Wyndham Phoenix Airport/Tempe — Hotel in Tempe

This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the worst Sheraton properties in the entire portfolio. I was disappointed from the moment I arrived.

First, this property bills itself as being an airport hotel. This is misleading. It is a few miles from the airport, and it is at least a 15 minute drive from the Sky Harbor Airport Car Rental facility. And despite the picturesque photos on the hotel website, the property is actually located in a light industrial area with a view of parking lots, a motel, and the freeway.

Check-in was uneventful. I was assigned to a room on the 4th floor which is the club level. I was directed to an elevator that was quite a distance from the front desk, and that elevator was up a couple of steps – not real convenient when you have luggage. There was an out-of-the-way ramp, but it wasn’t particularly convenient either.

The 4th floor required key access. Unfortunately, neither of my keys worked, so I had to trek back to the front desk to get new keys. The front desk changed my keys and then told me that 4th floor access from this particular elevator has been a consistent problem. It certainly would have been nice to know this in advance, rather than having the front desk gamble that my keys would work.

The second set of keys did work, and I was able to get to the 4th floor. I entered the dark and dank room only to find that the room had 2 double beds instead of the King that I reserved, and that the individual window air conditioning unit was rattling so loudly that even if the room had the King bed I had reserved, I could not have stayed in that room because of the noise. Once again, I needed to return to the front desk.

Upon returning to the front desk to change rooms, I was first told that there were actually no King Bed rooms available. When I protested, suddenly a room with a King bed magically materialized. The front desk staff offered me a couple of drink coupons for the inconvenience, and when I politely refused them (since I don’t usually drink, especially when I’m working), they offered me some extra Starpoints instead, which I graciously accepted. Unfortunately, although the points from my stay posted several days ago, those courtesy points still haven’t posted to my account.

The second room was marginally acceptable. Like the first room, it was very dark and dank, but the air conditioning unit was a bit quieter. Individual window units are rarely as quiet as internal duct units, but at least this unit wasn’t shaking and rattling. Like the other room, the bathroom was quite small, and there was no closet – only an armoire which was unusable because it was used to store the ironing board. And like the other room and the rest of the hotel, wifi service was about as slow as dial up. There was no premium internet available for Platinum guests.

After finally settling in, I made my way to the club lounge for the evening snacks. The food offerings consisted of some dry chicken nuggets that were more nugget than chicken, some blue tortilla chips, and some sticky dessert thing that was falling apart. The food was basically inedible, and certainly at the very bottom rung of any food I have ever had in a Sheraton Club. The breakfast food the following morning was equally miserable.

Leaving the hotel for my meetings the next morning, I stopped by the front desk to let them know that I had a second room for the night, as I was having my parents join me at the hotel. Not knowing when my meetings would end, I wanted to make sure that my parents could get into their room if I were to be delayed. The staff took my parents’ names, and asked me if I wanted a room for them which was nearby my room. Recalling the fiasco of my check-in the previous day, I advised the front desk staff that I would prefer they have a room near mine, so long as it had a quiet air conditioning unit and a King bed. I was assured that this would not be a problem.

Unfortunately, it was a problem. My parents were assigned a room with 2 double beds, and when they called the front desk, they were familiarly told that there were no King beds available because of the hotel’s high occupancy. I arrived back at the hotel shortly thereafter, and I intervened with the front desk staff to advocate for my parents. After some back-and-forth, a room with a King bed once again mysteriously appeared in the inventory.

I headed back to my room, only to be disappointed by the fact that housekeeping had failed to refresh toiletries and had done a poor job cleaning the room. I went back to the front desk to speak with a manager, and happened to find the hotel’s general manager. I shared with him the myriad of concerns that I had about the property, and he seemed genuinely uninterested in anything I had to say. He certainly wasn’t apologetic, and the best he could do was offer me the toiletries that the housekeeper had failed to refresh from the stock that he kept at the front desk. Apparently, this is enough of a problem on a regular basis that the front desk keeps soap and hand lotion handy.

