The Ultimate Guide to Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts
Jul 3, 2018, 10:19 am
#481
formerly known as deathscar
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: Virtuoso | Four Seasons Preferred Partner | Rosewood Elite | Hyatt Prive - and more
Posts: 2,096
Bear in mind I'm being hosted (and they eventually ended up waiving any incidental charges too)...
In short:
- No welcome drink upon arrival (there were fresh towels though). There were 3-4 couples arriving around the same time as us, but everyone had welcome drinks apart from us.
- Was doing the resort tour + meetings on the first day in the afternoon/evening. Staff inquired about where my partner was (as she didn't join me for the tour) where I told four separate persons on four separate occasions that she was currently sleeping in the villa as she's tired. Apparently housekeeping didn't get the memo and went to the villa at their own convenient time, which happened to be when she'd woken up and was mid-shower. She came out dripping wet, wearing a towel. Housekeeping, instead of declining and saying they'll come back (or you know, do it when we're having dinner out or just out and about?), decided now was a good time to clean the room and asked her (again, standing there dripping wet, in a towel) if it's okay to do it now. She was too polite to say "no, come back later". So I got back to the villa where housekeeping are working on the room while she's sitting outside by the sun loungers in a towel, still dripping wet. Weird.
- Asked to replace my beach slippers with a larger size as the ones they gave me did not fit. After some confusion (they brought me the wrong type of slippers the first time around), I was brought a pair of 'beach slippers' that looked extremely cheap and nothing like the ones in the room, and they also 'LOOKED' used (not sure if they were, but the soles had dirt-like marks on them. I showed them the ones I was asking about, only to be told they do not have a larger size than the one I was provided (I was given approximately a US 8. I'm a US 10...).
- Asked for a bucket of ice (we didn't see the bucket in the mini-bar earlier) for in-room dinner. Was provided with an ESKY that had moldy edges near the hinges.
Spoke to management at this point the next day regarding my concerns - service definitely improved from here and things were good for a while (but for a 60-key resort, I'd still expect better really) until things went downhill the night before check-out, but not necessarily service related:
- The coconut shavings, nuts and dried fruits in the mini-bar area are not complimentary. Which isn't a big deal except for the fact that they 'look' like they are (Four Seasons labeling). Further to that, the price list for the mini-bar is very hidden. When I found out I tried to search for the list but couldn't find it - had to call up reception to ask where the price list for the mini-bar is, and it's hidden in a separate drawer from pretty much all the snacks, sitting underneath the bottle openers (and even if you open up the door the full way, you still can't read that it says 'Mini-bar Price List' or equivalent because the writing is not visible even when the door is entirely opened. It almost looks like it's a resting pad for the bottle openers.
- Thought it'd be time for a relaxing bath on the last night, but it was already late (post World Cup game, around 2:00am) - we hadn't tried the bathtub until now. Turned on the taps, which started spewing out orange water. Panicking, we checked the sinks and shower too to see if we'd been washing ourselves/faces in this horrible water. Other water was fine, the bath tub was not. They sent maintenance staff to fix who managed to bring the colour down from Fanta orange to Lemonade yellow after 1 hour. At this point we were just exhausted and wanted to sleep. Next morning we were offered to move rooms but it was two hours until check-out so not much we could have done.
That's without going into how poor some of the food was, although daily in-villa breakfast was okay and the Latin dinner we had at the restaurant by the beach was rather excellent. Genuinely had the worst club sandwich I've ever had in my life. Why club sandwich, you ask? Because the Thai food I ordered earlier was so listless that I thought "surely they couldn't screw up a club sandwich?". I was wrong.
The service after did improve though - we had great staff who serviced us for breakfast every morning in the villa (Oscar) who was very attentive in addition to being the usual warm and friendly. Our food/dietary preferences were very well met, and they started getting accustomed to some of our weirder quirks.
The property is gorgeous on the whole - the villas are great, the residence villas are even nicer. I'm not personally a fan of the 'beach' villas (which are smackbang at the end of the beach and not very private yet the resort's top accommodation before residences), and not all the villas have great privacy - you can also hear neighbours or noise from other villas too, but no real complaints about the hard product.
Considering the generally favourable reviews for this property from here and other places, I'm very much shocked to say the least and willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the property but just curious what the hell happened.
In short:
- No welcome drink upon arrival (there were fresh towels though). There were 3-4 couples arriving around the same time as us, but everyone had welcome drinks apart from us.
