Just returned from a 4 night stay at the end of July. Was a bit disappointed with the property, but still had a good vacation overall. See points below:
Good
- Interiors were absolutely gorgeous - modern, yet classic; no expense was spared.
- Food quality was excellent, although the menu options were slightly limited. The pool menu had only 4 options. We ate at Kayuputi (nicest restaurant) for both lunch and dinner and the set menu was exactly the same. Breakfast was one of the best I've experienced - free flowing Tattinger included!
- Luxury Privileges rate was an incredible value - the daily lunch/dinner included was basically the same as the restaurant's normal fixed price menu (which I believe was around $130/person).
- Included Bentley airport service was a very nice perk. (actually got the Bentley)
- Setting was gorgeous with lush forest covered hills surrounding the resort and in the distance behind the water
Okay
- Upgraded to a St. Regis suite as a Platinum member (booked Premier Andaman Sea View), however they would not upgrade to a Pool Suite without a hefty fee (yet they upgraded our friend for free who was traveling with us and who was also a Platinum)
- Our friends pool suite was pretty bad (#105) - packed into a really small space with little, to no privacy. It appeared that only two of the pool suites were private, with much larger outdoor areas and pools - I believe they were #120 and #121.
- Pictures make everything look much more grand and larger than it really is. They had an excellent photographer!
- Prices were fairly high - a Bloody Mary was about $25. Not outrageous for a St. Regis, but was pretty high for Malaysia.
- I accidentally left my wallet at the restaurant one night and didn't realize it was missing until the following day. Frantically searched our suite turning it upside down. Finally called down in the early afternoon to see if they might have found it - and to my surprise they had found it the previous night. Thought it was really odd that they wouldn't have left me a message or attempted to deliver it.
Bad
- Resort layout was absolutely terrible - at least a 5 minute walk through a maze like hallway to our suite. I couldn't believe how much they packed into the small footprint of the resort - the pool villas were practically on top of one another. It was extremely difficult to navigate anywhere in the resort - nothing connected anywhere you thought it would - it just didn't make any sense.
- Hallways were open air with TONS of bugs everywhere. As a person who doesn't like bugs it was not fun walking to our suite at night as you basically got hit by flying bugs constantly
- The main pool was much too small for the resort. It featured an "island" with 2 loungers, yet you had to swim through the pool to reach them; ridiculous design.
- The sand and beach were not very attractive. Sand was subpar, palm trees looked sick and immature, and the water seemed dirty - nothing like the pictures. Low tide caused almost the entire lagoon to drain out - it was really not pretty when that happened.
- Hot water did not work the morning of our early departure... it was not fun taking a cold shower at 6am before our early flight!
- Airport lounge was advertised as being open at 7:30am on their website, yet was closed when we were at the airport at 8:30am - non St Regis airport staff said they are open at various times, but usually not before noon.
- Service was well-intentioned, yet pretty bad. I do not believe the hotel provided adequate training to the staff prior to the opening. I assume it will get better as the resort ages, but there were many things that were unacceptable for a St Regis, including:
- A phone call waking us up at 6:15am asking when we wanted our laundry delivered.
- Every time we dined our server would deliver our last course and then disappear - never to be seen again. All of the staff in the restaurant were more concerned with resetting tables and cleaning than helping the few remaining tables. We had to get up and leave each time - then someone would run out of nowhere and ask us to sign our bill.
- Shortly before the stay the rate lowered since originally booking (from $507 to $430), so SPG changed it to the lower rate. A few days before arrival I noticed the rate was back to $507. I called SPG and was informed that the hotel had changed it. SPG attempted to call the hotel a number of times but said no one would answer the phone (was calling the main number). Once someone finally answered, they informed SPG that in house reservations didn't speak English and to call back later. SPG finally talked to someone who changed the rate back to $430. Upon check-in the rate was back at $507; it took a decent amount of time speaking with the manager on duty to have it changed to the correct rate of $430.
- Bill was overly complicated - wasn't clear on the bill where they took off the $100 daily credits. Was an endless back and forth, but then magically the bill was slightly lowered...Still couldn't see where they applied any credit, but gave up as we were going to be late for our flight. Not sure why they couldn't just provide the full bill and subtract the daily credit as a line item.
- The second day they did not restock our suite with shower gel. We called down as we figured they just forgot and to our surprise we're informed that the entire resort was out of shower gel... Asked them to obtain some from the spa (even if it meant they needed to buy full size versions) and then they magically appeared with the standard body wash and continued to stock it for the rest of the stay.
- One morning one of the sinks in the lobby bathroom was completely filled with vomit. Not sure why they didn't immediately close the bathroom until it was cleaned – was quite the surprise! But I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they had not yet found this surprise (even though it appeared someone had been working to unclog the drain).
In summary I don't think I would return or recommend the resort unless you manage to get one of the private pool suites. There are just so many other aspirational properties in Southeast Asia that are magnitudes better than this property. I believe the service will vastly improve over time, but don't see how they can ever fix the issue of the poorly designed layout and overcrowding of the property. However, with rates now starting at $250/night and in combination with the Luxury Privileges benefits - it could make for a nice weekend getaway for anyone living nearby. Let me know if you have any specific questions about the resort.