Stay Report: Sheraton Overland Park Hotel at the Convention Center (Overland Park, KS - November 2015)

Stay Report: Sheraton Overland Park Hotel 

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photo courtesy of Marriott.com

A family friend was getting married at the Convention Center, so we decided to stay at the Sheraton as it connects to the Convention Center so it would be easier access.  From the outside the hotel does not look like a Sheraton, more like an upscale Hampton Inn.  As you walk inside the lobby, the check-in desks are to left and the elevators are behind the check-in desks.  To the right is the walkway to the convention center while straight ahead is a small sitting area and behind the partition is the hotel's restaurant.  Check-in was done quickly and we received the key and proceeded to the room.

The room was a standard hotel room with standard amenities.  As you entered the room,

on the right was the bathroom while on the left was the closet.  The closet was standard with hangers to hang your clothes beneath a shelf, a safe, an iron, and ironing board.  The bathroom was also standard with a tub, a toilet, a sink, and bathroom toiletries.  The room itself was also standard and it was a bit dark.  On the right side, against the wall, were two double beds with a nightstand in the middle.  Across from the beds was a chest with drawers on the bottom and a TV on top.  Additional furniture included a desk next to the chest, as well as a chair and lamp next to the window (the window looked out onto the parking lot).  While the room did not contain a fridge, there were plenty of outlets to plug in the devices so that was a nice touch.  The beds were extremely comfortable but both the room and bathroom looked liked a renovated older hotel (and you could clearly hear the bathroom through the wall).

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

The hotel is a full-service hotel so there are amenities for the guests to enjoy including a fitness center, a pool, meeting rooms, parking, hotel restaurant, and wifi.  The parking was complimentary and there were plenty of spaces available; and the wifi was also complimentary and the speeds were decent.  As we were there for a wedding I was not able to try the fitness center or the pool, but the easy access walkway to the convention center (where the wedding took place) was convenient.

photo courtesy of Booking.com

Overall, the hotel provide a comfortable bed and a decent room; however, it did not feel like a Sheraton.  The overall feel and look of the room felt more like a Hampton Inn or a mid-priced budget hotel rather than a full-service Sheraton.  The hotel is a decent place to stay and it's a convenient location to the Convention Center,  but when you book a Sheraton you expect a Sheraton experience; we booked a Sheraton and received a Hampton Inn experience.

Stay Report: Hilton Houston Westchase (Houston, Texas - October 2018)

Stay Report: Hilton Houston Westchase

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photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

I was planning a trip to Houston and wanted to stay near the Galleria area but could not find a good deal so I expanded my search.  I had previously stayed at the Hilton Houston Westchase for a family friends wedding, and the hotel was nice and located about 15-20 minutes away from the Galleria and I found a good deal so decided to restay at the hotel.  From the outside, hotel looks like a tall office building with an attached restaurant and parking surrounding the building.  The parking is free and ample but some of the parking is a little shady so I would be careful about leaving valuables in the car; the parking does fill up quickly, especially well-lit areas and those closest to the entrances.  The hotel is located next to a supermarket and easy access to many amenities and highways. 

Check-in was a breeze, the attendant gave us the key and explained everything that the

photo courtesy of Hilton.com

hotel offered. We went to our room, which was located on the 5th floor and two doors away from the elevator (we were a little skeptical about the proximity to the elevator, but no noise from the elevator or gathering around it was heard).  Both the rooms and the bathrooms had been updated with the new Hilton offerings, but the doors and other structures indicated the building itself was old.  As you entered the room, the bathroom was on the right while the closet was on the left.  The bathroom was a bit small but decent and contained a sink, a tub, a toilet, and bathroom toiletries.  The closet was also standard and contained a shelf, hangers to hang items, an iron and an ironing board.  Further into the room on right hand side were the two double beds with a nightstand in the middle.  The bed quality was very nice and the pillows were very nice, but the beds in the Hilton seemed smaller than the ones we got at the Doubletree (check out that review here); the bed could easily fit two people, but there is just enough room to fit 2. Across from the bed was a chest with drawers on the bottom and a TV as well as coffee stand on top. The bottom of the chest also contained a mini fridge a well as a safe.  The room also contained a desk and a chair next to the chest, and between the bed and the window was was a table and lamp (the window faced out onto the parking lot).  The room we had was on a corner so while it was shaped a little differently, there was still plenty of space to more around and be comfortable.

photo courtesy of Hilton.com

The hotel is a full service hotel so there are many amenities for the guests to enjoy including a restaurant, parking, wifi, a fitness center. meeting rooms, a business center, and a pool.  The parking was self-parking, there was no charge, and there were plenty of spaces available; however, as I said before some parking spots were not as well lit as others so I would be careful about leaving valuables in the car.  The wifi was complimentary and there was no limit on the number of devices that could be connected, and the speed was decent enough to check email and watch videos.  The fitness center was located on the first floor, en route from the elevator to the big conference room/meeting room, and seemed to be installed as an afterthought.  The fitness center was located next to other rooms so there is a lot of traffic passing by the fitness center and it was somewhat small as well, as only three, maybe four, people could work out at the same time; 4 people or more and the place would feel very congested and cramped. Again it seems as if the hotel took out an existing room and replaced it with the fitness center. The amenities inside the fitness center included decent equipment as well as fruit (not the best looking, but not the worst looking either), water, and cold towels.

