kv99

I've got to book about 10 rooms or so for a conference group in April and I'm finding good availability and very reasonable rates at this hotel ($109, compared with the $219 Westin or other properties downtown). Aside from one relatively glowing review in the archives, I'm finding very little info on this hotel.

Any recent experiences with this hotel? The website mentions a $35 million renovation. Any info on the rooms, hotel facilities, Platinum treatment, and location would be greatly appreciated.h

Our group includes several clients and we recently had a very disappointing stay at the Westin in Las Vegas which I'd not like to repeat in Atlanta.

LemonThrower

I drive by it every day. Its in the process of being renovated. It looks like a construction site. I don't think it got great reviews before, now I definitely would not put clients up there. The Westin gets uneven reviews but has a much better location and was a higher grade property to begin with. I think its showing its age and not all the rooms get hot water due to some plumbing problem. The Sheraton is a tad isolated and is about 2 blocks from Peachtree, but Atlanta's downtown is a straight line all along Peachtree.

kv99

Thanks, LemonThrower. Doesn't sound good

If anyone has specific feedback on the hotel and could post it relatively soon, that'd be great. I need to get this squared away by early next week.

Thanks all!

Bigshaker

I stayed there 2 weeks ago. On a previous stay last year I had very poor service. I too had read about the renovation and yes the lobby and rooms have been renovated.
THe restaurant in the hotel is not too bad and worth at least one group meal signed to your room for all the extra bonus points.

At check-in I was told there were no Suites. I pressed a bit and was still told no. As I was walking to the elevator the front desk clerk called my name and said that yes indeed they had a Jr Suite avail. Nothing fance but at least I didn't have to call reservations from my room to be told they had a suite.

I am in the middle of fighting a billing dispute with this hotel. The rate I booked and received confirmation on from our corp travel was $139. The rate I was charged was $179. SPG and the hotel have no record of the $139 rate only my travel agent confirmation email. I know the rate was $139 as I did the price shopping on the SPG site before booking via our travel desk. I never looked closely at my bill at check-out and only noticed late last week. No resolution at this point.

For the price its a good deal but don't expect a lot. I would stay there again only because of the price.

Bigshaker

xrae

I recently completed a stay at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel on Courtland street downtown and found it enjoyable.

The hotel was packed due to several conferences and a family reunion. Front desk staff said it was much crazier than usual. We did pay a conference rate and I did not receive Starpoints or an upgrade for the stay, which is disappointing since the five-night stay was over $700. After the room was booked through the conference bureau by my colleague, I found similarly priced rooms on spg.com. Unfortunately, cancelling the room through the conference bureau would have cost us our nonrefundable $100 deposit. Live and learn.

We received a non-smoking room with two doubles on the ground floor for four people. We enjoyed the beds, although the air conditioner never seemed to cool the room enough when all four adults were in the room. While the comforters on the beds looked really nice, they were annoying at night, just a little too bulky for my tastes. It was too hot with the cover on and too cold with it off. We had plenty of pillows on each bed. But next time I think I'll bring my own feather pillow.

Most of the staff was wonderful, friendly, and very helpful. (Kudos to Gail our housekeeper ... she was tipped well throughout our stay and we supplied her with lots of candles). The concierge was friendly and knowledgable. The bell staff were efficient and helpful, even though they were dealing with a lot of traffic that week. The bartenders and restaurant wait staff were excellent. The front desk staff ... they were ok. Had to ask more than once than our room charges be switched to a different credit card (my SPG Amex, of course!) and that all the charges be in my name. But they did deal with the large groups checking in and out with patience no matter the time of day.

There are two free internet computers in the lobby, with three additional computers in the free business center downstairs.

We had a problem with our tub drain being blocked, which we had to call Engineering to fix on three different days. They responded quickly each time, and did their best to remedy the situation. Each time we called for maintenance, we were cited the Sheraton Service Promise and given four comped breakfast buffets. (Total of 12 free breakfasts).

