Review: Sheraton St. John’s Newfoundland


After our incredible stay at the Fogo Island Inn, we decided to spend a few nights in St. John’s, the biggest city in Newfoundland. We checked out of the Fogo Island Inn mid-morning, took the ferry, and then drove to Gander. From there we flew to St. John’s, which was a roughly 30 minute flight on a cute little Beechcraft 1900 (though in retrospect we could have driven that as well).

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Air Canada Express Beechcraft 1900

Since I’m a Starwood loyalist, we decided to stay at the Sheraton St. John’s for our two night stay. Our rate at the Sheraton was 140CAD per night, or roughly 100USD. This is a Category 4 SPG property, so a free night redemption would have cost 10,000 Starpoints. In this case, paying cash was definitely the better value.

We took a taxi from the airport to the Sheraton, a ride that took about 15 minutes. The Sheraton is rather outdated looking from the outside.

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Sheraton St. John’s exterior

However, from the inside it’s a different story, and looks like… well, just about any other Sheraton. Just inside the lobby was the reception area to the left.

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Sheraton St. John’s lobby

The lobby also had several comfortable lounging areas.

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Sheraton St. John’s lobby

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Sheraton St. John’s lobby

Also off the lobby was a business center.

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Sheraton Newfoundland business center

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Sheraton Newfoundland business center

The check-in process was efficient, and within a few minutes we had keys to our room on the club floor.

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Sheraton St. John’s hallway

We were assigned room 642, located at the very end of the hallway on the right. There was an entry door leading to the doors to both rooms 642 an 644, which was a bit odd, since you could easily hear when the person next to you entered the room.

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Sheraton St. John’s room exterior

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Sheraton St. John’s floorplan

The room had a long entryway with the bathroom on the right.

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room entryway

As usual, the hotel had the signature Sheraton bed, which is extremely comfortable.

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room

The room had an unusual shape, and at the other end of it was a desk and a TV console.

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room desk & TV

The desk area had conveniently placed outlets, which I appreciated.

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room desk

Next to the TV were two bottles of complimentary water, and an ice bucket, along with a Sunbeam single-cup coffee machine.

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Sheraton St. John’s in-room bottled water

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Sheraton St. John’s in-room coffee machine

There was also a comfortable chair with a side table.

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room sitting area

The bathroom had a sink, toilet, and shower/tub combo.

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room sink

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room shower

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room toilet

Toiletries were the brand standard Sheraton ones, which are… fine.

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Sheraton St. John’s toiletries

The highlight of the room, however, were the views. Our room had views of St. John’s Harbour. The afternoon we arrived it was snowing, so visibility was limited.

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room view

However, when we woke up the next morning we pulled back the curtains and had an amazing view. Wow!!!

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room view

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Sheraton St. John’s club king room view

So overall I’d say the room was typical of the brand, with the added benefit of one of the nicest views I’ve ever had from a Sheraton. The in-room Wi-Fi was fast and free, which I appreciated.

The executive lounge was located just down the hall from us, and could be accessed using a key card.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge

Here are the hours for the club lounge:

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge hours

The club lounge wasn’t very big at all, though also never seemed to be full. This hotel probably doesn’t get as many SPG Platinum members as most other properties. The club lounge had a variety of seating options, including booths, high-top tables, etc.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge

There was also a computer with a printer in the corner of the lounge.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge

Throughout the day there were soft drinks, water, granola bars, and whole fruit available.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge soda & water

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge snacks

There was also coffee & tea available all day.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge coffee & tea

Then in the evenings from 5PM until 7PM there was an evening spread, which wasn’t impressive. Sheratons in North America seem to have the most underwhelming lounge spreads out there, and this hotel was no exception.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge evening spread

There were plates of cheese, fresh fruit, veggies, crackers, chips, and brownies.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge evening spread

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge evening spread

And then there were two hot options, including chicken quesadillas and meatballs, neither of which were especially appetizing.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge evening spread

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge evening spread

Breakfast was served from 7AM until 9:30AM, and was basic, but more than sufficient. There was coffee, tea, and juice.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge breakfast

There was cereal, fresh fruit, cheese, salmon, cold cuts, pastries, bagels, etc.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge breakfast

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge breakfast

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge breakfast

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge breakfast

Then there were two hot options — oatmeal and super cheesy eggs.

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge breakfast

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Sheraton Newfoundland club lounge breakfast

Overall the lounge was pretty average for a Sheraton in North America. The breakfast was sufficient, as I usually just like coffee, fruit, and cereal for breakfast (I didn’t touch the eggs). Then throughout the day I appreciated having access to coffee, water, and granola bars. However, we didn’t touch the evening spread.

In terms of the hotel’s other facilities, there was a gym on the ground level. The equipment looked decent enough, but two of the treadmills didn’t work properly, so it didn’t seem like the upkeep of the equipment was all that great.

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Sheraton Newfoundland gym

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Sheraton Newfoundland gym

I was impressed by the size of the gym, though, including a repurposed squash court.

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Sheraton Newfoundland gym

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Sheraton Newfoundland gym

Next to the gym was a pool. I imagine this is probably somewhat of a novelty in Newfoundland, though it goes without saying that we didn’t use it. 😉

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Sheraton Newfoundland pool

The hotel also had a large “open” space with a glass roof. I’m not sure if this served a purpose or was considered to be modern architecture at some point, or what…

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Sheraton Newfoundland lobby

All the staff at the hotel we interacted with were friendly, and the hotel has a good location in St. John’s. It’s towards the end of the “walkable” area, so we spent our days walking around the town, working from coffee shops, going to good restaurants, etc. St. John’s was a cute city. I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it specifically, but if you’re exploring the rest of Newfoundland (which seems worth doing), then a stop in St. John’s for a couple of days could be fun.

Sheraton Newfoundland bottom line

The Sheraton was a great base from which to explore St. John’s. This was a pretty standard Sheraton property, so the hotel itself didn’t have much charm, though the bed was comfortable, the club lounge was a good place from which to work, and the Wi-Fi was fast. Perhaps the highlight of the hotel was the incredible views.

If you’re an SPG loyalist then I’d by all means recommend staying here if in St. John’s. Just expect it to be an average North American Sheraton property…

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Stephan Guest

@Shawn Morrissey - "Epicenter of tourism in Canada." Hahaha...yeah, ok. Newfies like to think that...

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Lorna Guest

Sweet, walkable city. Colourful and full of friendlies. The history is long and sometimes dramatic. Water street is the first street in N. America. Some top quality restaurants as well.

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AlexS Diamond

Through-the-wall PTAC ACs? No thanks! I intentionally avoid staying at properties with those as much as possible. Rooms with them always feel so damp and they never seem to be powerful enough in winter or summer.

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DB Member

@smallmj, I'm not sure but I'm eager to find out what it was like, small props like that don't visit DUB so never had the experience and would like to read about it, as well as the airport facilities on either end.

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‼ 0
John Guest

Look forward to hearing how tomorrow's stay at the Emirates Palace compares with this!

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‼ 0

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