airplanepeanuts

Yes I beleive my company's rate delivered double points. I used the IBM code. PM me for it if you are affiliated with IBM but do not have it.

paytonc

This was my quandary: was the LM worth another $50? Not really. It's two blocks over and prettier, but I have a few other things to spend that money on.

The new fitness center was fine. Plenty of treadmills and ellipticals and weight machines, plus a free weight area with multiple benches, but nothing unusual.

Yeah, it's not only pretty desolate on the immediate two blocks around the hotel, but the hotel itself was built with the urban-bunker mentality -- it's kind of silly that the only entrance to the hotel is from the driveway in the middle of the block. There are tantalizing entrances to the hotel from each side of the block, but they're all locked. There are livelier areas a few blocks north and south of the hotel, across Market and across Vine. The lobby and public areas may have updated furniture, but it's hard to tell -- they're also not the most inviting designs.

For some reason, I couldn't get T-Mobile data service on the 25th floor. Maybe they really want people to pay for the AT&T wi-fi...

Commuter trains depart the airport every half hour and call at several downtown stations: 30th St for Sheraton University City (note not the UC station) and Suburban for the Sheraton CC, Westin, and LM. The Market East station is closest for Society Hill, but still a fair hike.

All cabs in Philadelphia take credit cards, and the airport's surprisingly close to downtown.

airplanepeanuts

Stayed here this weekend for one night. Rate online was 200 or 220 for breakfast package for regular room. Made booking on Saturday around 4pm and checked in about 30 minutes later as I was checking out of Le Meredien and they didnt have C&P left.

Got upgraded to Presidential suite on preferred floor. It was really cool.. the hallway had a separate swipe to get in there and full living room and separate room etc. Everything was much nicer than I've seen at this property in the regular room I stayed in during an interview about a year ago.

I'm trying to add pics but It's retarded to me that I would have to upload them somewhere and then paste a link etc.. if you know of anotehr way just PM me and I will add them.

Anyway, I parked at a local lot for dirt cheap and got free breakfast in the club lounge which was pretty good and since it was in lounge i told the staff I should still get the 500 pts since the bfast is bascially free for all gold/plats who get access and they agreed this was silly.

Overall good stay, soft towels, staff is nice, good pillows, bed good as always at sheratons. location is a bit away from the square but not ridiculously far. just an extra block and in summer it's no problem. I remember last winter when I wanted to grab food down there it was a pain to walk even the extra block

3piggy

it is an old hotel with lobby ceiling ready to fall apart. however, it has a lounge, friendly staff and reserved parking spots for platinum guests, i don't mind it for a leisure trip

KENNECTED

Yeah but that pool and gym area is something right out of 1980s horror movie!

cubuffaloes2004

The gym has been moved and updated and is actually nice now!

BizNYC

Do you know if they have also finished renovations on the pool? It wasn't particularly appealing previously.

KENNECTED

Good to hear. I refused to stay there after seeing that gym and pool. I had Camp Crystal Lake flashbacks.

NoVA guy

I have stayed at the LM and the Sheraton University City recently. I was very pleased with both hotels. Clearly, the LM is a ritzier property and the location was spectacular for my non-business agenda. I was given a very large room. I believe it was a suite, but cannot recall the category with a nice view of City Hall. Very top notch quality. I used points for this reservation.

The Sheraton University City is near UPenn and Drexel. It was more convenient for my business West of the city. I also like the variety of bars/restaurants in the area. I had a corporate rate that included parking and was given a super large suite, so I had no complaints at for this property. My standards may not be as high as others on this forum. My two cents...

Consultette

redacted

TallestHotelInJapan

Two Platinums checking in. Two times said "no suites available" which was not true. Found a solution with the front desk, though.

KENNECTED

Meaning?

Alex_I

- I just stayed in the Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia and it was quite an experience. Firstly, this hotel smells and it smells differently in hall ways and rooms. Secondly, the attitude of stuff is simply unbelievable. One could be amused but only if you staying for a night!
To start, I (SPG PLT) was trying to check in about 10:15 a.m.: "Sorry, sir, our computers are down at the moment but we will take you credit card and call you when the room is ready".
Next, I am showing up at 2:15 p.m. - "no ready rooms yet" but wait 2 min because we are checking with housekeeping." Instead, I have asked for a key from the Club room and departed there to finish work.
A key was sent to the Club floor in about an hour (!) - apparently this what they mean by "wait 2 min". The room was two double (that what I booked) but I was kindly asked for a King on a higher floor. The front desk promised to help and at about 4:30 p.m. I got a phone call that my room on 10th floor is ready (hotel has 26 floors). That is the best they can do after 6:30 hr wait. I am sure that the hotel is full of SPG PLT and other VIPs even though plenty of various rooms are bookable for my night including $179/rate.
A quick check of www.spg.com showed that I can easily book 9(!) King rooms on the Club Floor. I called and talked to SPG Plat desk and they talked to the manager and he ensured that there are no Club Rooms available. Of course, that is a problem with reservations and they are going to fix this. After 7 pm the same 9 King rooms are still available.

ashley1245

Your update reminded me of my recent stay!
I checked in on Sunday afternoon at about 2pm. I was given a standard room on the SPG floor, which was the top floor. My husband and I walked down to check out the gym. The hotel was like a ghost town--no guests anywhere. Along the hallway of the floor where the gym is, we observed 4-5 bags of soiled laundry. This hallway also had burnt out lightbulbs, open electrical panels, and dirty room service dishes. When we checked out two days later, all these problems were still present, including the same dirty room service dishes.

When we checked in, we were told that the lounge was closed and that we could eat breakfast in the restaurant instead. We, however, would need to come down each morning and get the breakfast passes from the front desk. We were told that we could still use the lounge to get sodas. We went to grab some sodas from the lounge and noticed a sign posted that said "Closed for the holidays." We went inside to get some sodas. When we entered, we were overpowered by the smell of rotten fruit. We noticed a bowl of fruit that had been left out, and fruit flies were everywhere. There were also used dishes that had been left in the lounge (empty glasses and plates).

That same night, about 10 hours later, we returned to our room and walked past the lounge. Same dirty dishes, flies, and smell were still present. I complained to the night manager. I explained to him that we expected to be able to use the lounge, and that the hotel should have notified us in advance that the lounge would be closed for the holidays. I also mentioned the smell, the flies, etc. He credited my account with some points.

The next morning, we went to the restaurant for breakfast. The free breakfast included a "buffet" of cold items and you could order omelets and waffles from the waiter. The cold items were cereal, fruit, bagels, etc. Another guest commented that it appeared to be the exact same fruit and bagels there were served the day before. Everything looked old and stale. Therefore, we opted for the only freshly prepared options. It took approximately 15 minutes for a server to even approach our table. The omelette came out with the wrong ingredients. The waffle came out with ice crystals on it and it had a soggy bottom. When we went to send the food back, the food and beverage manager came over and offered to re-do the breakfast. At this point, we were pretty frustrated and just left without having breakfast. To his credit, food and beverage manager later sent up some sparkling wine and a cheese platter to apologize.

All in all, this Sheraton is very rundown, felt dirty, and is in desperate need of some attention to detail. With other SPG options in downtown Philly, I would not recommend staying here.

Oh! And to top it all off, when I tried to call the front desk, the phone would just ring and ring and then eventually the call connected, and a message came on that said, "Thank you for calling Sprint. For account information, press 1, for billing questions, press 2." Thinking I had mis-dialed, I called a few times and each time this happened. Very weird.

clublounger

and you trust their cheese?????