bhrubin

Haha, I think you may want to keep it to luxury hotels--since your Courtyard evaluation of good really doesn't make for impressive relative ratings for the rest IMO!

I would love to hear more about your stay at Culloden House--was it proper luxury, why, and what were the highlights and lowlights? Thanks!

mike_la_jolla

Some background: We've been frantically looking for alternatives to FS Hualalai ever since we had a disastrous 2015 Thanksgiving stay. FS Hualalai simply does not give one whit about what happens to the guests that are there during Thanksgiving week. They clearly have given Cisco complete, absolute, and utter priority. Everybody else be damned. I find that, uhhh, intolerable (at about $2k/night), so we have moved to Cancun. We've tried Ritz Carlton, Nizuc, and Belmond Maroma.

On Belmond Maroma -- The place is fine. Service everywhere is decent. The ocean is terrific; grounds are immaculate. But the food and beverage were, at best, poor. The food selection was weak. Of the choices, there wasn't a single dish that was worth ordering twice. BK was weak, to the point of avoiding. Ordering red wine by the glass in the evening caused the entire bar staff to have a paralyzing conniption fit. Also, I agree with KatW that furniture in the room was dysfunctional.

PS -- Lyn would have s*** had her SO been forced to eat the club sandwich I was served. Just awful ... almost as bad as the food I choked down at FS Sydney, the worst meal I have ever had at a 5* establishment.

michelin

Yes, good point. I debated on listing the Courtyard, but wound up going with it because of how well we were treated as Marriott Platinum members.

Regarding the Culloden House, on the plus side, the property is stunning, and I would advise staying in a suite in the Garden Pavilion, as accommodations in the main house are apparently highly variable.. The staff is very personable and service oriented.

On the down side, we ate all meals on property and I thought the food was a mixed bag. Sort of pretense at gourmet, but not really hitting the mark. Also, I was under the weather one evening, and just wanted something light to eat. They don't do room service to the Garden Pavilion, so my wife went and picked something up which they were happy to pull together for her. That they don't provide uniform service throughout their property, and especially to their higher end accommodations, was a definite negative.

All in all though, I'd stay there again. its beautiful, and between strolls around the grounds and the bagpiper calling you to dinner, its very special.

op487062

I must have visited Upper House on an off-week, because I didn’t like it as much as MO Landmark.

View, bathroom, and suite were great.

Couple of complaints I had were:

—Lobby entry wasn’t designed well to handle several guests. I had just arrived at the hotel and it took them a while to recognize I was waiting to check in (I guess the multiple suitcases weren’t a good indication &#128580.
—When going out to dinner the bellmen weren’t able to hail a taxi for me because they said they “didn’t know where they were”.
—Overall I liked the room, but I would have preferred lights with dimmer switches—especially in the closet area. I had to turn on a flashlight to see.
—I wish the hotel had street access to the road below instead of walking through the mall.
—As mentioned previously, fitness center and dining choices were subpar.

callmedtop

Nice idea, thanks bhrubin!

HIGHEST OF THE HIGHS

Alila Jabal Akhdar -This may indeed have been our best hotel stay ever. Incredible property (similar to Amangiri, though not as impressive), phenomenal F&B, and great activities. Maybe my expectations weren't as high for this property but I was truly floored, especially given the rates are inclusive of half-board and more than reasonable.
Le Meurice - Not the latest and greatest in Paris but unbelievably warm service and location won us over. Spectacular breakfast. Room was small for a Junior Suite but rates are more than reasonable and we were comfortable. Service won us over, and if it wasn't for my crave to try some of the other standout Paris properties, this would be my go-to when in La Ville-Lumičre.