- Was doing the resort tour + meetings on the first day in the afternoon/evening. Staff inquired about where my partner was (as she didn't join me for the tour) where I told four separate persons on four separate occasions that she was currently sleeping in the villa as she's tired. Apparently housekeeping didn't get the memo and went to the villa at their own convenient time, which happened to be when she'd woken up and was mid-shower. She came out dripping wet, wearing a towel. Housekeeping, instead of declining and saying they'll come back (or you know, do it when we're having dinner out or just out and about?), decided now was a good time to clean the room and asked her (again, standing there dripping wet, in a towel) if it's okay to do it now. She was too polite to say "no, come back later". So I got back to the villa where housekeeping are working on the room while she's sitting outside by the sun loungers in a towel, still dripping wet. Weird.
- Asked to replace my beach slippers with a larger size as the ones they gave me did not fit. After some confusion (they brought me the wrong type of slippers the first time around), I was brought a pair of 'beach slippers' that looked extremely cheap and nothing like the ones in the room, and they also 'LOOKED' used (not sure if they were, but the soles had dirt-like marks on them. I showed them the ones I was asking about, only to be told they do not have a larger size than the one I was provided (I was given approximately a US 8. I'm a US 10...).
- Asked for a bucket of ice (we didn't see the bucket in the mini-bar earlier) for in-room dinner. Was provided with an ESKY that had moldy edges near the hinges.
Spoke to management at this point the next day regarding my concerns - service definitely improved from here and things were good for a while (but for a 60-key resort, I'd still expect better really) until things went downhill the night before check-out, but not necessarily service related:
- The coconut shavings, nuts and dried fruits in the mini-bar area are not complimentary. Which isn't a big deal except for the fact that they 'look' like they are (Four Seasons labeling). Further to that, the price list for the mini-bar is very hidden. When I found out I tried to search for the list but couldn't find it - had to call up reception to ask where the price list for the mini-bar is, and it's hidden in a separate drawer from pretty much all the snacks, sitting underneath the bottle openers (and even if you open up the door the full way, you still can't read that it says 'Mini-bar Price List' or equivalent because the writing is not visible even when the door is entirely opened. It almost looks like it's a resting pad for the bottle openers.
- Thought it'd be time for a relaxing bath on the last night, but it was already late (post World Cup game, around 2:00am) - we hadn't tried the bathtub until now. Turned on the taps, which started spewing out orange water. Panicking, we checked the sinks and shower too to see if we'd been washing ourselves/faces in this horrible water. Other water was fine, the bath tub was not. They sent maintenance staff to fix who managed to bring the colour down from Fanta orange to Lemonade yellow after 1 hour. At this point we were just exhausted and wanted to sleep. Next morning we were offered to move rooms but it was two hours until check-out so not much we could have done.
That's without going into how poor some of the food was, although daily in-villa breakfast was okay and the Latin dinner we had at the restaurant by the beach was rather excellent. Genuinely had the worst club sandwich I've ever had in my life. Why club sandwich, you ask? Because the Thai food I ordered earlier was so listless that I thought "surely they couldn't screw up a club sandwich?". I was wrong.
The service after did improve though - we had great staff who serviced us for breakfast every morning in the villa (Oscar) who was very attentive in addition to being the usual warm and friendly. Our food/dietary preferences were very well met, and they started getting accustomed to some of our weirder quirks.
The property is gorgeous on the whole - the villas are great, the residence villas are even nicer. I'm not personally a fan of the 'beach' villas (which are smackbang at the end of the beach and not very private yet the resort's top accommodation before residences), and not all the villas have great privacy - you can also hear neighbours or noise from other villas too, but no real complaints about the hard product.
Considering the generally favourable reviews for this property from here and other places, I'm very much shocked to say the least and willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the property but just curious what the hell happened.
Jul 3, 2018, 10:37 am
#482
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Here there and everywhere
Posts: 6,303
Just got done with Four Seasons Koh Samui. Very bizarre stay. Gorgeous property, but they seemed to screw up nearly everything service (and food) wise. Seems like they were having a bad day/weekend...!
Some pics for now - more to come later including videos and a full review.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkmPbSHh...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkmsrADh...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkpS0VhB...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BksUei4B...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkuBkech...-by=chinmoylad
Some pics for now - more to come later including videos and a full review.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkmPbSHh...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkmsrADh...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkpS0VhB...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BksUei4B...-by=chinmoylad
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkuBkech...-by=chinmoylad
Jul 5, 2018, 11:14 am
#483
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 26
Hey guys!
