Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel — Hotel in Portsmouth

We recently spent a two night getaway for a wedding in a suite at this hotel. Before we got there the disappointment started....it was very disheartening to hear that two and a half weeks before the wedding the bride went for the final walk through and was at that time surprised by the fact the entire lobby upstairs and downstairs was under complete renovation and blocked off. From my understanding the GM response to this was that the bride had the option to cancel the wedding two and a half weeks before or deal with it and that "they would make it the best wedding possible". Well the thought of canceling a destination wedding this close to the wedding was not an option. Upon arrival the lobby was completely blocked off. There were no carts available for our luggage so we had to wait outside of our car about 20 minutes until finally my husband went and got a luggage cart on his own. The valet people did greet us very nicely and the check in staff was also very friendly. When we got to our suite that we had rented for two days I was very disappointed on the entire room. There was a porch balcony with a sign on the door that said that we cannot open the door. We we told that the room would sleep 4 adults and 2 children. Well that meant one child slept on the couch which was not a pull out bed and the other child slept in between my husband and I while my grandparents slept in the other room. I woke up the first morning to find my elderly grandmother curled up in her jacket and shower towels on the chair in the living room because she was not able to sleep the entire night because the ac machines were all outside their bedroom window and were very loud. It was impossible to sleep in this room. The hotel staff was very helpful the next day because they did give them a standard room the following day to sleep in and we were able to stay in the suite. Although no one was able to sleep in that room because of the noise. I was disappointed in the presentation of this room for the cost that was spent. There was severe water damage on the ceiling lampshade and window valance above my head. There were like hairspray or water marks all over the walls, and the wallpaper was peeling in several different places. The suite was completely outdated and not up to par from my perspective. It was quite disappointing. And also we planned in sharing a room with my grandparents for convenience so unfortunately it became more of an inconvenience. The rehearsal dinner was great food was good it was buffet style the bar tender was so wonderful he was great and made the night very special! Onto the wedding- unfortunately the wedding coordinator did not show up the day of the wedding, there was no direction or instruction for the bride. The bride had to call the front desk on her own. There was a fill-in that day. The plan was to have the grandparents seated before the ceremony but because the wedding planner was not there. The day of the wedding they became part of the wedding itself. This was upsetting after all these months planning the "perfect wedding" the plans were not followed and the guest book was never put out. When the bridal party changed out of heels to flip flops my shoes were stuck on the floors at the bottom of the lobby stairs from the floor glue. I thought I was going to have to leave my shoe in that spot. The wedding reception room was set up beautiful. This was the best part of the whole trip. I was disappointed by the food though...I did not have time to eat all day as I was in the wedding and by the time my food came I was so excited. I ordered haddock. Before the meal they came around and checked again what everyone wanted and I confirmed haddock. Then when my meal came it was ICE cold, the lady came over and asked how the food was and I asked her to heat up my food as it was so cold I couldn't eat it. She took it in the kitchen and someone threw it out. The manager came out and then apologized to me that the kitchen threw out my food and there was no extra plates of haddock. He then offered me prime rib. I don't eat prime rib. So he offered me something off of the main restaurant menu. They had haddock in the restaurant so they brought me that and it was very hot and good. Unfortunately I was not the only one who had cold food. Two other people at our table and another had to send the food back to be warmed, especially since it was seafood. The manager was very polite he offered me a complimentary cocktail, I declined but the thought was still nice. The reception overall was nice but had quite a few disappointments. Last but not least...the valet Christopher and Madison were soooooo amazing! They were so great! They knew my son by first name just from all the times he walked bye. They were a great group at the valet area and deserve special recognition for their great customer service. Overall, after the upsets with all the wedding planning I was just looking for a nice weekend get away but the overall appearance of the suite was not much like a vacation, I felt it was unclean and old and outdated and I was not comfortable in it. I trust in this hotel chain and have never been disappointed, until this recent experience. I hope that once the renovation is complete that all these things are fixed, I also understand the suites are privately owned but if they are going to have these suites associated with the hotel. A lot of changes need to be made. Especially the water damage I had to look...

Nothing like staying right on the Piscataqua River; the border of New Hampshire and Maine.

The hotel boasts itself about remodels of specifically the room we stayed in yet it lacks evidence of that. It was a nice hotel but the cost versus what you get don’t match the 4 stars.

