Sheraton Raleigh Hotel

We regret having our wedding reception at Sheraton Raleigh, and I would highly recommend avoiding this hotel for yours! During the already stressful planning process, I was receiving no response at worst and half answered emails at best from the catering manager. It took several follow-ups to get the information I needed to coordinate with other vendors. This was a theme throughout setting the menu and even my day of wedding coordinator encountered when she stepped in to attempt to coordinate final details amongst the various vendors that would be involved in the day. We had numerous reservation issues to work out. Worse than that, we found out the week of the wedding that WE, THE BRIDE AND GROOM, DIDN’T HAVE RESERVATIONS (this comes in the standard contract)! To Sheraton’s (more like, Cy at the front desk) credit, they did give us very nice suites and even though our suites for the night doubled as the getting ready rooms, they were MUCH nicer accommodations than the typical getting ready rooms. Now the reception… Catering staff serving the appetizers did not know what they were serving and were consistently telling guests who asked “I don’t know” without offering to find out and we did have a guest that had to take emergency medicine due to an allergy. The bar wasn’t stocked with the correctly planned/coordinated beer selections until after cocktail hour was over. Once most of the correct beers were brought to the bar, the bartenders served those beers to guests warm as they had not been iced down. Even though we had purchased an upgraded liquor package, they couldn’t accommodate basic signature drinks within that package, so they had to charge us full price for each signature drink (the signature drinks tasted awful!). We put a cap on the amount of signature drinks that we expected to take us through the cocktail hour only and that was fine. The bartenders were under the impression that the whole bar was turning into a cash bar once the signature drink cap was reached. We don’t know if they were correctly accounting for signature drinks or including other liquor drinks that would have been included in the liquor package, but worst of all, they started COMMUNICATING TO GUESTS that it was a cash bar after cocktail hour! We paid for an upgraded liquor package, and instead they started charging our guests – and we don’t know how many guests paid cash before this was corrected. The bar ran out of glassware and had to switch to plastic cups less than halfway through the event, servers had to be asked several times to clear empty plates from the guest tables, then they tried to stack the plates from the guests tables instead of just having the guests bring them up with them (health code violation), they weren’t providing forks to guests after the cake cutting, providing wrong plateware at time, etc.. Essentially, the staff was standing around not serving guests throughout the night and had to constantly be told to help clear items and provide items to guests. The buffet was delayed in getting set up, food had to be sent back multiple times because it wasn’t cooked properly, incorrect menu items came out, and there were multiple times the buffet line was at a standstill because items on the buffet were empty and replenishments weren’t coming out of the kitchen in a timely manner. So much more to say - overall, the experience with Sheraton was regrettable (embarrassing and frustrating), even being compensated, it's a day we can't get back!

I reserved a block of rooms for my daughter's wedding last weekend and was so pleased with the Sheraton Raleigh. Maite Vigil handled the wedding block and she provided outstanding customer service! She is kind, professional, prompt in her responses and went above and beyond what was expected. Because we booked at least 40 nights, we were able to get the Governors Suite at a discounted rate. What a treat that was! It's like an apartment with a separate bedroom/bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room and another bathroom. We could have also gotten the Presidential suite, with a larger kitchen but one less bathroom. My daughter had so much space! She stayed in the suite Friday night and her bridesmaids stayed in the connecting double queen room. Because her wedding ceremony was at 11 AM, makeup and hair artists showed up at 6am to set up in the large suite. I woke up the bridesmaids as needed and my daughter was able to sleep in until her time while the rest of us had our makeup done in the dining room. It could not have worked out better. Then she and her husband stayed in the suite Saturday night. The hotel is in a great location and we were able to walk to most attractions. They took care of setting out our gift bags and also had treats of their own for the guests coming in. The rooms have been remodeled and have wood laminate flooring which was appreciated for cleanliness. Room service was quick and the pool was great for the young kids. There were just a couple of downsides. First, was that two of the three elevators were broken and it was about a 20 minute wait. We would have walked, but were on the 15th floor. Second was the 4pm check in process. It was so crowded at the front desk and there was a line to pull into the Salisbury hotel entrance to drop off people. Our rehearsal was at 5pm, so we barely made it. But the downsides were overwhelmed by the amazing customer service, location and friendliness of the staff.

I had so many issues with this hotel, luckily they finally upped their service to correct these issues, but after I had spent countless hours and many headaches dealing with them.

We held our ceremony and reception at the Sheraton, and also booked a room block at the hotel. Everything was fantastic! The ballrooms are beautiful, and newly renovated. Our guests loved the rooms. The food was delicious; everyone was raving about it! The staff is incredibly nice and helpful. We worked with the Social Sales Manager, Ana Garcia, to plan our event. Ana gave us so much help in finding the perfect space and planning the evening. She really went above and beyond for us, even dropping of a rented cake stand that I'd forgotten for me! There were a few minor problems along the way. For example, although our room block included parking and internet, not all of our guests received their vouchers. However, this was fixed promptly when we spoke to the front dest staff. Overall, this was a great experience, and I would recommend the Sheraton to other couples planning their weddings.