ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel - Frankfurt/Main, Germany     

This is a very good hotel, located almost on the main walking street in Frankfurt. The hotel is modern and there are good restaurants and a very nice lobby bar on site. The rooms are large and comfortable, but have a "weird" almost S&M decor...i.e. think black leather and lots of metal. Strange...must be a throw back to another period or popular style, possibly the 1980s??? Still, the best thing about this hotel is the great breakfast! And the staff is very kind and helpful.

If this were a run-of-the-mill Sheraton, I would have said that this was a mediocre hotel. As a supposed member of Starwood's Luxury Collection, and at the rates they charge (about EUR280 a night), I'd have to say that this hotel has serious shortcomings. Pluses (1) Decent service - e.g. handled my laundry and pressing needs efficiently (2) Room size is quite large by European standards Minuses (1) Really outdated and tacky furnishing. The decor looks like it hasn't been refreshed since the 1980s and looks really tacky. It's definitely not what you would expect from a Luxury Collection 5-star hotel. E.g., I've stayed at the Sheraton Imperial in Kuala Lumpur, another Luxury Collection hotel, which had much more pleasant rooms. (2) Although I requested a non-smoking room, the first room I was allocated smelled of cigarette smoke. Although I was then assigned a non-smoking room, I wasted about 20 minutes waiting around while they sorted it out. (3) There was no hot water when I tried to shower in the afternoon checking-out. As it was a hot day, I managed. I subsequently learnt at check-out that this was because of a breakdown of the pump that morning, and the hotel had been without hot water for several hours. These things happen, but I would have appreciated perhaps a note slipped under the door? The bedside table lamp was also not functioning the night before. These incidents don't create a good impression of how the property is maintained.