3rdworldresident

Back to Cat 6 again!!!

crazypalooza

Paging starwood lurkers: Any comment on why they changed back to a cat6 without notice? I've already got my bookings at cat5, but I'm curious why they were allowed to change back so quickly. thanks.

Starwood Lurker

My apologies, but all I can advise is this:

3.2.d. The amount of Starpoints needed to obtain rooms at SPG Participating Hotels varies by the category of the SPG Participating Hotel and may also vary by time of year. A list of SPG Participating 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 is classified at any time.

Best regards,

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

[email protected]

UA-NYC

Any reason why SNAs won't "take" here? I had both a points and a cash reservation and neither allowed. Have plenty of SNAs, expiry not an issue. Thanks.

crazypalooza

Strange...I had SNA's applied without any problem

Starwood Lurker III

Hi UA-NYC,

If you can provide your reservation details to us via private message here or by email below, we will help look into this.

Best Regards,

Christina Zhou
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

crazypalooza

for those interested, imho, the property is a lovely property. Location couldn't be better and the view is fabulous! Metro stop in front of the hotel, so it's truly easy to get anywhere from there.

Plat recognition was good with lots of extra waters, lots of soaps etc in the room, more so then the standard room. Interestingly, to accomplish this, all the maids, have lists with notes about each guest/room! They have a lovely pillow menu which you can order (for free) from with almost a dozen pillow choices on it! They don't have a coffee maker in the room, but on request they will bring you a lovely coffee/tee service set with hot water pot etc ( free as well)

Champagne & Caviar breakfasts (ok technically roe) with a wonderful spread. Free for platinums, but I think it was about $55 usd per person if your paying for it though!

There are junior suites & Kremlin Studio's in the upgrade pool for plats. the Kremlin studio is considered the higher upgrade, however the rooms are a little smaller then the junior suites.

Medved

Good assessment. My friends stayed there for 9 nights in June. I visited them there. Jnr suite had a view of Tverskaya but not Kremlin. Good size. Very good full breakfast for 4 (2 adults + 2 kids) as Plat amenity.

Coathanger

Any experience how long does it usually takes this hotel to charge the credit card for a pre-paid rate? I booked on 19 December and no authorisations have come through.

In that time the Rouble has recovered somewhat, making the stay over 10% more in AUD than when I booked.

jejb

The Welcome gift buffet breakfast has been downgraded to the "Business Breakfast" in the Alexandrovsky Bar. Apparently the change is recent and wasn't made clear on arrival, so I had the usual buffet for the first day until they told me.

According to the manager "Starwood required them to do this". However, it looks like part of unrelated cost cutting measures since a lot of the expensive features of the usual Buffet Breakfast are missing (no more ikura caviar, no more champagne and no more quails eggs).

EuropeanPete

I stayed at this hotel yesterday and I'm currently at the St Regis.

I wasn't impressed with the National Hotel and can't see myself staying again. Interestingly the hotel is perceived locally by those I spoke to as an out of date 4* hotel versus the international 5*s like the St Regis, Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton.

As a Platinum I got upgraded to a Junior Suite which was basically a large room. The room and service were both adequate, but outdated and fairly unimpressive. There was some construction going on from around 11am which at times was rather loud.

It's good value at the moment for an ok Moscow city centre hotel, but it doesn't compare in any way to the St Regis.

TravelinSperry

Quick question for all - I am going to be in Moscow for a week. Currently I have my stay as split 3/4 between the St Regis and the National Hotel. But since they are super close to each other I am wondering if I'd be better off trying an alternate area of Moscow as well?

Perhaps the Sheraton or the Intercontinental or Hilton? Anyone have any thoughts on the different areas?

Coathanger

The InterContinental is about a 10 minute walk up the road so not materially different I would think. Not sure about the others though.

It's definitely good value at the moment, but isn't in the same league as the new build international 5* properties.

That said I picked this property for the historical atmosphere and views, which if you get the right room are perfect.

TravelinSperry

btw, for anyone going to Moscow I was able to find much lower rates than by booking direct with Starwood for the National Hotel. As an aside the same was true for IHG's Intercontinental. Good oppty for a best rate/price guarantee claim. This didn't work at the St Regis - so perhaps the value via BRG makes this property worth a stay.

TravelinSperry

I just completed a stay at the St Regis and am now at the National Hotel. I agree with everything you said. The St Regis is hands down better. I too am in a junior suite, but sadly without a view. It's basically a hotel room with a little seating nook. It is a very old hotel. As such things like outlets are hard to come by. I'd absolutely choose the St Regis over the National going forward. Not even close.

I spoke to the front desk about who stays here and she was proud to say 80% of her customers are repeat. She said some people love the property and go out of their way to stay here. I realize it has history and I'm even in a room next door to the Suite where Nicolas Sarkozy stayed (there is a little plaque commemorating each famous person who stayed where). But I'd prefer to see this sort of stuff in a museum... not stay in the museum.