My husband and I booked a room at the Sheraton Hartford Hotel for the night of June 26. We live in NH, and had a wedding to attend in the NYC are on June 27, and desired a place to stay near the halfway point of our journey. This hotel fit the bill, right off the highway. Let me start by saying I am NOT a business traveler, a luxury traveler or anything of the sort. I am a bargain hunter and travel frequently due to my amazing finds, but I'm not much of a complainer. We were able to book the Sheraton on Hotwire.com for $58. Can't beat it for that price, and I would have paid more to stay there, that's for sure. We had been out of the country for the week prior, only coming in 10 hours or so before having to leave the house again, so we were understandably tired. We were treated to a very warm reception in the lobby, a concierge offered us a ride downtown if we wanted to "see the sights" as a courtesy, my preferred guests card was requested, and every question we had for our short stay was answered before we even got to our room. The hotel itself may be in need of some renovation, but it was very clean, the beds were exactly what I expected (as they always are at a Sheraton), nice bathroom, etc. It was quiet, despite being close to the highway. After reading the reviews, I was sure we were walking into a roach motel, but that was definitely not the case. Our stay there was everything we needed it to be, and could have been more had we taken advantage of the amenities. The one drawback to this hotel was that we couldn't find anywhere to eat in a three or four block radius. Maybe we just didn't know where to look, but we ended up eating at the hotel restaurant. It was exactly what we needed. Good, hearty sandwhich and then off to relax. The bartender served us in the bar and he was wonderfully attentive (as was the entire staff). Sometimes I really don't know what people are complaining about. Our stay at the Sheraton was perfectly pleasant. Would I take a week-long vacation there? Probably not, but for the odd night or the business traveler, the Sheraton Hartford delivers.

My wife and I booked this overnight trip through the Starwood Preferred Guest service we have as gold members. We were attending a wedding and needed a place to stay nearby. We booked a King room for us and a Double room for her two sisters. When we arrived, Shana was working the front desk. I asked her if she had any upgrades she could give us as Gold Starwood Members. She was very rude; she never made eye contact when speaking to me and said that the hotel does not offer upgrades as they have Starwood Preferred Guest Floors especially for members. I made arrangements to have both of the rooms as far away as possible from each other as I didn't want to be bothered by my wife's sisters. Shana made a point to ask me as loud as possible with my sisters-in-law within ear shot if I made a request to have the rooms as far away as possible from each other -- I found her lack of discretion to be very unprofessional. When we got to our respective rooms we found that my wife's sisters' room was not a Double but a King. When I questioned Shana she told me that according to the information she had on her computer from Starwood that we never requested a Double and there were none now available anyway. The girls had to share a bed. Our room was very dated and worn down. The wallpaper on the walls were cracked, bubbling and basically peeling away in some areas. The carpet was stained in many areas and completely worn out. The pillows were also stained after taking the pillowcases off for inspection. Thank God we bring our own for these very situations! The windows were stained and in need of weatherstripping -- we could hear the wind whipping through the cracks. The walls are cardboard thin. There were hundreds of kids at the hotel for some sort of soccer tournament and the room next to ours housed what seemed (from the noise level) an entire team! The bathroom was super tiny. The faucet on the sink was practically non-operational. The handle was so loose that we couldn't control the tempature of the water. It was either freezing cold or scaldingly hot. The shower was a joke. The showerhead was so low that it will hit you in the head if you are 5'6" or taller. All I can say is we were very happy that we only stayed overnight. Being Starwood Preferred Guests we always stay at Starwood properties exclusively. This particular Sheraton just does not make the cut! The rooms were just as bad as the staff. I can't help but think that if the corporation would just train their people in customer service that we wouldn't have been met with such sub-par treatment. Sheraton should realize that they could begin to lose their client base with poorly run properties like this one. I would never recommend the Sheraton Hartford to anyone.

Before giving the negatives about this hotel, I would like to point out that the customer service at this establishment is excellent. Everyone was very helpful and pleasant during my overnight stay. This is the only reason why I am not rating the experience as Terrible. The minute you walk in the lobby, you can already tell that the hotel is in need of a renovation. Throughout, the hallways and guestroom had the "old hotel" stench. The guest room carpet is worn out and had several obvious stains that you would not want to walk barefoot on. Room coffee maker still had last guest's coffee in it. The bathroom sink pipe came loose, though it was quickly fixed by the in house plumber. Overall, despite the great customer service Sheraton East Hartford does not meet the standards of Starwood Hotels, which is rather disappointing.