HIGHS

Aman Sveti Stefan - If it wasn't for some small lapses (e.g. needing to move rooms in the middle of the night due to a broken AC), this would be moved up a notch. Otherwise an extremely special property in a stunning location. F&B was good but not excellent. Spa, beach, and pool were all highlights. Already itching to return. Not cheap during high season but worth it.
Amanfayun - Few faults here. We stayed here in December and though it was bone-chillingly cold, the misty rain made it feel even more magical than it already does sitting alongside ancient temples. F&B was Chinese-oriented, and my fiance said the Chinese food here was the best she's ever had, but both breakfast and the Western restaurant were disappointing. Service to die for - the best Aman service we have ever had, by far. Nothing was too big a request. Room needs some improvements, many of which the GM noted are in their 2018 plan. A trip report is forthcoming.
Four Seasons Dubai - Hard to find fault here. Hotel is huge for a FS but still feels personal. We were here for 3 days, which coincided with the 3 days a year that Dubai sees rain, so wasn't able to make use of the pool or beach for more than a single 30 minute session. F&B very strong.
Park Hyatt New York - This hotel gets a lot of flak, but this was our 5th stay and I have little negative to report. Room hard product is fantastic, and that is what I care about the most in NYC as I'm familiar with the city and don't care much about F&B, concierge, etc. Being elite with Hyatt also helps, as out of our 5 stays we've been upgraded to a full suite 4 of those times. Service has gotten progressively better with each stay.
Waldorf-Astoria Amsterdam - We loved this property. Great location, beautiful renovation, friendly service. If I'm being completely objective this should probably be a "Highest of the Highs" stay, but that goes to show you how difficult it can be to judge hotels at times. Other factors (weather, mood, special memories, etc.) can often judge our impressions for better or worse.

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

Amangiri - To date the most stunning locale I've seen a luxury hotel in (Alila Jabal Akhdar and Aman Sveti Stefan are worthy runner-ups), and would return for this alone. Unfortunately our short stay was riddled with major mistakes from start to finish. Had a long discussion with the then-GM and he was very apologetic. We found F&B to be extremely poor, and the remote location isn't enough of an excuse. My expectations overall may have been too high given the rates this property commands.
Mandarin Oriental Boston - I do think this is the best property in Boston, perhaps along with the FS, but our most recent stay was rather bland. Rooms could use a bit of a refresh, though not in dire need. HVAC was on the fritz as it was the first cold week in Boston, making our room intolerably dry. Location is my favorite in Boston (much better than FS IMO) which makes up for the shortcomings. I would still recommend this property over the Ritz-Carlton, below.
Ritz-Carlton Boston - I had a short overnight here, but service lapses were quite apparent. My first room smelled strongly of smoke and the HVAC was rattling loudly. Took nearly an hour to get to a new room, and I had to proactively ask for service recovery rather than it being offered, which I don't love. The rooms have been recently renovated and are quite nice, though I don't think they did much with the bathroom. F&B was forgettable, but certainly serviceable.
Ritz-Carlton Muscat - This hotel is now closed for renovation so perhaps a moot point, but we had a nice stay here in March. Rooms were in dire need of a reno so am glad to see they are investing. The lobby is striking. Breakfast was great, but the rest of F&B was average. Lots of buffet nights which isn't really our thing. From what I remember there are no beach chairs, so everyone sits on grass near the pool. I found it to be quite pleasant. Not a ton of better options in Muscat, other than the Chedi which we had dinner at (I've heard numerous reports that the hotel is overpriced and not worth it). We visited the Shangri-La for dinner and left within 10 minutes. Seemed like it was designed for tour bus groups.
St. Regis Shanghai - A beautiful hard product let down by poor design details and rough service levels, even for China. Little things like no outlets on the side of the bed (except for USB ports that didn't work), shower door on the wrong hinge which doesn't open to the towel holder, etc. First room smelled like smoke. Second room had welcome letter for another guest with their full name printed. Housekeeping didn't show up the 2nd day at all. Good variety breakfast but poor quality. Butler service offered, but asked to press 2 shirts at 10am for 3pm but did not arrive until nearly 4. Little things like this really added up. The price point is good but I would go to the Pen next time.

LOWS

Amangiri came close, but redeemed themselves with a strong service recovery. St. Regis Shanghai walked the line between Middle of the Road and Lows more so than any hotel I've ever stayed at. The former I am dying to return to again, the latter I have no desire for a repeat visit (given the alternatives available).

Musken

Great idea for a tread! Nice to see the latest impressions. My summary of the luxury hotels we stayed in in 2017:

Highest
Unfortunately none that really stood our for 2017. Maybe we are spoiled...

High
Katikies, Santorini: Fantastic location, great service, good rooms (but very, very expensive)
Amangalla, Sri Lanka: Had a very good stay, great suite, overall service and food, activities. Only little negatives was our butler who was not really up to speed with our plans and had to do a lot of coordination to get things righ), also the spa service was less good than other Amans.