When dining in the restaurant, I was told that I would have to take my receipts to the front desk in order to receive my Starpoints. The front desk clerk gave me a "What am I supposed to do with these?" and I said my restaurant charges were eligible for points. He photocopied my receipts and my card and the points did show up in my account.

Self parking is $13 a day, and valet is not too much more.

The hotel has been undergoing renovation, and the facade seems to be about the only thing left to complete. Front desk staff said they hoped it would be complete within the next couple months.

Overall, it was a good stay and I would stay there again. The location was good, just a short walk to the Marta and not a horrible walk to the Georgia World Congress Center / Georgia Dome.

KENNECTED

I stayed at this property for two days over the weekend. As with most say, there isn’t anything around the hotel as downtown Atlanta is pretty much a ghost town after 5PM and on weekends. This is a very plain Sheraton.

The hotel consists of two towers that connect at the the main level, 2nd/pool level and third level. The club lounge is in the south tower and according to the lounge attendant, the rooms in this tower are more recently renovated

When I checked in the lobby is quiet. There is a starwood gold/platinum preferred check in location. In addition, there are two free PCs in the lobby for use.

My status was acknowledged and was thanked by the agent for returning to the hotel.


SUMMARY
Would I return? Yes, based on the rate.
Would I recommend? Yes, based on rate.
Would I recommend restaurant? N/A

Overall rating on a scale from 1 to 10 = 5


Check-in/check-out 5
Quick, Courteous & knowledgeable staff: Staff couldn’t tell me what type of room is was being assigned. Accurate folios: Yes


Common Areas 3
furniture/fixtures: Old
Cleanliness: appeared clean.
Elevators: some long waits, but no major delays.
Lobby Cafe/bar: nothing in lobby, but there is a 24 café of the third floor which is very convenient.
Security: No issues. Seem to patrol the property frequently
Maintenance /housekeeping: No issues


Guest Rooms 4
I was assigned a strange room in the North tower. Entering the room you walked into a very small sitting area, that included a love seat, side chair desk & TV. The room had a halfway with the bed and TV on the on the opposite side of the half wall. The bathroom was very long but the space was not utilized properly.
Size: basic Sheraton. Buddy stayed in a corner king in the south tower that was significantly bigger than a basic room
Room Lighting: Lots of lighting & electrical sockets
Bed: I didn’t have a Sheraton sweet sleeper bed. But had the cover and pillows.
Alarm Clock: basic clock
Extras: None
Noise: I heard no noise for adjoining guest rooms
View: View pools retractable roof and south tower

Guest Room Bathrooms 4
Size: Average, yet not used to its potential
Lighting: very dim
Mirrors: One large mirror
Shower: Basic
Amenities: adequate supply of hand & body towels, and no bath products.


Gym 0
Nice location overlooking the pool. However, the equipment is old and in DESPERATE need of replacement.

Executive Lounge 8
Nice comfortable lounge, with lots of space. Basic fruit, pastries and juices in the morning, as I was never around to try afternoon/evening service. Two (2) PC with, printer are available for use. The lounge attendents were very accomodating.


Pool 5
Size: Nice size pool located in the middle of the two towers. Third floor rooms over look the pool (some rooms have balcony’s) and some second floor rooms have direct access. There is also a whirlpool. The pool with retractable roof
Noise: Not to noisy considering people use this area to cross over between towers and access the gym.
No supervision.


Restaurants N/A
N/A

Parking 5
Valet: Slow but if you call down in advance the wait isn’t too terribly bad.
Street Parking: On weekends, downtown Atlanta is dead, so you might be able to find street level parking or a reasonable rate at a nearby parking garage/lot.

clover

I'm booked at the Sheraton Atlanta for next week and received the email offering a $20 upgrade to exec. floor. I won't bother with the upgrade since I will (hopefully) be upgraded as Plat. anyway, but the email mentioned that the hotel "just" completed an "enhancement" of every room especially the club floors ($42 M). Has anyone stayed there recently and noticed any improvement?

Also, I am attending a conference at the Omni nearby (CNN Center). Is this a good choice for a nearby Starwood property? I've read some good things about the Colony Sq. Sheraton here but I wonder if that is too far away to be convenient. Thanks for any help!

