{"id":223,"date":"2006-07-31T16:10:28","date_gmt":"2006-07-31T07:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-07-31\/223"},"modified":"2006-07-31T16:10:28","modified_gmt":"2006-07-31T07:10:28","slug":"review-of-the-sheraton-suites-hotel-cuyahoga-falls-ohio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-07-31\/223","title":{"rendered":"Review of the Sheraton Suites Hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\n\nFor the week we were in Ohio for <a class='quiet'\nhref=\"\/blog\/2006-07-15\/211\">my brother's wedding<\/a>, we\nstayed at the <a class='quiet'\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.sheratonakron.com\/\">Sheraton Suites<\/a> in <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/maps.yahoo.com\/maps_result?addr=1989+Front+Street&amp;csz=%2C44221\"\nclass='quiet'>Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>The hotel<\/span> was memorable, both for its\ngood experiences and bad. <\/p>\n\n<h3>The Good<\/h3>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n.img_center { margin: 10px 10px; padding: 10px 0px; border: gray solid 1px }\n<\/style>\n\n\n<ol>\n  <li><p>The lobby is clean and nice, but not gaudy.<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>There's an indoor pool, which, while not spectacular, was plenty fine\n  for Anthony to enjoy himself in. Towels were provided, which was <span class='nobr'>a nice<\/span>\n  plus.<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>It's the most expensive hotel in the area, and has <span class='nobr'>a reputation<\/span> to\n       match. When you mention to the local folk that you're\n       staying at the Sheraton in Cuyahoga Falls, the reply is invariably\n       &#8220;oh, that must be nice!&#8221;<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>Its location has some picturesque views. Here's <span class='nobr'>a picture<\/span> of Anthony\n       on <span class='nobr'>a balcony<\/span> accessed by <span class='nobr'>a somewhat<\/span> hidden &#8220;not an exit, no reentry&#8221;\n       doorway from the pool. (We propped the door open with <span class='nobr'>a chair<\/span> so\n       that we could get back in.)<\/p>\n\n       <div class='ic tight'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF016470.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF016470_sm.jpg\" width=\"630\" height=\"451\"\nalt='A nice view from a \"hidden\" back balcony at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, a hotel having the most unbelievably dumpy rooms.'\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF016470\"\ntitle='A nice view from a \"hidden\" back balcony at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, a hotel having the most unbelievably dumpy rooms.'\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n       <p>As an aside, the water might look <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> dingy and gross in this\n       picture, but that's because it is. <span class='nobr'>It's the kind<\/span> of dingy that comes\n       from pollution, not from silt being stirred up on <span class='nobr'>a stormy<\/span> day. This\n       is, after all, the <a class='quiet'\n       href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cuyahoga_River\">Cuyahoga\n       River<\/a>, famous for its tendency to catch fire. Anyway, <span class='nobr'>I\n       digress,<\/span> as this has little to do with the hotel.\n\n       <\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>The staff was always polite.<\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>Again on the location, across the street is the <a class='quiet'\n       href=\"http:\/\/cfo.cityofcf.com\/web2\/view.do?dir=commdevelop\/frs\">Falls\n       River Square<\/a>, which includes an &#8220;interactive fountain&#8221; of water\n       jets that squirt straight up at unpredictable times and heights,\n       much to the delight of kids running in and around them.<\/p>\n\n      <div class='ic tight'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017204.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017204_sm.jpg\" width=\"630\" height=\"422\"\nalt='Anthony playing at the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio \"Falls River Square\" fountain'\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017204\"\nphotostream=\"anthony\"\ntitle='Anthony playing at the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio \"Falls River Square\" fountain'\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n      <p>Here's Anthony just as a whole set of jets had started to squirt &mdash;\n       he hadn't even had time to notice and react. Moments later, he was\n       cowering, half in shear delight and half in shock at being\n       surprised.<\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>A few days before we arrived, they sent email with the five-day weather forecast. <span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> that was <span class='nobr'>a nice<\/span> touch.