Sheraton Safari??? anyone???

[GrumpyBa*D]

Has anyone stayed there recently? I'm booked for 2 nights in September and thought I read some bad reviews but can't seem to find them

 

[Robert P]

I'll get you started. Maybe someone has more recent experience.

Stayed there in July 2007:
It is fine. The room were bigger (and nicer) than a value resort, more like a moderate. The pool was fine, with a snake theme waterslide. The location is out of the way, but if you were planning to stay offsite anyway, it will be fine. We found the noise level there to be better than our last stay at POP. There are several dining option nearby, but it is quite a walk to get to DTD (I think I pegged it at .7 miles).

The bus service is not like WDW transpo (with busses running all the time). They have a set schedule, and printed copies were available at the front desk, telling you the specific pick up times. Since they didn't work great for us, we just drove ourselves.

The rack rates seem a little high for what you get, but if you catch a discounted rate (or better yet stay using Starwoods points), it can be a good value.

Hope someone has a more recent review.

 

[mikehn]

May 2008. Its an average hotel. The rooms are adequately clean and comfy. The pool appears to be decent, although I did not use it. It is not a bad location at all for being offsite. They do have a shuttle to the parks but the service schedule is spotty so I would not base any decisions on the shuttle. A few blocks from several restaurants, grocery stores, and dunkin donuts.

 

[FayeW]

We have stayed there twice, most recently in Dec/06, and would not hesitate to stay there again. It is our favourite offsite hotel. Sign up as Starwood Preferred Guest, if you haven't already. It is free to join and they will put you on the Starwood Preferred Guest floors in the main building.

The beds are amazingly comfortable, and they have an excellent breakfast buffet in the dining room. Fresh squeezed orange juice, sausage, bacon, eggs, waffles, etc. I think it was $8 or $9 when we were there.

The location is very convenient to DTD and the WDW parks, and also a good location for Seaworld and Universal parks as well. Lots of great dining options in the area, and there is a gas station across the street with a convenience store for drinks and snacks.

For more recent reviews you can go to www.tripadvisor.com

 

[beachbum2008]

I stayed at this hotel for one night. We had to wait to check in (I think it was my fault), but they still gave us free drink coupons for the wait. I liked the room especially the beds. Unfortunately I missed the breakfast. We had stayed at one of the disney resorts so we did not have a car rental. We ended up calling the hotel and asked if we could take their shuttle bus back from the park with our luggage they were fine with it. All in all I give it a 4 our of 5 for the customer service and the room. Enjoy your stay there.

 

[PrincessTanyuhKaypoo]

My husband, sister, and I stayed here for 1 night this past April. I got a deal from Expedia ($74) and since we're very familiar with the area we knew we'd be ok. I'd definitely stay here again if I could get it for a good rate but wouldn't think of paying full price. It was as nice as a moderate hotel but they have room service! We ordered breakfast and we're very pleased with the quality and taste of our breakfast.

There were a ton of cheerleaders at the hotel, and we where placed on a floor that was mostly cheerleaders. I was worried about that, but luckily we didn't have any complaints.

 

[garmich]

We have stayed there twice, most recently in Dec/06, and would not hesitate to stay there again. It is our favourite offsite hotel. Sign up as Starwood Preferred Guest, if you haven't already. It is free to join and they will put you on the Starwood Preferred Guest floors in the main building.

The American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card is free for the first year. After that, it's $45 per year. You get 10,000 points for using the card once and you can get an additional 2,500 points if you get a second card. The 12,500 points are enough to get you at least 3 nights (Fri-Sat-Sun) at the Sheraton Safari.

 

[FayeW]

The American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card is free for the first year. After that, it's $45 per year. You get 10,000 points for using the card once and you can get an additional 2,500 points if you get a second card. The 12,500 points are enough to get you at least 3 nights (Fri-Sat-Sun) at the Sheraton Safari.

I should find out if the AmEx is available to Canadians. It might be worth it just to get the free hotel stay. How do you find out how many points you need for certain rooms/travel dates, etc?

 

[garmich]

I should find out if the AmEx is available to Canadians. It might be worth it just to get the free hotel stay. How do you find out how many points you need for certain rooms/travel dates, etc?

It doesn't appear that the Amex SPG card is available to Canadians. You'd have to get the American Express Holt Renfrew Platinum Card to get StarPoints. But, it costs $$$ per year.

To find out how many points you need for a certain hotel, go to the Starwood Hotels website: https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/index.html

Fill-in the destination city and dates and you will see a list of Starwood hotels with the points required for each hotel. There are different categories for the hotels. The "category 2" hotels like Sheraton, and Four Points by Sheraton require 3,000 points for weekend nights (Fri-Sat) and 4,000 points for midweek nights (Sun-Thurs). So a 3-day weekend would require 10,000 points, which is the amount you'll get when you open an account and use the card once. You will need to open an SPG account to redeem your points.

 

[deckhook]

great place too stay....... a bit dated, but location is fantastic dtd 5mins away, i4 for easy access for everything else, lots of eateries around area.

we have just returned after a 14day stay, could have moved in permenantly...
accomidation we had was a suite,very comfatable, clean and homely.... staff were very helpfull and polite nothing was too much trouble...maid was in every day.... will be back next year... have stayed in more upto date places but this has character... thanks sheraton....!

 

[In Luv with Disney]

I stayed there using Starwood Preferred Guest points for the first night of my trip last year and was pleasantly surprised! It is REALLY close to WDW property...practically across the street from Hotel Row and the entrance to DTD! The room was a nice size...much bigger than a Value room! It was nicely themed, kinda felt like AKL to me. The beds were SUPER comfy!

A friend of mine just spend a week there and really enjoyed it! I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, either.

Good luck!

 

[ChristusG]

My husband and I stayed there a few years ago. It was nice! Clean, comfortable, and nice looking. We didnt use the pool area or anything because it was February....and actually the coldest few days of the whole winter LOL! We were walking around Sea World in hats, mittens, and coats with an ice cold wind whipping around us.....we even had to purchase a fleece blanket to wrap our one year old in! Yeah, you rarely feel that cold when walking around an Orlando amusement park LOL! But I remember the hotel being a nice place.

 

[allenee]

Stayed there several times. We had a large clean room and enjoyed the pool area. Very close to resturants and shops. We got a great deal on priceline.com. Typed in LBV area and placed a bid, got it for $60 which is great for that area.