You Get What You Redeem for at the Sheraton Catania Hotel
I arrived at the Sheraton Catania Hotel & Conference Center around 9:15 PM in a monsoon and carefully navigated the car down to the parking garage. 24 hours in transit and only 30 minutes in the car had left my ability to park in tight spaces something to be desired, so eventually the parking attendant signaled I should give up and let him park it.
I made my way up to the lobby to check in. It was quick, but I had to leave my passport overnight so they could make a copy of it. I was informed that I had been upgraded to a room with a view and advised that room service closed at 10 and restaurant was fully booked for the evening.
While the lobby was modern, the rest of the building featured strange, old fashioned décor including live vines that were growing and hanging everywhere in the common spaces.
There were also unique pieces of artwork decorating the many halls. At first impression, it just all felt outdated, but grow on you and by morning I was enjoying wandering the halls picking out my favorites.
The outdated décor was continued in the room. It was a perfectly decent room, just needed refreshing.
My room featured a small patio and as the door had been left cracked open it sounded like I had a view of the ocean, but I wouldn’t be able to tell until it was light.
I quickly discovered the TV didn’t work and there was no room service menu. I called down to the desk and insstead of offering to bring me one, they recommended I call the kitchen for my options. Fair enough, but when I did I was informed the kitchen had already closed (it was not even 9:50 at that point). I was glad at that point that I’d tucked in my laptop case the my dried fruit and granola from my American Airlines flight.
The bathroom featured pretty blue tile but very dated.
The toilet with it’s permanent stains and rusty water was off-putting. As was the water stains above the bed which I discovered later.
They did provide a complimentary bottle of water, which I was grateful for since I wouldn’t be drinking out of the tap, but there were no tea or coffee facilities.
There was a mini-bar in the closet which I was tempted to raid for additional water, but decided ~$6 a bottle wasn’t worth it.
Despite all the other downsides to the room, the bed was comfortable and I slept well, enjoying the sound of the rain and the slight ocean breeze coming from the patio door which I left slightly open.
In the morning I discovered I did have a nice view, even though the sky was gray and the sea was still angry looking.
I made my way down to the breakfast buffet, free for Platinums, overlooking the rainy pool.
A standard breakfast, though you ordered coffee from your waitress but made your tea yourself. The highlight was the plate with a giant round of fresh ricotta with honey and berries and other toppings available. I’d never had truly fresh ricotta before and this was a treat!
I had left the airport as soon as possible, so before checking out of the hotel I wanted to get local currency. There was no ATM in the building but there was a bank in the attached shops. Very convenient!
If I had paid the going rate of 176 Euros for this stay I would have been wildly disappointed. But as an award stay that cost only 3,000 Starwood Points plus 13 Euros for parking it was a great redemption value!
That said, I was glad I would be staying at a different location the next night and overall found it one of my least favorite Starwood stays. Of course, having my day room upgraded to the Diplomatic Suite at the Sheraton Malpensa was a tough act to follow.
More from this trip:
American Airlines Flagship Lounge in JFK
American Airlines Economy JFK-MXP
Day Room Upgraded to the Diplomatic Suite
Getting from Malpensa Airport to Linate Airport
Linate Airport Lounge and Alitalia Economy LIN-CTA
omg what country is this? looks like a ghosttown, were there any other guests? scary
Catania is a part of Sicily in Italy, Anita; and it is quite scenic there. I visited Catania when I was in Malta, as it was only a high-speed ferry boat ride away.
Keri, I would have simply asked for another bottle of water at the front desk — especially if you have status. Although it is not a habit of mine to do so on a regular basis, I have never been denied or charged — and I did not have to deal with rusty water for those requests of bottles of water to be fulfilled.
The last time I asked for water at the front desk — actually, I asked for the nearest market where I could purchase bottled water — the agent at the front desk told me that he will give me the water.
To my surprise, I had four additional bottles of water waiting for me when I returned to my room. This was at the Grand Hyatt Muscat in Oman.
Thanks for posting!! As an SPG junkie, i’ve been looking at this property for a while. Yeah, great SPG pt redemption.