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JW Marriott Mauritius Resort (formerly St. Regis) Mauritius [Master Thread]

JW Marriott Mauritius Resort (formerly St. Regis) Mauritius [Master Thread]

Old Nov 17, 2014, 8:09 pm
  #136  
 
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I'll post a full report once our stay is complete, but we checked in at night (EK arrives at ~4pm + time for immigration + an hour or so to the resort by car) and check in is done in the room, so no real opportunity for upgrade negotiation. The next day, we asked about a Manor House Suite and were offered the opportunity to "upgrade."

We got to the room and were surprised that we didn't feel like it was an upgrade at all. The St. Regis Suite was beachfront (2nd floor) and had a perfect view of the beach/ocean. The Manor House Suite is in the main building on the second floor and has a very obstructed view of the sea + the noise of the main building including pool, restaurant, etc. Also, the St. Regis Suite is a true suite with 2 separate rooms, whereas the Manor House is more like an oversize room/junior suite. Lots of bathroom floor real estate is taken up with the 2 massage beds, and at +30% price for every massage (x2 people...) we'd go to the spa anyway. The only benefits IMO are that it's closer to the pool and breakfast + the massage beds if you're going get lots of massages and don't mind paying the premium.

So to the hotel's credit, they allowed us to move again--this time to the St. Regis "Grand" Suite, which I think is just the ground floor of the St. Regis Suites, so the floor plan is similar, but it has a huge ground floor terrace that leads out onto the beach. We're very happy with the room and 5X upgrade on a C&P rate. So moral of the story is that, at least in our opinion, both the St Regis Suite and St Regis Grand Suite are preferable to the Manor House -- would depend on what you value most. The other moral of the story is they seem to be willing to bend over backwards for plat guests to get you in a room you like.

Other than room commentary, staff has generally been excellent. Our butler is absolutely fantastic--he's learned preferences in just a couple days and continues to adjust service tailored to our preferences--and another member of staff (I can't tell if he's concierge or management) has really gone above and beyond with our digital camera which broke mid-trip. I just asked if the hotel had any tech staff that might be able to take a look. He offered to take it to a camera shop on his way home, and when I said I appreciated it, but that really we wanted a quick opinion and might prefer to just buy another camera so we don't miss many pictures on the trip, he said if they can't fix it quickly, he'll just bring us his camera which we can use as long as we're here. Absolutely amazing!

The service is a bit spotty at times from "second level" staff like housekeeping, turn down, towel refreshers, room service clearing, etc. but not enough to be much of a bother. We did have an uninvited guest in the room last night (a mouse) while we were enjoying room service, which the staff helped us get out. It almost certainly entered while housekeeping was cleaning the room, as I've noticed they like to keep the door open while cleaning the room. I've noticed this at other hotels as well and can't for the life of me figure out why you'd leave the door wide open in a lively tropical location... Anyhow, the butlers assured us that our door would be closed during cleaning today...
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Old Nov 18, 2014, 5:40 am
  #137  
 
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yeah, the ground floor 1 bedroom suites are pretty amazing. The further from the main house you are - and "around the bend" of the beach, the more private it all seems (esp if the resort is relatively low occupancy)

Hang in the Suite>walk 30 feet to Beach chairs>walk 30 feet to ocean>grab some Wine in the Suite>repeat. ALL DAY.

seriously best ever material.
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Old Nov 20, 2014, 3:42 am
  #138  
 
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Just arrived at the St Regis this morning. Received an upgrade to a St Regis Grand Suite just one word: incredible!

I'll post a full report when I back
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Old Nov 20, 2014, 6:09 pm
  #139  
 
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St. Regis Mauritius Resort, Le Morne, Mauritius [Master Thread]

Enjoy all.

Just to note that the St Regis suite has been added back to SNA pool.
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Old Nov 22, 2014, 10:03 am
  #140  
 
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OK, so I have some final thoughts.

As I mentioned, SPG treatment was very good. I asked for, and was given, a tour of the villa and during that time had occasion to ask a manager about occupancy, and he said it was roughly 35-40% at the moment, so that likely explains the on demand upgrade situation. Still, it's nice to know that they will do that if they can... really all you can ask for an upgrade.

