The door to our hotel room at the Four Points by Sheraton Raleigh Arena. Photo by: Evan Berman

Intro

Hotel: Four Points by Sheraton Raleigh Arena (This Article)

Visiting Beautiful College Campuses

Tampa Bay Lightning Game

3 Days in Raleigh

Food and Drinks in Raleigh

Conclusion

Intro:

Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina and while it is overshadowed by Charlotte, the Raleigh-Durham area provides its own reasons to visit. From the only hockey team in the Southeast (excluding Florida) to a thriving ethnic food scene and many colleges (Duke, UNC, and NC State, to name a few!), this is a great area and one that I have enjoyed visiting several times. Raleigh is not a huge tourist destination which gives a more “real” feeling than some cities. We were in town to see the Lightning play the Carolina Hurricanes, so it made sense to stay close to the arena.

As you’d expect given the name, the Four Points by Sheraton Raleigh Arena is across the street from the arena– in fact, the parking lot of the hotel was used as an option for game parking! Although prices were high, the return was excellent– I earned 10,000 American Airlines miles from this trip!

Booking:

I booked this hotel through Rocketmiles to earn lots of AA miles. The process is similar to using Expedia, hotels.com, or booking.com— you can search by location and filter by price or distance. However, I always filter by most miles earned then select the best option from that list. Unfortunately, Rocketmiles is no longer a good option. Instead, aadvantagehotels.com is quite valuable– if you have American Elite Status and an AA Credit Card. Stay tuned for a post detailing this option and why you should consider it for your paid stays.

View:

Unlike the Marriott in Asheville, the view at this hotel was quite nice. We had a lovely view of the forest behind the hotel. This can be very hit or miss though– the other side of the hotel faced the large parking lot and would not have provided such a good view.

9/10, Great. 

Value:

As shown above, I booked this hotel for $654.08. $327 a night is quite a lot, but it was the best option for us.

The 10,000 AAdvantage Miles (and Loyalty Points for status) I earned will go a long way towards future travel. Additionally, I earned 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent by charging my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, for a total of 1,962 UR points.

8/10, Very Nice. While we did spent a good bit of money, the AA miles are a great return and we were pleased with the hotel.

Furniture:

The furniture setup was solid. The beds were pretty comfortable and while there was no couch, in the traditional Four Points setup, there was a small desk and bar stools. While by no means luxury, Four Points is one of my favorite low/mid-tier hotel brands.

8/10, Very Nice. Everything was comfortable, though nothing to write home about. Staying here is for value, not luxury!

Location:

My normal disclaimer applies here: location is inherently subjective. Four Points by Sheraton Raleigh Arena is unsurprisingly located right across the street from PNC Arena, where the Carolina Hurricanes play. While this is not convenient for getting downtown, we were pleased with the location. Raleigh is a bit spread out but it was not too far to drive to any of the sites in town.

9/10, Great. We valued proximity to PNC Arena over other areas.

Electronics:

The wifi is free and has no password. The speed was passable, though I had no opportunity to test out the quality with no meetings or uploads. The TV was moderate sized and should be adequate should you require a TV during your stay here.

9/10, Great. I take one point away from having no password in the wifi but was pleased with the speed of the internet. 

Food and Drink: 

Breakfast was not included, through we ate elsewhere anyway. There was a small bar but overall was unremarkable.

N/A, did not sample.

Bathroom:

The bathroom was quite spacious. The setup is first a large sink with a mirror, then a bathtub and toilet. While my favorite faucet type (the heavenly waterfall faucet) was not present, the water pressure was solid and the overall bathroom was large and suitable for several guests/

9/10, Great. The bathroom was perfectly nice, though certainly not the best that I’ve had recently. Again, a waterfall shower head is what I’m looking for, so by nature without one the shower will slightly disappoint. In all, the bathroom was solid and what you hope for at a value brand chain hotel.

Overall:

8/10, Very Nice. We had a nice stay in the Four Points by Sheraton Raleigh Arena. While by no means a luxury hotel, this is a solid option for those interested in watching a Carolina Hurricanes game. We paid a fairly large amount for the room, but on the bright side, the return of 10,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles was terrific. Next up: visiting UNC and other beautiful college campuses.

Evan