3544quebec

Google Maps is wrong - there, I said it Don't spend the money you save all at once

Trajeto: Estação Berrini à Estação República.
Tempo estimado de viagem: 00h18m00s

Embarque na Estação Berrini sentido Osasco. (R$ 3,00)

Desembarque na Estação Pinheiros e faça transferência para Linha 4-Amarela - Metrô, sentido Luz. (transferência gratuita)*.

Atenção: Para efetuar essa transferência, é necessário chegar na Estação Pinheiros até às 00h00 (meia-noite).

Desembarque na Estação República

* Faz-se necessário a consulta das tarifas, pois somente nas Estações Brás, Palmeiras-Barra Funda, Luz, Santo Amaro, Tamanduateí, Pinheiros e República as transferências são gratuitas; nas demais estações, as transferências são tarifadas.

jammanxc

can someone please elaborate on the VIP Club lounge access for Design Rooms? I know the description says full breakfast buffet and open bar, but what are the hours? Are there evening appetizers?

ajnaro

There is a Design Lounge on the 4th floor and a Club Lounge on the 15th floor. I don't know the exact hours, but both of them are open all day. The Design Lounge has basic wine and drinks (what AA would call 'well' drinks, rather than 'top shelf') and some nice sweets. Both lounges have a cocktail hour that I didn't try out; breakfast was either in the downstairs restaurant or on in the 15th floor lounge. Both of the breakfasts are just barely adequate.

jammanxc

Thanks guys for the great tips, I will be checking into the hotel in two days and will report back

hungarianhc

I'm there again right now (gotta get those 15 nights!), and may I just say that it's a COMPLETELY different hotel if you get a "Design Room" - these rooms are amazing, and there is a special Design Lounge w/ good quality snacks and beverages all late afternoon + evening. I still don't like the gym.

Only four treadmills. I went there this morning before my meetings, and I waited for 15 minutes, and nobody got off. At that point I realized I was going to be late so I just skipped it and left. For a huge hotel such as this Sheraton, there is no excuse for their gym to be just an afterthought awkwardly stuck behind the nightclub.

3544quebec

I think I have mentioned this before but be prepared to pay more than you expect for your room.

spg.com gives you a rate in $US but the hotel charges in Reais at a very favourable rate (to them)

My rate of $US214 translated to R463 at check-out giving a ROE of 2.16 compared to the current rate of 2.02. So expect an extra 7% on top of what you have been quoted plus whatever your card charges for foreign transactions.

jammanxc

If you booked or have been upgraded to a design room/suite before check-in, you may ask to be checked in at the Design check-in spot on the 4th floor. Upon arrival to the design check-in spot, I was offered a drink by Annika (the design desk agent who also doubles as a Concierge). As a Platinum guest, I was offered:

booked standard room- pre-upgraded to a Design Room
500 pt platinum amenity
free wifi (you will need to ask for more connections if you have multiple devices)
access to the design lounge (4th floor - bar is open 12pm-10pm, evening appetizers 7:30p-10pm)
access to the club lounge (15th floor - breakfast from 7am-11am)
4pm late checkout was granted

How to get to the hotel from GRU

Go outside to the terminal and find a ticket counter called "Airport Bus Service" . Buy a ticket for R$35 (approx $17 USD) to Berrini (Hyatt Hotel). It took approx 1.5 - 2 hours because of traffic to get from GRU Airport to the Hyatt Hotel. It will make one stop (or several stops), so do not get off if you do not see the Hyatt. You can walk from the Hyatt hotel to the Sheraton (15 min) OR take a Taxi which will be approx R$12 (approx $6 USD). This is singlehandedly the most efficient way of getting to the Sheraton hotel. Taking a taxi will set you back R$240 (approx $120 USD).

There is a cheaper way to get to the hotel - If you take the "Airport Service Bus" headed towards the direction of Taupe Metro, you can end up at the Metro for R$4.30 and take the metro R$3.00 to Berrini Metro Station (you will need to transfer twice on different metro lines using this method). If someone wants a detailed Metro explanation, please feel free to PM me.


Hotel Room

Initially I was offered a room on the 16th floor in a Francisco Cailo Room (think standard design room but with no walls and doors to get into the bathroom because the bathroom is practically INSIDE the room. This made for an awkward situation when one has to go use the restroom since there is no sense of privacy. We asked to be switched to another design room and we happily accepted a 4th floor room. it was convenient because it was on the same floor as the Design Lounge. The second room needed major renovations as there were paint splatters and wood coming apart in the bathroom. There was nothing wrong with the room, just cosmetic changes. The bed was comfy and our room had nightly turn-down service as well, which was a nice touch.


Design Lounge/Club Lounge

The Design Lounge has an open bar where you can create your own cocktails, including the famous Brazilian caiprihanas made with lime, sugar, and cachaca. If there is an attendant in the lounge, he will make one for you if you don't know how to make one yourself. In the evening, there were small snack items like sliced cheese, croissant ham & cheese sandwiches, hummus/pita chips, small dessert bites. The evening appetizers were nothing to write home about as there were no hot items and it's not sufficient to substitute dinner for.

The Club Lounge pretty much only serves breakfast as there are no evening appetizers in that lounge. The Club Lounge has a huge extensive breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, pao de quiejo (famous Brazilian cheesy bread), Brazilian sausage, bacon, grilled cheese sticks (soooo good!), and waffles. The cold options were sliced cheese, cold cuts like ham, salami, turkey. There were also a variety of fresh juices, and baked goods. In addition, coffee and tea was served as well.