<\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>The fruit plate we order via room service was <b>excellent<\/b>. <span class='nobr'>It was all<\/span> very fresh, and very tasty.<\/p> <div\n       class='ic'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017225.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017225_sm.jpg\" width=\"630\" height=\"417\"\nalt=\"A tasty fruit plate, a bright spot at an otherwise dumpy\n       Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017225\"\ntitle=\"A tasty fruit plate, a bright spot at an otherwise dumpy\n       Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n        <\/li>\n\n   <li><p>They couldn't provide us a humidifier, but did have box fans we could use. These were very helpful.<\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>Another nice touch is that they email <span class='nobr'>a copy<\/span> of your bill, for your records.<\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>Parking is free. Having paid up to $43\/night extra for parking\n       (on top of a $250\/night room rate) at other places, free parking is\n       appreciated.<\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>There's a mini little store where you can buy snacks and such,\n         and while it's not open late at night, the front-desk staff can access\n         it any time to get you what you need. That's convenient.<\/p><\/li>\n\n   <li><p>They're generous with the towels. <span class='nobr'>We tended<\/span> to keep the &#8220;do not\n          disturb&#8221; sign on the door at all times, and had the room serviced\n          only <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> times during the stay. <span class='nobr'>One byproduct<\/span> of not having the\n          room serviced was that we would run out of towels. <span class='nobr'>The first<\/span> time\n          <span class='nobr'>I asked<\/span> for extra towels, they brought <span class='nobr'>a huge<\/span> bag full that ended\n          up lasting the week.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n\n<h3 style='padding-top: 30px'>The Bad<\/h3>\n\n<ol>\n\n  <li><p>The rooms were <b>absolute dumps<\/b>. I've not seen as crappy <span class='nobr'>a\n      room<\/span> even in <span class='nobr'>a no<\/span>-name offramp motel. There were water stains at\n      various places on the ceiling, and dirty scuffs all over the walls.\n      The wallpaper, pedestrian and uninspiring at its best, was stained\n      and peeling all over. Here's <span class='nobr'>a representative<\/span> view right above the\n      entrance:<\/p>\n\n      <div class='ic' style='margin-bottom:35px'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017221.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017221_sm.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"451\"\nalt=\"Peeling wallpaper and ugly drywall work at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017221\"\ntitle=\"Peeling wallpaper and ugly drywall work at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n      <p>\n      Here's the view from the bed in the (quoting from their web site) &#8220;self-indulgent bedroom:&#8221;<\/p>\n\n     <div class='ic'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017092.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017092_sm.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"574\"\nalt=\"Poor maintenance evident in and dirty, ugly room at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017092\"\ntitle=\"Poor maintenance evident in and dirty, ugly room at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n     <p>The ugly-looking panel sticking out slipshod like <span class='nobr'>a sore<\/span> thumb was the\n     maintenance access to the air conditioner unit, and was just\n     <b>gross<\/b>, surrounded by peeling wallpaper, dust, and Lord knows\n     what:<\/p>\n\n     <div class='ic' style='margin-bottom:35px'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017093.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017093_sm.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"487\"\nalt=\"Ewwwww!\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017093\"\ntitle=\"Disgusting conditions at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><br\/>Ewwwww!<\/div>\n\n     <p>The bottom stuck out about an inch from the wall, and was held in tenuously by <span class='nobr'>a big<\/span> nasty drywall screw:<\/p>\n\n     <div class='ic' style='margin-bottom:35px'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017213.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017213_sm.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"470\"\nalt=\"Yuck!\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017213\"\ntitle=\"Disgusting conditions at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><br\/>Yuck!