Middle of the road
Amanwella, Sri Lanka: Beautiful setting, good rooms (but some air condition problems (too cold, fan blowing directly at bed)), fantastic beach and service there. Minus for food and overall service. One big problem was, however, generously compensated for, so no hard feelings
Rayawadee. Krabi: Great location on beautiful beaches, room too dark and a bit dated, food very good, service average, too big

Horrible
Zannos Melathron, Santorini: if it was ever a luxury hotel, it is nowhere near it anymore

bhrubin

Sigh. Here's hoping you can fill that out for 2018...

Extra bolding mine. Too cold is a problem?

Happy 2018!

landing

Highest:
Damai 2, really amazing service and food. Aman like. Fantastic diving around Raja Ampat.
Como Maalifushi, we loved our OWB the food and service. Island is big enough to spend easy one week. Great surfing. Unfortunately bad coral bleaching.
Amankila, Ocean can be dirty otherwise nothing to complain and one of our best Amanīs so far.
The Chedi Club, not far from Ubud center so very quiet. Great view from restaurant over rice fields.

High:
Amanusa, we actually had a great stay but no special location next to all resorts. Must have been amazing years ago.
Weinegg, Wellness Hotel in beautiful location, food and vine really good.
Peninsula Bangkok, nice view over the river.

Good:
W Taipei, overall solid.
Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru, nice Island close to Mahe. For couple of nights OK. Food choice not good.

Low:
Only some non-luxury hotels on the way/transit.

Aventine

PHNY just has an inflated sense of worth in addition to service and management deficiencies. You don't offer a premium suite upgrade on THE NEXT STAY as service recovery. I had to put it with Signiel Seoul on behalf of that howler. It isn't on par with the StR, Pen, RC Central Park or the other top luxury NYC hotels. It only has a swimming pool. That's all.
Service is definitely on a downhill trajectory with a lot of PHs. Even our home Korean PHs, the past few stays have been middling. Suites not ready. Less accomodating than before. A lot more "no" answers than positive ones.

callmedtop

It's always interesting to see the difference in experiences across customers (see my PH NY blurb above). I have found service to be on an uphill trajectory over the past couple of years, not downhill! The front desk staff has been snooty since day 1, but other than that I've found the rest of the team to be both pleasant and capable.

scented

Oh you'd be surprised how bad some Park Hyatt hotels actually can be. I used to really love Park Hyatt, as many were/are incredibly special -- I was even a Gold Passport member back then and collected + redeemed. But these days I can rarely be bothered to stay, not because of World of Hyatt (a revenue based system is actually beneficial for me) but because of some decisions I do not approve of. As Kage said somewhere here, at some point the whole outsourcing nonsense has to be considered effectively a franchise and I really wonder why some hotels even go as far to outsource housekeeping, F&B (sic), Spa and even security. Sadly it looks like this is the future and I am not willing to entertain it. I fondly remember PH Istanbul, which easily ranked in the top 5 boutique hotel experiences worldwide or PH Saigon, which impressed me as one of the finest stays in SE Asia. They were also lucky to score management contracts for some incredibly magical properties (Dubai), but more and more hospitality is lacking in favor of the bottom line. Accountants really rule at Park Hyatt these days, which is why I am pretty much done, especially when it is mixed with this odd arrogance in New York for example... I fear they really lost it, which is sad, since they had some great architects in the past (Tuttle, Bensley) and great GMs (Jauslin, Ceccherelli).

bhrubin

This is high praise, indeed, for Damai II! Please share more--either here on the thread or in private message to me! We are advanced divers who have been considering the Amanwana dive live-aboards and the FS Explorer. But this sounds like an intriguing option, too. Is there any suite accommodation? How was the air con onboard?

Aventine

The bellman and door guys were jovial and decent. Front desk was snooty as always. Had to wrangle a Jr. suite out of them but they should have just put me there in the first place, no? Restaurant staff were okay. My biggest gripe was that they wouldn't fix the bathtub in a literally 6-7 hour timeframe. it was their choice to fix it or move us to another suite and they did neither.

