Hotel: Sheraton Suites Country Club Plaza
Dates: May 24-25, 2015
Rate Paid: $157/night
Upgrade: Club Room ($190/night)
SPG Points Earned: 1,216 Points
This hotel was getting some pretty mixed reviews on Flyertalk. While they commented on the high level of customer service, they also mentioned how the property itself was in need of some renovations.
However, we did want to (a) get another Starwood stay credit by switching hotels and (b) check out the Country Club part of Kansas City, so we thought it was a good opportunity to stay a night here.
The hotel did offer points availability, but 7,000 SPG points were worth at least $175 in value, so we opted to pay with cash instead of redeeming sub-optimally at 2.2 cents/point.
We arrived around 4PM on Sunday afternoon and decided to park in the garage across 47th Street where they had free parking for Plaza shoppers. To park in the Sheraton garage would have been another $15/night. Of course, you're not supposed to keep your car in the shopping garage overnight, but we took our chances.
Unfortunately, our room wasn't yet ready, so we just said we'd come back after our BBQ dinner at Jack Stack in the Plaza. When we returned around 730PM, we were given our keys and head up to our room.
The reviewers on FlyerTalk were pretty spot on about the hotel having seen better days. Sheraton properties in general tend to underwhelm my family, especially the ones in the United States. Their glory days were likely in the 1970's and are not that competitive with the newer brands such W or Andaz or the higher end brands like Westin or Hyatt. Nevertheless, all the rooms at this property were suites, so we'd enjoy some extra space at the very least.
The layout was exactly the same as the Sheraton Suites in Elk Grove Village in the Chicago suburbs. There was a nicely sized living room area where we could watch television and re-live my father's studio apartment days eating dinner off of a coffee table. Then they had some double doors separating the bedroom with a Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed.
In addition, we had a small station with a microwave, coffee maker and empty mini fridge where we could keep our own items. Very convenient, especially for families! The bathroom was clean, though not perfectly so. My mother found a stray hair, but since we're not fussy guests, we just washed it down the drain and didn't think twice. After all, we're not naive enough to think we're the first guests in this room.
But we didn't come all the way here to stay in our room. First, we had the Country Club Plaza just outside our doors. Second, the Sheraton had a Club Lounge and indoor swimming pool. Unfortunately, we didn't make to the pool, but we did frequent the lounge a few times during our short stay.
The hotel offered a nice happy hour in the Club Lounge until 8PM where each adult guest could have 2 complimentary glasses of wine or beer. So my parents and I went up to see how full the lounge would be. Turns out, we were the only ones there. I guess everyone was out that evening.
The next morning, we came back to the lounge because they offered free continental breakfast. The spread wasn't as nice as the one the prior morning at the other Sheraton in Crown Center, but my father says you cannot look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm not sure I understand the imagery, but I get the idea.
They offered fruit, pastries, cereals and bagels. I went for some Fruit Loops while my father had some toast and fruit.
The meager offering however didn't keep away the hungry guests. It seems like the Sheraton guests were more early risers than night owls.
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