Sheraton Sao Paulo WTC Hotel — Hotel in Região Imediata de São Paulo

This is the first of two reviews, as I've stayed here twice in different rooms. This focuses on a Club-Level room experience, over a period of 11 days.

I'd previously stayed on Paulista Avenue on business trips, but a change in office location for Oracle resulted in my trying to find new accommodations in the Brooklin Novo district. Although a few of the reviews worried me a little regarding the noise issues, I decided to book it for the first 5 days, due to a block for a conference the following week.

The hotel was an easy trip from GRU, and I felt very welcome when I arrived midday from a red-eye flight, and was immediately given a room. The room I was given was on the 2nd floor, for which I was worried about the noise, but exhausted enough I didn't want to wait to ask for a transfer. FYI, floor 2 is one of the Club Level rooms, with 3-5 above it being part of the Design Levels.

Room

I ended up in room 201, right next to the non-guest elevator, but despite that I never once heard any noise from the elevator or even the hallway. I believe part of that was due to the shape of the x01 rooms - the beds end up being at a right angle when you enter the room, preventing noise from being heard from the hallway at night. The room itself had two double beds, and was unbelievably spacious!

Additionally, it had a desk slightly outside the sleeping area, which I think was a great idea to help establish a work/sleep separation. The only issue I had was the shower - the head was non-adjustable, so as soon as you turned it on it would splash you before you could close the door, and spray onto the floor outside.

Noise

Room 201 faces the front of the hotel, not the pool, so I didn't have any issues with noise from pool-deck parties, although I certainly heard it from the hallway. I did have significant bass issues from when Club A - directly below the room - was open, which ended up being for 5 of the nights I was there. Nothing too major, but enough that I could understand how someone who can't adjust to white noise would have sleep problems.

Pool Deck / Gym

As mentioned in an earlier review, there is only sun on the pool deck for a period of about 3-4 hours, before it goes behind a building, so make sure you take advantage of it in the late morning! The beds are at a great angle though, and the staff take good care of towels and the chairs - no complaints on my side.

My biggest issue was "pool deck events". On Saturday afternoons the pool deck would be closed down at 1pm, when Club A opened for the afternoon and evening - so much for a hotel pool/patio! Don't even think about being able to stay out there when it's a high-end party coming in, security will bounce you out.

Additionally, the main way into the pool was from the same level Club A was on - exactly as the sign in the elevator said. A few times I walked out in gym clothes only to have a bouncer tell me that I couldn't go in (in Portuguese, which is fair enough as this is Brazil!), and had to go up to the conference level. If you do have an event on the C level, please post signs in the elevator so guests know to get off at a different floor! Regardless, you still need to walk out through a party to get to the gym.

Additionally, the gym looks out onto the pool deck, which is nice during the day, but at night you'll be running on the treadmill with guests in expensive suits and dresses staring at you from the other side of the window. Not a great way to stay enthusiastic about working out, especially when you're running off some extra pounds! At night, the spotlights inside the gym make you a virtual show for everyone.

The gym itself wasn't bad, except for the treadmills, some of which don't have working touch screens, iPod connectors, or USB ports. Only one seemed to work mostly well - by the corner window. The annoying part for me was that often the washroom door was locked (not with someone inside), so if you needed the bathroom you'd have to walk back out through the pool deck and into the conference area to use the washrooms there. Other than that, a wide range of machines to use!

D&D / Food

Wanting something as simple as a snack I ended up walking down to the gas station on the corner - D&D was pretty well all designer shops, so Shopping Morumbi was my main destination for water and supplies. The basement had an abundant choice of restaurants though, and room service was always very fast, and delicious - highly priced, but pretty average for a hotel.

Breakfast at the Club Level or Badebec was quite good - always fresh fruit, eggs, bread, and some sugary snacks as well. Always enjoyed it, but ended up spending most of my time at the Badebec for breakfast due to crowding in the lounge.

Service

Always friendly staff - some of whom I had very pleasant conversations with - which is a big plus for Sheraton WTC. The only staff I encountered that were less than pleasant were the Club A employees - surly and rude at times, although I understand they're not part of Starwood themselves.

I couldn't extend my trip online due to a conference occurring mid-week, and had originally planned to switch hotels after the first 5 nights. However after a quick trip to the front desk, the next day they were able to locate space for me to stay, and I happily added another 5 nights - without having to change rooms. Note that this was part of the SPG Platinum guarantee, but I've had other SPG properties refuse to acknowledge that benefit, but Sheraton WTC was more accommodating than I'd hoped.

Transportation

Being further from GRU than last time, I wasn't prepared for my trip to the airport at the end of the day. I left the hotel at 5:30pm, and arrived at GRU at 8:30pm - although please note this is standard Sao Paulo traffic! Nothing to due with Sheraton WTC, but I just wanted to note the distance from GRU when your everyday Sao Paulo traffic starts should be taken into consideration.

