Originally Posted by
Land-of-Miles
There is no saving if you would never consider paying cash, it is just about the value you attach to points.
The St Regis is better in every respect.
I have only stayed in a DWV at CR but in comparison a standard OWV at Vommuli had twice the effective internal space, something like 3 to 4 times the effective outdoor space, a fab and good sized private pool rather than a token effort. The bikes per villa were a nice touch, service was much better, the smaller number of villas made the atmosphere far nicer (the main island at rangali feels like a tropical housing estate) overall the vibe felt much more luxurious. Fundamentally the Conrad rooms are weak and very poor value on a cash rate and I think for points.
The effective outdoor space would potentially have some value to me. If I do Conrad, I'd probably pay for an upgrade at least a couple levels - I haven't reviewed all of the different choices.
Would I pay cash? As a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I'd probably go to the $800-1000/nt range. It's unlikely that I'd ever pay whatever the StR cash costs are for an OWV. That would be a thing solely enabled by points if it ever happened. But just like booking a long-haul F trip that I wouldn't really book with cash, I would just enjoy it and not worry about the value *too* much. It's why we're here, right? The miles and points should lead to something fun...
But StR is probably moot because nothing will be loaded at the time I need to lock in dates. Maybe I'll check back later in the year and see what the options really are. But the Conrad looks great too, so I'll be happy either way.