•Bathrooms: Each lighted mirror in the bathrooms were not working. Taking a shower felt like a risky task because the only light was over the sink across the room. Once you closed the shower curtain the enclosure was total darkness. The downstairs bathroom ceiling had water damage where the paint was peeling off the ceiling. None of the toilets were elongated and they were very low for a toilet these days. •Living room: There were obvious signs of extended wear on the furniture. There were 2 screens that were torn, one very bad. This could be why they bolted all the windows shut. There was a clear lack of USB outlets in general throughout and the electrical outlets they did have were very limited or not working. There is a small office off the butler kitchen/pantry and the only outlet in the entire office was under and behind a huge desk. We finally moved it only to find the outlet wouldn’t hold a simple iPhone plug in place. The view however from this room was incredible and our primary reason for selecting this room. There was a patio/veranda off the living room which was really beautiful to sit at when the sun was out and has nice views of the city and harbor. They had a patio table and 3 chairs which was an odd number. •Bedrooms: The bedside table in the primary bedroom used to have usb and outlets yet they were covered up by a black tape. The only window that was accessible was a skylight and was almost impossible to reach. We love having a bedroom window open so this was something we didn’t care for. They neglected to inform us there was a flight of stairs to climb to access the primary bedroom or the fact that its a loft. All noise and light from downstairs is enjoyable from the room. Forget trying to go to bed before everyone else or being the first person up hours before everyone being afraid to make a sound or turn on lights. This room was the only king bed for my tall husband but the dormer over the bed made it impossible for him to stand upright getting in and out of bed. I’m only 5-7” and I couldn’t stand straight up next to the bed. The design in the suite is definitely a flawed one.

We indulged in room service each of the 4 days we were here and one has to be reminded they include a 18% gratuity plus a delivery fee of $3.00 within each transaction. It was really worth it. Food was just delicious. We tried salads, appetizers, breakfast items, fruits, coffee, juice. All were more than we expected in portions as well as taste. Marcia was our primary room service contact and she was just amazing. She is the reason we utilized room service as much as we did.

They do have a great club room. They have fresh oatmeal with lots of mix ins and fresh juices, yogurt and seltzers. Hot breakfast on the days we stayed consisted of; first day was scrambled eggs with chives, sausage, potatoes. Scrambled eggs with chives, bacon, waffles the second. The sausage was the best we ever had. If you like spicy you will love these. The one thing they do have that is super rare is seltzers.

This place does lack a “real” concierge which would set them apart from other 4 and 5 star hotels and actually give them the 4 stars they say they are. Someone to bring you to your room and explain all the services in the room and where things are and how they worked. Like the safe, hvac, fireplace. The hotel was in a great location. Lots of shoppes and tons of bars/pubs/breweries. We parked the car in the small hotel lot for the 4 days and didn’t need it the whole time. There is limited parking in the whole city so you will either do valet at the hotel or park across the street in a...

My husband and I had our reception at the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel last November.

According to the attendants there was nowhere for us to park within Sheraton parking. The attendants acted as if we had some nerve for even inquiring about parking. We found street parking after being ushered away from the castle walls. We understand that we were the small wedding party but couldn’t help feel like we were being treated as “the small wedding reception party, that rented the smaller of the reception rooms”.

We were told when going to take photos that there was another wedding party in that area of the hotel taking photos. It was unavailable to us. We had to have a group of 10 people dressed in black tie attire take photos outside in 38° weather. Our parents were frozen but kept it positive. When we went back in, we were then told that the area would not be available until our reception started but they would “let us know”.

That never happened, and honestly it seemed as though we weren’t even allowed near the lobby bar. I spoke to the bartender, “I have an open bar downstairs, may I have a drink up here?” and was denied.

We felt pushed around by Doug to do our introduction at that point because of the time. We asked him can we please have 5 minutes for our Maid of Honor to grab her Louboutin’s from her car right outside (She didn’t want them to get scuffed on the pavement for photos) and in response he ushered the entire party in the direction of the Prescott Rooms introduction door without us. We refused to go with the party until she got back inside and put them on as fast as possible.

We didn’t have the time prior trying to set up a reception in two weeks to attend the pre-dinner. We also did not stay at the hotel that evening. We were told we could come back for both.

We had the bar opened up three times by our folks as well, however we did have very many people looking for their just ordered drinks wondering where they had disappeared to. I personally couldn’t figure why the head table continued to have drinks go missing the moment we’d be dancing for a minute.

We told the baking company they subcontracted we wanted a dark navy blue cake and that was our only request. We ended up with a baby blue cake that you would see at a baby shower.

We were told we have to go with the florist shop the hotel works with in the package (Jardiniere Flowers, Florist in Portsmouth, New Hampshire). We called and they acted like they had no clue however we have correspondence proving otherwise. This then made us have to go out a week before and make our own centerpieces.

We tried reaching out to CJ about this two days ago, no call back the first day on top of two e-mails. He managed to call us and explain that he skipped a meeting to call us? Great, he didn't really care all to much, he only told us a sales pitch to get us off the phone conveniently by 5.

He also told us to take our flower concerns up with the flower company. He also explained they use them religiously, stating the flower company gives the entire hotel new flowers weekly, and yet they couldn't be bothered to come up with any compromise.

Our money is green just as much as the next person. Don't get treated like less, or let people mistake your politeness for stupidity, so they can then walk...