The physical plant of the hotel is gorgeous. I like that the resort is spread out along a long stretch of beach -- really contributes to making it feel not too crowded and feel as remote as the location really is. Speaking of which, I had the worst 1hr20 minute drive of my life to the airport yesterday. It's really bad, and if you get even a little bit car sick, I would probably recommend renting a car so you can drive. I only get car sick in the absolute worst environments, and I was ready to vomit when I got out of the car.

If you're fine with the ride, the hotel cars certainly look more comfortable than the taxis parked outside the property. We booked the family car and received the Range Rover (pick up) and Audi Q7 (to the airport) at no charge. It said "Q7 Special Rate" on the bill, so it may be worth asking for the "special rate" and seeing what happens.

The service was generally very good. Our butler was fantastic. We ordered tea and coffee the first morning, and he asked us if we'd like it every day at that time... which was done. There was also the concierge, as I mentioned, who took great care to see that our camera was fixed if at all possible. We were regularly addressed by name by almost every member of staff there.

One thing that really bugged me was that our doorbell rang what seemed like a dozen times per day. You would think that if we order in room dining, somehow word would get out to stop ringing our doorbell, but no ... each of the 2-3 times we did it, our doorbell rang at LEAST 2 times. Once with tea that was literally 3 hours late... Otherwise, the towels were refreshed, and then turndown was done every time we had in room dining. Just not exactly how we wanted to spend our dinner with somebody else in the room almost the whole time...

Sometimes requests to butler service required one or two follow up calls, and often times our tea and coffee order was completely botched--which is amazing because I confirmed it in French as well as English after it happened the first time AND they repeated the order back to me. The last two afternoons, we ordered:
-1 english breakfast tea
-1 peppermint tea
-1 coffee
-1 bucket of ice
-1 plate of tea cookies (which is chargeable btw ... only StR I've ever seen that doesn't serve any sort of tea cookies as part of butler service)

What we received--both times--was one mint tea, one coffee, and no english breakfast, bucket of ice, or tea cookies. How is that possible to omit 60% of the order?

Again, I didn't think that our dinner being interrupted by a mouse was really handled properly. It was actually lucky, that time, that turndown service was there, as he had a broom. But I was sitting on the coach sort of "quarterbacking" the search effort, and on more than one occasion they tried to tell me the mouse was gone from the room because they didn't see it, and it was only at my insistence that they kept looking where I said it was (and of course it was).

They refunded that dinner and on check out acted like it was the biggest accommodation in the world. I would think that given the fact that we barely touched the dinner before my fiancee curled up in the bed and closed the door between the rooms, that refunding that dinner was obvious. On check out, which is, to be fair, probably a little later than I should have, I asked if they could refund the cash only portion ($180) of the cash and points for that night only, and was told no. The manager did offer some vague offer to "see what he can do" about a future reservation we have, but honestly I'm not sure what's going to happen, as I don't believe he really sees a mouse in the $1500/night room at a 5 star resort as a big deal after speaking to him. Obviously, we didn't see eye to eye there...

In terms of rooms, having been in 3 different types, to me the key is to be in a St. Regis Suite or above. There's not a ton of difference between a St. Regis Suite and a St. Regis "Grand" Suite, and as I mentioned above I do prefer both of them to the Manor House Suites--though I guess you're less likely to get a mouse in the room up there...

In all, this is a great resort, and if you live in the UAE, South Africa, etc or are visiting those countries already, it's definitely worth a visit. I still think it was a good visit for us because I place such a high value at being in a very different time zone on vacation, but for others that may be less of a concern. It's a good value for C&P, and they do take excellent care of Platinum members where the full breakfast and 500 point amenity are offered. It's also not a bad value for the base level rooms if you can catch a ~300-400 EUR rate which I saw a few times for our dates which are supposedly in the beginning of peak season (and you're platinum since you've got a good chance at upgrade).

But there's not a chance in the world it's worth the retail pricing on the suites which are in the 1500+ EUR/nt range. At that rate, you have your pick of some excellent world class resorts, and this just isn't there.

