Concerns about Sheraton Rio

We are booked to stay at the Sheraton Rio in March through Regent's hotel program and are most concerned about recent comments. Who wants to start a luxury cruise with a bad hotel experience? I noted that several others have mentioned similar concerns tucked into another thread.

I am going to try to prompt some action before the poor experience starts. If someone can post the proper email I will try and contact Regent about my concerns . Hopefully if they read this post they may initiate some correction like a different hotel as the Sheraton Rio does not appear to warrant Regent's business .

Please, someone post the email I need. Thanks in advance.

Eager2Travel -

I do not know the name or email address of someone you can write to, but I do understand your concern.

I find it very interesting that Regent is using a Sheraton in Rio and it is getting bad reviews - - and they are also using a Sheraton on the outskirts of the city in Rome that is getting horrible reviews!

Maybe it's time to re-evaluate their contracts with Sheraton.

Try Kkumlani@prestigeholdings.com

may have made a mistake.

Regent is using the Rio Sheraton January 2 and 3 for the Mariner sailing.

In view of all the profound and current complaints about this hotel,Regent owes it to the passengers to have a representative on location,at the hotel. They won't. They will have some local agent there. Guests will be angry again. It's a bad way to start a cruise and Regent should show a little concern.

Thanks New London for the email address. I think I will wait until the holidays are over to hopefully have it get more attention.

Pepc - You are quite correct regarding the "poor experience" that some passengers have had with various Sheraton's used by Regent. On our recent Voyager cruise, which left Rome on Oct 23, the pre-cruise hotel for many passengers was the Sheraton Golf Parco D'Medici on the "outskirts" of Rome. "Outskirts" being defined as 12 miles from the city center.

Fortunately for us we did not use Regent's air or hotel and instead, booked our own flights and selected our own lovely little hotel (Adriano) right in the center of ancient Rome. A short 3-block walk from the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon (opposite directions). We also arranged our own very reasonable Limo to take us directly from our hotel to the Ship terminal in Civitavecchia.

About an hour after our arrival at the terminal, 3 busloads of extremely "unhappy" passengers arrived from the pre-cruise Sheraton hotel. For the next 3 days, we listened (over drinks) as many of those folks who had stayed at the Sheraton Parco "vented" their frustrations and complaints about the lack of service, food, "luxury experience (NOT)", and total lack of communication or Regent representation that they endured at that hotel.

For many of those passengers, it was their "first" Regent experience and many swore it would be their "last"! I steered as many as I could to Frank Galzy's office (for whatever good that might have done) so that they could document their grievances and dissatisfaction to someone in authority in the Regent structure. I saw Frank later and told him that I realized the "Sheraton experience" certainly wasn't his direct fault. Frank was gracious enough to say that their complaints happened "on his watch" and that "he owned it".

But I wonder if when these things occur and are duly reported.....does Regent actually "DO" anything about it to collect first hand reports and ensure that future passengers don't experience the same "let down" and negative experience at that same hotel property ever again? Or does Regent corporately just feign concern, "shrug their shoulders", say "oh, well, it is what it is", and merely "pocket the revenue" and move on?

Even though everyone (I hope) had a good experience once they actually boarded the Voyager, I can't help but think that many of those disgruntled passengers would NOT want to go on Regent again (or at the least, take advantage of the pre-cruse/included hotel) for a future cruise experience. When they get back home and discuss their trip with friends, I wonder how many will relate the experience they had at the hotel before they boarded the ship?

REMEMBER- it's not Radisson now - the "Good Old Days! "

Now it's Regent

Why not just cancel the pre-cruise hotel that Regent is providing and take the credit and book your own? You can book transfers to and from your hotel, and stay where you like, in a place with good reviews. Just a thought. Yes, Rio is a bit intimidating, but there are plenty of nice places out there.