<\/div>\n\n     <p>\n\n     Here's what the front of the minibar looked like after we cleared it\n     out (we got rid of everything so we could use the fridge for milk and\n     such):<\/p>\n\n     <div class='ic' style='margin-bottom:35px'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017094.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017094_sm.jpg\" width=\"630\" height=\"423\"\nalt=\"Ewwwww!\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017094\"\ntitle=\"Disgusting and unsanitary conditions at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><br\/>Ewwwww!<\/div>\n\n     <p>The vanity area had it's own panel sticking out:<\/p>\n\n     <div class='ic'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017220.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017220_sm.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"530\"\nalt=\"Poor maintenance and at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017220\"\ntitle=\"Poor maintenance and at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n     <p>\n\n     I'm only on the first &#8220;Bad&#8221; bullet, but <span class='nobr'>I can't<\/span> stress enough how\n     depressing abandoned this room was. The carpets, clearly cheap and\n     industrial when new, were now dingy, sticky, and plain gross. (&#8220;Gross&#8221;\n     seems to be <span class='nobr'>a developing<\/span> theme here.) The clear lack of quality evident\n     in every aspect of the room, and its maintenance just screamed &#8220;dump&#8221;.\n\n     <\/p><p>\n\n     It wasn't just our room, either. <span class='nobr'>I'd had the<\/span> opportunity to see their\n     premier $355\/night &#8220;VIP Multi-Level Suite&#8221;, and it was not in any way\n     better.\n\n     <\/p><p>\n\n     The reason we got to see that &#8220;VIP&#8221; (<i>Very Icky Place?<\/i>) room is\n     <span class='nobr'>a mini<\/span> story all it's own:<\/p>\n\n     <div style=\"margin: 5px 20px; border-width:1px; padding: 5px 25px\" class='bg-A'><p>\n\n        I'd reserved what they call a &#8220;Penthouse Suite&#8221;, which,\n        as their web site says, are supposed to be &#8220;<i>ideal for\n        discriminating guests or long-term guests who prefer to set up\n        residential-type arrangements.<\/i>&#8221 It had <span class='nobr'>a full<\/span> kitchen and\n        such, which we'd find convenient.\n\n        <\/p><p>\n\n        Anyway, when we'd <a class='quiet'\n        href=\"\/blog\/2006-07-13\/210\">first arrived<\/a> and\n        were loading all our luggage into the room, <span class='nobr'>I was surprised<\/span> to find\n        that the &#8220;penthouse suite&#8221; was in the basement. <span class='nobr'>I\n        didn't<\/span> realize it until writing this post that they'd screwed up\n        and put us in the wrong type of room, the aforementioned &#8220;VIP\n        suite.&#8221;\n\n        <\/p><p>\n\n        Spending the amount we were, <span class='nobr'>I'd had high<\/span> hopes for <span class='nobr'>a really<\/span>\n        spectacular room, but within seconds of walking in, it was\n        painfully clear that the room was spectacularly bland and dumpy. <span class='nobr'>It was supposed<\/span> to have been <span class='nobr'>a big<\/span> surprise for Fumie, but instead\n        <span class='nobr'>I felt<\/span> the need to apologize. This apology was within the first 20\n        seconds of entering &mdash; that's how clearly bad it was.\n\n        <\/p><p>\n\n        Despite the mistake in putting us into the wrong type of room,\n        because it's <span class='nobr'>a more<\/span> expensive room some might consider it an\n        upgrade, but I'd wanted the &#8220;Penthouse suite&#8221; because\n        of it's more residential-oriented amenities. <span class='nobr'>But as I<\/span> mentioned, <span class='nobr'>I\n        didn't<\/span> realize it at the time that it was the wrong type of room,\n        and in any case, we didn't stay there more than <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> minutes.\n\n        <\/p><p>\n\n        Before we even had all the luggage in, <span class='nobr'>I noticed<\/span> that the bathroom\n        floor was covered with water dripping from <span class='nobr'>a stained,<\/span> wet ceiling. <span class='nobr'>I found<\/span> out later that someone had left <span class='nobr'>a shower<\/span> running <b>two\n        floors above<\/b>, and it had dripped and seeped through two\n        bathrooms on its way down to us. Ugh.\n\n        <\/p><p>\n\n        They moved us to a different room, and at our request, to <span class='nobr'>a\n        single<\/span>-level room. Fumie had worried about Anthony and the stairs. <span class='nobr'>We ended<\/span> up in room <b>325<\/b>.