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Old Sep 1, 2010 | 5:30 am
  #132  
kippax
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Programs: SPG Platinum, Hilton Diamond, BA Gold, Flying Blue Plat
Posts: 117
Just got back after a week there. Will be honest with my feedback as it's easy to get seduced by the island!

Positives
It has been mentioned many times but it is beautiful. The sand is soft, clean and white and the snorkelling is amazing. Just pop down to Wet and you get mask and flippers for the week (no charge).
Loved the in room barbecue. One of the most cost effective ways of eating and they are very flexible at moving the menus around. We went for the $100 one both times and saved the 3rd meat course for lunch the next day (you just ask to hold onto the BBQ).
Majority of the staff are great. How they remember everyone's name is beyond me but it's a nice touch.
We were 6 days in the beach villa and one night in the over water. I would recomment 3 and 4 if you're there for a week. Great to be on the beach and snorkel right off it. Go for villa number 126/7/8 as you get a good stretch of beach. We walked around the rest of the island (admittedly only takes 10 mins!) and some of the other beach villas were short on beach front. Also loved the outdoor shower and the upper deck with the hammock.
The over water villa certainly has the wow factor and is definitely worth the splurge for a few days.
Ipod connnection to the Bose surround system is great.
Sweet spots a nice touch so you can stock up on the Cokes/Sprites etc
As a SPG member you get a large bottle of water per night on top of the 4 500ml bottles you get.
Sip is nice for a beer and to chill. Only went to 15below once but it was good fun especially if you like vodka.
Good choice of TV channels. especially if you like UK soccer and cricket!
As mentioned previously, DVD choice isn't great but we didn't watch much on TV anyway.
Wine fridge is a good idea even if it leads you to temptation....

Negatives (not many)
You all know it....it ain't cheap. $60 for the cheapest wine.
Ate at Fire (we didn't enjoy although we're not big on buffet style dining), Kitchen (had to send the food back one night as it was pretty poor) and the in-room BBQ's.
Had a Spa, nice setting but again didn't blow us away at $250 for a massage for 2.
Management follow up was pretty poor. On a couple of occasions we had bad service and we need to chase them for a response both times. Funnily enough, we found the general hotel staff to be more service orientated/positive than the front desk staff and some of the duty managers.

SPG Platinum recognition was pretty basic (ie only the free water). We didn't get upgraded but we were on a Starfriends rate rather than BAR so that might explain it. As you know, they are not meant to upgrade as it is an all suite property and chatting to one of the managers, he admitted that he had had a few run ins with Plats due to non-upgrades. I was pushing for an upgrade for our last 3 nights to the over water villa but ended up having to pay the additional money for the last night as they were not budging. It felt a bit "nickel and dime" when the resort clearly wasn't full however I understand that because of the Starfriend rate they may have looked on us less favourably. Nonetheless....

Anyway, I would recommend it but 7 nights max was enough for us. It was sunny the whole 7 days we were there so we were very lucky. You might go a little stir crazy if it rained a few days.

Overall, 7/10.
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