During my last trip to Lisbon I chose to stay at the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa.

Location of the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa

The Sheraton Lisboa is located near the city center. Really not far but not close enough to be considered a downtown hotel.

You can see it well during the landing at the airport of Lisbon: it is the big tower.

To be honest, although there are a few decent restaurants in the area, you will have to walk a bit to get to other parts of the city to eat or visit.

Therefore an “average” location. Much less central than the Fontecruz Lisboa. The Altis Belem is also off-center but has the advantage of being in Belem.

Advantage: the trip to and from the airport, already quite fast in Lisbon, is even faster.

Disadvantage: dull district without any interest.

Arrival at the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa

I arrive by cab from the airport. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much.

I enter the large lobby and go to the counter for check-in. Having done my “mobile check in” online, the operation won’t take more than a minute.

Since the hotel is almost full I don’t expect an upgrade to a suite…which I won’t get. I will be upgraded to a superior “club” room in the upper floors: 24th floor out of 26. View guaranteed!

Next to it is the bar and the huge dining room that houses the “lobby bistro” and serves breakfast in the morning.

The first impression is quite good. The hotel is well maintained and may even have been renovated recently. But it can’t hide its old-fashioned design: a Sheraton from the days when they were all cloned on top of each other, without much charm or distinguishing features with a large, low-ceilinged lobby. The aesthetics of the tower alone hinted at what we would find inside. Totally opposite to the direction the brand is taking today.

I head for the elevator. I see a few distraught customers and a staff member invites us to go through what looks like a luggage storage. In fact the elevators of the hotel are in “technical inspection” and the customers must take the elevators of service operated by the staff. All this without any indication anywhere.

It is in a very relative comfort – not to mention the smell of food – that I climb to the 24th floor. I asked how long the elevators would be out of service and was told “it will take as long as necessary”.

Not a great first impression. Finally the elevator will still be inoperative when I go to dinner in the evening but everything will be back in order the next day.

I hede for my room.

The Club Room at the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa

Once through the door a corridor leads to the room itself. On the left a closet, on the right the bathroom.

The closet is not closed by a door but by a curtain which gives a rather “cheap” side to the whole.

The room is as classic as it gets with a real desk and an armchair.

The desk is of good size.

Proof of the hotel’s advanced age, even if it had been renovated: the lack of power outlets for all my devices. In the end I will have to unplug two lamps to have the necessary number of sockets. This is how you can recognize a hotel designed at a time when digital uses were not the same as today.

The bathroom is in excellent condition and looks newer than the rest. It has a bathtub/shower.

The view from the room is clear.

Only regret: from the other side of the hotel I would have had a view on the “beautiful” part of the city and the mouth of the Tagus.

And the traditional video to finish.

Actually I don’t know what to think. When I entered the room I thought it looked really old. Especially with a curtain in front of the closet that looks really like DIY. When I saw the bathroom I thought they had only renovated that part. At the end, seeing the general state of wear of the room, it seems to me that the hotel has been renovated not so recently but not so long ago, but that The options chosen on materials, colors and furniture undoubtedly give the room an age that it does not have.

It’s not ugly but not very nice: in short, it lacks taste.

Last detail not noted at the time: the next day when I wake up I realize that the air conditioning is really very noisy.

Dining at the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa

Let’s start with the lounge, to which my status at Marriott gave me access.

It was on the same floor as my room, at the end of the hallway, so it was very easy to get to.

The first contact was very mixed. A buffet left abandoned…

Tables not cleared….

And an absent staff….

I finally found the reason for the problem: the buffet closes at 7pm!

And since Air France was not very punctual in getting me to Lisbon, I arrived after the deadline.

This being said, two remarks anyway. First of all, this is the first time I’ve seen a lounge that stops the dinner service so early. Then it is not because the service is finished that it dispenses with clearing the tables as long as the lounge remains open!

I will come the next day with more success.

The place is not especially large and, like the room, is not necessarily very appealing in terms of design and furniture.

It consists of a main room and a smaller one.

Even if it offers an excellent view on the city it remains very dark.

On the other hand, the buffet is quite acceptable (when you are there at the right time). Hot, cold, sweet, salty, appetizers, nothing to complain about.

Enough, if you are careful, to eat enough and realize that you are not hungry enough to go to a restaurant.

And the staff was very active in restocking the buffet.

I will end with another reproach. This lounge, already not large for the size of the hotel, is sized to accommodate a “normal” volume of people in the year, namely guests with a certain status and those taking a room or suite including a lounge access. Usually people traveling alone!

There we found the same people who travel alone all year but with spouse and children! As a result the lounge was crowded, noisy, people were trying to move chairs and tables as best they could to get together, people were eating standing up! The opposite of what you would expect from a hotel lounge.

Let’s move on to the other restaurant offerings.

The hotel has two restaurants…which I will not try. Even if the area is not great at all, Lisbon has a restaurant offer that is both quality and affordable and there is no reason to overpay for a hotel restaurant.

For the record, one, more “bistro/brasserie” style, is located in the lobby as we have already seen.

The second one, visibly very well ranked, is located at the top of the hotel and thus offers a breathtaking view of the city as well as a visibly good cuisine.

As for the bars, I will skip the lobby bar…

…and go to the bar on the top floor, adjacent to the restaurant and offering the same view. By chance I will find a table next to the window.

The place is spacious, bright and the tables are quite far from each other.

An interesting cocktail menu…

But at prices that are anything but Lisbon-like. This confirms to me that avoiding the restaurant was a good idea.

Service and cocktails are perfect.

A very good experience...and I leave you with the view.

A view that justifies a visit to the bar even if you are not a hotel guest.

The fitness room of the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa

It is located on the 1st floor, next to the Spa. The floor also houses the swimming pool and offers openings to the outside so the room is not blind.

The room is a decent size, neither small nor large but low-ceilinged. The equipment is correct but not more. There is also some room for those who prefer floor exercises.

The swimming pool and the Spa of the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa

The pool is very badly indicated. Finally you have to go through the entrance of the Spa, give your room number …. but it is not indicated anywhere.

It is very large, pleasant, comfortable and quiet.

The spa is hidden behind the glass. Not the treatment part but the “wet zone”.

There is a rest room that I will take a picture of only from a distance because it is very largely occupied.

For the same reasons you will only have a partial view of the very large Jacuzzi.

Very nice sauna and hammam also.

Really a very nice space, clean, almost new!

Check-out

Benefiting from a late check-out I will leave my room at the beginning of the afternoon to go directly to the airport. I’ll do my check-out on the Marriott mobile app and then leave without having to go through the front desk again.

Bottom line: a taste of unfinished

The hotel is almost well located. The lounge is almost very good. The rooms have been visibly renovated in an old-fashioned style. The swimming pool, the spa and the bar will be the best points noticed during this stay.

In the end, a solid performance that leaves some regrets, especially considering the prices charged at this time of the year.