\n\n\n        <\/p><\/div>\n\n     <p>It was virtually impossible to use the water in the kitchenette\n        sink. Turning the handle resulted in <span class='nobr'>a startling,<\/span> <b>bone-rattling,\n        teeth-jarring<\/b> water knocking that could be heard many rooms\n        away, I'm sure. (I'm sure because we could hear the same type of\n        knocking from other rooms.) I've certainly seen water-knocking\n        problems before, but this was the worst I've ever seen by an order\n        of magnitude. <span class='nobr'>The cold water<\/span> tap in the vanity area had <span class='nobr'>a similar,<\/span>\n        but much less pronounced problem. The hot-water tap, at least,\n        could be used without waking up the folks next door.<\/p>\n\n     <p>That was the first &#8220;bad&#8221; bullet &mdash; dumpy rooms.<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n<li><p>\n   These &#8220;luxury suites&#8221; were &#8220;appointed&#8221; with cheap crap. Here's the microwave oven:<\/p>\n\n   <div class='ic'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017096.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017096_sm.jpg\" width=\"630\" height=\"422\"\nalt=\"The cheap microwave oven placed on an even cheaper, sagging shelf at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017096\"\ntitle=\"The cheap microwave oven placed on an even cheaper, sagging shelf at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n   <div class='img_right'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017216.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017216_sm.jpg\" width=\"218\" height=\"250\"\nalt=\"The cheap microwave oven at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017216\"\ntitle=\"The cheap microwave oven at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n   <p>The curve to the shelf is not lens distortion &mdash; it was just sagging.<\/p>\n\n   <p>The microwave itself was clearly state-of-the-art, allowing for\n   fine-grained timing control as fine as <b>down to the minute<\/b>:<\/p>\n\n   <br clear='all'\/>\n\n   <p>There were two TVs, both of which were equally pedestrian. <span class='nobr'>No DVD player<\/span>. (But you could watch movies on demand, for a $10 fee, of course.).<\/p>\n\n   <p>There was almost no storage space. <span class='nobr'>The vanity<\/span> area had two empty\n   drawers, and three others filled with pillows and blankets and such, <span class='nobr'>a small<\/span>\n   (5-foot-wide?) closet to hang things, two small bedside tables, and the\n   thin pencil drawer of the writing desk. That's it &mdash; that's the storage\n   space for <span class='nobr'>a room<\/span> advertised to handle up to six people. Thus, we mostly\n   lived out of the suitcases, and things were in disarray the whole time.<\/p>\n\n   <div class='img_right'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017227_sm.jpg\" width=\"128\" height=\"200\"\nalt=\"The poorly-designed Hamilton Beach Aroma Elite cofee maker that\n   tends to spill its coffee all over the floor, at the Sheraton Suites\n   hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017227\"\ntitle=\"The poorly-designed Hamilton Beach Aroma Elite cofee maker that\n   tends to spill its coffee all over the floor, at the Sheraton Suites\n   hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio\"\/><\/div>\n\n   <p>The coffee maker in the kitchenette had <span class='nobr'>a tendency<\/span> to leak:<\/p>\n\n   <ul><li>The first time <span class='nobr'>I used<\/span> it, things went fine. Coffee good.<\/li>\n\n   <li>The second time <span class='nobr'>I used<\/span> it, <span class='nobr'>I found<\/span> that about 2\/3<sup>rd<\/sup> of the coffee had spilled out and all over the counter and\n   floor. &#8220;Ooops,&#8221; <span class='nobr'>I thought,<\/span> I'll have to pay more attention next time.<\/li>\n\n   <li><span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> very careful the next time, to place the pot exactly under the\n   drip, yet returned to find again that about 2\/3<sup>rd<\/sup> of the coffee\n   had not found its way into the pot. <span class='nobr'>Now I was<\/span> starting to understand why\n   the carpet and floor was so yucky, at least in this area.<\/li>\n\n   <li>The next and final time <span class='nobr'>I tried<\/span> to use it, <span class='nobr'>I kept close<\/span> watch on it\n   from start to finish, and it quickly became apparent that it's just <span class='nobr'>a\n   moronic<\/span> design. <span class='nobr'>The coffee<\/span> is supposed to drip onto <span class='nobr'>a raised<\/span> bulge in the\n   pot's lid, down the edges of the bulge and through some holes in the lid,\n   into the pot. But it's just as easy for the coffee to miss the holes and\n   pour off the lid, onto the burner, then overflow onto the counter and\n   destinations south. What <span class='nobr'>a stupid<\/span> design.<\/li>\n   <\/ul>\n\n   <p>It's not the hotel's fault that this <a class='quiet'\n   href=\"http:\/\/commercial.hamiltonbeach.com\/products\/hospitality\/hdc700b.html\">Hamilton\n   Beach Aroma Elite<\/a> coffee maker has <span class='nobr'>a design<\/span> flaw, but it's the\n   hotel's fault for keeping them. <span class='nobr'>It was clear<\/span> that my overflows weren't the\n   first this room had seen (just as it was clear that this room hadn't seen\n   much in the way of competent cleaning), so why do they keep them?