 

But I wonder if when these things occur and are duly reported.....does Regent actually "DO" anything about it to collect first hand reports and ensure that future passengers don't experience the same "let down" and negative experience at that same hotel property ever again? Or does Regent corporately just feign concern, "shrug their shoulders", say "oh, well, it is what it is", and merely "pocket the revenue" and move on?

 

Wendy is absolutely correct about taking the credit and booking your own hotel and transfers. You will be much happier and have more money left in your pocket.

More than likely you have it correctly as you described it in the above paragraph. Have never used a Regent pre or post cruise hotel, at least not thru Regent and was every time better off and had a significant larger amount of money in my pocket in the end. Hotels similar to extra cost excursions, excursions, pre/post cruise packages and the like are simply huge profit centers for Regent and they are extremely unlikely to make any changes that are not profitable to the company.

History base on personal experience as well as reports from others indicate that letters to Regent generally are either ignored or responded to with a simple denial and lawyer/politician double talk much like almost all of the responses to the special Regen person from back in November and, he didn't even have the common courtesy to answer at least once several of the questions which were asked prior to the cutoff date.

If Regent truly cared, they would be posting on this board with explanations and solutions to the issues identified. Sincerely believe Regent believes that there are plenty of fish in the sea who will move to Regent and replace those of us who are fed up with the almost complete lack of professionalism in their absurd marketing ploys as well as ridiculous pricing for the few extras where they quite literally rip off the customer in the name of extra profits. After all, they have to pay the interest and for the new $450M ship that is currently on the drawing boards.

Unfortunately for us final pay has been done and it is too late to not do the Regent hotel. Lesson learned for next time! This is the reason I am going to attempt getting someone to be concerned before the event.

Wow, another scathing attack on Regent for no apparent reason.

I also suggest opting out of the hotel if you have concerns. Unfortunately, contracts with hotels or airlines cannot be changed quickly. It takes time to put contracts in place when you could have 200-300 couples staying there.

I am posting this from the Shangri-La hotel in Singapore... a Regent pre cruise hotel with a lot of happy customers.

As has been posted previously, Mr Kamlani is on a well deserved vacation. IMO specific customer complaints should be addressed personally - not on a public board as the previous poster suggested.

And yet....we've been reminded countless times that the name of this web site is Cruise CRITIC! Is the new guidance now - "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"?

The original subject was "Concerns about Sheraton Rio". Some subsequent posts discussed actual experiences (NOT just opinions) with other Sheraton's that have been used. Hundreds of experiences, both positive and negative, can also be found on another very popular and widely read travel advice website. The complaints are not fabricated out of thin air. They document personal experience.

Further discussions broadened the thread to discuss other Regent pre-cruise hotels in general and the pros and cons associated with booking hotels independently or relying upon Regent's choice and price structure. I believe the intent is to give newer Regent cruisers some perspective on their choices and others' experiences.

I'm sure there are folks who've had wonderful stays at Regent pre-cruise hotels. We had a very nice Regent pre-cruise hotel ourselves, in Vancouver a year ago. I also know, for a fact, that some folks have had some not-so-great experiences with some of the pre-cruise hotels, as well. Are we now not allowed to speak of those?

I suppose if folks just want to only hear "the good news", they can start their own new thread entitled, "Why I love Regent". Regards to all.

pingpong1: I was not referring to the OPs post or the subject. I was referring to something that was unrelated to the thread. See below:

If Regent truly cared, they would be posting on this board with explanations and solutions to the issues identified. Sincerely believe Regent believes that there are plenty of fish in the sea who will move to Regent and replace those of us who are fed up with the almost complete lack of professionalism in their absurd marketing ploys as well as ridiculous pricing for the few extras where they quite literally rip off the customer in the name of extra profits. After all, they have to pay the interest and for the new $450M ship that is currently on the drawing boards.

Thanks TC - I wasn't really sure "what" was going on. My concern is that Regent really needs to manage and oversee every part of their customers' experience, and particularly to include direct on-site monitoring of the pre-cruise hotel service and treatment that their passengers are receiving (and paying for), before they even arrive at the ship. Even though the pre-cruise hotels are a 3rd-party vendor, they are directly contributing to either a positive or negative impression the passengers are getting of Regent.

