I have immensely benefited from this forum and would like to provide my 2 cents about choosing rooms at the Montage Resort. I believe my tip will be most appropriate for fellow FT’ers interested in oceanfront accommodations with the possibility of hearing the waves from the room.

I stayed at this property during the busy Christmas week. Everything that previous posters (First_class_flyer and jeffereyt) have mentioned about the property is valid. Montage really exudes luxury – pillows in your bath tub, original bottles of Provence Sante bath amenities, service that is comparable to Four Seasons,… and so on.

The best room category in the hotel is called Ocean Surf. The hotel reservation agent will tell you that you can hear the ocean from this room category. During the low season these rooms go for about $800/night with taxes. If you are booking in this category be sure to request a Westside view on floors 4 or 5. The reservation agent will ask you if being far from the lobby is a problem. These rooms are on the quieter side of the hotel, away from the pool.

I was initially allocated a room on the east side on a lower floor from that room - all you could hear was a quaint noise from the spa and of course the pool. I believe that the room type that I was allocated is called “ocean horizon”. This is a room type not advertised on the hotel’s website but is available with virtuoso agents at a discounted rate. In reality, there are three room categories: ocean coastal, ocean horizon, and ocean surf.

When I brought the matter to the attention of the front desk, I was ultimately moved to my desired ocean surf room category. The ocean surf rooms in the hotel are lovely – you can really hear the waves crashing if you leave the sliding door open. However changing rooms was not very easy because of the busy Christmas week. The hotel did try to compensate by other means such as complimentary wine, champagne, anniversary cake, etc before agreeing to switch rooms.

I am not sure if the hotel was trying to short-change me by offering a lower room category. However, if you are booking the ocean surf category and care about really being oceanfront and are looking for a quieter experience, be sure to request higher floor, west side, away from the pool. You can even see the sunset from your room.

On the plus side, I think even at $800/night, these rooms are a bargain for this time of the year compared to prices in other properties such as La Casa Que Canta (of course you get the private plunge pool), Four Seasons, Punta Mita, and other luxury resorts in Mexico and Caribbean. I also think that Montage should not follow the Four Seasons segmentation - Ocean view, Deluxe Ocean View, Prime Ocean View, Oceanfront, Deluxe Oceanfront - and work within the existing categories. Just sell more rooms at ocean coastal rates.

Overall, I would return back to the hotel. There are some minor wrinkles in the service that starts to show when the hotel is at full occupancy. But everyone in the hotel is really committed to delivering the best. During the Christmas week, the hotel guests ranged from top-flight CEOs to Hollywood bigwigs. However, I felt that the hotel did everything possible to make our stay special.