Buckhead Flyer

None of the *wood properties in Midtown/Downtown is very far from the others. The Sheraton Atlanta and the Westin Peachtree are closer to the Omni. There Colony Square property is closer to Piedmont Park -- which is nice if you like to walk or run for exercise. Mid-town, which is where the SCS is, has more restaurants than does downtown, which, all of my tax dollars notwithstanding, seems to shut down with the sun.

In any case you are talking about a short walk to the Omni from the two downtown properties or a short cab ride from the Sheraton Colony Square.

bustraveler

I stayed at the Sheraton Atlanta last summer for 14 or 15 weeks in a row. As a Platinum, I was always upgraded (and as a Gold was most of the time too). The upgrades I received were almost always to the exact same room which I loved becuase it had an enormous big screen TV....probably a 55 or 60 inch screen. I did notice they were doing some renovations (or just starting them) last summer. The hotel staff is great and the bar actually serves some great food.

Helena Handbaskets

I searched but did not find any recent threads on this hotel - mods please append to the appropriate thread if I missed it.

Last week I found myself at the Sheraton Atlanta for a 1-night stay. As I had anticipated, the property does not exude luxury. But then, neither does it depress nor horrify. It's just kind of one of those middle-of-the-road Sheratons with a bit of age on them.

But what astounded me was that at every single encounter, the staff at this hotel was helpful, courteous, professional, and happy! They all seemed to be almost desperately in love with their city, their jobs, and with life in general. The place was reportedly only about 35% full, so maybe a relatively light load had something to do with the good humor, but I got the distinct impression that the mood had a whole lot more to do with a phenomenal management team, at least as far as personnel issues go. I know I've never worked at a location with such happy employees, nor have I ever stayed at a hotel with that kind of attitude. Someone (as I say, I suspect it's a top manager) deserves some serious kudos.

Aside from the employee morale, a couple of other tidbits:

The club lounge had good food, with one hot appetizer and a wide array of fruits, cheeses, etc. in the evening, and good scrambled eggs in addition to the other standard cold offerings at breakfast. The lounge was open 24 hours, with bags of chips and soft drinks available all night. There is a pool table in the lounge, too.

I had left my Treo charger at home and asked if they had a spare I could borrow. They sent up a security officer who escorted me down into the bowels of the service side of the hotel to the place where they store the left-behinds so I could see if they had the right type (they did). The long walk through the "backstage" areas was very interesting - sort of like what you sometimes see on TV about the underground areas in the White House. Interestingly, I was not asked to sign for the charger nor to leave a deposit (which I've been required to do before in similar situations), and I bet I could've just walked out of there with a spare charger (I didn't, of course).

Anyway, I wanted to post this because the few (old) reviews of this place are not very encouraging, but if anyone else has had a similar (or contradictory) recent experience, I'd love to know if the staff is generally as good-natured as I found them, or if there was just some kind of happy-gas in the HVAC system that day.

pushback

The Sheraton Atlanta Hotel is located a few blocks from the Peachtree MARTA station, just down the hill from the Hard Rock, which is across the street from the Peachtree Westin. I have stayed at the Peachtree Westin a few times and had the impression they could care less if I stayed there again. The last time I was there, just trying to get to the checkout desk at 6:30 AM was a joke, with two clerks already working with customers, three other people came out from the room behind the desk in succession, one of which was a manager. Each came up to me while I stood in line and asked what I needed. When I told them I need to check out they actually said "One of them will be with you in a moment." (I knew that) as they proceeded off to the the coffee shop (within view). What the manager should have done with people in line was to get behind the desk.

But ... I digress. I only mention it because that experience was the icing on the cake for this Plat (already re-qualified through 2/2010), whom had never even received an upgrade there, to keep his eye open for other options. And I'm glad I did.

