Starwood Preferred Guest - Bahamas Concierge Lounge?

My wife and I are planning to escape the harsh NYC winter for a few days in Feb by spending a few days at a Starwood property in the Bahamas. In preperation for choosing a property, I read all the threads on this board about the Westin and Sheraton Our Lucaya resorts and found significant differences between both properties, but no one mentioned a Concierge Lounge. I then assumed that there was none at either property, but to be sure based on the advice William Sanders has given us over the years, I called the SPG Conceirge desk and got the word that neither property had such a lounge. I decided that I would have to make our choice based on other criteria.

Last night while preparing for a stay at another Westin, I came across the post by J.H. on StarwoodLobby about the Westin Our Lucaya. Included in this post was info about the Royal Beach Club Floor and Lounge (we enjoyed this lounge at P.V.this past winter).

Have any of you had an experience with this Westin Lounge at Our Lucaya, and do any of you know if the Sheraton has a similar lounge? :confused:

I was there about a year ago. Stayed at the westin on the club floor (a.k.a. royal beach club). IMO if you can get the club floor take it because when I was there during spring break, the place was sold out and almost every restarunt there was mobbed. The lounge its self is just like every other one.

I was involved in a thread about this last year (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=467478&highlight=lucaya+lounge). The lounge at the Westin at Our Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island closed last fall. They stopped offering the Royal Beach Club category and simplified their rate categories.

Their old website http://www.ourlucaya.com/ has been abandoned and now redirects to an SPG site for the properties. That's too bad since the old site was a bit more informative about the property itself and explained the different room categories that they offered, IIRC.

On our last return in late October 2005, the RBC Lounge had been officially closed. As an SPG Plat, we instead got free cold breakfast in Willy Broadleaf's buffet. The hot breakfast costs extra, but the "cold" breakfast is nice and does include hot oatmeal. We also liked "Le Med" in the Lucayan Marketplace for breakfast.

I'm curious about what they did with the RBC lounge room. It was on the back side of the top floor, but a part of it was a split level with stairs down to a computer with printer on the 9th floor. (There's a full business center next to the convention center.)

Since we preferred to stay in the Lanai Suites which are in a separate building, we didn't miss the lounge too much. But when we stayed in the main tower, it was a nice perk. I'm sorry that they got rid of it.

To the best of my knowledge, the Sheraton has never had a lounge. I'm not sure if elite members in the Sheraton were allowed access to the lounge in the Westin. We only stayed in the Sheraton once, and that was on a Priceline reservation. (At least at the time, the Sheraton and Westin were the only resorts that participated in Priceline.)

SCFlier's post above is completely accurate. I, too, wonder what became of the previous RBC's space. When this hotel first converted to Starwood Brands, I have to say that the RBC lounge was as well run a lounge as I've encountered. The quality of food offerings and the caliber of the staff was, simply, exceptional.

I understand that in recent years it had slipped somewhat. Regardless, I, too, am sad to see it gone.

Got back from Our Lucaya yesterday and can confirm that the info above is correct, RBC is gone but I don't know what replaced it. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation, this is the place. Watersports, nice restaurants, 5 star pools. For dinner try La Dolce Vita across the street.

Got back from Our Lucaya yesterday and can confirm that the info above is correct, RBC is gone but I don't know what replaced it. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation, this is the place. Watersports, nice restaurants, 5 star pools. For dinner try La Dolce Vita across the street.

Thanks for the advice. We decided to book at the Sheraton Lucaya rather than the Westin, in part because a few of us had the Sheraton as our meeting hotel. Customs was a breeze and within 5 minutes of landing we had picked up our rollaboards from our AA MIA flight and had boarded a taxi ($23) for the hotel. We were upgraded to the Starwood floor (Room 2-3092), but because the hotel was full, all suites had already been asigned. However, the agent found a suite for us on the last night of our stay and we gladly moved. The room was large, but the bathroom barely held the tub/shower, a toilet and a small sink. In contrast on the last evening, the Suite (Room 2-2110) was large and the bathroom twice the size of the standard Sheraton Rooms. Both rooms overlooked the pools and the ocean. Also included was a large living room with a TV, and a kitchen area that contained a sink, a microwave, a refrigerator, and a coffee machine. Some of our friends objected to the noise that seemed to originate from the Prop Club, a bar and grill that managed a live band and a cookout, but the suite overlooked this area and we managed to sleep well, not hearing any noise. We had dinner in the Prop Club upon our 10PM arrival, and my wife commented that it appeared louder than a U-2 concert at Madison Square Garden!-Dinner was no great shakes-they were out of fish, steak, and one of the local beers, so I managed a hamburg and my wife a salad. On one of the other evenings we had dinner at the Seafood restaurant (Iries) across from the back of the Casino, and it was relaxing with average food. On other occasions, we walked across the street to the Lucaya Marketplace and ate lunch at Zorbas, Pussers, and another Greek-Bahamian restaurant, but the Golden Dolphin was the best of the restaurants at which we ate. We tried to get into Pisces, but our impatience of needing a drink required that we not wait the hour for a table. A common complaint about the rooms by my colleagues was the noisy airconditioners, which sounded like a large diesel truck engine starting up every time they went on.