I've seen this at a PH we frequent quite often with regards to F&B. Two occasions and two meals that were downright atrocious. More like Korean wedding banquet food than a 5 star restaurant meal. Service recovery? None. Cursory apologies and a promise to do it better NEXT TIME. Wagyu burger seems to be getting more expensive and smaller. Breakfast items come prepared quite simply rather than the way they used to be. Plain French toast, plain pancakes. Where's the strawberries of yesteryear? I get that a hotel is a business, but, if you keep price high and quality low then I'm not going to waste money eating at your establishments. No matter how much of a Superpotato makeover you give to them.

Zephyrous

Some really great info and travel inspiration on this thread (Alila Jabal Akhdar wasn't even on my radar!)...

Here's my non-exhaustive list of some of the more memorable stays of 2017.

Highest
Although not at the level of other years (Singita Boulders, Amanzoe during its first couple of years etc) there are two stays that I found exceeded all expectations:

Rosewood Hotel Georgia: one of the very few times that I have been so pleasantly surprised by a hotel. Booked the hotel with little info as I was tailgating my partner during his last few days in Vancouver whilst he was attending the Ted 2017 conference. Everything about this stay was so marvelously executed (despite the number of VVIPs in the hotel at the time); rooms, service and location were all exceptional (along with very good rates). Perhaps one of my best North American stays of the past few years.

La Reserve Paris: I am in Paris often and I tend to stay in different hotels (varying from 4/5 star boutiques to Distinction Palace hotels). La Reserve seems to be going from strength to strength in every single stay. I love everything about this hotel; the aesthetic of the place, the use of technology done right, the staff, I could go on and on. Hands down the best service in Paris - or any European city hotel for that matter.

High

Amanpulo: it should have been higher on the list - in fact, given the hype it gets I thought it would be my best beach hotel stay ever. Everything was excellent but it gets brought done a notch by a few service lapses, a "guest experience manager" (or something similar) that met us on check in but never saw again (getting flashbacks of Six Senses), the difficulty of booking some "special" dinners/events (again getting flashbacks of Six Senses), the cost of some items which didn't seem to align with the rest of the prices on the resort (special BBQ nights were $175-200 per person plus service charge but excluding alcohol, at least double what a dinner in one of the restaurants would be) and a somewhat disorganised check out. It still was overall a fantastic stay (some true classic Aman moments, amazing beach, best Nama restaurant I've been to, etc) - having said that I wouldn't race back anytime soon.

Amanzoe: it saddens me that it keeps getting weaker by the year (although perhaps this year was better than the one before). At one time it was my favourite hotel in Europe but it feels less and less Aman by each passing year. Some of the staff that I loved have left and I think that the beach club experience keeps getting worse. Despite all this, I still love every stay here (but less than previous ones).

Good

Six Senses Laamu: my favourite "fit for purpose" holiday of the year. I wanted somewhere to switch off completely following a horrible two months at work and the laid back attitude of this resort delivered. Loved everything about it (food, snorkeling, reef, staff) save that I would have preferred if the rooms were slightly different/better. Appallingly slow internet was the other negative. Perhaps it should be a category higher but it would be odd to include it in the same level with Amanpulo. Definitely better than Reethi Rah though.

Aman Summer Palace: only including this as it was one of my most recent stays. Perhaps the least "aman-like" property I have ever been to. No real service lapses but nothing about it felt like an Aman other than perhaps the serenity of the place and the interesting location. Really impressed with all the restaurants that the concierge booked us (where in all of them we were treated as the most VVIP customers ever). Heating in the room was delivered by mobile heating units (hence room temperature could not be controlled or remain constant) that looked as if someone had gone down the corner shop to purchase them because their boiler broke down.

Bad
Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong: as per the MO thread .
Delano Miami: I could only describe it as a bad/tired 4 star.

Interesting boutique stays
Hotel Mercer Barcelona: Loved the staff. Service, location and attention to detail were all solid. Didn't love the room. The people staying in the neighboring room kept arguing about how much they hated it (between themselves and tears were indeed shed). Made for an entertaining stay to say the least. Staying in Soho House next time in Barcelona.
Hydrea Hotel Hydra: a new boutique hotel in Hydra Greece which labels itself as the luxury property of the island. The setting is incredible and the property is truly historic but found no other redeeming value.

Kagehitokiri

great to hear!

btw bhrubin >
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...l#post29249923