I signed up a promotion a few weeks ago which gave me some extra points in the summer months. When it came time to look for an Atlanta property for this last stay, I decided to peruse the list to see what other options were there. If I was going to be treated poorly I may as well get points for it, was the reasoning. The Peachtree Westin was not going to offer points in the promotion until August (I think), however, hmmm ... what's this? The Sheraton Atlanta Hotel will give me an extra 500 points to stay there. Done!

My expectations were not high, based on my previous Westin experience. When I got there I was immediately blown away. When I got to the check-in desk, I asked the standard question, "Any chance I scored an upgrade?" to "D", a trainee. She said that their were none available but ... "hmmm ... give me a second." With that she disappeared into the back room for a few minutes. She came back out and went back to the back room a few times. When she said "I'm sorry for the delay, I'm checking for you." I said "No problem, "D", I know you are trying to work it for me and I appreciate it!"

Next, "D" came back out with "R." "R" said, "Mr. Pushback! Welcome to the Sheraton Atlanta! I'm sorry, Mr. Pushback but I have no upgrades. What I'd like to do instead is buy you dinner as my way of saying sorry for the inconvenience." With that, I had to check my pulse to see if I was still in the same universe. He went on, "Either room service or Fandangles on the third floor. Have whatever you like, on me." Considering my company gives me a whopping $49 a day for food per day, I was all over that. I went off to my room, showered, heading to the third floor and had a wonderful dinner. True to his word, the bill was removed from my folio. There's not even an "in and out" on the folio for my confused expense report person at work to call me about.

The next night (night 2 of 2) I called "R", asking if any upgrades had opened up. Just between us, I was hoping to get the same answer that he gave me the night before. I'd be out of the room by 6AM the next morning anyway. Well, just my bad luck, they had a suite open, which he moved me to. It was a very nice suite which I got to enjoy for about nine hours, half of which was with my eyes closed.

I left a complimentary voicemail with the GM regarding "D" and "R." If I need to go to Atlanta again, I will be staying there again--I do not think the Westin will be seeing me again for a long time. No worries--they'll never miss me.

The only drawback is the hike up the hill (two blocks) to get to where the Hardrock is, on the way to MARTA, but I can use the exercise. Especially after that dinner!

Keep it up Sheraton Atlanta!

Helena Handbaskets

I believe I posted my recent experience at this property elsewhere on the Starwood forum, but in case I didn't let me reinforce this post. I really was expecting relatively little from my stay there, and as a hotel, it's still just sort of a standard Sheraton, but man, the attitude of the staff and their willingness to bend over backwards to make sure you're enjoying every moment as much as they are was just astounding to me. I want some of what they're having!

Sagy

Second the above post.

Just got back from a multi-night stay at the Sheraton Atlanta - The staff everywhere in the hotel was absolutely outstanding ^. The club lounge is a plus to the hotel as well.

In my view, this hotel a great example of how an ordinary "middle of the road" hotel can make itself a superior establishment by taking simple steps (customer caring staff, a club lounge with basic amenities).

CNWO4LIFE

Stayed there on 3 Jan. Tasheka at the front desk gave me my keys to room 359. She said it was one of the larger suites. Upon getting to the door it read "Presidential Suite"! Jackpot! Bi level suite with bedroom upstairs and balcony overlooking the courtyard.
I want to add from other posters that the staff here really are that good. They leave no stone unturned when it comes to serving you. And yes this place has a little wear, but I liked the 70's feel it gave me. I will be coming back here often.

CNWO4LIFE

Was at this prperty again last night. I was offered the Presidential suite again(3rd time), but being there only 1 day, I asked for a room in the South Tower close to the Club Room. Corner room on the 11th floor was nice akthough as mentioned on this thread, a little dated.
What I found intresting this trip was Shirley, who runs the Club room during the day took me on a behind the scenes tour of the hotel. It is quite amazing at all that goes on behind those doors that say employees only. She also told me that the South Tower was where the original Mariott Marquis was. I am originally from Atlanta and I never even knew that. Overall another great stay, esp for the price($99). Which included Club room( they actually have eggs and bacon and a wide assortment of other breakfast foods) and free parking. Can't beat that!