In my conversation with the GM, I also noted that I had seen the sign in the elevator about the pending $3.5 million refresh and renovation of the property, and conveyed to the manager that I hoped that some of issues I had observed with the property being genuinely rundown and decrepit would be resolved through the renovation. The GM took umbrage at my comments, and told me that the renovation had actually been completed. I guess that part of the renovation didn’t include removing the posters from the elevator announcing that a renovation was coming soon.

I was frankly shocked to learn that the refresh and renovation had been completed. Carpeting in the hallways was filthy and torn, walls were scuffed in places, and wallpaper was peeling. The furniture in my room and in my parents’ room was showing signs of age and some serious wear and tear. The deadbolt lock on my door was difficult to turn, requiring me to use the security latch to double-secure my door. And my room safe did not work either. I’m not sure where the $3.5 million was spent, but there were certainly no visible signs to me that the property had been refreshed at all.

Upon retiring for the night, I looked for the bathrobe that had been provided the previous night. Unfortunately, when the housekeeper changed the sheets and towels (I hope), she apparently removed the bathrobe but failed to replace the robe with a fresh one. Since this was the same housekeeper who couldn’t be bothered to fully clean the room or restock toiletries, it should not have surprised me that she failed to replace the bathrobe.

All in all, I’m having a hard time finding anything nice to say about this hotel. I can’t imagine that I would ever want to stay there again, and I certainly could not recommend this hotel, particularly when there are so many other quality hotels in the SPG portfolio in the Phoenix area to choose from. This place gets a...

This is hands down one of the worst hotel experiences I have ever encountered. I will attempt to lay it all out here:

ROOMS: I was put in room 163 on the first floor after much headache (more on that in the service part later). The room itself was DISGUSTING. It had sticky dark stains on the carpet. The TV did not turn on. The bathroom sink did not drain. The bathtub finish was chipping. A drain pipe from under the sink appeared to have been adjusted in such a way that the installer broke the drywall to make room for it and part of the inner wall was exposed. The toilet paper rod kept falling off after trying to roll it. The lobby music was on all night long and can be heard through the paper-thin walls. A door near the outside of the room would SLAM after each person went through it (happened about 5x per night). It was interesting to note that the TV was new and modern...I wonder what the priorities are with their budget for updating the rooms. I've stayed at a low-rated Motel 6 before, and this rivals that in the crappiness department.

SERVICE: My friend made a reservation for 2 nights here for vacation. He notified the hotel that I would be arriving before him to check in, and provided my name so that I could be authorized to check in prior to his late flight arrival. I arrived the morning of the first day in order to leave my bags at the front and kill some time for the afternoon. No biggie, I've done this many times before. There should be no issues, right? WRONG!

After an exhausting afternoon, I arrived around 5pm to check-in while my friend was in mid-flight with no internet access. I went to the front desk, notified them that I am checking in. The employee at the front desk looked up my friend's name and mentioned she had no such notes or authorization for me to check in under his reservation. Confused, I provided my friend's name, the dates of our stay, and a text message from my friend stating that he talked to someone there to authorize me to check in. Not to mention, I was also willing to use my credit card to pay for the room and anything else required.

Well, I guess that wasn't enough. Instead of her providing solutions, recommendations or empathizing with me, she instead said "Sorry, there is nothing I can do about it. I don't want to lose my job over this." I was dumb-founded by this response. In no way was I asking for her to make any sort of rash decisions as this seemed like such a simple process. Therefore, I helplessly texted my friend and I made some calls to see if I could retrieve at least a confirmation number. After some unsuccessful attempts, I asked her once again if there is anything that can be done to get me in the room. Surprisingly, she said she would check on something because I looked like a "sad puppy". Offensive much?

She then said she would need a confirmation number or have my friend call or email stating that I am authorized to check in. This was not possible as he was still in flight and not responding. After awhile, I FINALLY retrieved a confirmation number and a miracle response from my friend stating he authorizes me for check in.

