Hey gang! I just stayed here and didn't have an awesome experience. Context: 100+ Night Plat; have been to ~20 St. Regis properties worldwide. Went there to get away from the world for a bit. 8-night stay. (Cut it short and left after 5).
The TL;DR here is that they got most of the little things wrong. (And for some of us, those little things are actually big.)
I'm gluten-free (celiac), which is noted on my profile and was told to my butler upon check-in. They proceeded to serve me gluten three times in my first two days. Twice with my tea service, and once at breakfast.
No Platinum upgrade, but wasn't expecting one here. (And not discounting any stars for that.) What was unfortunate was: I asked for paid upgrade options, and was surprised that they offered options that were higher in price than what was listed on the website. (And called this a special 'platinum upgrade price.') This was the opposite of the two St. Regis's I staid at beforehand and the one I stayed at afterward. I booked an OWB, and they offered me the two bedroom one for $2500++ per night. Didn't feel like a deal.
Thematically consistent with the above was that the place felt a little nickel-and-dimey. They can't be blamed for the alcohol import taxes of the Maldives, but the margins on top just sting. We're talking about wine pours (for a single glass) that start out at ~5 times what the bottle costs. (I paid $310 for a glass of decent Bordeaux. Just decent.)
The F&B options leave something to be desired, especially given the price points. The decanter dinner with wine pairing was relatively well executed, but at high price-point per person, that's expected. (The price is what I've paid on average for 2-star Michelin restaurants ($525 per-person with tip). And, no, the food is not *that* good.
Also, weirdly, they seem to have limited availability at many restaurants on the island. I asked if there was availability for this 'wine pairing' dinner and they said that it was full. I said I'd be interested if a spot opened up. The day of the dinner, they let me know that they were able to 'secure a seat' at the dinner, without confirming that this is what I wanted. At that time, they let me know that it was non-refundable and if I changed my mind, they would charge me anyway.
I asked for Calvados at dinner my first night. They said they didn't have any. I was kind of surprised by this and asked the server to double-check. He came with a hard no. The next morning, I casually mentioned it to the manager. He proceeded to come back and show off a nice bottle of Calvados, with a big smile on his face.
I wasn't smiling. I wanted it the night before at dinner. It would have gone perfectly with my meal. This might sound like a little thing: but no one ever apologized. No offer for a free pour or even a taste. He just showed off the bottle and walked away.
The internet went out in my Bungalow 3 different times. One time was raining hard, so I'll assume that it couldn't be helped on a remote Island. But the other times, it was only sort of handled. I tried to create reproducible steps for them and everything, but they didn't seem to care.
The gym leaves quite a lot to be desired. On a remote island, we aren't left with other fitness options. One staff member commented to me that their staff gym is better than the actual customer gym.
In summary, the property is gorgeous, but the experience just felt cheap to me. It didn't feel like true luxury. And given the staff-to-customer ratio, I expected the attention-to-detail to be higher than it was.
Hope that helps someone else!
@
Psychiatrist @
BESVISOR -- I went solo, and it was fine. Although, I hope that didn't contribute to my not-awesome service.