes. I accepted the new room, because I really needed the King bed. She said she'd send a bellhop up with a new key. After 20 minutes, he arrived with a key for room 1502 - a SUITE!

Moral of this story - this property really doesn't believe the SPG Plats. should get the suite upgrades. It's like pulling teeth to even get a high floor club room. My experiences staying there over the past 2 years confirms this. Beware...

[This message has been edited by PHL (edited 12-02-2001).]

Herb687

Interesting update. I actually received an email from Starwood the other day touting "several new reasons to stay" at the Sheraton University City. Must have been a targeted email to people who have had the misfortune of staying there in the past! At least this hotel was consistently good about giving me a room on the club level as an SPG Gold. But that never seemed to make up for the dated bathrooms, noisy air conditioners, and world's slowest elevators.

Is Drexel still using several floors of the hotel as overflow dorm space? The one redeeming feature (well aside from the sports bar off the lobby) of this hotel used to be the ample time to ogle cute Drexel co-eds sharing those slow elevators with you!!!

[This message has been edited by Herb687 (edited 12-03-2001).]

peteropny

Has anyone stayed here lately? Found a cheap Travelzoo for $129 ($154 club floor) for 7/2. I'm SPG Gold - chances of upgrade to club level on the "regular" rate? Also, they seem to indicate that the club level has been renovated (silent for non-club). Do I really want to stay here or should I keep my Park Hyatt reservation (Diamond) for $223? Thanks!!!

PHL

They could have turned this Sheraton into the hippest W in the world and I'd still recommend you keep your reservation at the Park Hyatt which is, literally, right smack in the center of town and is in one of the most beautifully historic buildings in the city. You've been warned....

peteropny

Thank you for the warning - since I don't really need to be in Center City this trip - I'm going to Marriott Philadelphia West (Conshohocken) for $65 on Priceline.

noirpepper

Against the recommendation from travel sites, I stayed at the place on a good rate w/ the ongoing Q3 promotions. I would only return to this hotel if there were no better local spg properties had availability and a significant lower rate was offered in comparison to other better rated hotels in the area. Overall, I was upgraded to a uniquely designed suite where you have to walk into the room with the bed and then walk on to the siting area. It is a decent hotel with okay club lounge, okay food quality and subper front desk staff. The front desk staff informed me my AMEX was getting rejected after a couple of tries and I had to put my stay on a different card; however, when I spoke to AMEX, my card was good and maybe the device the frontdesk staff was using may had problems: I was misinformed.The parking lot is a little tight but given the location, it is very acceptable. Not nearly as bad as the sheraton park ridges and not as nice as the Sheraton City Center. Good luck on staying here in the future and as always YMMV.

BlissWorld

Would you pay more to stay at the Westin? I currently have both properties booked but am sort of leaning towards Sheraton because it's closer to the colleges (I love college towns, although I've never been to PHL so I don't know what its like around there. Any tips?) and it's cheaper.

KENNECTED

Stay at the Westin. Trust me.

BlissWorld

Care to elaborate? I saw some pictures of the Westin and it didn't look like its worth the price they are asking......Is Sheraton that bad?

KENNECTED

You and I have very similar taste. I haven't steered you wrong in the past.

BlissWorld

I know the Westin is definitely better than Sheraton. I just don't know if its worth the extra cost. From the pictures, the Westin looks subpar than some of the other better Westins I've been. It's like when I go to NYC, I prefer W Times Square. However, if they want 500 a night for the weekend, I might divert to Westin TS or Sheraton Towers because the sometimes the huge difference in rate doesn't justify.

KENNECTED

My pictures in my review of the Westin Philly or pictures on the hotels website?