I sincerely wonder if she has had any customer service training, because she desperately needs it. Also, if she is so concerned about her job, she should really work on these customer skills as I suspect this isn't the first time she has talked down to someone. She genuinely seemed to enjoyed telling me no. It was truly bizarre.

LOCATION: There's nothing around. However, I suspect that the location is catered to people needing a quick stay for a layover, hence the name and location of the hotel. But, this is no excuse to not have good customer service and keeping things tidy and clean.

As we eagerly left on the last day, I noticed some stucco work being patched up or something outside on the building. It got me wondering if the hotel only cares about what's on the outside, as they clearly need A LOT of work on the inside. I will NEVER stay here again and you...

So I haven't even checked out yet and I am just blown away by the good customer service I've encountered here, hence why I'm writing this review now.

Parking was easy, plenty of empty spaces even on a night with lots of hotel guests/bookings. I parked a bit further from the reception area so that I wouldn't wake up with any door-dings.

At check-in, I was greeted by a sincere, friendly, and funny team who talked me through where to find the elevators, told me about the pool and its open hours, and gave me good advice about the best way to book their hotel in the future and get the best rates. Unfortunately, the first room that they sent me to had not been cleaned by housekeeping yet, so I had to come back to the front desk to get a different room. They handled this quickly and professionally, and even offered me a complimentary breakfast to make up the for the mishap.

The pool was quite nice and spacious, and they have a spa/hot tub that's comfortable, but it needs a bit of sprucing up (there are some tiles missing, and there's an area in the tub that's cold because cold water is coming out of one of the jets). 95% of the hut tub is good and warm (approx 96F, which I like, but may be a bit cold for some!). There were no pool towels out there, but I visited at 9pm on a chilly evening, which may explain why there weren't any out there. (Edit: I came again at 11am the next morning, and there were still no towels by the pool. Perhaps they should put a sign out directing people to an alternate location to grab a towel, like the front desk, should pool towels be unavailable.)

The breakfast/restaurant/bar area is also quite spacious and can seat groups of 8 or more (especially if you move tables around with the permission of the attentive and friendly staff).

I didn't expect a lot out of the kitchen and dining options here because it's a mid-range airport hotel, but the front desk attendant told me that one of the chefs was her husband and that the food program here was actually quite good, and I endeavored to find out for myself if that was the case (it was!).

I went down for breakfast at 9:30am, waiting at the bar for the bar manager because no staff was around. The young man took my order (Southwest Eggs Benedict!) and waltzed off to grab my orange juice.

When my food arrived, I could tell it wasn't the Southwest Eggs Benedict that I had ordered, but rather a Southwest Omelet, and I mentioned this to the waiter but he suggested I try it anyway because the Omelet is quite good. I tried it, and he was right, it was very flavorful and perfectly seasoned, so I happily let the ordering mishap slide since the waiter was sincerely sorry, and because the Omelet was so wonderful!

Anyway, even before my food arrived, I could tell from my interactions with the bar attendant that he was quite polite and professional and efficient, and so I told the folks at the front desk about how impeccable he was, just so they knew that they had hired really solid staff (not all hotels have solid staff, but this one clearly does!).

Regarding the property itself, and the rooms, I wouldn't say that this hotel is all brand new, but I wouldn't say it's exceedingly dated, either. The decor is tasteful and inoffensive, lamps are placed where they should be, the elevators work and things are relatively clean. My room on the 2nd floor had its own private balcony overlooking the pool area. The AC worked, the room had a good-sized flatscreen TV and a very comfortable desk (which I'm sitting at right now!), and black-out curtains for those of us who want to sleep in.

Overall, it's a good, solid airport hotel, with no major complaints. That said, if you'd rather pay $159/night to stay at a brand new airport hotel, go ahead. I'll happily book this solid place for $129/night, and the excellent service will make me feel like I...