deer

For me, there are only 5 hotel groups playing in the real top luxury resort league: Amanresorts, GHM, Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons - and Como Hotels and Resorts.

In this thread I would like everybody to discuss both the experiences of stays in the several Como Hotels and Resorts like the Metropolitan London, the Metropolitan Bangkok, the Halkin, the Parrot Cay, Uma Paro, Uma Ubud, Cocoa Island and the Como Shambala Estate in Bali - which is one of my favorite places on earth by the way...

deer

Today, Gallivanter's Guide twitters about 4 (!) Como openings this year:

https://twitter.com/#!/Gallivanters/...05835416707074

One is for sure - that's The Yamu in Eastern Phuket opening this autumn with a 100-meter-pool (!!!). The Yamu was originally planned to be a GHM resort opening in 2009, then after some troubles taken over by Como with an opening date of 2012: http://phuketwan.com/property/como-a...rt-2012-13521/

Does anybody here have an idea about the 3 other places, including 2 in the USA?

The_Daddy

While I don't think it can compare with top hotel in London....my stay at the Metropolitan was fair.

I have Parrot Cay in the radar, hopefully this year and I have great expectations with it

deer

We stayed at both Amanyara and Parrot Cay some time ago: Parrot had better food and better Spa, whilst Aman's rooms and design where much better. So we were happy with a combination of both, starting at Parrot...

A380 Flyer

The only COMO resort I would ever consider staying at would be Shambhala in Bali. The others seem tacky, especially Parrott Cay. Then again, I am no fan of Caribbean resorts.

Shangri-La

Just those 4? Como, really? Not saying it is bad, but I don't think it's overall better (or worse) than the other luxury brands.

vuittonsofstyle

It could be that Christina and BS are opening 2 US city Metropolitans in the same vein as London and Bangkok, but they have yet to be announced.

I have had mixed experiences at Como. When The Halkin first opened (years ago), I loved it, but later on, I felt that the bathrooms were very dated and that service had slipped.

I liked Coco Island as the dhoni boats and the big overwater suites are really unusual. Food was good, too, but the island is too small for a lengthy stay - OK for 3-4 nights. Great diving there, though.

The Metropolitan Bangkok started off really well and was great fun, but I don't like the location and it's a bit too young and noisy for me - especially The Met Bar. Once again though, the food was very good.

Uma Paro in Bhutan used to have much better food than the Amans - not sure if that is true now. Nice property, though.

Como Shambhala - lovely place, but I don't like sharing one of those big villas. Every time I peered through the drapes, there were Japanese honeymooners frolicking in the pool. Great food, once again, and nice service, too.

Parrot Cay - thought it was a bit tired & prefer Amanyara.

Never stayed at The Metropolitan London but I have looked down on it from Four Seasons London at Park Lane and decided I was happy where I was!

Did I miss anything?

ngfan

I love the Metropolitan BKK. It has been my preferred home for years now after having experienced both the Oriental and the Pen.

Never had a noisy night there (instead I enjoy their Zen-like atmosphere after arriving from a longhaul), maybe because Met Bar is not on BKK's 'hip list' anymore. I love their spa and the great massages, their bath products, the interior design, the little things like their well-equipped room stationery, their excellent organic food at Glow and the exotic food experience at nahm. I even got upgraded from a Met room to a Penthouse Suite on my last stay in October.

Made me even visit Como Shambala's Glow restaurant in Ubud for dinner which was excellent and did not disappoint (although my friendly request for a room/villa inspection was harshly rejected by front office staff).

From these very positive experiences I would even consider to go to Cocoa Island when going to Maldives one day.

deer

OK, sorry - I forgot MO (and added it now by correcting the threadstarter), which also belongs in the league of the 5 best.

In my categorization, the A-League consists of Aman, GHM, FS, MO and Como.

My B-League is Park Hyatt, Peninsula, Ritz Carlton, Alila and Capella, Taj, Oberoi and Bulgari.

For me the A-League consists of intimate hotels and resorts with high service levels, whilst the B-League could be either larger, less intimate hotels and resorts, or with not sooo perfect service quality. But one could of course endlessly discuss if we should change one or the other from A to B or vice versa...

Keep in mind, that even the B-League is much better than everything else in the hotel industry!

Kagehitokiri

only paro though, still building punakha

Kagehitokiri

re parrot cay >

beach vs amanyara? its interesting both properties went with privacy over beachfront, satellite only shows 1 real beachfront at parrot cay. and that may have been a lot purchase rather than villa purchase.

are there times when bruce willis is usually there? just read somewhere he tends bar and DJs at pool bar. he owns the 11BR residence http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...ebrity-homes/3

it surprises me that base room rates dont fluctuate seasonally, except over XMAS/NYE.

Shangri-La

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm of the mind that each brand/group has some expectational properties to very good hotels/resorts (usually at the bottom in terms of quality), though Aman and Four Seasons seem, at least in my opinion, to offer the best consistent, quality product and service across their properties and brand. Luckily, we have plenty of excellent, diverse choices when it comes to luxury lodging options.

vuittonsofstyle

Taj, of course, is a very large group and only its luxury hotels really figure here, but of those, since Raymond Bickson took over as MD, the majority has increased in quality immeasurably. I have had amazing food and service is places such as Umaid Bhawan Palace, Falaknuma Palace, Nadesar Palace, and even Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai since its renovation. I think they still need to prove themselves internationally, but I hear that refurbs are planned for the rest of their US portfolio, so maybe this will help shift perceptions of the brand.

Oberoi, when good, is superb, but this varies hugely from their Vilas hotels, such as Amarvilas and Udaivilas, to their rather dull city/business hotels, which seem to be on the increase.

Peninsula is patchy in my experience. I love Shanghai and Bangkok, but loathe New York and find Beverly Hills to be surprisingly arrogant, service wise.

Shangri-La

Good news to hear about Taj's plans to renovate the US properties.

beta1607

No Dorchester Collection? Le Meurice, Hotel Plaza Athenee, The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air all seem to be highly regarded from reading reviews in this forum.