Regent might not care if the passengers ever use a Sheraton Hotel in the future, but they certainly must care (I would think?) if they ever go on a Regent Cruise in the future.

For the millions of dollars that are involved, I was wondering if Regent ever planted a "fly on the wall" in these hotels, when pre-cruise passengers were actually staying there, assembling, being housed, and presumably being fed, in order to see first hand whether they (Regent) where getting their money's worth (for what they're paying to the hotels) and whether their customers are being treated correctly, and up to Regent's expectation, by each selected vendor (Sheraton, et al.) that was being contracted to provide these services.

It's too bad, and I think a real management oversight, if Regent's first inkling that anything was "wrong" - is when a bus load of angry passengers is marching up the gangplank on the first day of embarkation. This is what I saw, first hand, on our Voyager cruise in October. Mr. Galzy, who "was Regent" that day, was blind-sided and seemingly caught completely off-guard, through no direct fault of his own, by a bunch of angry passengers who had had no/sparse food served them at breakfast (at the hotel), no refreshments offered (during a 5 hour waiting period that morning) before embarking on their busses to the ship, no direct communication with, or representation from, anyone who actually worked for Regent itself. Those passengers, who had chosen the pre-cruise hotel and transfer package were kept waiting for nearly 3 additional hours at the hotel - with no explanation - before the buses actually pulled out and headed to the ship.

I saw firsthand the anger on the passengers faces and heard the negative comments and universal expressions of dissatisfaction as they were getting off those buses. Is that the customer experience that Regent is striving for? I would presume not. And is it reasonable for Regent to plausibly foist all the "blame" off to the contracted hotel (Sheraton, in this case) for what occurred by implying "we didn't know, we weren't there, we have no control over the hotel"? None of their customers were "buying" that explanation that day and here it is, even being discussed on this thread.

I was just wondering what processes are in place (if any) to ensure those things don't happen in the future? Based upon some of the other posts, this is/was not a one-time aberration.

TC, I hope you have a great cruise. I very much look forward to reading your posts throughout the cruise. Regards.

I just read TC2's post LIVE from Voyager and am convinced that emailing the CEO as Eager2Travel plans to do is not the answer but having a good TA means everything in situations like this. While my current TA gives me a good discount, I do not think they have a clue on the air or hotel front leaving a lot of the work up to me

We stayed 1 night pre-cruise in the Sheraton Rio in March of 2012. Originally, we had been told that we would be staying at the Intercont. Hotel (which has now changed hands and is called the Royal Tulip.) When I researched that hotel, we found that 2 years previously, 10 heavily-armed gunman from the Favela above the Intercont. invaded the hotel lobby and took 35 people hostages. Over the next few hours, more than 10,000 shots were fired in the lobby, one person was killed and 4 policeman were wounded!

I immediately contacted my TA and told her we would not stay in the Intercont. Hotel. Our TA checked for us and told us the good news. Only Regent passengers in Penthouse Suites and above were staying at the Intercont. We would be staying at the Sheraton Rio!

So, Eager2Travel, the good news for you is that the Sheraton Rio is in a relatively safe area of Rio and you probably won't be subjected to a gun fight in the lobby! Also, most of the rooms are OK.... not great, but tolerable for a 1-night stay. (It helps to tell the staff you are allergic to mold and need to stay in a recently-renovated room. It worked for us!)

The bad news about the hotel is that it is incredibly understaffed. Too few housekeepers, next to no bellhops, few clerks behind the desk.... and very few of the staff speak English. Checking into and out of the hotel is a tedious process. Rooms are not ready for hours after arrival; and luggage must be outside the room and available for pick-up many hours before the buses start departing for the ship.