We have an upcoming stay at FS Koh Samui, but are a bit concerned after @chinmoylad ‘s post after his rather bizzare experience
We were wondering is there anyone on the forum who has been to the resort in the recent past who can offer some more info about their stays, hopefully better than @chinmoylad ‘s stay
Thanks in advance
We have an upcoming stay at FS Koh Samui, but are a bit concerned after @chinmoylad ‘s post after his rather bizzare experience
We were wondering is there anyone on the forum who has been to the resort in the recent past who can offer some more info about their stays, hopefully better than @chinmoylad ‘s stay
Thanks in advance
Last edited by aleksandar99; Jul 5, 2018 at 11:24 am
Jul 5, 2018, 11:26 am
#484
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Hey guys!
We have an upcoming stay at FS Koh Samui, but are a bit concerned after @chinmoylad ‘s post after his rather weird experience
We were wondering is there anyone on the forum who has been to the resort in the recent past who can offer some more info about their stays at the resort, hopefully better than @chinmoylad ‘s stay
Thanks in advance
We have an upcoming stay at FS Koh Samui, but are a bit concerned after @chinmoylad ‘s post after his rather weird experience
We were wondering is there anyone on the forum who has been to the resort in the recent past who can offer some more info about their stays at the resort, hopefully better than @chinmoylad ‘s stay
Thanks in advance
You also might reach out to FSKS management in advance, alert them that you are aware of this recent troubling review, and ascertain if they are aware and taking responsibility to improve/remedy issues or if they are proceeding as business as usual without any steps to take responsibility. If the former, perhaps it will be better; if the latter, cancel and book elsewhere stat.
Jul 5, 2018, 11:41 am
#485
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Europe
Posts: 2,598
I would suggest the same, and no it cannot hurt if they are altered to the thread and hopefully get their operation in order.
I was cautioned about the resort’s hard product, but it appears the service isn’t as faultless as they want it to be.
I was cautioned about the resort’s hard product, but it appears the service isn’t as faultless as they want it to be.
Aug 1, 2018, 2:07 pm
#486
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: CT/ Germany - Ich spreche deutsch
Programs: UA 1K, Bonvoy LTTE, HH Dia, HY Expl
Posts: 4,655
Just found that there is a Four Seasons going into the old Westin Astir Palace complex outside of Athens. Anyone have any more information on this? Google search showed it was supposed to open in June 2018 but the FS link says 2019. Wonder if it being open in June 2019 is a safe bet? How far in advance does FS usually open up room bookings prior to a hotel opening?
https://www.fourseasons.com/athens/
https://www.fourseasons.com/athens/
Aug 2, 2018, 11:50 am
#487
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 75
Hey guys!
We have an upcoming stay at FS Koh Samui, but are a bit concerned after @chinmoylad ‘s post after his rather bizzare experience
We were wondering is there anyone on the forum who has been to the resort in the recent past who can offer some more info about their stays, hopefully better than @chinmoylad ‘s stay
Thanks in advance
We have an upcoming stay at FS Koh Samui, but are a bit concerned after @chinmoylad ‘s post after his rather bizzare experience
We were wondering is there anyone on the forum who has been to the resort in the recent past who can offer some more info about their stays, hopefully better than @chinmoylad ‘s stay
Thanks in advance
Aug 3, 2018, 8:37 am
#488
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: CT/ Germany - Ich spreche deutsch
Programs: UA 1K, Bonvoy LTTE, HH Dia, HY Expl
Posts: 4,655
To answer my own question on the FS Astir Athens opening date...I emailed them and they said March 2019.
Since the management of the hotels is talked about so much in this forum.... Sam Ioannidis will be the GM of the hotel. He was evidently the GM in Baku and most recently the GM that opened Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Maryah Island.
Since the management of the hotels is talked about so much in this forum.... Sam Ioannidis will be the GM of the hotel. He was evidently the GM in Baku and most recently the GM that opened Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Maryah Island.
Aug 3, 2018, 12:07 pm
#489
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Europe
Posts: 2,598
To answer my own question on the FS Astir Athens opening date...I emailed them and they said March 2019.
Since the management of the hotels is talked about so much in this forum.... Sam Ioannidis will be the GM of the hotel. He was evidently the GM in Baku and most recently the GM that opened Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Maryah Island.
