Sheraton Sonoma Wine Country Petaluma — Hotel in Petaluma

The Sheraton Sonoma county is one of the few stays I feel conflicted about. Let me start with the positives:

Location 8/10

The location is nestled in the local marina/harbor, though some noises exists from passing by trains, it is very quaint and somewhat romantic. It provides great access to San Francisco (40min drive) as well as the Sonoma County and Napa Valley wineries (40mins).

Room 9/10

I booked a regular king bed and with my suite night awards I was able to upgrade to a superior corner room. The room was one of the nicest Sheraton rooms I have ever seen. It was spacious, well organized, big bathroom with jacuzzi and a very comfortable bed for the cold nights that hugged the river.

Staff 9/10

The front desk staff and maintenance staff were all very friendly and accommodating and welcomed/thanked me for my loyalty.

The Bad.

The Club Lounge 2/10

This club lounge is possibly the worst I have ever experienced at a Sheraton property to date. Now there are some limitations:

Size, the club lounge was smaller than the room I was staying in, or it felt like it. Seating and layouts were poorly laid out. It was difficult to find a seat.

Service

It seems at times the Sheraton associate assigned to that location vanished for 15-20 minutes, sometimes they were not even present. This meant food was not replenished (i.e. croissants etc.). Plates would fill up on some tables or on a tray near the "storage door".

Food

The choice in the complimentary breakfast was extremely limited. I have seen better choices at hotel brands I avoid staying. Food seemed like it had been made 2h before and was not as fresh as it should have been. I am not claiming the food was not safe to eat, it WAS safe to eat but definetly sub-par by standards. On two days the the eggs were very dry and not palatable at all. The oatmeal seemed like the freshest thing that was offered.

Other amenities such as cereal (prepackaged) was offered and a coffee machine which seemed to be loaded with stale (beans that been let to sit out for some time) and not fully functioning.

The lounge

Final Review

I generally chose Sheraton properties due to a great value for the cost and the perks offered to SPG Platinum/Gold members. In this case the complimentary/lounge access for Breakfast is usually a deciding factor since it is a nice perk.

If you are basing your stay here on the fact that you may get a nice breakfast or snacks out of the Club i advise against it.. If you plan to have breakfast in other locations and take advantage of the rooms, I would highly recommend...

DO NOT STAY HERE! My Husband and I planned a weekend away and booked here. When we arrived we checked in and they told me they upgraded us because we are reward members. We got to our room key and went to our room. When we got to the room, it was not ready. Dirty bed, dirty dishes in the sink, trash not taken out, ect. We called the front desk but know one answered so we grabbed our stuff and went to the front desk. When we told them, all they said was "that's strange, I'll have house keeping go check". After they confirmed they said it would be an hour before its ready. We decided to get food at the restaurant and started noticing how incredibly dirty the hotel was. We actually looked to stay somewhere else but everything was booked. We decided to stay and they let us know our room was ready. We went to our room and decided to go downtown. When we came back for the night at 11pm, we got to our room and I used the bathroom, our toilet did not flush. I called the front desk and they said there is nothing they can. We can either pack our bags or deal with it. We decided to just go to bed. We got up first thing and decided to leave a day early. I went downstairs to use the restroom and get us coffee and when I came back I had an email from them with my invoice attached. They charged me an extra $116.00 for the upgrade! I was livid. We went to the front desk to complain and they said I authorized it. Again I am a rewards member with free upgrades! Why would I pay for one? We told them our frustration and the front desk gave me my invoice and their mangers card and said to call and speak with her, there's nothing they can do. I have been waiting for a week for this manager to call me back and she still hasn't. This hotel needs better trained staff, a new manager and a huge remodel. It is not worth the price. On top of everything else, the TV did not work in our room. It wasn't a huge deal to me because we were gone most the time but it's still just another annoyance this hotel has to offer.

I stay with Marriott at least twice a month if not more. I have reached out to Marriott customer service last week after our stay. I called them today to see if there is any resolution. They told me the manager closed the case without discussing with them or me. This manager clearly is the problem. I will continue to use Marriott because this really has been my only bad experience with them.

Please don't waste your money here. There's a brand new courtyard marriott down the street, I'm sure you'll...

I sent 2 e-mails to the GM (Mr. Satterfield) and his Front Desk staff asking for assistance with my 1 night stay. We were in town to celebrate my sister's birthday and enjoy Sonoma. There were 3 of us staying together and I submitted a suite night request. I requested a room to accommodate 3 people. When my suite night request was granted, I assumed it met the needs as stated in my e-mail. I called on Sunday morning to verify my suite and if we could check in early (requested early check in on the app). When I spoke to Alexis, she was fairly dismissive and didn't seem to care about my requests. When I checked in at 12pm, there were no rooms available. Since we couldn't get a suite, we were slated for a room with 2 beds. Alexis was at the front desk and informed us we would be called when the room was ready. We never received a call.

I'm giving this review 3 stars because of the excellent customer service that I received from Catherine. When she learned of my earlier request for a suite, she at least made some effort to search what was available and really seemed to care that my requests weren't granted. For my amenity, she offered breakfast, since the lounge only served breakfast until 9am. She also waived the $10 a night parking fee. Even though we didn't get the room we wanted, she really made me feel that she tried to help.

The biggest issue I had with my stay is communication. If you can't accommodate my request, e-mail me back and let me know.

I’m used to some sort of response. When my request couldn’t be accommodated, I wish I had been notified or informed that there wasn’t a suite that would meet our needs.

The room we received was decent - it had a nice view of the Marina, but the beds were more double sized rather than queen sized. It was small, yet functional. The downside is that the heater is dated and fairly loud (in-room unit near the window, not central AC/Heat).

Lounge - pretty sparse and basic. The breakfast hours were short - for a holiday (9am end).

On a positive note - the breakfast we had in the restaurant was quite good - I had the breakfast croissant that was quite tasty and the staff was attentive.

It wasn't a great start to holiday/birthday celebration. Oh yes, there wasn't any acknowledgment of that, either. I typically get a card or some note acknowledging a special occasion.

Lastly - to charge $10 for an open lot without valet, seem out of line for most Sheraton's without a covered...