The best dinner we had was at the Stoned Crab, a waterfront restaurant on the next beach west from the Our Lucaya complex. If you choose to go, reservations are required. And although we got lost in the dark, a taxi can make this trip in about 5 minutes.

There is not much to do on the Grand Bahama Island other than swimming with the dophins-an expensive must for those who are adventuresome. The Parrott Gardens, like many hotels and other commercial properties, had been heavily damaged by a hurricane two years ago and looked like they will not reopen. We did rent a car from Thrifty/Dollar at a kiosk across the street from the hotel. Upon approaching the third agent as the other two were doing business with other guests, I noted the agent was asleep with her head down on her desk. I pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the desk, but the agent did not stir. Only when I shook her, did she awaken and ask what I wanted. I then succeeded in renting a Chinese semiautomatic auto, but when I tried to shift gears, I could not figure out how to do this, as the Cherry QQ did not have a clutch. Somehow after much frustration, I figured out that one needed to press on the break if shifting was required. This car provided adequate transportation throughout the island for sightseeing.

The Our Lucaya Complex is spectacular with perhaps 8 pools, and well manicured lawns and perhaps over 1200 rooms. The Westin appeared to be far better than the Sheraton, with one two story building containing only suites, and a large 8-10 story main hotel building. The Sheraton is rambling 4-5 story building with a Y-shaped configuration of rooms extending off the lobby in an east as well as a west direction. Because of my Platinum status, we were invited to the Manager's cocktail party on Friday night for a few Bahama Mamas and some snacks.

I was impressed with the Front Desk staff who did their best to try to find me a suite even though the hotel was fully booked. They appologized that they could only find us a suite for the last night of our stay, but despite their willingness to find us a room, they as well as we forgot to discuss the 500 point ammenity which was not offered, nor did we ask.

Would I return to the Sheraton? Probably not, as the bathrooms were small, and I suspect that the Westin was worth the $20 or so more. I would recommend that travellers to these properties beware of all the fees that are added to their bills. There is (1) a 6% Government tax (2) a 9% tourist levy, (3) a $10 resort fee with each night, (4) a $16 service charge with each night, and (5) 15% is added to all food purchases from the best restaurant to even a coffee bar in the lobby. All these taxes and assements quickly add up. The weather was cool at night, dipping into the mid-60s, and during the day it was in the mid-70s.

Food is relatively inexpensive even though we did not see one garden nor one farm animal on the whole island- that's right, not one garden with plants nor any chickens or pigs on the entire island. However, there appeared to be lots of coconuts which are used for many of the local drinks.

Overall, the ground of Our Lucaya are fantastic, but the Sheraton's rooms are not desirable and the activities on Grand Bahama Island are limited. If any of you have specific question, feel free to PM me.

Thanks for the quality recent review! I was there some years back, stayed at the Westin and was given a marvelous two room suite that really was spectacular. Everything was brand new when we were there at the Westin.

I can vouch for your comment about there really being NOTHING to do on that island. I can only take so much sitting by the pool, reading and napping before I'm ready for something else. We, also, had a rental car with a suspect exhaust and a bizarre gear shift system that we never really mastered. We went just about everywhere we were told to go and I wouldn't recommend any of it to anyone. There just 'aint much to do there. What little shopping we found was bottom fishing, to say the least.

Regardless, the Sheraton/Westin Lucaya complex is a solid self-contained resort that, in my mind, is a perfect 3 or 4 day getaway place. Any longer than that and I'd get stircrazy.

"There is not much to do on the Grand Bahama Island other than swimming with the dophins-an expensive must for those who are adventuresome."

Is this offered up as part of Sheraton/Westin service? I was at the Hilton Waikola on the big island and the dolphin experiences there leave much to be desired (I did not participate, but watched from the perimeter). Can you elaborate the reason why someone should be "adventuresome" to do this? Petting a dolphin seems to be pretty harmless. FWIW, I don't condone dolphin in captivity, especially for entertainment purposes as such. I'm just simply curious about this comment.

The Dolphin Experience can probably be booked through the hotel concierge, but it is not a part of the Sheraton/Westin itself. This is a program run by UNEXSO (http://www.unexso.com/) (Underwater Explorers Society). Their office is located across from the hotel in the Port Lucaya Marketplace, though the dolphin lagoon is a boat ride away. They also offer open ocean swimming with the dolphins. I have never done any activities with UNEXSO, but they are a well-run and respected company.

Scflier is absolutely correct. The Sheraton referred across the street to UNEXCO who ran the dolphin concession, about a 20 minute boat ride away from the Port Lucaya Marketplace. There are two options, swimming with the dolphins which 4 of us did, or sitting on the bleachers with perhaps 50 observers who watched other dolphins do their routines under the watchful eye of their trainers. Neither the Sheraton nor the Westin hotel has an association with UNEXCO.

[Moved to different thread]