The Welcome
I often think “how can I introduce this blog with some witty, attention grabbing headline?”. In this case though, no introduction required. The title says it all. What I found, unexpectedly, on a recent trip to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands is what I believe to be the best Sheraton hotel in the world.
I do about 200 hotel nights a year, so I genuinely see the good, the bad and the ugly - the latter of course being the places that I would never return to, such as the Alpine Garden at Zurich Airport, Switzerland. On the flip side though, every now and again I stay at a hotel and think “wow, what an amazing place”. How do I define amazing? Well, it’s simple in my case - great service and a room that exceeds expectations.
My welcome today was a welcome indeed. As a Marriott brand, at the time of staying I hadn’t yet been promoted to Marriott Bonvoy Platinum and was a mere Gold. Gold is supposed to infer upgrades but in my experience I had a success rate of precisely 0% so wasn’t really expecting the star treatment. This expectation was wrong!
Upon check in I was told “here is a welcome champagne (Ed: not expensive), and you’ve been upgraded to a sea view deluxe room. As a Gold member, we would also like to give you this 50% discount voucher for any drinks and food you charge for the duration of your stay”. Can’t say fairer than that..an excellent welcome, I am sure you would agree.
Upon arriving in my room I had been left a welcome letter, some chocolates and a small bottle of champagne (the same type brand as sold by easyJet in fact on my way down here today).
The Room
First impressions of the room were excellent. It was very spacious, everything worked and when I had to ask the hotel how to use the WiFi I decided to ask in the Marriott app to test out response times. My response arrived within 60 seconds and I got my answer, as required.
The sea view you may have needed binoculars for as the hotel isn’t exactly located right by the sea, but this sea view room is about as sea view as it gets.
The massive bed was comfortable and for the first few minutes I just laid here reflecting on how lucky I was to yet again be in these glorious islands and with a lovely room.
As with the room itself, the bathroom was huge and set up very much for ‘his and hers’. The balcony and the sea view pictured were a nice place to sit until the couple next door started smoking and I ended up being down wind of it. I hit back with my cigar. Quid pro quo!
At this point I got a phone call from reception who asked if my room was ok and could they bring me a complimentary alcoholic drink. Even in the Canaries, this was a first for me.
Sure enough, my mojito arrived a few minutes later. So far, so good and I was expecting something to go wrong.
Eating and Drinking
Eager to use that 50% off voucher that the hotel offered me on check in, I headed down to the buffet restaurant. The buffet is open most nights and that’s where I ended up eating in fact every night of my stay. The restaurant manager soon got to know me and this is where something very peculiar happened.
He said to me “I have your table outside reserved”. He didn’t know me. We had never met before. Yet for some reason he had gone to the trouble of blocking me an outside table for dinner on my first night there. Others arrived and asked for outside tables to be told “sorry, nothing is available”.
Anyway, the restaurant manager and I got chatting and whilst I never did get to the bottom of why I got the star treatment, I made the assumption that it was down to either a) they don’t see many guests with status (the hotel sells directly to the tour operators such as TUI, Jet2 etc.) or b) as a single traveller he felt sorry for me! Who was I to question it..I was getting the rock star service..
The buffet for both dinner and breakfast were excellent. I couldn’t fault the quality of the service or of the food itself. A wide variety of options ensured I was kept happy and with great, attentive service too.
The Area
The hotel is located in Antigua, not far from Fuerteventura Airport, which for me was only a 10 minute drive in the rental car. If you stay in the other more established resorts such as Corralejo in the north, until the new FV-1 opens in its entirety (parts are open now, but not all of it), you’re looking down the barrels of at least a one hour drive each way, so this hotel has location going for it.
On the same estate of the hotel you’ll find a small shopping centre and some fast food outlets.
If you love the beach, that’s a short walk away too.
Conclusion
It's difficult to imagine a better Sheraton in all of the world than this one. However you cut it, I received great service, an unusual Gold upgrade (I’ve since been promoted to Platinum thanks to the Bonvoy April status promo’s) and at every touch point of the experience, received top notch service. Top notch service isn’t a given in the Canary Islands, even at the five star resorts, as I have written about extensively in previous reviews.
This hotel is well run, with great staff and in an excellent location with the very best Bonvoy status recognition that I have ever received.
I stay at a lot of Sheraton and wider Marriott properties across the world, throughout the year. I can honestly say, hand on heart, that this is very best Sheraton I have ever stayed at.
I paid €540 for three nights, including breakfast, in May 2024.
Location
The hotel is in the Antigua / Caleta de Fuste part of Fuerteventura, just a short drive from the airport.
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