Sheraton Waikiki The Hotel From Hell
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COMMENT: If you’re looking for a quit vacation in Hawaii where you can soak up the noise of breaking waves from your ocean front room or breakfast in a 5 star hotel the answer is definitely not the Sheraton Waikiki.

Their web site promises an “Inspired vacation” but what you get at the Sheraton Waikiki Beach is more the “hotel from hell” where building reconstruction takes priority over guests comfort and pounding music is played night after night till the early hours of the morning thanks in part to a McDonalds Australia function.


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And there’s no escape, with breakfast served right next to the reconstruction area where hammering and jack hammering interrupts even a quiet read of the morning newspaper.

A visit to the Sheraton Waikiki web site (Click for web site) has no mention of the pounding music or the fact that for six days of the week one cannot sit on your balcony, because of noise and dust caused by a $200 million dollar reconstruction program.

What visitors are told is that the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel and Resort is a modern monument to traditional Hawaiian hospitality, perfect for families seeking Hawaii activities, romance, or weary travellers seeking a rejuvenating escape.

The first hint that you have booked into the hotel from hell comes when one is directed to a temporary check in facility. Arriving at ones oceanfront room, which Sheraton claims delivers breathtaking ocean-front views one is confronted by a building site right under the room and more noise than Pitt Street during a rush hour.

 

Ironically there was no mention by Westpac Travel and their partners the Pinpoint Travel Group that the hotel was currently undergoing a 3 year $200 million dollar makeover.

And if you are thinking of relaxing beside Sheraton’s new wet edge pool that is restricted for people 16 years and over, think again, because this pool is located right between the construction of a new themed bar and a major restaurant extension.

During the peak US Labour day weekend guests were being turned away from the pool because of a McDonalds Australia lunch with one gusts saying “Mc Donald’s and Sheraton are in the same league, both are US Companies and profits come ahead of guests who have paid thousands for a relaxing vacation”.


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Breqakfast next to a building site

A Sheraton spokesperson was not available to comment because of the Labour day weekend.  A visit to the Companies web site http://www.sheraton-waikiki.com/ makes  no mention that the hotel is undergoing a major reconstruction program and that guests will have to put up with noise caused by the construction process. 

Nor is there any mention that extremly loud night club music, that in Australia would be closed down by the police because it exceeds acceptable levels is played untill 1.00 in the morning, to the point that guests cannot sleep.

Linda Ennis of Ireland recently said of the hotel. “We Booked to stay at the Sheraton Waikiki, we are SPG Gold members and have travelled to Hawaii many times, we wanted a change and wanted to stay at a beach front hotel in Waikiki and were very excited after seeing the photo gallery on sheraton hotels website. The hotel was more expensive than other hotels we would have stayed at in waikiki but we thought it would be worth it, boy were we wrong!”

“Upon arrival at the hotel late at night after 2 days travelling from Ireland to Honolulu, My husband dropped me out front with the bags and was told by the bellman he could not park out front for 5 mins to drop the bags at the front desk for me and had to move on immediatly, i struggled to carry 3 bags up the sloped walkway which looked like a construction site to the front desk, no help was offered”.

 “I had booked a deluxe ocean view room with a lanai on a high floor for $299 a night ++ tax for 10 nights, and was checked in straight away, walking through the lobby, it was old, tired and dirty, cramped and boarded up and all i was think was OMG, i cannot stay here for 2 weeks! We got in 1 of the many elevators to our floor, and when we stepped out of the elevator made our way to our room. Its hard to explain i have stayed at hundred’s of hotels but the corridors at the Sheraton Waikiki are like trying to find your way out of a MAZE!”

 

“The room and bathroom was worse than reception, think 70’s decor, that is tired, old, and worn! I dont think i have ever stayed anywhere as bad as this! I called the front desk within a few mins of getting to the room and advised i would be checking out, this was 1am and with no where else to stay, I spoke to the Manager on duty, who said that was fine, i could check out without any penalty”.

“We went to the public phone booth in the lobby and opened the yellow pages, I called the Wyland Waikiki which is a nice boutique hotel, 1 block back from the sheraton waikiki. And made a reservation just for the night, God what a differance”.

See full comment by Ennis at: Review