This latter problem was particularly worrisome to us. We don't like leaving our luggage unattended. After breakfast that morning, I went on a search for our luggage and found it outside the hotel, off at the end of the drive leading into the hotel, with no one in sight to watch it. So, I spend 2 hours standing out there in the heat, watching to make sure no thief drove off with it!

During those 2 hours, I watched the rest of the Regent-bound luggage being hauled outside. It was not hotel porters doing it. All the luggage was being hauled by the local Regent agents.... all of whom were female, and all dressed very nicely, down to their high-heel shoes! They really were struggling with those heavy bags.

When we were finally loaded onto our bus (with luggage) and were ready to depart for the ship, one couple was missing. Our Regent agent started screaming at us that we were told what time we were to be on the bus and why weren't we all here? Why did she now have to go looking for the missing couple? One of the passengers then informed her that she had no right to be berating us that way and the poor woman broke down and started crying. She said she was exhausted from having had to move all our luggage.

So, Eager2Travel, you probably won't have an especially enjoyable stay at the hotel but you'll survive it and you really have no other option at this point. We tried about 6 months pre-cruise to book a room in a better hotel and there were none available. Consortiums buy up all decent hotel rooms for months around Carnival time and unless you want to book for 7 nights, you are out of luck. I doubt Regent could find some other place for you to stay either.

Tough it out for 1 night. It'll make you appreciate your curise all the more. Have a wonderful cruise. We did!

Sorry Eager2Travel, I made a boo-boo.

The e-mail address is kkamlani@prestigecruiseholdings.com

Agree with taking the credit and changing hotels. We stayed at the JW Marriott Rio in January and found it quite nice. We heard many complaints about the Sheraton while on board the Mariner.

Thanks, one and all for the comments. I am going to call T A to find out if we can still get money for hotel credit since we have made final pay. If not it will be too expensive to go that route for a one night stay. We will be paying double. We will just be more cautious on the future.

Journey fan, thanks for info about your recent experience. It will help prepare us for our stay and guide us through it. Sounds like acceptance is the key her along with rigorous watching of the luggage.

Eager2Travel,

Before you ask Regent for a hotel credit, please make sure you can book a 1-nt stay in a better hotel. We found we could not 2 years ago but maybe things have changed. Or perhaps your cruise isn't as close to Carnival as ours one.

Good luck to you.

Hearing about the abuse of luggage and bus delays, the one thing you *can* do is book your own private transport to the ship. We took a cab from our hotel in Ipanema to the port a few years back, and it was comfortable and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

But what you need to watch out for, if you take a cab from the hotel, is a very popular scam in Rio. The first cab in line is so tiny it will hold 2 passengers, but no luggage. The cab right behind it says they will take your luggage.... no extra charge. Guess which cab doesn't make it to the ship?

We stayed at Sheraton Rio in 2010 on Oceania cruise and had similar experience with hotel. I had booked it myself to get cheaper rate and did our own transport as it was much less than Oceania price. I used Ihatetaxis.com and booked in advance and had voucher for pickup at hotel. We had no problem.

We handled our own luggage and so didn't have to put it out early. Breakfast was a zoo. Ended up eating in the bar because it was so crowded.

Hope you work things out to your satisfaction. I know that you will have a wonderful cruise. Enjoy!

Thanks for the tips. We will book our own transport to the ship. We will also check other hotel options before canceling anything with Regent

We stayed at Sheraton Rio in 2010 on Oceania cruise and had similar experience with hotel. I had booked it myself to get cheaper rate and did our own transport as it was much less than Oceania price. I used Ihatetaxis.com and booked in advance and had voucher for pickup at hotel. We had no problem.

 

We handled our own luggage and so didn't have to put it out early. Breakfast was a zoo. Ended up eating in the bar because it was so crowded.

 

Hope you work things out to your satisfaction. I know that you will have a wonderful cruise. Enjoy!

I just stayed at Sheraton Rio last month and breakfast was VERY GOOD in a special Regent room with PLENTY of ROOM ! They must have learned since 2010!