Hard to know where to begin with this one. First of all, I mistakenly booked in this hotel not noting that it wasn't pet-friendly. I wasnt' too bent out of shape about this, but it did mean that I had to leave the dog (a very well-traveled and well-behaved dog) in the car, which has some bearing on the rest of this review.

Though we are Platinum level guests, we were not offered an upgrade or a welcome amenity and had to ask for both. We didn't get the upgrade, though it was only about 8 p.m. and the hotel was not full. After being checked in, I went upstairs to check the room before bringing in the luggage. There are no stairs in the lobby, so you have to take the elevator up one floor. The elevator had car air fresheners in it and it reeked.

In the room, there was a card on the bed that said "Per your request, we have not changed the sheets on the bed." I thought well maybe this is a mistake, but I picked up a pillow and sniffed it and it was clearly evident that someone had slept on these sheets. Back downstairs through the stinky elevator to the desk clerk who blamed everything on "the new housekeeper who doesn't speak English."

We were given a new room, all the way at the very end of the hall, as far from the elevator as it could be. We checked it out, my eleven year old son commenting on the very old microwave and fridge in the room, and we went out to look for some dinner.

In the parking lot, I noticed evidence of a significant fender bender: big pieces of turn signal and brake lenses, chrome trim etc. lying in a pile on the asphalt. It didn't give me a lot of confidence about the safety of the parking lot. After driving around the neighborhood a bit, I felt even worse.... I've never been in a Sheraton-family hotel that is in such a sketchy area.

I think this must have originally been some lower-budget property, like a Comfort Inn or a Fairfield Inn or something of that sort. It has all kinds of pretensions, but you really can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. We came back to the hotel, parked near the doors and went upstairs (more smelly elevator) where I discovered that I couldn't actually see the car from our window because the view was blocked by a tree.

I called the front desk and asked them if they had a security patrol in the parking lot. They did not. So I asked to be moved again, and the third room was MUCH closer to the elevator. (So why were we put in the far away room in the first place?) Newer microwave and fridge also, plus I could see the car, so that I could least visually verify that the dog was okay.

As I didn't sleep very well all through the night, I had ample opportunity to check the car. The hotel is so poorly insulated that you can hear people walking around upstairs, next door, in the hallway. You can hear the television from the next room. You can hear a normal volume conversation taking place between two people walking down the hallway. You can REALLY hear the freight train that goes by blowing its horn at 3 a.m.

In the morning when I commented to the Front Desk Manager about my concerns, she told me: the train only goes through once a month (too bad for me I guess), the area of the parking lot where the leftover bits from the car accident were belongs to the restaurant (no signage to indicate this, I think it's just --, particularly as the restaurant is part of the hotel-- oh, before I forget, if you order from the restaurant for room service, you pay the published menu price, plus a $2.50 service fee, plus an 18 percent gratuity, PLUS an additional 35% service charge, which is not at all a customary fee!)

As to the other noise, she said very rudely "Well, I don't see where you called down about the noise, we have a zero tolerance policy here about noise!" Just think, had I called down, some poor lout would have had his ear chewed on just for having a regular conversation as he walked down the hall.

Her comment on the dirty sheets is that she "looked at them herself and they were clean sheets...." implying that I wasn't telling the truth or I can't tell clean sheets from dirty, or something. Never once did she offer an apology of any sort. When I asked if she had smelled the pillows she gave me a very weird look and said "I don't put my face on the pillows."

There were plentiful pillows, and the beds were fantastic, all of the credit for that goes to the corporation who has made these great beds available in all of their properties. This hotel did have Aveda bath products, which was a nice surprise, but didn't even begin to offset the problems this hotel has.

Starwood makes a huge deal out of being a Platinum level member, giving you all kinds of special perks, but not only did we not get any special treatment, we didn't even get any reasonable treatment! Starwood provides a "Platinum Concierge" line and I called it to complain. I was told I would hear from the hotel manager, Sabrina, in five days. I heard nothing. I called the following Monday. I got a lot of apologies from Starwood, and again the promise that the manager would call me but another week has passed and I haven't heard a thing. It would seem that the attitude problems at this hotel start from the top down.

If I'd never stayed at a Sheraton property and this was the first one I stayed at, I wouldn't stay at another. The corporation should yank this franchisee to protect their own excellent reputation and good name. The room rates at this hotel may be reasonable compared to other "upscale" hotels, but this is not an upscale hotel and the rooms are dreadfully overpriced given the level of comfort and service provided.