Sheraton Flowood The Refuge Hotel & Conference Center — Hotel in Flowood

This is my first 1 star rating I’ve ever given. So it takes a lot!

Long review- HORRIBLE experience.

I booked two rooms here for a wedding event happening on a Saturday night. The rooms were for myself and sisters who were coming in from out of town for this event. We had heard great things about this hotel and wanted to stay somewhere high end as a treat.

I had gotten an early check in through the hotel for 11am as we would have out of town guests arriving in the area around 12pm and would use the hotel rooms to get settled in and ready for the event that started at 5pm that night. From the moment I tried to check in, it turned disastrous. I got there around 12 to check us in and grab room keys- but I was told by the front desk that they had no clean rooms and they couldn’t tell me when they’d have our rooms ready. I explained to them that out of town guests were on their way and we had an early check in and were depending on these rooms to get ready for an event. The front desk employee didn’t even look up from her computer screen and said, “an early check in has nothing to do with the rooms being clean or not.”

Huh?? If you do not have adequate staff to maintain the rooms, don’t book the hotel to capacity. And ruin your guests night.

I am 6 months pregnant and she said, “you’re welcome to go have a drink at the bar.” 🤦🏼‍♀️ she was completely uninterested and dismissive.

She said she’d give me a call when our rooms were clean but again, didn’t know when that would be. Hoping it would be soon, I didn’t want to go far so I went out to the parking lot to wait in my car-It was 106. Long story short, although we an 11am check in, they didn’t get us a clean room until 4:30pm! We all had to share a mirror in one room to get ready in 10 minutes for the event that started at 5pm! They couldn’t even get the 2nd room by this time. We were late for our event!

Later that evening, after our event, we decided to go up to the rooftop bar. The ambiance is great and it’s a very cool little spot for this area, if the bar service wasn’t ATROCIOUS. We had 5 girls standing at the bar. We smiled and greeted the bartender, I think her name was Tiffany. We asked, “hi, is this where we need to be to order a drink?” She mumbled yes and didn’t even look over. We waited and chatted for awhile but before long it became VERY obvious that she was ignoring us. She kept going back to the same 3 or 4 customers that she seemed very chummy with, laughed with them, continued to not acknowledge us. All five of us have worked many years in the service industry and are very sympathetic to “being in the weeds.” That’s not what this was. This was blatantly obvious- She just did not care to provide service to us. We waited a total of 45 MINUTES, without her coming over once to say a word, and while she continued to chat with the customers at the bar that she kept going over to.

We never got a drink, we ended up just going up to the room.

The next morning, as I was checking out, the front desk associate asked if I could say that our stay was 10 stars worthy. “I can’t say that it was.” And I told her the hassles and the poor service we received the day before. She went back into the office to speak to her manager and came out to say $20 would be taken off both of our rooms and we’d receive an updated emailed receipt.

Okay.. not great.. but something 🤷‍♀️ I told her thank you and we left.

I did receive an emailed receipt.. with the full charges. Heads up! When you call you hotel to ask a question about your bill, you don’t just land a front desk employee. You go through a long list of menu questions and end up talking to a third party that’s located in a foreign country. SO much red tape. More hassle. Just do what you say you’re going to do.

I wish I could give them 0 stars. I can’t express how poor this experience was and how we had to jump through hoops and go through so much logistically to make our event come together.

We had more rooms booked for an event in September but we will be cancelling. I will never...

