RafKa

That doesn't really matter as payment must always be made in BRL, whether pre-paid or at the hotel. USD rate is only displayed as a reference (on SPG.com some hotels in Brazil display in BRL, others in USD).

MSPeconomist

I always insist on seeing the rate in the currency in which the price is definitive; the converted numbers can be very misleading. You should also always get a confirmation in the currency in which the rate is legally defined, which is usually but not always the local currency.

djohannw

Yes. I am aware of that - has been the same with probably every hotel I stayed at so far in Brasil (mostly Marriott).

FWIW I am just about to check out today, and wanted to give some feedback to the hotel. I tried to use Your24 about a week before my stay but got denied within a few hours claiming "high occupancy". Nevertheless two days before my arrival the room-type changed to Executive, so upon arrival (even earlier than my requested Your24 time) I went directly to the 4th floor check-in where I received a room on the spot without any hesitation.

I thought it is a bit strange that the "better" rooms are almost all located on lower floors (3-5 and 16), and I received a room on the third floor that was functional but nothing really to rave about. Since I was alone and on business this was OK, but the room I received ("André Alf") has not the slightest resemblance with the pictures for Executive rooms on the website.

Still two lounges, Design Lounge on the 4th- and Club-lounge on the 15th-floor. From my observation both featured the very same offerings with the fridge being bigger on the Design level, but that was about it. Breakfast was still served in the Club lounge (also on the weekend), but as Executive guest I was also allowed to have breakfast in the restaurant - not much difference between the two, though. What I found disappointing was the evening offers in both lounges, strictly cold food only and pretty similar over the three evenings I have been here. My major issue, however, was that they served beer and hard liquor, yet no wine.

In terms of conversion my rate was converted with an uplift of approx. 3% over the current oanda exchange-rate - reasonable in my opinion. Selected green choice for the two nights where it is applicable which worked well on night one but had the "We showed by your room, but you had do not disturb posted" on the second day, so I needed to go down to get that fixed. Interestingly despite being a full-service hotel, it's only 250 points per night instead of the 500 I am used to.

All in all an OK stay, but my next stay will probably go to the Renaissance to see if the experience (especially in regard to the lounge service) is better...

Greetings - Dirk

saltytheseagull

Any updates? Is it worth $40 a night or $50 with breakfast?

My last trip I stayed at the Grand Hyatt, so I know there's not exactly a lot going on in the area.

RafKa

SkyTeam777

Surprised there hasn't been more updates on this hotel. Do they still operate two club lounges? Seems really inefficient.
What is the difference between Club and Executive room? Is one supposed to be the "Design" category?

WeLoveSpace

Writing from Săo Paulo WTC Sheraton at the moment.

The hotel has no lounge currently open (as is the case with many hotels)

The alternative is cocktails and canapés by the pool. Which is very pleasant some of the time

The hotel is extremely COVID safe with the exception of the swimming pool area.

At weekends the pool is given over to an external function and hotel guests are excluded. So sorry no pool.

However the hotel has no lounge and no catering facilities. So for your Club Lounge privileges you are sent to the pool area which is being run as a club with a hundred unmasked external guests roaming around.

You are very welcome to sit in a corner for your club lounge privileges as unmasked people dance around you and then fight for the price to be refunded when you leave.

And if you are a regular guest then you are welcome to leave the hotel to eat as no catering venues are opened.

The following day the pool is filthy with ash, rubbish and debris from the day before.

The pool operation is dirty and unsafe and should be closed.

You can make your own judgement about whether you want to stay in a hotel that treats you like this.

I am extremely Covid careful wherever I travel but today I feel this hotel put my health at risk by sending me into a full venue of unmasked people.

UASPG

I don't why I booked 2 nights (2nd night at around $270, taxes included) at this hotel.
- Not to pay the much higher rate for the 3rd and 4th night at the Renaissance? Ciro Gomes, a candidate at the presidential election, had arrived at the Renaissance, so the occupancy might have caused the rates to go up.
- I should have swallowed the pill and booked at one of the better hotels outside Marriott, as I originally planned to. My mistake!