Last edited by DC777Fan; Nov 23, 2014 at 4:42 am
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Old Nov 25, 2014, 3:44 pm
  #141  
 
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I forgot to add what I thought was a major downside... F&B.

Breakfast was good, but not everything popped and looked fresh--particularly coming from Grosvenor House which has an AMAZING breakfast. Almost every day by 9am, the entire juice bar was depleted of fresh fruit and pre-made (but fresh) juices. The other items on the buffet--especially the carb table looked picked over almost constantly. I've noticed at better breakfasts, they'll replace the entire plate of items rather than haphazardly combining the new and the old. Then, presumably in the back, they figure out which items are presentable to be returned to the buffet, and which items need to discarded.

Breakfast also was 100% identical day to day, which it shouldn't be at a resort where lots of guests are staying for extended periods of time.

Lunch and dinner are pretty expensive... even given the remote location and upmarket hotel brand. Not only that, but the food was pretty underwhelming and portions were generally very small. Also, the entire process was not very well coordinated. Example: we left on a Friday, and on Tuesday we decided we wanted to try Simply India. So we walked over and said "can we get in now to eat." As nobody was there at the time, they said yes, and by the way we're 25% off tonight.

Then we sit down only to find out that not only do we not get 25% off (that's only for half board guests), but the menu is a set menu with no substitutions--and my fiancee wasn't crazy about a couple courses.

They offered to make us a reservation the following night at the time of our choice, and we selected 8pm.

Come to find out the next day when discussing with our butler, Simply India is closed on Wednesday and Thursday. How did the people who work in the restaurant not know that? Had we known, we would've made a decision--eat the set menu we're not crazy about or miss out on eating at the supposedly best restaurant there. They made that decision for us when they told us to come back when they're closed.

This entire episode came right after another unfortunate service failure. Listed clearly on the brochure was 6:30pm on Tuesday: Champagne Sabering. Guess what wasn't happening when we arrived at 6:30pm? We asked the bartender about it and he looked like we were speaking Greek [we in fact weren't as I was speaking fluent French]. After 5-10 minutes discussing it amongst themselves, they called a manager and the sommelier came to speak to us. He said that despite the schedule, sabering was by reservation only (listed nowhere on the brochure). I told him that I was surprised, because as St. Regis enthusiasts, we've been elsewhere and if it's scheduled, it's always done as a demo (including a comp glass for all there), and it's one of the little things that endears us to the brand. He goes on a few minute speech discussing how it's not required of them, and that at this hotel it's by reservation only. If we want, we could do it the next day.

Eventually, he realized that we were disappointed and found a bottle for us to decapitate. But it was a long service failure before they corrected it and despite the correction, we left with a sour taste in our mouth about the entire thing. If it's on the schedule, it needs to happen.
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Old Nov 25, 2014, 4:57 pm
  #142  
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Very useful info, DC777. Thanks for the review.
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Old Jul 13, 2015, 2:35 am
  #143  
 
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any recent reviews on this property ? We're headed there next month. In particular I would like to know:
- options to accommodate children in room - such as do the St Regis suites offer sofa beds ?
- cost of adding HB to a points reservation
thx
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Old Aug 31, 2015, 12:01 pm
  #144  
 
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Originally Posted by banzani
any recent reviews on this property ? We're headed there next month. In particular I would like to know:
- options to accommodate children in room - such as do the St Regis suites offer sofa beds ?
- cost of adding HB to a points reservation
thx
Did you stay? How was it? A recent review would be much appreciated. Going there in November for honeymoon.
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Old Sep 3, 2015, 2:11 pm
  #145  
 
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We stayed 5 nights on points (80k) in mid August. I had SNAs confirmed for a St Regis suite which is what we received. i guess based on earlier reviews I had hopes for a Grand suite but the hotel was busy and we were very pleased with our room (400) and its location. I am not sure previous descriptions of upper/ground floor to differentiate between St Regis and Grand suites are accurate, it looked as if different buildings feature either suite type on both floors (judged by size of terrace and balcony).

