The Sheraton is currently working on its restaurant, Rachel’s Restaurant, and bar, said David Heymann, the general manager at the Sheraton. There are also plans to renovate the hotel’s lobby, gift shop and elevator cabs, all of which Heymann expects to be completed by Jan. 1.

Room renovations began in December and continued from the top-down until completed in May. The hotel also expanded and remodeled its fitness center in May and began renovating its bar in July.

The hotel’s bar, formerly known as Seasons on the Hill, will be renamed Sitrus on the Hill and will have a completely different feel to it once renovations are complete, Heymann said.

‘The bar has been totally gutted out,’ Heymann said, ‘It will have a whole new look; it will look very cosmopolitan and really won’t be a sports bar at all anymore.’

Heymann said that the bar’s renovations are running pretty close to schedule and is expected to be completed by Oct.1.

Heymann said while the hotel’s renovations have had its share of problems, they were not anymore difficult than other projects of its size.

‘There are always problems with renovations, whether it’s going over budget, shipment delays or products coming in broken, problems are inevitable, but it’s not anything we can’t handle,’ Heymann said.

Heymann also noted that the most difficult aspect of the hotel’s renovations was trying to balance the customers and the project at the same time.

‘It’s difficult to accommodate our customers and our renovation plans, but in the end, I think that everyone will be satisfied with our efforts,’ he said.

Despite ongoing renovations, Elinor Vavoules could not be happier with her daughter’s living arrangements at the Sheraton.

‘I’m jealous that I don’t get to live here,’ said Vavoules, mother of Laura Vavoules, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘The room is so spacious and clean and the hotel has been ridiculously nice during the whole move-in process.’

Vavoules said they have not been inconvenienced by the renovations so far.

‘It hasn’t been noisy or anything and the hotel has been bending over backwards to accommodate us,’ Vavoules said.

Laura Vavoules said she has high expectations for her experience at the Sheraton.

‘We chose to live here because it was definitely our best option,’ she said.

Laura Vavoules and her roommate Jaclyn Silverberg, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that they are especially looking forward to taking advantage of their access to the hotel’s room service and newly renovated fitness center and sauna, and they do not expect the hotel’s continuous construction to take away from their experience at the hotel.

Heymann said that like Silverberg and Vavoules, the move-in process for the other 66 students living at the hotel seems to have gone smoothly.

‘We haven’t heard any feedback that the renovations have caused problems for the students moving in,’ he said.

adhitzle@syr.edu