<\/p>\n\n   <p>Anyway, there was nothing in or about the room that was any better than\n   what one might find at <span class='nobr'>a garage<\/span> sale in the middle-to-low rent section of\n   town. <span class='nobr'>The fridge<\/span> didn't even have <span class='nobr'>a freezer<\/span> section.<\/p>\n\n   <p>A lamp on one of the bedside tables had <span class='nobr'>a broken<\/span> bulb socket, so that\n   its top half (and the bulb) were hanging sideways by the <b>exposed\n   high-voltage wires<\/b> connecting it to the lower-half of the socket and\n   the lamp proper. Luckily, <span class='nobr'>I found<\/span> this before Anthony did.<\/p>\n\n <p>That was &#8220;bad&#8221; bullet point #2.<\/p>\n\n  \n\n<\/li>\n\n<li><p>There were ants.<\/p>\n\n    <p>Actually, since Anthony enjoyed watching them,\n    perhaps <span class='nobr'>I should<\/span> file this in the &#8220;good&#8221; section?.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>As I mentioned, the fruit plate was wonderful in every respect, but\n    it took over an hour to arrive. <span class='nobr'>We were going<\/span> to leave for the airport\n    once we were done eating, so its taking so long was inconvenient. They\n    promise that room service will arrive within 30 minutes, so after an\n    hour when <span class='nobr'>I called<\/span> to ask about its status, they apologized and said\n    that it would be free. (It arrived soon after the phone call.) Still,\n    they charged us for it anyway, after the fact.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>The staff was universally polite, but not universally clueful. For\n    example, two times <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> to talk to the Front Desk while Fumie and\/or\n    Anthony was sleeping (once because of problems with the thermostat, and\n    another because the free internet was asking for $10 before it would\n    let me connect), <span class='nobr'>I left explicit<\/span> instructions not to be called back\n    because people were sleeping in the room and the extremely loud ringer\n    would wake them. <span class='nobr'>I made it<\/span> clear that <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> call back if the issue\n    didn't resolve itself.\n\n    <\/p><p>\n\n    Both times, of course, they called back. <span class='nobr'>The second<\/span> time <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span>\n    furious, and asked &#8220;what about <b>DO NOT CALL<\/b> didn't you\n    understand?&#8221; to which Erica replied &#8220;well, <span class='nobr'>I just wanted<\/span>\n    to make sure your service worked.&#8221; Sigh, that's why <span class='nobr'>I said<\/span>\n    that <b>I<\/b> would call back if it didn't resolve itself. Instead,\n    she woke up my sleeping three-year old.<\/p>\n\n    <p>We kept the &#8220;do not disturb&#8221; sign on the door pretty much the whole\n    time, unless we explicitly asked for the room to be cleaned. <span class='nobr'>Our jet lag<\/span> was really playing havoc with our schedules, and 2pm could find us\n    just going to bed as easily as just waking up. <span class='nobr'>So housekeeping<\/span> called\n    to effectively say &#8220;you have the 'do not disturb' sign, so we\n    wanted to disturb you to see if the room should be cleaned.&#8221;\n    Sigh, which word of <b>DO NOT DISTURB<\/b> didn't she understand?<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>They have the most ridiculous &#8220;energy management system.&#8221; The\n       thermostat on the wall is simplicity itself &mdash; there's <span class='nobr'>a temperature<\/span>\n       readout and two buttons to adjust the temperature up or down. Four\n       minutes after making an adjustment to whatever temperature you think\n       you'll like, it reverts to its default of 72F.\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       Let me say that again: when you adjust the temperature, the heater\n       or air conditioner moves into action, but four minutes later, the\n       &#8220;target temperature&#8221; reverts to 72F.\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       We <b>froze<\/b> the first night. <span class='nobr'>The next day<\/span>, once <span class='nobr'>I realized<\/span> that\n       the temperature was getting reset, <span class='nobr'>I called<\/span> to report it broken, but\n       they told me that <b>it's suppose to be that way<\/b>. This, in\n       itself, just boggled my mind.\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       It turns out that they can control things from their computer, and\n       so she could set it so that it would reset after nine hours rather\n       than 4 minutes. <span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> it was ridiculous that the default wasn't\n       nine hours to begin with, but in any case, <span class='nobr'>I asked<\/span> her to do it.