All in all, a wonderful stay, and the reason I rebooked this hotel for my next trip in a...

The hotel

Wow, location, location, location! If you are attending an event at the WTC this is the place to stay! WTC and Sheraton are connected. There are restaurants and a food court with so many options from super-fast food (McDonald’s) to fancy sit-down and every in between. You never have to step outdoors.

The city views are beautiful to look at. From any side of the hotel there is something interesting to see.

The Club Level breakfast was amazing. They serve the usual eggs, bacon and sausage but also a huge selection of bakery yummies! There was a wide variety of fruits and meats, along with healthy juices (detox juice too!) and coffee.

The Executive Level lounge had fresh fruit, glass-bottled water, coffee and tonic throughout the day. Late afternoon they added tiny desserts to nibble. It’s quiet with comfortable seating and computers.

Check-in was slow and they take copies of your passports, but check-out was fast. And if you need them to hold your luggage, they will gladly.

Everyone was very friendly and helpful.

Our room

We had room 515 on the Design floor, individually designed rooms. I don’t know what the others are like but our room’s design revolved around trees. It looked cool and different, but that can also equate to weird. It was cool, it was weird.

Overall we enjoyed our room. I probably would request a different room if we are ever given that one again, but it really wasn’t a deal breaker.

Here comes the picky stuff

There’s no chest of drawers (bureau) to put your clothes in. There isn’t even a drawer on the side tables. There’s a large closet. Ok, great if I want to hang up a suit and dress. T-shirts, jeans, underwear, socks. Nowhere to put them except to leave them in our suitcases on the floor.

SO MANY LIGHTSWITCHES! There were approximately 9 lighting fixtures including multiple on the ceiling. There were switches for all 9 throughout the room. We just went around trying every switch whenever we wanted to turn on or off a light. And some switches did nothing.

Part of the “design” is sections of trees behind the bed. Sounds cool, looks “designed”. But, practically it was awful! It kind of serves as a headboard but the bed is very far from the trees. You can’t sit up in bed to read or watch TV because the pillows have nothing to lean against. Every morning I had to dig our pillows out from behind the bed.

There were no extra or empty outlets near the bed on either side. We had to unplug the lights and clock to plug in our devices.

Bathroom was a nice size, with a deep tub, shower, toilet and bidet. That didn’t leave a lot of floor space but it was fine. What wasn’t fine was the condition of the shower. The door can’t open/close without getting water all over the floor. The shower head was stuck on the few in the middle that force water out hard, it wouldn’t move to any other setting.

Both side table lamps flickered if bumped.

The lock on the door just turns and turns, so I don’t think it was ever properly locked.

On the day we arrived housekeeping knocked on our door twice. The last night was late, probably after 7pm. We had just arrived! Why were they asking to clean the room?

We had no issues with wifi.

We asked for late checkout and were given 1 hour extra, which was appreciated.

I would definitely stay at the hotel again. Overall it...

Upon arrival, things seemed to be satisfactory; however, that quickly changed. During the first week, I was booked on the 9th floor. The room was old and needs significant updating. The shower head sprayed all over the place and leaked on the floor outside the shower/tub combo. Watch out for the Tuesday night Club A arrivals! If you are lucky enough to have an even numbered room on most floors, you will find yourself awakened in the wee hours of the morning (and I'm talking about 4am) by the club goers outside in the pool area. Fun stuff! Club access to the 15th floor is only granted to those "preferred" members who evidently have the fortune of getting booked on the 15th floor and they are not very accommodating to anything else.

During the second week, I was lucky enough to be booked on the 10th floor and an odd numbered room...no more club interruptions! However, when I arrived to my room, there was no outlet near the bed to plug any electronics in, meaning, I couldn't work or charge my things, while trying to relax. I requested a change of rooms. Again in an odd numbered room, I appreciated the fact that club goers would not awaken me at 4am this week. The second room I was given is more modern; however, the separate shower unit does not contain any shelving, other than the soap dish, to accommodate bottles of shampoo or other bath-related items that I might need, nor is there a comfortable place for shaving my legs (maybe too personal, but I'm trying to be honest). Additionally, the shower head is old and sprayed everywhere, including leaking under the shower door, making a wet mess on the bathroom floor. I'm thinking safety hazard. English speaking employees are not their strong point and it is difficult to communicate with people in this hotel. Two room service orders later, from a less than par menu, I might add, they still didn't get it right and I went without dinner because it was too late to try again and too late to go anywhere else.

In conclusion to this long, but hopefully helpful review, the people try to be nice, it is good proximity to my office, but I really hope I never have to stay at this...