Starwood Lurker

Categories for SPG properties can change at any time without notice.

From the Terms and Conditions of Membership:

"3.2.d. The amount of Starpoints needed to obtain rooms at SPG Participating Hotels and SPG Partner Hotels varies by the category of the SPG Participating Hotel or SPG Partner Hotel and the category of rooms available at the SPG Participating Hotel or SPG Partner Hotel and may also vary by time of year. A list of SPG Participating Hotel and SPG Partner Hotel categories is available on the SPG Program website(www.spg.com) under "Hotel Categories". Starwood may change the category in which a specific SPG Participating Hotel or SPG Partner Hotel is classified at any time."

"13.3 Benefits Subject to Availability and Modification. All SPG Program benefits, amenities, offers, awards and services are subject to availability and may be changed at any time without notice."

As for the reason, it appears that the hotel appealed its initial category ranking and offered evidence to SPG for a compelling case for it to be changed.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

pricesquire

I admit, I may be a bit biased, as I'm no longer in the phase of my life where I'm loyalty focused (I now stay at the best property at the best value, regardless of loyalty program)...

BUT, I am very confused by all these comments regarding "too expensive."

I'm seeing rates around $350 which include amenities and a fourth night free. With the free night factored in, that's about $260 USD...for a St. Regis, no less.

Not only are you looking at around $260 a night, but you're getting:

- Complimentary internet access
- One 100 USD hotel credit per room, per stay (valid for food, beverages and spa services)
- Daily full breakfast for two guests
- VIP Treatment
- Upgrade on arrival, early check-in and late check-out which are all subject to availability

Too expensive? Not in my book, by any standards.

(And yes, some of those amenities come by virtue of being Plat, but the $100 credit brings that $260 even lower in my book....

MSPeconomist

IMO $260 (plus taxes and service I assume, IME about 20% IIRC) for a single room (not suite) in Kuala Lumpur is expensive relative to local rates even if it woulld be considered cheap in most major cities around the world. These seem to be Virtuoso amenities, but as a SPG elite I would get all except the F&B/spa credit, although other properties in the city would give me lounge access instead, including free alcohol in the early evening. Four nights of evening lounge access could easily be more valuable than $100. More importantly, using elite status of AmEx FHR gets me a *guaranteed* 4 pm checkout.

Plus, so far this StR seems to have rather bad service, noise and other construction inconvenience, and no operational swimming pool, which is a big negative in Malaysia.

I wouldn't voluntarily stay here for this price.

geilux

Could anyone confirm if the StR KL is still to avoid ?

ean2015

I would avoid at this moment since swimming pool, gym and a lot of other facility is still not ready.

Why would you spent 1.1K MYR for a deluxe room where all the facility is yet to be launch?

3rdworldresident

No sir, no specific reason.

I'm just a so-cheap traveler, sir.

geilux

Of course not !

Is there any reliable information regarding the opening of these essential services ?

theaccesscard

Mid June if no further delay

ZenWorld

Perhaps you need to understand the hotel rates in the city a bit better.

At the current rate St Regis KL is charging (plus the upgrade in category to Cat 6?!), they must deliver something really really special.

If they fail to deliver such lofty standards, then it cannot command such rates.

And OP's experience has shown that St Regis is far from delivering anything that is out of the world (at least in KL standards); in fact, they may not be even near the best of KL at the moment. (Room finish is poor - getting a guest stuck in the room due to a faulty door is a huge problem. Luckily St Regis has a phone in every room, including toilets. I was once stuck in a bathroom without a phone! And oh, the roller issue with the door too. Service standards according to OP's report is not beyond superb as well.)

So if the question is if I am expecting too much, then I will ask back the same question to St Regis KL - are they not asking for a lot in terms of room pricing? And if so, are they able to deliver the same kind of expectations they are setting, with the kind of rates they are asking?