\n       That evening, right on schedule, it reverted to 72F as <span class='nobr'>I expected,<\/span>\n       so <span class='nobr'>I set<\/span> it back to 78F and we went to bed.\n\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       And we <b>froze<\/b>.\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       It turns out that she did <span class='nobr'>a one<\/span>-time setting, not <span class='nobr'>a setting<\/span> that\n       would hold until we checked out. <span class='nobr'>How was that<\/span> supposed to help,\n       other than for the first day of our week-long stay? <span class='nobr'>I couldn't<\/span>\n       decide which was more stupid, the original policy or the girl that\n       &#8220;helped&#8221; us.\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       Having been frozen for two nights, <span class='nobr'>I was unhappy<\/span>. Having to deal with\n       moronic policy and stupid people made me unhappy. Thus, it was with\n       some relief that the next person <span class='nobr'>I talked<\/span> to said that the issue\n       could be resolved for the entire length of our stay by having\n       maintenance visit the room and do something to the unit. <b>Why on\n       earth didn't the first lady suggest this?<\/b>\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       Two maintenance guys showed up in short order, and quietly (Anthony\n       was sleeping) removed the groady access cover (shown above), did\n       something inside, and replaced it (with gross\n       dust\/lint\/Lord<i>knows<\/i>what intact), and we had no further frozen\n       nights.\n\n       <\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>The room was generally dirty (sticky floors, etc., as mentioned\n       before). <span class='nobr'>We even found<\/span> multiple <b>shards of glass<\/b> on the carpet\n       near the kitchenette. <span class='nobr'>We found<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a pair<\/span> of glasses under the bed. Don't\n       they ever clean under there? Don't they even look under there? They\n       were dusty, so <span class='nobr'>I suspect<\/span> that they'd been there for <span class='nobr'>a while.<\/span>\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       We had the room cleaned only three times during our week-long stay. <span class='nobr'>The second<\/span> time was while we were at my brother's wedding. <span class='nobr'>We returned<\/span> exhausted from <span class='nobr'>a long<\/span> day to find the room almost exactly\n       as we left it, except that one of the beds was made, we had new\n       towels in the bathroom, and the tip I'd left on <span class='nobr'>a pillow<\/span> on the TV\n       (so as to be clearly <span class='nobr'>a tip<\/span>) was taken.\n\n       <\/p><p>\n\n       They didn't take the old towels. They didn't take the dirty glasses,\n       dishes, and silverware. They didn't even move the pillow I'd put on\n       the TV to make clear that the nice crisp bill sitting on it was <span class='nobr'>a\n       tip.<\/span><\/p>\n\n       <p>Here's what the vanity area looked like, both before and after\n       the &#8220;cleaning&#8221;: (Remember that there was virtually no storage space,\n       and so we were living out of our suitcases, and thus the clutter.)<\/p>\n\n       <div class='ic'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017085.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017085_sm.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"402\"\nalt='Used towels and glassware left after a supposed \"cleaning\" at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017085\"\ntitle='Used towels and glassware left after a supposed \"cleaning\" at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n       <p>Notice the used towels and glasses? Nothing straightened?<\/p>\n\n       <p>The cleaner of the two bed-side tables:<\/p> <div\n       class='ic'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF017082.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF017082_sm.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"402\"\nalt='A used towel and general disarray left after a supposed \"cleaning\" at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF017082\"\ntitle='A used towel and general disarray left after a supposed \"cleaning\" at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\/><\/a><\/div>\n\n       <p>The other bed is a hide-a-bed in <span class='nobr'>a couch,<\/span> which we'd closed with\n       the sheets and blanket in place. They left it sitting just as it\n       was.<\/p>\n\n       <p>It was ridiculous. <span class='nobr'>The only thing<\/span> cleaned out was my wallet.