The main positives:
- overall beautifully laid out resort with a very long stretch of beach. There is a few meters space between each set/pair of beach loungers and only one row.
- generous family policy. Our kids could stay for free in the same suite and extra bed provided at no cost. Something to learn for european and asian hotels ! Breakfast chosen as Plat amenity and received full buffet for all 4 of us.
- staff fantastic and very motivated, eager to please. We were invited to a cocktail by management on the first evening and it was obvious the team was motivated and genuinely interested in engaging with guests. It was our daughter's birthday and the butler team was great, providing a cake and balloons in the room (at no charge)
- nice water and corals, one of the better glass bottom and snorkel trips on the island (we also stayed at Westin, One&Only, and LUX Belle Mare).
- great central facilities with play room, library, and even a cinema !
- great room decor

Room for improvements:
- the biggest disappointment was F&B. Breakfast quality was good, but not outstanding. It ends at 10 already and therefore was very busy between 9 and 10. Crowd management was poor, we had 2 mornings where we had to split into 2/2 to eat. The Indian restaurant was pretty good, reasonably priced, but lighting and interior not cosy. Surprisingly no outdoor seating, same for the Japanese place. Atsuko was very expensive, nothing special, and horrible interior design and lighting. I am puzzled how they are not providing nice and more outdoor venues, such as at the Westin. There are a few options to eat in La Gaulette 10 min by car.
- Plat recognition is generally good, but little 'hard' benefits (no free breakfast other than as amenity, no cocktail hour, etc). We did receive a voucher for a free 20 min massage 'teaser' at the spa, unclear whether that was a Plat gift or not.
- if you want to play tennis you have to buy the balls (free at other hotels)
- the beach/sand is not the best. You definitely need shoes. Nowhere near other beaches on the island such as Troux aux Biches
- in our room, the AC blew right in your face when lying in bed - a very odd design

Overall we had a great stay, and it's a beautiful resort. However there are a few areas for improvement. It's in a remote part of the island. The Westin costs half the points for similar facilities, and is in a more central location to discover the surroundings (however, it has no beach or sea to speak of). We liked moving around and trying out different hotels. There was no clear winner, they are all good and have their strengths and weaknesses.
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Old Sep 3, 2015, 4:02 pm
  #146  
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Thanks for this very useful review, banzani. I'd be interested in any further comparisons you'd care to make between the St. Regis and the Westin in terms of service, rooms, food, setting, etc. But even without that additional info, I still very much appreciated what you've already provided.
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Old Sep 3, 2015, 11:21 pm
  #147  
 
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St. Regis Mauritius Resort, Le Morne, Mauritius [Master Thread]

No worries TR.

The St Regis wins on room design, overall layout of resort, setting, beach and water activities, and has a slight edge on service quality (butler service).

The Westin is cheaper, has better F&B, a club lounge with a nice cocktail hour (not much food but great cocktails), and better location on the island if you want to visit other places.

Of course it's all subjective, and we're comparing at a high quality level (meaning there are no really bad things here). Feel free to PM for specifics, I hope I'll get around to writing a review for the Westin.

One thing I will say, I booked a half board rate for the LUX Belle Mare on the internet, as a normal customer without any loyalty mindset. This was fantastic value at a great hotel, given the food inclusions. So there are options beyond SPG.
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Old Sep 15, 2015, 4:28 pm
  #148  
 
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banzani, thanks for those great reports. i would really be interested to know which of the StR and Westin you would recommend for families with young kids (ours are 6 and 4). we are more used to StR and Four Seasons and have never stayed at a Westin - are the service levels very different to a "true" luxury hotel such as the FS?
thanks so much!
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Old Sep 15, 2015, 6:33 pm
  #149  
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I am using 19,000 points / 5 nights at the Le Meridien and have applied for SNA for the Royal Suite, now is the St Regis worth 5x what I would end up paying over at the LM?

Will be chilling for the bulk of 5 days, except I might go around the island for one of those days.
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Old Sep 17, 2015, 12:12 am
  #150  
 
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St. Regis Mauritius Resort, Le Morne, Mauritius [Master Thread]

@bigmerv: i would say the service levels are close enough, as are the kids club facilities. So the Westin might be a better deal. However, the biggest advantage of St Regis in your case might be that the waters are calmer, for pedal boat, kayaking, glass bottom boat, and so on.
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