Originally Posted by IAlwaysCall

At the StR I had a reefside villa and a standard overwater villa. At the Thalasso I believe I had a Sapphire overwater. From a room perspective, while I had renovated rooms at the StR, the Thalasso's room was a design I liked more. It seemed a little more modern and nicer...I think the StR is trying to keep rooms similar to the way they looked in the movie Couples Retreat. From the room, you go snorkeling and even stand directly from the Thalasso owv whereas you couldn't really for the StR.

From a grounds perspective, I really liked the StR. I needed more time at the Thalasso (only had one night) but it seemed much smaller in terms of area and had fewer restaurant choices. The StR seemed much older, but they kept pretty good care of it. There was a lot to do (lagoonarium, Hobie cat, sharks, etc), and I liked the beach and pool more. That being said, the Thalasso was VERY nice, you just don't have the same scale that the StR had. The pool was nice and they had a little lagoon to snorkel in.

The service... No question the StR was better. Though I guess it should be expected with a butler, they were on top of everything. They arrived early every time we requested a pickup (the Thalasso was quite late the one time we requested - sample size) and they always remembered our names and what we were celebrating. Again, small sample size so I don't want to make it seem like the Thalasso was poor, the StR just seemed to be a step above.

All of that being said, I would go back to the Thalasso in a second. The food was delicious (again, only one meal), and the rooms were gorgeous. I liked the hotel a lot, but between the two, I'd have to pick the StR if I was offered both at the same price.

I apologize for my long winded response