Sheraton Hartford South Hotel — Hotel in Rocky Hill

CALLING ALL BRIDES - DO NOT BOOK HERE

I’m writing this to express my utter disgust and extreme disappointment with the Rocky Hill Sheraton and their incredibly unprofessional staff. I reserved the Sheraton for a room block of 20+ rooms for my wedding on 6/13. I’ve never in my life had this experience with a hotel in general, let alone one that holds themselves out as specializing in weddings. This was a poor excuse for a hotel, let alone for bridal purposes. Out of all my vendors, the ONLY one that I had challenge after challenge with was the Sheraton.

I (THE BRIDE) was called just a few short hours before my WEDDING that I needed to vacate the bridal suite asap. This was incredibly confusing, as we met with The Business Manager in May of 2024. We talked at length about how we would have the suite both nights, as so we could have guests back to our room after the wedding. On what planet would a BRIDE AND GROOM request the bridal suite the night before the wedding? That makes absolutely zero sense. Upon looking at my contract, my husband was booked for two nights and myself just 1. If I had to guess, they mistakenly gave me the bridal suite for the first night, and when it should have been a regular room so we could move to the bridal suite after the wedding. They gave our room to “an important guest attending the corporate function they were hosting.” And upon asking the guests to allow us to use the room for one more night since it was our WEDDING, they said they didn’t care and wanted us to move asap. 3 of my bridal party members had to clear out my room right before my wedding. When they arrived at the hotel, it was a circus to figure out which room my husband and I would be moved to. There were SIX staff members waiting for my party to arrive and were incredibly rude and disrespectful, staying it was my fault and I requested this. Let’s be real here, I didn’t, you just screwed up. Own it. My dad is in a wheelchair and I specifically requested a handicap room. He was not given one and when asked at the front desk, we were told “they gave them all away for the conference.” They tried to tell me I never requested one, which is absolutely untrue and now I can no longer access the original booking to see the notes. However, I will be submitting a complaint to the ADA and DPH of CT. The professional we hired to take care of our dog was given a very hard time at the front desk, and then was given a key card that let him in a room FULL OF SOMEONE’S STUFF. He went to the desk and was given a new room, but they didn’t seem at all concerned that he just walked into an already full room. All my guests were on different floors, which completely defeats the purpose of a room block. We told the manager in May that we would need well over 20 rooms. We specifically asked if there were any issues with other events, etc and were told they could accommodate. 3 separate times since May I had to contact her to open more rooms because my guests were told the block was full and to pay full price. It’s clear that you all did not prioritize our room block and booked two other large functions without realizing, hence the constant asking for more rooms and the lack of organization of them upon arrival. Several guests were told between 4-5 PM on 6/13 there were no rooms ready. Check in is 3 PM and our wedding began at 6 PM. The following are the room numbers that had to be switched due to major issues: 377 - had to change rooms at midnight on 6/12 because of non-working AC; also had dead flies in their coffee cups 355 - requested to change rooms on 6/13, but were told it would be fixed for them instead. It was not. 359 - no ac, non-working toilet (was told to use the bathroom in the lobby), several ants and bugs in the room

BRIDES DO...

To any couples looking for a hotel in the Middletown, CT area for your wedding, please choose ANYWHERE else except the Sheraton Hartford South. They have been nothing but a nightmare to work with and the only vendor that we had any issues with. Our wedding was 9/21/18 and we are STILL dealing with them, trying to fight charges on our card that should not have been there. The list goes on and on of all the ways that they have messed up/made this experience so tough. During our year engagement/wedding planning our sales manager changed 3 different times because they kept leaving their positions. This made it almost impossible to communicate and we had to repeat ourselves and bring up the contract constantly. We wanted to bring in pizzas for our late night after party and wanted to make sure it was okay with the hotel staff so we coordinated with them week ahead of time, we chose a specific banquet room to use so that we weren’t breaking rules and bringing food into the bar area where they serve food. When we got back on wedding night, my father asked if the pizzas had arrived and the staff acted like they had no idea what he was talking about. Then said “OHHH ya there were some delivered we put them in a supply closet” They then proceeded to bring them up to my Hotel room – not the banquet room booked. They would not allow people who booked through AAA to be a part of our room block. They switched the banquet room our brunch was in the day of so our guests did not know where to go and it looked like my itinerary I provided upon arrival was wrong. We got back to our room the night of the wedding to a bottle of champagne – was it nice? Yes. However it was address to Dan and Erin – Dan is my father, not my husband. While all of the items listed above are very annoying but maybe forgiven, not following the contract is not. We made a deal if we reached 50 rooms our suite would be free. We reached that number and of course – got charged. Now, they changed the story completely and are saying the charge was for our guests’ breakfasts. In the original contract, it states breakfast is included in the rooms. So now, they will not give us our money back for something that was already paid for! Every time we call they can’t remember our names, our situation – nothing. So now we are still going back and forth and constantly checking our credit card statements to monitor what is happening. So TBD……. Is the hotel decent? Yes. But it is not worth dealing with service we have had to deal with and now they are trying to scam us by not following our contract. I am so sick of dealing with place a month and a half after our wedding. There are so many options in the Middletown area I HIGHLY suggest taking advantage of the Marriott, or Inn at Middletown if you...

We're far enough into pandemic recovery that I just can't give this property a pass any longer--there's really not an excuse for the premium paid to stay at this "full service" hotel versus the continuing lack of services provided.

We have stayed here for a mixture of personal and business stays over several years (since the merger with Marriott).

Over the past 16 months or so the concierge lounge, bar, and restaurant were closed. We understood that, and even supported it; though we were also quite disappointed with the total lack of options the hotel offered for the Bonvoy program's elite members (essentially nothing (points), followed eventually by a very unimpressive grab-and-go breakfast only, and now just in late July a breakfast only buffet).

Even with the recent re-start of breakfast service, this property is woefully inadequate for a Sheraton.

The hotel is generally in need of remodeling. All the carpets are wrinkled, worn, and dirty--we have to wear slippers/flip-flops even in the room since you can't walk around barefoot without noticeable filth residue on your feet. The hotel needed a makeover when we first stayed there 3 years ago--it is now really awful.

Wi-Fi in any part of the hotel save the lobby is either barely adequate or just plain inadequate--we can't get a strong enough signal for basic telework when we need it, let alone streaming or any other typical usage beyond email or light web browsing.

This last trip was so bad, we just gave up. I cut a 6-night stay short to move to the Residence Inn in Southington for the second 3 nights--it cost us an extra $40/night on the room rate and $50/night for a pet fee, but was totally worth it. The two hotels are night-and-day different, with the RI hands-down a much better experience...and the Sheraton is supposed to be in the "premium" tier of the Marriott brand portfolio!

I think most of the staff are aware of the hotel's shortcomings; they're generally friendly, helpful, and apologetic about the situation. This review is about the hotel owner's/managers' failure to provide an experience commensurate with the property's place in Marriott's brand portfolio and the premium they charge to stay here.

Bottom Line: unless you just need a place to sleep and don't care at all about the hotel's amenities (or elite program benefits), avoid the Sheraton Hartford South in Rocky Hill. Even then, don't do it unless it's the cheapest rate you can find...it's just not...