<\/p>\n\n     <\/li>\n\n<li><p>Their web site fails to mention that they're essentially right next\n    to an intersection where <span class='nobr'>a train<\/span> must apparently blow its horn for long\n    durations, at frequent intervals throughout the night. They're not\n    exactly right next to the intersection &mdash; there's <span class='nobr'>a river<\/span> and <span class='nobr'>a major<\/span>\n    highway in between &mdash; but its <big>really<\/big> noisy. This is where\n    the aforementioned box fans came in handy, to provide &#8220;white noise&#8221; to\n    drown out the trains. Mostly. Perhaps the train would be less noisy in\n    a &#8220;city-side&#8221; room.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>Speaking of the major highway, that's the view we got from our &#8220;riverside&#8221; room:<\/p>\n\n     <table width='100%'><tr>\n     <td align='center'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF016457.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF016457_sm.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"340\"\nalt='Saffolding and a highway, the view from our \"riverside\" room at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF016457\"\ntitle='Saffolding and a highway, the view from our \"riverside\" room at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\/><\/a><br\/>\n     <p>Our view: scaffolding and highway<\/p>\n          <\/td>\n          <td width='30'>&nbsp;<\/td>\n\n     <td align='center'><a class='quiet'  href=\"\/i\/_JEF016463.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/_JEF016463_sm.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"340\"\nalt='If you put your nose up against the window and looked down, past the saffolding, you could see the river. This, from our \"riverside\" room at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\nborder=\"0\"\nid=\"iJEF016463\"\ntitle='If you put your nose up against the window and looked down, past the saffolding, you could see the river. This, from our \"riverside\" room at the Sheraton Suites hotel, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio'\/><\/a><br\/>\n     <p>If you looked way down, you could see some water.<\/p>\n          <\/td>\n     <\/tr><\/table>\n\n     <p>As an added bonus, men would appear outside our window at random\n     times, climbing on the scaffolding. Of course, no mention was ever\n     made by the hotel that there would be scaffolding or people outside\n     our windows.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>The tap water was disgusting. <span class='nobr'>The water<\/span> served with room-service\n    meals, in wonderful crystal glasses with little paper hats covering them,\n    was the same disgusting tap water. <\/p><p>I'd suspect that the crappiness\n    of the water is the cause to both the water knocking and the poor\n    coffee-maker performance. That's <span class='nobr'>a guess,<\/span> but it's certainly the cause of\n    my spending $4 for <span class='nobr'>a bottle<\/span> of water from the minibar. Crappy water has its\n    benefits (if you're hotel management).<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n<li><p>The web site says that rooms &#8220;<i>include complimentary weekday\n    newspaper,<\/i>&#8221; and while this may be true, you also get <span class='nobr'>a second<\/span> paper\n    with <span class='nobr'>a sticker<\/span> indicating that you're paying 35 cents extra for it, and\n    that you should contact the front desk if you don't want it, to have 35\n    cents credited to your bill. <span class='nobr'>So I told<\/span> the front that <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> want any\n    paper (complimentary or not), and to their credit, they stopped leaving them\n    in front of our door.\n\n    <\/p><p>\n\n    However, they neglected to credit my bill, and when <span class='nobr'>I brought<\/span> it to their\n    attention, they had no idea what <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> talking about. <span class='nobr'>I told them<\/span> to read\n    their sticker. (<span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> care about 35 cents; it's the principle of the\n    thing.)\n\n    <\/p><p>\n\n    Soon after the call, <span class='nobr'>I saw that<\/span> another copy of my bill had arrived via\n    email. <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> look at it at the time, assuming that it was the amended\n    bill crediting us for 35 cents <span class='nobr'>a day.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I found<\/span> out later when <span class='nobr'>I got<\/span> around\n    to looking at it that it wasn't amended to credit us for the paper, but to\n    charge us for the room-service order (fruit plate, etc.) that was supposed\n    to have been free.