Room Review: Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, Lanai Townhouse Suite

The Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina is a great hotel for those that want to stay close to the airport. A free hotel shuttle leaves for the airport every 20 minutes starting at 4:45am (runs until midnight), breakfast and hors d’oeuvres are served in the Club located in the Marina tower and there are several pools and restaurants.

There are two towers, Marina and Bay. There are 11 different room types, with 1053 total guest rooms. As an elite, when the hotel is not extremely busy I am often given the choice of what room type I want. Do you know which type is a good choice for you?

This first review is for the Lanai Townhouse Suite, which is connected to the Marina Tower by way of a bridge. It takes a while to get there, since you walk from reception all the way down the hall of guest rooms, past a set of guest room elevators, down the hall towards the pool, and finally across the bridge and to the Townhouses.

It has a different feel from the rooms in the Marina and Bay towers, because there just a few floors with a much smaller group of rooms.

When first entering the suite you go into the sitting room area (with a half bath just inside the door). The suite is 480 square feet, but feels smaller to me probably because it is split between downstairs and upstairs.

The sitting area is nice with a comfortable couch, coffee table and several lamps.

The couch and chairs are pretty comfortable, and the coffee table has several drawers.

There’s an older-style air conditioning unit downstairs, which thankfully blows out a good blast of your choice of hot or cold air. It is noisy, though the bedroom is upstairs so it doesn’t affect sleeping at all.

The room has a balcony with a couple chairs and a table. One negative with this type of room is that even though there are several lamps in the downstairs room, if the weather is not bright and sunny the room tends to be dark. The chairs are usually pretty dusty.

The balcony is actually pretty cool, with views over the pool and Marina. Since the Townhouses are lower floors you get closer water views than you would get if in the Marina or Bay towers.

The carpeting is showing its age, and there are several stained areas.

A useful item in the downstairs room is the empty refrigerator. It is a great place to store drinks, food, etc. THere is also a coffee maker with Starbucks coffee, and an ice bucket with glasses.

The stairs up to the second floor are a bit steep, but there is a wooden handrail.

The bathroom at the top of the stairs continues the nautical feel with blue and white stripes. It’s small, but functional with a shower/tub combo. There isn’t a lot of clearance between the toilet and the door.

The standard sized shower/tub has a shower curtain.

The upstairs bedroom space is a bit tight but there is still another chest of drawers, TV, desk, and also a minibar. This one is weighted so if you want to chill your personal items you’ll want to do it in the fridge downstairs.

Here’s the minibar, which is conveniently located under the TV.

This is the first time I can recall seeing a sign that specifically stated that you’d be charged an additional amount if you took something out to put in your own items.

Going down the stairs in the middle of the night to get something from the small fridge is not a good idea unless you like a good stumble, since they aren’t lit very well.

The bed is a Sheraton signature Sweet Sleeper, which is really comfortable.

Just as it is downstairs, if the day is overcast the room will seem a bit dark but when the weather is sunny the room has a lot of great light where no lamps are needed.

The upstairs balcony has more pool/marina views (and of the Bay Tower to the far left).

There’s a Lanai pool and Jacuzzi by the Townhouses that is more frequently used by the resident ducks than by guests due to the fact that there are less people staying in the Townhouses than in the Towers, so if you’re looking for a quieter pool area of the hotel this is a fantastic choice. It’s almost like a secret area.

This is not my favorite type of room at this hotel, but I can see how some people might prefer it. My favorite feature is the nearby Lanai pool, quiet area with waterfalls, and views.

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina Lanai Townhouse Suite 

SPG Category 4 property. 10,000 Starpoints needed for a free night. Note that this amount is not for a suite, but a regular room.