We visited the Sheraton Chengdu (2 adults, two kids) before Christmas. The service is very good, the staff well trained. The room was agreeable. The hotel is not very stylish, relying on a selection of brownish and yellowish colors. The hotel is lacking a bar and a reasonable restaurant selection, the breakfast choice is reasonable but limited. The hotel is not located in a shopping or night-life area, though both can easily be reached by taxi.
Overall a good choice, but missing the final five star touch.

Whilst the general accomodation/facilities are little more than standard international 5* (although still excellent, clean, comfortable etc...there is even a Louis Vuitton store in the lobby!), it is the service that makes this place amongst Sichuan's best hotels. In particular, the concierge service will write out instructions to drivers in Mandarin, and/or locate drivers and obtain truly good (considering we were foreigners) prices. It is in an excellent location for downtown Chengdu, and the Panda Reserve, Leshan Giant Buddha and other regional attractions (including the legendary Sichuanese cuisine) make interesting day-trips.

We stayed here during a 10 day family tour of China. Before arriving at the Sheraton in Chengdu, we had stayed in a range of hotels--western owned, Chinese owned, modern and not-so-modern.

It was such a relief to walk into the beautiful lobby, enter a room that was immaculate (with clean carpets to boot--which is not a standard in China) and comfortable. Rooms, beds, bathrooms were just terrific.

The buffet dinner was very very good--my son was happy to have a couple of well prepared Western breakfast options. They were a bit slow with the service in the restaurant, especially with delivering cappucinos in the morning.

Beware that laundry rates, unlike many hotels in China, are comparable to a hotel in New York. My brother-in-law was able to ask the concierge to have the hotel send the laundry out to a local cleaner at 25% of the hotel's rate. The concierge was happy to oblige.

Service was very good. We found that staff to be quite accomodating. I speak Chinese, but members of our travelling party do not, but this was not an issue.

The pool is wonderful--clean, refreshing and set with a view of the city. Given the heat during our visit, it was perfect.

I stayed here April 2006, and even booking 6 weeks in advance I got the last nonsmoking room - they are a very busy hotel. I can confirm they were full on a Wed/Thurs because my bathroom smelt like something died in it, and I wanted to change rooms, which they couldn't do.
So first the bad: the beds (even on Executive floor and even after complaint) were EXTREMELY hard, but that is a China-wide problem I was yet to realise. Also, it seems no hotel in China provides you with little UHT milk packets for tea/coffee - this hotel doesn't even provide whitening sachets. And the smell in my bathroom - just luck of the draw I guess.
But all that aside, the quality of the furnishings was excellent, the rooms were very clean, the service was fantastic. I was very impressed and would stay here again in an instant. It is very central and (at least on Executive floor) certainly of 5 star level. Breakfast in Executive lounge was very diverse and had all the western staples.
Taxi here from the airport should be about 65-70Y in non peak times.
Also, I came to Chengdu only to go out to the Panda research base. After pushing for a taxi price instead of hotel car, i was able to hire a taxi at 40Y/hr to take me out there (about 30min drive), sit there for 1.5 hrs whilst I looked around, and then drive me back. Very time efficient and very cheap compared to other Chinese cities (which are still cheap!).