Since the management of the hotels is talked about so much in this forum.... Sam Ioannidis will be the GM of the hotel. He was evidently the GM in Baku and most recently the GM that opened Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Maryah Island.
Aug 3, 2018, 3:11 pm
#490
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,946
Aug 6, 2018, 4:02 pm
#491
Join Date: Oct 2010
Programs: SPG Gold, Hyatt GP Platinum
Posts: 468
Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara
Does anyone have any feedback from staying here from the hotel side? I'm planning a 3 night stay in September... and I'm reading reviews the service is lacking.
My goal is to stay at a luxury hotel and be pampered with amenities and services. I also want a nice kid friendly pool for my 2 year old.
I'll be staying as part of the AXFH program... and my other option would be the Park Hyatt Aviara.
TYIA
My goal is to stay at a luxury hotel and be pampered with amenities and services. I also want a nice kid friendly pool for my 2 year old.
I'll be staying as part of the AXFH program... and my other option would be the Park Hyatt Aviara.
TYIA
Aug 6, 2018, 4:17 pm
#492
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Does anyone have any feedback from staying here from the hotel side? I'm planning a 3 night stay in September... and I'm reading reviews the service is lacking.
My goal is to stay at a luxury hotel and be pampered with amenities and services. I also want a nice kid friendly pool for my 2 year old.
I'll be staying as part of the AXFH program... and my other option would be the Park Hyatt Aviara.
TYIA
My goal is to stay at a luxury hotel and be pampered with amenities and services. I also want a nice kid friendly pool for my 2 year old.
I'll be staying as part of the AXFH program... and my other option would be the Park Hyatt Aviara.
TYIA
Neither property is anywhere close to the higher end properties in the respective portfolios from what I’m always told. But the PH is supposed to be the better of the two, particularly in service—even if it’s a bit on the tired side.
We’ve discusssed going down there with our dog before and always assumed we’d opt for the PH.
You may also want to investigate the Grand Del Mar. We’ve only dined there at Addison (which is amazing) but it also looks beautiful and perhaps may be a bit more family friendly?
Aug 6, 2018, 4:41 pm
#493
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Toronto
Posts: 203
Spent a wonderful day there from our ship and found it excellent.
it was my 65 Th birthday and at lunch they brought a cake.
The meal was excellent with local ingredients making it very special.
The pool is large with infinity style and nice shad. Lovely loungers face out to ocean.
The beach and water is nice but some areas had palm fronds washed up and it is not a large beach.
The resort is built into the hillside and rooms are villas very private.
They pick you up with golf carts if you like to move you around resort.
it was my 65 Th birthday and at lunch they brought a cake.
The meal was excellent with local ingredients making it very special.
The pool is large with infinity style and nice shad. Lovely loungers face out to ocean.
The beach and water is nice but some areas had palm fronds washed up and it is not a large beach.
The resort is built into the hillside and rooms are villas very private.
They pick you up with golf carts if you like to move you around resort.
Aug 6, 2018, 5:25 pm
#494
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Mem
Programs: Delta GM, Amex Reserve, Amex Plat, JP Morgan Palladium
Posts: 984
Does anyone have any feedback from staying here from the hotel side? I'm planning a 3 night stay in September... and I'm reading reviews the service is lacking.
My goal is to stay at a luxury hotel and be pampered with amenities and services. I also want a nice kid friendly pool for my 2 year old.
I'll be staying as part of the AXFH program... and my other option would be the Park Hyatt Aviara.
TYIA
My goal is to stay at a luxury hotel and be pampered with amenities and services. I also want a nice kid friendly pool for my 2 year old.
I'll be staying as part of the AXFH program... and my other option would be the Park Hyatt Aviara.
TYIA
If if you opt to book at the FS, you need to make sure you stay in the Meadows community. It has a great pool and 90% of the FS facilities including the restaurant, spa and the best fitness facilities. Feel free to message me if you have any more questions. I would love to help.
Aug 7, 2018, 11:40 am
#495
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 15
Anybody has information about the opening of Four Seasons Montreal?
The last info from sept 2016 says opening in 2018, but I highly doubt it will be possible since there's nothing on the Four Seasons website about Montreal, except the Residences website.
The last info from sept 2016 says opening in 2018, but I highly doubt it will be possible since there's nothing on the Four Seasons website about Montreal, except the Residences website.