The Orchid is one of my favorite places in the world and we highly recommend it to all of our friends & colleagues who are going to the Islands. This post was meant to be informative and should not be taken as a knock on the hotel or its staff. In fact, I was trying to convey how well we were treated when we voiced our disappointment about the initial accommodations that were offered.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by schriste:
but as SPG Gold you are not entitled to much of an upgrade. </font>
The paid nights were booked for a Partial Ocean View. The initial room I was offered had to be the worst "partial ocean view" room in the entire hotel, so no upgrade of any kind was initially offered. I believe the problem was twofold. The Orchid has been advertising a $250/night special with some other freebies/discounts thrown in for Ocean View rooms thru September, so most individual guests were booked in Ocean View rooms. And, there were a couple of large groups in house that were also given premium rooms.
PMASON - I was referring to the carpeting in a few areas looking a little worn(ie. stairs leeading to the north tower) and a few other guests I spoke with who mentioned that their bathrooms were looking a little old (the bathrooms in our room were fine). You are correct that overall the hotel is in excellent condition.
SBTINME - Your experience does not surprise me. Staff told us that the week of 9/9 the hotel occupancy rate was in the 20% range. They also mentioned that the period of 9/17 -22 was the first time in many weeks that the occupancy had been over 50%.