\n    <\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>\n\n    They advertise that all rooms have &#8220;<i>deluxe amenities like computer\n    data ports and complimentary high-speed internet access<\/i>&#8221; but\n    there were no data ports to be found. <span class='nobr'>It turns<\/span> out that the it's all\n    wireless, and that if you need wired access like they advertise, you have to\n    get <span class='nobr'>a device<\/span> from the front desk. <span class='nobr'>The thing<\/span> is, they don't have enough &mdash; <span class='nobr'>I\n    called<\/span> once for something else, and thinking <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> asking for one of these,\n    they had to apologize that they didn't have any. <span class='nobr'>I guess<\/span> their definition\n    of &#8220;access&#8221; is &#8220;if you're lucky.&#8221;\n\n    <\/p><p>\n\n    The access, if you do get it, is via some strange gateway. <span class='nobr'>You have to<\/span> go\n    through several web-site pages, clicking on &#8220;free access&#8221;, before you get\n    full access. Besides being <span class='nobr'>a hassle,<\/span> this means that non-browser internet\n    appliances, like my Vonage phone, can't be used. That just sucks.\n\n    <\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>They advertise that &#8220;hotel guests enjoy complimentary high-speed\n    internet access in the lobby, lounge, restaurant and all guest\n    suites.&#8221; That's not true: <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> know about the restaurant, but if\n    you try to access the Internet from the lobby, you're required to pay $10.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>When it was time for us to <s>escape<\/s> leave, <span class='nobr'>I called<\/span> ahead and\n    asked for help with the luggage. (We had a <a class='quiet'\n    href=\"\/blog\/2006-07-17\/212\">lot of luggage<\/a>.) It\n    was 11am on <span class='nobr'>a Sunday,<\/span> so <span class='nobr'>I expected<\/span> that we'd probably have to wait <span class='nobr'>a\n    bit,<\/span> but <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> expect to have to wait half an hour. After half an\n    hour, <span class='nobr'>I just started<\/span> making trips to the car. <span class='nobr'>It turns<\/span> out that while\n    <b>I<\/b> expected that luggage carts might be in high demand during\n    checkout time, the hotel neglected to think about it as they apparently\n    have only <b>five<\/b> luggage carts to service the entire 209\n    &#8220;luxury suites.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n    <p>On my third trip to the car, <span class='nobr'>I noticed<\/span> an empty luggage cart sitting\n    where they park them. <span class='nobr'>I had to<\/span> remind them that we were waiting.\n    Perhaps they forgot. They eventually made the last trip for me. <span class='nobr'>For reasons<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I can't<\/span> understand, <span class='nobr'>I still<\/span> tipped them. <span class='nobr'>I guess<\/span> I'm the dummy\n    here.\n\n    <\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p>There are so many more things <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> complain about with this hotel,\n       but probably shouldn't.<\/p>\n\n<p>I shouldn't complain about the fire alarm having gone off one day. <span class='nobr'>It was probably<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a kid<\/span> playing <span class='nobr'>a prank,<\/span> or something like that, for\nwhich the hotel would certainly be blameless. Still, knowing how well\nthe rooms are maintained, and how clean they're kept, it wouldn't\nsurprise me to find out that the fire alarm was triggered by rats in\ntheir kitchen. <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> know.<\/p>\n\n<p>I shouldn't complain that a 1-liter bottle of water is four dollars, or\nthat you have to pay $10 per day to listen to the in-room music, or that\nthey charged us more than the going rate for the new room we were moved to\nwhen our original had water dripping from the ceiling. Exorbitant fees at\nevery corner is standard practice these days, <b>even for <span class='nobr'>a dump<\/span> like the\nSheraton<\/b> in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n<p>Overall we enjoyed the trip &mdash; my brother's wedding and seeing family &mdash;\nbut <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> think we'll be staying in <span class='nobr'>a Sheraton<\/span> again any time soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> For the week we were in Ohio for my brother's wedding, we stayed at the Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The hotel was memorable, both for its good experiences and bad. <\/p> The Good <p>The lobby is clean and nice, but not gaudy.<\/p> <p>There's an indoor pool, which, while not spectacular, was plenty fine for Anthony to enjoy himself in. Towels were provided, which was a nice plus.<\/p> <p>It's the most expensive hotel in the area, and has a reputation to match. When you mention to the local folk that you're staying at the Sheraton in Cuyahoga Falls, [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}