Four Points by Sheraton Pleasanton

The courtyard was beautiful, the pool was heated, and housekeeping brought us towels right away. But at 9 a.m., a housekeeper knocked and then opened our door. Check-out was at 11, and we had late check-out until noon. My 10-year-old son was just coming out of the shower. He’d heard the knock and thought it might be me, so this was a big safety concern. I called the front desk and all I got was, “Oh well, sorry.” Other than that, the stay was good.

I arrived around 8 p.m., exhausted after long-haul flights and hauling heavy luggage. At the desk, “Sharon” was unfriendly, unhelpful and almost unbelievably rude. She waved me out the door and said I had “room 600.” I asked three times for directions because the place is huge, it was dark and I was tired. She stared blankly, walked me to the pool, then pointed me in another direction. There is no room 600, which I found out after a frustrating search. There’s a building 600, and the room number is on a tag they hand you. I had to call the front desk from somewhere in the hotel grounds to find that out. I wasn’t about to walk all the way back carrying a 30 kilo suitcase. How was that so hard to explain? She looked and acted completely incompetent. My towels were dirty, and there was a used coffee cup still in the coffee machine. Gross. As a side note, hotel staff in Australia are friendly, help with luggage when needed, and happily show you to your room if needed. Maybe you guys need some customer service lessons. Don’t come here.

Do not book a room block here. It stinks inside. Go to HYATT HOUSE instead. We picked Sheraton for our room block because it’s known as a good hotel in other locations. A month before check-in, they told us no one had booked from the block, even though several people had confirmed using the link they provided. We emailed them those guests’ names and the number of rooms so they could add the bookings. I thought that would sort it out. On check-in day, my family told me the hotel still said there was nobody on the room block. Everyone’s rooms were spread across multiple floors, and the staff didn’t offer or do anything to fix it. Check-in took a while, and the place didn’t smell appealing. Staying there wasted people’s time and money.

I arrived early and asked to check in, but the available room was on the second floor, and I obviously couldn’t manage the stairs. Four Points by Sheraton Pleasanton is a two-floor walk-up with no elevator, something their ad doesn’t mention. Guests only find out when they arrive. If they had communicated that before booking, or asked whether guests could or wanted to use stairs, they could have arranged an appropriate room. Instead, I waited 2.5 hours while numerous other guests were checked in. The staff were incredibly rude, rolling their eyes and shrugging about not having a room that could accommodate a disabled person. They said they had until 3 p.m. to find me one, but I wasn’t given a room until 3:30. I wish I’d gone somewhere else. The room smelled like mold or mildew, and there was rust around the tub drain. The courtyard looked fresh and nice, but the room was the opposite. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone I care about.