A relatively new Platinum Starwood Preferred Guest member, I have binged on SPG properties in the past 3 months during my business travels. Plotting travel along the East Coast several weeks ago I chose this Sheraton property because of its proximity between two major cities that I would be traveling between by car. The Sheraton East Hartford is located ideally situated just off of an interstate. Hartford itself is nothing to write home about these days, BUT this hotel is close to travel shopping (pharmacies, megastores etc.) and its close to the downtown area making it perfect for business travelers. That's where the good part ends. I arrived at the property and virtually had a standoff with the disinterested front desk staffer who was more preoccupied with her nails and cell phone call than helping me check-in. After completing check-in I traveled to my room-by way of the elevator which had liberal splatterings of cold vomit directly in the center of it. Shoes, ruined. Nice. I get to the room-and lo, its dirty (complete with trash in the drawers), filthy carpet, hole-ey lampshades, hole-ey curtains and dust. It's really dirty, roadside motel dirty-Nightmare on Elm Street dirty. I had just purchased some ice cream prior to arrival; I called down for a spoon. The bartender/waitstaff that answered said "just a spoon? Will you come down and get it, we're busy" *Blank stare. I said no, I will not-that's why I just paid you guys $200-so you could deliver it to me. 30 minutes later, no spoon. I go downstairs to the bar where I find the waitstaff amusing themselves chatting-in an empty dining room at 2p in the afternoon. Busy huh? The second day of my stay I extended because I was too tired to travel (drive) to the next city. I called down and was told because I intended on using my points that the staffer attending to me didn't have the authority (8a). I go downstairs just prior to lunch and indicate that I'm going to explore the city for shopping and a meal and offer to leave a considerable payment in cash just in case since she couldn't figure out the points system. The staffer waves me away and says no no. I return after a day of exploring to my room at 10p-I'm locked out. I go to the desk and am chastised-I mean LOUDLY verbally antagonized about check-out being 3p and accused of attempting to steal a 2nd day without payment: BY THE "MANAGER"! The scene was confrontational, hostile and hurtful. I received no apology and no insistence that it was their fault for miscommunication. Avoid this property at all costs. It should be stripped of its SPG status and Sheraton name and relegated to the roach motel status that it deserves.

This was a business trip and I decided to see if I could save the client some $ by avoiding the $200 per night Hilton Hartford. I booked via travelocity and this showed up as a "package" hotel and airfare for $84.00 more than the airfare. I booked it. The hotel is for lack of any better words "Run Down" - The room had a 1980's Holiday Inn feel. The sheets and bedding were nice, but had a sort of wrinkled look. The room was warm. I set the ac lower, though it was already at 65 - I stood by the window unit ac and felt it - when it cycled off it blew warm air. I called the desk and said my AC was not working - could I have a different room - they said they were full and had no other rooms. An engineer arrived promptly - I had to demonstrate the warm air. He removed the cover and found the unit frozen over. He said he would be back with another one. The technician replaced the unit, but it was only blowing outside air - he adjusted it and finally cold air. This was about 1 1/2 hours later... I had called and was investigating moving hotels as I felt I was waiting too long. So I then walked accross the nearby bridge to downtown Hartford and dinner at the Trumball Kitchen (nice, but pricey for what it is) - I asked if this walking accross the bridge was safe, and told yes, but I should not walk back at night... "We have a driver who can pick you up" I found the staff friendly, the driver exceptionally friendly, and the fact that they would pick you up from your restaurant a plus. The building engineer who fixed the AC was nice as well, following up later to bring me a cover for the AC that was labeled. My final view is that treveling to Hartford for business is not the best - and paying some of the outragous prices for Hartford hotels does not seem worth it. While this hotel was run down, the staff were doing the best they could with what they had and seemed genuinely nice - though there was not much apology from management where I would expect it to come from. - Staff were great. While I can't recommend this property - I also can't recommend the $200+ hotels in the area - so make your choice - high cost for average, or low cost for marginal, but acceptable. A good value relativly speaking for it's proximity to downtown: for less than $100.