Four Points by Sheraton Punta Gorda Harborside — Hotel in Punta Gorda

I booked this resort for a five day stay while visiting my husband and by the third day, I was already regretting it. When I initially checked into the hotel, I was told that no money would be taken from my account and that it was simply an authorization. By the next morning, I had a charge on my account for what appeared to be the entire length of the stay. That did my bother me; however, by the day after, there was a new pending charge for over five hundred dollars and I had only been at the resort for one night. When I spoke to the front desk staff, I was told several different stories by different people. One person told me that people aren't typically charged until they check out and he could not figure out what was going on. A second person told me that the system took a forty dollar dinner service charge and multiplied it across the number of days I was staying there along with any other charges I had charged to the account such as tips for the waitresses and small food items purchased from the front lobby. A third person told me that the system had an audit overnight and that it could have been a mistake; however, the hold still wouldn't be able to be released until I checked out two days later. So basically, I had a hold on my account for money that I had not spent. When I tried to speak to a manager several times, I was told either the manager was not there, was out to lunch, or would not return until the following day. To add insult to injury, Incorrect tip amounts were also added to bill. I was initially told the system automatically added additional cents to a tip; however, another staff person told me the person entering the tip amount would have had to type in the incorrect amount. I had four charges on the bill that were incorrect and no one attempted to resolve the matter other than telling me to contact my bank. A fourth person told me that if the system notices a pattern of charges being charged to the room, it will attempt to place a large hold on an account in order to make sure the funds are there. We have stayed at plenty of resorts and have never had that happen to us. How does a system charge for items not purchased.

As for the room, the room was great. We had a great view of the marina from our balcony. We only ordered room service on our first night there as we wanted to try out the Dockside Grill. The food at the Dockside Grill was pretty good. The two next two nights, we were not able to eat dinner at the Dockside Grill or order room service due to a private event.

The hotel staff at this establishment need better training in etiquette. Their staff, Brittany, was very rude to us from the moment we began our stay at the resort. When asked if there was a list of the resort's amenities, she told us there wasn't a list and was very short with us. When attempting to help with the overcharges on the account, she kept telling us she would get back to us and never did. We had to contact the desk staff on several occasions to figure out what was going on. We will not be stay at this property or another Sheraton establishment...

(4-24-2016) We decided to treat ourselves by upgrading to a nice hotel. Other than the guest above being noisy, the room was typical, clean and pleasant. BUT weird enough our room, and to my understanding all rooms do not have a microwave ? ? ? They sell microwave popcorn in the lobby but no microwave. But I must digress. Everything was do-able until we checked out. Upon check out we were THEN informed of a $5 amenity charge because the facility has a fishing dock and a volleyball court and other stuff we did not use. No choice but to pay it. The manager who had that "I am smiling at you because I have too" look proceeded to show me a brochure where it showed pictures of the volleyball court, the dock and such and at the bottom in small writing it stated there was an automatic $5 charge per night's stay. That was not stated when I booked the room nor was it stated when I checked in but SURELY they state it as you leave. AND YES, he checked us in. So, we pay it and try to laugh it off. We look over and viewed some guest eating a continental type of breakfast. We loaded up the car and decide to get breakfast. We walk thru the dining area, looked at the Mother's Day special sign, look for any type of sign or advertising/pricing as we were getting in line for the breakfast. It was a typical continental breakfast consisting of items like: Donuts, muffins, scrambled eggs, bacon, cereal, fruit, etc. I had a similar continental breakfast down the road at the less expensive hotel a few months ago. We found a nice table outside and proceed to sit down and eat. An employee ask us about coffee and soda which I thought was very nice; maybe because we were outside and or maybe because it was an upgraded hotel. Anyhow, the employee apologized for the $5 amenity fee and then stated that the "Restaurant" was separate from the hotel..... Then she stated there was a $9.99 charge for the breakfast..... Which I already ate quite a bit of. I explained that I did not see a sign or a pricing guide, she then just apologized and said she would bring us a check. KEEP IN MIND that this is a basic continental breakfast. Not steak, not custom made omelets but somewhat burned bacon, sub-par sausage, bruised bananas; you get the picture. That is now $25 cost (2 @ $9.99 breakfast and a $5 amenity fee) that I was totally unaware of. Once again, the staff was vacant and or unable to answer my questions and quickly walked away. In Summary, average rooms that are slightly noisy from 4th floor to 3rd floor, no microwave in the room, employees would not microwave upon request, slippery halls near the kitchen, mosquitos in the lobby, black greasy tile at the water line of the pool, an unknown $5 amenity charge, a very average continental type breakfast bar that is not clearly advertised (or advertised at all) for $9.99. Keep in mind this was booked online and everything should have been declared at that time as well as the moment we checked in. All these wonderful shortfalls and hidden charges for the cost of $176 per night. NEVER, NEVER AGAIN. Higher prices does not equal...

Check in was fast and friendly. Every time we had a small issue, the staff responded quickly and with clear explanations. Parking is a bit of an issue here though, because there is a tiki bar on the property that shares the parking lot with hotel patrons. We couldn't find a spot one night when returning to the hotel, so we told the front desk and one of them went out personally to take a look. Turned out there was no one monitoring the hotel-only area. Whenever we had a question, they answered it too. Very friendly people all around. Minor complaints re: the room - we asked for a corner room or one on a high floor, but we got a second floor room with a view of the parking lot and the place was booked so we couldn't be moved. Secondly, there was a scrunchie with hair in it on the bathroom floor which shouldn't have been missed by the cleaning staff if the room had indeed been cleaned thoroughly. It just puts doubt in your head. But the room was modern and clean with a refrigerator, which we liked. The Breakfast-for-a-Buck promo worked out okay and the servers were very nice, but the breakfast was always the same and kind of slow coming. No complaints though overall. The biggest concern to us was the pool area. We like to go for an early hot tub visit and then some time at the (very nice) pool. However, late night pool patrons leave a big mess of liquor litter, wet towels, and even underwear, but no one cleans it up before morning patrons arrive for a swim. One day we found two homeless people with all of their belongings sleeping on the cushioned lounge chairs in a private pool alcove. They even stayed while we enjoyed the pool. Later, we told the front desk about it and asked if they have a camera on the pool area, but they don't, and upon checking, we found the gate to the pool area was unlocked overnight, hence the visitors. So the pool area was lovely, but not well maintained, however the water temp and clarity was beautiful. Check out was quick and there were no added charges at the end, but the room was clean when we left. The room was modern and bright and cool enough to sleep well. The bed was very comfortable and the TV and everything else worked just fine. We could have used some luggage racks though, as we had to put them on the AC set up, blocking the air flow. We also did not experience any real noise issues, even though there was a room full of students across the hall. Weird that there WAS an abandoned microwave oven on the floor outside a room opposite ours...