‼️UPDATE‼️This will be quite lengthy! Unfortunately I have to make this update after my recent stay. As I mentioned in the previous review, I was returning to spend a few days here for a work function. I can’t express how upsetting this stay was. I had such high expectations after my first visit. Sadly, it was not the same experience. The rooms were really nice, but some of the staff were HORRIBLE!! ESPECIALLY TIFFANY ( bartender). As I said, we were here for work. Myself and well over 100 employees. We also had vendors that were catering food, and offering an open tab at the bar. TWICE Tiffany told fellow employees that no one had a tab and made them pay for their drinks. When In fact, they did have a tab at the bar , they had just dealt with a different bar tender ( probably because she’s so rude and unprofessional) instead of doing her job and informing the customer to speak to the other BT, she would just rudely and loudly say “ Nope, Nobody here has a tab, if you want a drink, I need a credit card) so, they would pay for their own. This happened quite a few times on the first night while on the rooftop. On the second night at the lobby bar she done the same exact thing but behaved even worse! Myself and two co-workers returned from dinner to meet about 15 fellow co-workers at the bar. Before entering the lobby one of our bosses stopped us and told us to visit the bar because a certain vendor had an open tab and wanted us all to visit. We proceeded inside and went straight to the bar ( where everyone else was waiting)when he asked for a drink she told him “ Nope, they don’t have a tab.” He questioned her because we knew there was one. She repeated “ Nobody here has a tab at this bar. If you want your drink then you need to pay for it”. Quite embarrassed, he paid for the drink. He then turned to me and another boss and questioned why she was being so rude, and made the comment that he wasn’t leaving a tip. She was staring him down with a look, and I guess she heard him. At this point, she walked from the other side of the bar straight to him and in front of everyone ( loudly) said “ DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY?” He looked up and said “ excuse me?” She again said “ I SAID, DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO ME?” He politely said “ No M’am” ( because we’re at a work function and standing beside an executive.) At this time TABBY ( the most wonderful employee there) walked up and said “ I have the tan and YES, it is open, I’ll be happy to get you a drink”. I was so furious with the hateful Tiffany ( I can’t call her what I would like to) I wouldn’t even purchase a drink. I honestly just wanted to leave the whole place by this time. Several co-workers informed us that she was just as hateful to them and they couldn’t believe that so many employees at this hotel were so rude. I have to praise Tabby ( and her cute little pigtails) as well as the little blonde bar tender that assisted her during our private party the night before. Had it not been for those two girls, I would have taken my review to ONE STAR!! Tabby saved our night. She was such a joy and soon had us laughing and enjoying ourselves. Thank you TABBY!! You’re wonderful and such an asset!! I will also add this, but I did not witness it myself. I was asked to include it by other employees. Apparently this same night ( before we returned from dinner) there was a lady fluttering around the lobby bar and outside that was what we call “ a woman of the night”. She claimed to be staying there while traveling from Pennsylvania. She began propositioning numerous men and trying to talk them into coming with her to her room for “ a good time”. They were quite upset about this. Staff at the front desk allowed this to continue for some time, until one man finally ran her off. Just beware when staying here!! But if you need great service… Ask for Tabby!

Beautiful place!! Here for the Great Day of Safety! Will return in a few weeks to stay here during another meeting. I can’t wait. It’s super nice, the lazy river looks amazing, and...

⭐️⭐️½ — Meh. Some bright spots, but not what you’d expect from a Marriott-branded resort.

As a Bonvoy Platinum Elite member, I’ve stayed at a wide range of Marriott properties, and I generally expect a consistent level of service and hospitality—especially from a resort-style hotel. Unfortunately, our experience at the Sheraton Flowood fell well below that standard. The property has a lot of potential, but the execution just isn’t there.

Golf Course: We played the on-site course and got rained out after just three holes. I went back to the pro shop and asked if I could reschedule or at least come back later if the rain cleared up. The woman working there seemed annoyed I was even asking. She said I could start again on the 4th hole if the rain stopped but didn’t offer a refund, voucher, or rain check. The course itself was well maintained, but the customer service left a bad impression.

Bar Service: Only one bartender working, even though it was the middle of summer and the place was packed. It took far too long to get a drink, and it felt like no one in management anticipated a busy night or cared to staff accordingly.

Rebecca’s Restaurant: We had an 8:15 dinner reservation, and the whole experience felt chaotic and understaffed. We stood at the hostess stand for several minutes before anyone greeted us, and when they finally did, it was a blunt “Do you have a reservation?” Not exactly the kind of welcome you’d expect at a resort restaurant.

Once seated, the issues continued. Looked like there was only one waitress working the entire restaurant, and service was painfully slow. It took forever just to get water and place our orders. Our food didn’t come out for about 45 minutes, and when it did, my son’s meal was cold. No one was bussing tables, so we were surrounded by dirty dishes on nearby tables the entire time, which just made the environment feel unclean and neglected.

Eventually, my wife had to take our son upstairs to get him to bed, and I ended up sitting alone at the table for another 20 minutes just waiting for someone to bring the check. No follow-up, no urgency—just an overall sense of disorganization and a staff that seemed overwhelmed and under-supported.

Staff Attitude: Across the board, the staff acted more like they were doing guests a favor than trying to create a great experience. No one was directly rude, but there was a noticeable lack of hospitality and attentiveness, which really dragged the whole stay down.

What Was Good: The club-level lounge was a highlight—clean, quiet, and well-stocked. The pool and lazy river area were also very nice and well-maintained, especially for families. There’s no question that the facility itself is beautiful and has all the right features.

Final Take: This resort could be excellent. The property has the bones for a standout Marriott experience, but the poor service and lack of staffing made it feel more like an afterthought than a true resort stay. Until they invest in better training, leadership, and guest-focused hospitality, it’s hard to justify the price tag or the Marriott name on the sign. Hopefully, they turn it around—because right now, it’s just...