As part of my Marriot Bonvoy challenge, this was the only feasible (ie reasonably priced) property in Cotai. I stayed here back in 2013 but wasn’t writing reviews then so I figured time to re-visit the property. A 4,000-room Sheraton is no joke after all!

Address – Estrada do Istmo. s/n, Cotai, Macau. Website.

Contact – Tel: +853 2880 2000.

Getting There – Macau is a transport no-brainer due to its hotel / casino competition – you snooze you lose! After clearing immigration, turn right and follow the sign that says “Hotel Shuttles” and you’ll get to a open carpark of sorts. There are 2 bays so just ask the coordinator which one you should take for your hotel and they’ll let you know. The bays do not come with any signage as well, so take note. The bus that takes you to Sheraton is a lime green bus which says Sands Cotai and displaying the logos of the 2 hotels accordingly: Sheraton, Holiday Inn, and Conrad. Intervals are about 15-20mins. The ride takes about 10mins.

Price – HKD3,649.41 for 3 nights = SGD633.14 under the Advanced Purchase with Breakfast. Not a bad price for the Cotai area where other hotels can be priced from HKD1,500 upwards for a basic room.

Location – I really liked the Cotai area. It’s all glitz and glamour. And clean toilets. Plus, almost every spot is a photo opp. Sands Cotai is also a shopping mall in itself and the hotel is directly connected for shopping. There is also a linkway to Venetian and Parisan (they are all under the same parent company) which means no worries about rain! To get anywhere, just enquire about the shuttle services which brings you around Cotai, the ferry terminal (to Hong Kong), the border gate (to Zhuhai), and city centre (Da San Ba).

Check out the pics!

Check In – Prior to arrival, I received an email from the Club Lounge to invite us to check in at the lounge. I assumed that means lounge access was included and proceeded to thank them for the upgrade. I also used the Marriot Bonvoy app to ‘check in’ for 10am due to my early flight and got a pop up when I landed that my room key was ready! And my app showed an upgrade to the room with Club access. Yays!

I reached the Sheraton Club and was warmly received by the team and luggage assisted with. But I was told the invitation was only for checking in at the lounge and not access to it. I showed them that my app shows the assigned room states “club access” but again was told that it meant club room but no access to the club. While all this was handled very warmly and professionally, I just felt that the hotel system could have handled it better:

1) It is a bit odd to invite guests to check in at the Lounge but at the same time inform that no club access will be given. Why not just invite them to check in at the Marriot Bonvoy counter at the main lobby in this case?

2) The app should not show “club access” when it is not factually correct – that is misleading and leads to false expectations. The app should just show no upgrade or indicate the correct info.

That being said, the staff was super nice and invited us to have complimentary breakfast at the Lounge while she sorts this out. When she came over, she told us she managed to secure us access to the Lounge but breakfast and evening cocktails are not included which basically means coffee / tea all day. We also got the highest possible floor, level 41. We appreciate the efforts anyways.

As Silver Elite, I was also offered a choice of welcome amenity: points, yoghurt and granola bars, or fruit basket. I picked the yoghurt & bars but they never came so I opted for the points at check out.

Rooms – I was housed at the Sky Tower’s Deluxe Twin (42SqM) Room 4136, was nicely spacious and plenty of space for 2pax with luggage. There were signs of an ageing property but maintained fairly well most spots anyway. Adequate bathroom with Sheraton branded toiletries (which were very meh). The only thing I didn’t like about being on the 41st floor is that you have to take the lift from the 40th floor and change to another lift – didn’t understand why too.

Due to a goodwill gesture of the Duty Manager after an unfortunate twist of events, we were upgraded to Executive Suite 3558 for our last night. The suite is probably twice the size of the Deluxe room and the other space became a living room which comprised of another bathroom plus a tired looking 3-seater sofa + another 2 single seaters. Toiletries here were noticeably better bring from Shine Spa and bathroom comes with a huge bathtub. Huge space for 2pax which we didn’t maximise but hey wouldn’t pass up a chance to stay in a suite for free!

(Summary of the incident: we came back to our room on 2nd night and to our horror the room was completely smoke filled and smelled disgusting. Turns out our next door neighbour separated by a locked connecting door was ignoring rules and smoking in their room and obviously the stench got to our room. We were downgraded to a poorer room and after speaking with said Duty Manager was offered to move up to a Suite for our last night).

Sheraton Club – I’ve read reviews that the Club is recently renovated and was looking forward to trying it out. Located on level 4, it is still a massive space with separate seating areas and unfortunately still feels like a big dining hall. However, service is typically politely efficient but no warmness, almost clinical. This Lounge does not serve afternoon tea but just some fruits and cookies between breakfast and evening cocktails. Due to a later stroke of good luck, we managed to try the evening cocktails for 2 evenings too: the spread was fairly decent with hold and cold food, even cheeses and plenty of fruits ending with a selection of cakes. Good enough for a light dinner.

Breakfast – Feast restaurant on level 1 was also a massive space fairly equipped to handle the huge breakfast crowd. Spread here is massive with good quality offerings (fresh honeycomb!) – the best part is they serve prosecco for everyone! I have never been to any hotel which does that for their every day breakfast and it was amazing. The staff here are noticeably more warm than the ones at the Lounge – one even remember my name and where I was seated the morning before – service excellence!

Facilities – Didn’t remember to check out the pool or spa nor gym so couldn’t comment much.

Service – Nothing to complain about, with the Duty Manager making good amends to the unfortunate smoking neighbour incident.

Check Out – Granted a late check out at 4pm and painlessly done at the Sheraton Club. Our luggage was also moved to Bell Service on level 1 in preparation for our departure. Quite a seamless system.

In summary, I would return as it is still one of the properties which hovers around SGD200+ per room per nigh with breakfast. Though, I would definitely try Conrad given my newly acquired Diamond status to see how they match up!