Hotel Service

Service was top notch from the front desk agents at the lobby and design lounge agents to the housekeeping ladies who greet you with "Bom dia" (which means good morning). The concierge and lounge attendants were friendly and quick as well. The Concierge can also set up private tours of Sao Paulo as well, but we didn't need one.


How to get from the Sheraton to GRU airport

There are only a few departure times from the Hyatt (walk 15 min or take a taxi) using the Airport Bus Service (ask the concierge for the times). I would highly suggest you leave 4 hours before your scheduled flight as the traffic in Sao Paulo is ridiculous. This will allow you 2 hours to spend in the terminal and the lines are crazy in the airport ticketing counters and security as well. You will need to pay R$35 to the bus driver and he accepts only cash. It takes 1.5 - 2 hours from the Hyatt to GRU Airport.

cxn

I was upgraded to a 'design' room. It was very clean and roomy. From what I read both here and TA, it seems these are the rooms to get.

Staff has been helpful and friendly. The design floor has a rack of fruit you have access to all day which is nice.

dollaroff

Brief review from last week:

Firstly, if you don't have a chip & pin ATM card, none of the ATMs at GRU will give you cash. Big warning.
I used the GRU taxi service, which turned out to be US$62, which was charged to my chip & signature CC fine.

Also, the bus service for GRU: there is a stop outside the D&D mall. No need to walk to the Hyatt. Really.

Arrived late (0100). Checkin was fine. On a revenue stay for 3 nights.
Upgraded to design room on 5th floor without asking. Room was great: the size of a junior suite.

Some remodling done at the property. The Design lounge was closed (the whole 4th floor). The club/disco was being remodeled. A bunch of rooms on my floor were being refurbished.

I wanted to use the pool, but it doesn't get much sun: the only time I could have used it, people took all the chairs...and I had to work anyway.

Club lounge is fine. Had breakfast one day: it was decent per NA standards. At night, only limited cold items, but all were yummy. Good Nespresso machine. Lots of booze (or they'll make you a drink).

Connected to the D&D mall: this mall is like the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, CA. I loved it, but I couldn't take/buy anything home with me. There is a couple of fast food options in the basement. Open until 2200.
There is a Citibank and HSBC in D&D, so you can get cash without leaving the hotel complex.


Walked to the Berrini train stop, took it into the main city (metro change). Yes, the location is out of the way, but it wasn't that big of a deal to take the metro.

Requested Green Choice both days. First day, they left me a nastygram. I called them up and told them Green Choice: they finally left the slip under the door later. I had no problems on Day 2.


Gym is outside (by the Club): I can't imagine using it at night. Used it during the day. One day, I was the only one there, but the other days, all 4 treadmills were in use by us.


No issues checking out. Will follow-up if issues with points posting. Did not ask for 4pm checkout.


Traffic was fine: 45 min each way from hotel to GRU via taxi.

ryan182

I have never seen such corrupt and frankly illegal practices by a hotel, especially one associated with a US publicly traded company such as HOT, as what I had happen to me at this hotel.

Here's their scam, you book a rate in USD and they charge you in local currency, which is OK and normal, what is not OK and pure fraud is they take the market rate and add 20 basis points to the conversion. If you don't know much about currency markets 20 basis points is HUGE, a currency will drop that many points if they massively devalue their currency, a typical day will see 1-2 basis points on a currency fluctuation. To put this in context, the exchange rate they gave me, which was again 20 basis points above the daily rate, was last seen in March 2005. Not since March 2005, nearly 9 years ago, has the BRL/USD rate been at the level they invented for no reason other than to rip off foreigners. When I challenged the front desk they acknowledged that it was 20 basis points higher than the official Banco de Brazil rate, but said that "accounting sets the rate" and they had no idea why it was set at that (um yea big mystery). so there you have it, this hotel will create their own rate, perhaps next month it will be 30 basis points, heck why not 50 or 100? They seem to think that its acceptable to rip off every guest. DO NOT STAY HERE.

TRAVELSIG

20 basis points is 0.2% or in terms of absolute value 0.002 of the transaction. If indeed that is what they are charging it seems somewhat closer to reasonable as you would pay 2 extra USD per 1000 USD. DCC (Dynamic currency conversion) which many of us have complained about quite strongly on this very forum for example charges closer to 4% of the transaction value in some cases which would mean 40 USD per 1000 USD or rather 400 basis points.

Are you sure the hotel is only charging you 20 basis points (0.002 value of the transaction) and if so it seems a bit strong to call it "pure fraud"?

ryan182

no its .20 as in the rate is 2.58 vs 2.38, looking at each day in question and taking the highest rate and comparing it they have added ~7% to the rate consistently.

TRAVELSIG

In which case you are referring to 700 basis points if you say they have added 7% to the rate consistently although based on the quote above if the correct rate is 2.38 and they are charging 2.58 then they are adding 8.4% to the quoted exchange you have noted of 2.38 and therefore is 840 basis points which is indeed a very big surcharge.
Can you not just pay them in the local currency? That is what I do when surcharges are too high.
In case you ever want to know about basis points, you can find the answers here:
http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answ...basispoint.asp

RafKa

Sadly, that's a common occurrence in hotels all over Latam. You are quoted a rate in USD, but at checkout they convert it to local currency, at a very unfavourable rate. Obviously, they can't charge USD to your credit card, so your stung with their rip-off exchange rate. I wonder if you can pay in USD cash (although not very convenient carrying wads of USD around Latam).

3544quebec

This hotel pushes the boundaries on a reasonable ROE and has for a couple of years at least:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19157677-post81.html