TrophyCollector

I have been to about half of those places. Absolutely fantastic!!!

jbcarioca

Bring back the shields! i agree. Looking at post 15 and remembered those on the list I have been to i agree that they're very special places. Chateau St Martin is my particular favorite because of the stunning views, impeccable service and lovely grounds.

if any of these discounted they'd miss the market entirely IMHO. They don't need to. However, on the entire R&S list I agree with Vuittons that they need pruning. LHW does too, and having not done any pruning they suffer greatly. The shields might help minimize that problem.

WEEBOBBY

I have booked Villa Samadhi in Kula Lumpur as the other hotels have left me underwhelmed so I fancy picking something a bit different. I also notice it is a recent addition to R+C

http://www.villasamadhi.com.my/relais-chateaux.html

stimpy

I will bump this thread with the new list for 2021....

Relais et Châteaux

Pausanias

Nice to see they now have a hotel in the Marquesas . . . though the best way to go there remains Aranui 5.

Pausanias

A little update - the Pearl Bora Bora resort has had a major refurbishment and is now called Le Bora Bora and is part of the R&C consortium. The Pearl was always the best option since the closure of the Hotel Bora Bora, mainly because of its peerless view and also because of its traditional Polynesian design. I would say that this is now definitely the place to stay here.

vuittonsofstyle

With 108 rooms, Le Bora Bora (by Pearl resorts) is a little too big for R&C, surely?

Pausanias

Yes, you are probably right - the room count is roughly par with the Four Seasons, St Regis and the others. In the Pearl's favour is that it sits on its own motu and thus has a much bigger land area than the other hotels. And it doesn't have views of any other hotel, just the lagoon and Mt Otemanu.

livefromtuscany

Similar to SLH, R&C have started adding properties that in my view are neither small nor a relais, with 60 rooms and up.

While for many actually small properties, the associated cost of joining these associations is prohibitive.

stimpy

Yes, but another way of looking at it is that the smaller properties that are in R&C, which is most of them, must be doing well enough (pre-COVID) to stay in the group. And we as guests can always choose the smaller properties if we wish.

vuittonsofstyle

For me, the size of this is more in keeping with LHW than R&C. I seems to me that these affiliations are now just money-making machines, rather than trusted recommendations.

I remember The Pearl when Reto Torriani was GM and I would never have classed it as a luxury property (neither would he). Mind you, Amanresorts' Hotel Bora Bora was never truly high-end even in its hay day. It was always a not quite finished project.

stimpy

I will respectfully give an alternate opinion that they were always money-making businesses and if their recommendations were not trusted, then they would stop earning money and become irrelevant. Not to say they are or have ever been perfect.

offerendum

I think LHW is shortly before getting irrelevant as only in few cases the best option in town is member of LHW (was different 30 years ago at least in Europe).
This said with every association I have special expectations. And a huge property is not what I expect thinking about R&C. Nevertheless it seems they take hotels in their portfolio these days which doesn't fit really well, perhaps because of financial requirements or the wish to grow.

Pausanias

Yeah, I know, but it was the ambience of the HBB that marked it out - same thing applied to Aggie Grey's in Samoa. Not truly luxury and daily service eccentricities and our lavatory slightly leaked in our overwater bungalow but you were just blessed to be there, to admire that view, to soak in that South Seas charm, poisson cru et Chablis for lunch, to snorkel with mantas . . . I really didn't care about anything else. Same applies to Aggie's - our fale smelt slightly of rotting cabbage, and on our little terrace there were plants in used restaurant-sized cans of tomatoes, but the BBQ with suckling pig, the music, the pool which was a blend of Gauguin and Ruislip Lido and the drives out into the island . . . wow! OK Maldives, whaddya got???

vuittonsofstyle

This takes me back to Rene Lecler days! He said of Aggie Grey's Hotel in Western Samoa "This is undoubtedly one of the two funniest, most unconventional hotels I have ever come across in my travels". I still miss him.