However, I will not discourage you to try the hotel on the Virtuoso Rates, for 4 nights, at 260 USD nightly. Do let us know if it was well spent, if you are going for it.

But for me, judging by the report from OP, I think I will get better Plat recognition, service, and facilities enjoyment at Le Meridien KL at 1/3 of the price. I think St Regis KL will improve over time, but I am still not sure if it can command 3x pricing over Le Meridien in the long run.

In fact, I think with the likely opening period teething problems, I am actually surprised that they did not offer more promotional rates. This is setting up really lofty expectations, which will be challenging to meet. Pushing up to Cat 6, is driving expectations up even further.

pricesquire

I understand the city quite well, and that doesn't change my feelings on the matter. I get this all the time with BKK (when I claim that Mandarin Oriental and Siam often times offer great value). Instead of comparing those hotels to other hotels in the city, I compare those hotels to other properties within the same network.

For example, I'm judging St. Regis rates based on other St. Regis properties...verses judging it against the GH.

Yeah, it's an inexpensive hotel city, but that doesn't change the fact $260 for a St. Regis is categorically 'good'

I WILL agree that $260 isn't good for a product that isn't even finished!! Sure we can ALL agree on that!

geilux

+1 ^
Any strategist at SPG to check this behaviour or are properties free to price their rooms how they wish ??

stargold

You are essentially putting forward the argument that hotel prices should be (and can be) assessed globally on an absolute scale for a given brand, regardless of the location (and in turn the prevalent real estate prices) and the rates charged by the competitors.

Short of some inexplicable love of the St Regis brand or a vested interest in the brand in some way, I just can't imagine how else one can distort reality sufficiently in their own mind to make this argument work.

jpdx

It's especially laughable because $260 is NOT a stellar deal for a St Regis. The St Regii in Sanya, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Bankok, Osaka, Doha, DF, Houston, AUH, DXB, Macau, Istanbul, Lhasa and Singapore can routinely be had for less than $260 (in some cases, much less); Monarch Beach, Mallorca, MRU, Rome, DC, Aspen, Atlanta, SF, and Florence will cost only a little more in low season. Heck, I'm about to head to Kauai for a 5-night stay at SR Princeville on a sub-$300/nt BRG rate.

So this $260 rate makes the SR KL, an unfinished, poorly located hotel in a city with some of most reasonably priced luxury hotels in the world a good deal compared to SR Bali, Bora Bora, and New York. Oh, and Langkawi.

ZenWorld

I think the feedback here is pretty constructive. The general consensus, apart from pricesquire, is at current prices St Regis charging, is raising expectations way beyond what they can deliver at this point.

I think when we have so much disappointment from high unrealistic expectations that is created by the hotel themselves (with the kind of over the top price point), it will do some brand damage.

I for one, find that St Regis typically over promises, and under delivers, and I often paid higher than rest of Starwoods/Hiltons/Hyatts (I have top tier currently in 3 of them, with Hyatt a status match, while the first 2 earned), without getting service that is better than say Westins, Conrads, Grand Hyatts, etc.
Even some Sheratons were much better than some St Regis.

I thought St Regis KL may want to review their pricing. I believe they are free to set whatever price they want, until Starwood starts to see if some over the top pricing and not able to meet expectations consistently, starts to damage their brands. (Imagine the average rating for St Regis to be in the 3s range, that must be quite weird)

However, given that Marriott has taken over Starwood, this may not be reviewed until Marriott comes on board. In fact, I think Starwood staff during the limbo-awaiting changeover period, may not be keen to do too much.

So it is up to the hotel to see if they want to adjust their rates, or continue to ask for such rates, and hope they can suddenly ramp up their service levels to lofty heights overnight.

What I would suggest is to reduce the rates first, and if the service starts to exceed expectations, then they start to hike the rates upwards again.

geilux

That's the key point ! Everybody can decide to stay or not at a given property, according to its own perception of price/performance ratio.

However, "extreme failing to deliver" of one single hotel can harm the whole brand...