In the end, the hotel provided a nice and comfortable room with free parking, free wifi, good customer service, and decent location with many restaurants and services within a short distance away.  While it is a bit further away from the Galleria (about a 15-minute drive) the added benefits of the hotel make the drive worth it.

Stay Report: TownePlace Suites by Marriott Houston Brookhollow (Houston, TX - June 2012)

Stay Report: TownePlace Suites Houston Brookhollow
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

I travel to Houston a lot, sometimes for pleasure and sometimes because I live in a hurricane-prone city so we need to evacuate.  In one of those instances of evacuation, I was looking for hotels in Houston.  I normally stay near The Galleria but that usually fills up quickly so this time I decided to book a bit out of town.  I found the TownePlace Suites in northwest Houston off of Highway 290.  Having driven through this area, I was familiar with the area so was comfortable with booking the hotel.  It was easy to book and manage the hotel through the Marriott app. 

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

The hotel is located on the side road of Highway 290 and there are many restaurants, shops, and hotels around the area.  The hotel is set aback from the main road, behind the shops and restaurants, and it looked decent enough from the outside.  We pulled up to the lobby and as you enter the front door, on the left was the lobby and straight ahead was the elevators; to the right of the entrance was the dining room and lounge where free breakfast was available.  To get to the room, we took the elevators to the second floor (there are only two floors to the hotel) and walked across a walkway that was open and underneath was the lobby.  Since it was an open lobby and walkway, this meant that all the noise from downstairs could be heard and amplified upstairs (it was loud and unpleasant).  The room we received was located right next to the lobby so we could hear all the noise and then some.

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

When we opened the door to our room,that is when the unpleasantness began.  The room smelled of cigarette smoke (even though we had booked and received a non-smoking room), and when I say smelled it reeked of the smell.  As you open the door, on the left side is a small open kitchen with a sink, a fridge, and drawers for basic items.  Just beyond the open kitchen is a desk that faced out the window.  On the other side was the bathroom which was standard with a toilet, a tub and a sink but the furnishing all looked old; beyond the bathroom was a sitting area with a couch/sofa bed.  In between the sitting area and the desk was a chest with drawers on the bottom and a TV stand on top.  Next to the couch was a half wall that separated the sitting and bedroom area.  In the bedroom area were two double beds, a nightstand in between, and a closet next the window.  Even though the place is called a ‘suite’ there were no partitions or separations between the rooms so everyone could hear everything – it didn’t feel like a suite, more like a loft that somebody had just designed into separate areas.  The designs of the furniture also smelled of smoke and looked dated – the room overall had a dated feel to it.
   

photo courtesy of Marriott.com

We had reserved a room for 3 days, but we could not see ourselves sleeping in this room for 3 days so we went downstairs to ask to be switched to another room.  The lobby attendant was anything but helpful or friendly and, without even looking or bothering to make any effort, said ‘we are full for tonight’.  Since we had arrived late in the afternoon/early evening, I understood that all rooms may not be available that evening so we said that we had reserved for three days so could we switch tomorrow – again we got a surly ‘no’.  When we informed the attendant of the smell, we got the response ‘well, it’s a non-smoking room’.  We had replied saying we understood it was a non-smoking room but it still smells so is there something they could spray to at least make the room a bit more pleasant for tonight – again a surly ‘fine!’ and huffed away.  It wasn’t so much the response but rather the lack of customer service (combined with the uncomfortable room) that made us decide to go looking for another hotel that night.  While we were at dinner, we noticed a hotel across the street from a different hotel (check out that review here).  We drove over, talked to the lobby attendant who was nice, customer-friendly, acknowledged our participation in their rewards program, and provided us with a bigger, more spacious room at a lower cost!

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

After we returned from dinner, we informed the hotel we were checking out the next morning and no one asked ‘why you are leaving after one day since you had booked three days’ and that is the main issue with the hotel – the lack of customer service and lack of customer attention.  It was our first experience at a TownePlace Suites and it was unpleasant so stayed in one since and avoid booking their properties!  To end on a positive note, the hotel does provide some complimentary amenities for guests including complimentary wifi, parking, breakfast, a fitness center, a bbq/picnic area, a pool/whirpool, as well as on-site laundry facility.