Anyway, prior to my arrival at the Sheraton, I sent a message via the App, but the associate was not addressing the 2issues on that message, one of them being the upgrade. At the end, she stated that the Front Desk would help me further.

The check-in went well with a pleasant associate that seemed to be new. She advised me that I had been upgraded to a suite. A sad sad suite it was. FYI, there are a bunch of TV channels, but no information channel in English, like CNN, BBC News, Al Jazeera in English, France 24 in English or DW.

The lounge was even more depressing. Just a few guests were there during Happy Hours (7-9 pm). No music, only one attendant, a few bottles of alcohol, beer, one choice of white wine and red wine.
There were only 2 dishes with snacks plus one bowl on nuts. I did not go on the 2nd evening, as I ran out of anti-depressant pills.

The breakfast at the restaurant was a little more animated, but the buffet offering was poor.

15:30 still no room cleaning. At the lounge, they reacted as this was the norm.

In the room /suite, the "0" or guest service or even the Emergency buttons on the phone were not directing you to an operator. At the lounge, it was the same attitude with this issue. You should dial "8000", normally we tell the guests at check-in time. The logical solution would have been to put stickers on the phone, but it did not seem awkward that all those buttons were not working and that there was no instruction on the phone.

Scam alert: when I enquired about the price of a taxi, to go to the GRU airport, I was told that it would be about 250 reais and no more than 300 reais. The front desk attendant told me that there was a better option with the Exclusive Transfer service for just above 400 reais (my recollection) . The price was actually 450 reais, plus 45 reais for a tax (total: 495 reais). Guess what they had booked for my transfer: a regular taxi! The driver seemed to be in his eighties, so I pulled the pieces of luggage from his trunk myself. Again, this was my mistake, as the taxi in Sao Paulo are actually pretty good.

This property seems to have either an owner that tightens the expenses to their limit or a GM that tries to impress corporate or the owner on how he keeps the expenses at a minimum.

Do I need to write that he will not be back? I rarely stay in hotels in the U.S., but those who do stay at U.S. Sheraton might be familiar with the ambience of that property.

UASPG

I received several explanations, The latest is below.

"Thank you for contacting us again regarding your points. We are sorry about this delay , and please allow us to express our sincerest apologies.

Our operation system (Opera ), receive last month a upgrade and this is the reason for this delay. We can only request the update of your points ten days after your check-out and be sure that you will receive your credits soon.

We appreciate your sharing your concerns, and it is our hope that you will give us the opportunity to better serve you soon.

I remain at your entire disposal for further information.".

I never heard that explanation before.

Red Raider LV

Sadly, most of the reviews of this hotel are true...

I actually feel bad for the employees who work here because they're all friendly and professional. The problem is the hotel just gives them nothing to work with.

Rooms
They're outdated. There's no way around it. I was upgraded to a huge suite (two full bathrooms) but I felt like I was staying at my grandmother's house in 1995. The TV itself must be 15 years old. The bathroom was probably really great 20 years ago, but now there's hardly any water pressure. Everything is clean, it's just really old. And kind of sad.

Lounge/Happy Hour
Happy hour is from 7:00 - 9:00. That's really late, and there were very few people there when I stopped in. There is one red wine, one white wine, standard liquor, and a few beers. There's one hot item, and a few snacks. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the happy hour, it's just very basic. Considering how late it is, it just feels kind of depressing. I mean, there's a café across the street with big Brazilian beers for BRL 15. At least if you're drinking alone there you can watch the world go by.

Breakfast
It's really not very good. I made a toasted sandwich and then left. They served canned pineapple and canned fruit cocktail mix. If you're not serving fresh fruit in Brazil, you're really doing something wrong. I would say the breakfast is comparable to a suburban Sheraton in the United States. Oddly, there was someone dressed up like Woody from Toy Story standing at the entrance the entire time I dined. I do not understand why, as I didn't see any children at the hotel.

TL DR
There's nothing redeeming about this hotel. It is outdated, somewhat depressing, and not in a particularly good location. Unless you have business within walking distance of this hotel, I don't see how anyone could truly recommend it. That's not to say that you should avoid at all costs; everything will work out just fine here, I would just choose any other hotel hotel in SP over this one.