Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown

It’s a big hotel in a good location, though it does look dated. The room was spacious, and the water pressure was good. Parking is free, but the lot gets pretty full on weekends when there are events. The pool is very small and only slightly heated. There’s no hot tub now. They used to have one, but it’s been filled with rocks and there’s a planter there. The gym is small too, with some weights, a treadmill, and an elliptical. Lounge food was hit or miss, sometimes dry and bland, other times soggy. The man working in the lounge was super nice and gave good service.

The room was clean, though dated. We’d stayed at the Sheraton before without a bad experience, but we won’t be back after this visit. We booked through Expedia for the night after Christmas. A few days later I noticed the hotel had charged us too, so we were billed twice. It took 14 phone calls and four voicemails before they returned my call. Matt Ivy apologized for the delay, but not for the double charge, and didn’t explain how it happened. We arrived late, and check-in felt strange. The front desk agent said there was a pet fee for our small dogs, which was fine, though I hadn’t seen it on Expedia. Then she said she wouldn’t charge it because we were arriving late and leaving early. I got a strong impression she wanted some or all of the $100 fee paid directly to her in cash. A man behind the desk with her wasn’t wearing a uniform or hotel logo clothing, and seemed to be a boyfriend or just someone hanging around.

I liked having a balcony and being able to crack the door for fresh air. There were lots of extra towels and washcloths, and the parking lot was bright as dawn, which was nice. The place seemed safe and service was good. It was mostly clean, though I did find a dried snot rocket on the lampshade, so there’s room to improve. The concierge lounge food didn’t work for me.

There was no breakfast, and coffee for guests costs around $5 a cup. The woman who was meant to run the mini store and a la carte line arrived late, leaving people waiting. The lady who checked us in last night was rude. I’ll never stay again.