reigndrop

FS Kyoto - probably one of the top properties in Kyoto is my guess, textbook FS
Park Hyatt Tokyo - old and dated, avoid
&beyond Lake Manyara - very fun and cool concept, unmatched service and food
&beyond Ngorongoro Crater - insane location, probably the best service we've ever had an incredible food as well
FS Serengeti - textbook FS again, only African hotel we stayed in AC and usable tap. Rooms are average but the location speaks for itself
Oberoi, Guargon - Guargon's best although the hard product is showing wear and tear. breakfast is still top notch
Mandarin Oriental Dubai - brand new property, hotel is big, service is okay for lux standards. Hard product is stunning + great F&B options + great location (beach and close to DXB mall)
The Edition London - great hard product, good service all around, barely cracks luxury for London though
Park Hyatt NYC - not sure why people hate this place but I've always loved it and we get treated well
The Connaught - best London hotel period. Staff remember you, #1 rain shower in the world and great breakfasts, can't beat the location for shopping nearby
Park Hyatt Paris - people also hate on this but they've always treated us well and we continue to go back
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi - weekend staycation, upgraded to presidential suite, the rest is history. definitely one of AD's best even if it's a bit big
Park Hyatt Milan - one of Milan's top hotels, great service, enviable location but the hard product is aging a bit
Rosewood Hong Kong - our new favorite in HK and can't wait to go back. Luxurious but not palatial, tons of great F&B options + K11 mall downstairs

Remaining for 2019:
Park Hyatt Bangkok
Amankora
Park Hyatt Saigon

Pausanias

A few luxury-style stays this year in some new locations for us.

Hotel Paracas - Luxury Collection, coastal Peru
B. Perfect room, lovely grounds, great pools, so-so service and food, lots to see and do here. A total absence of ‘foreign’ guests like ourselves.

Mashpi Lodge, a bumpy 4-hours from Quito, Ecuador
B. Stunning glass architecture, slick service, refined food, very wet and sticky (cloud forest) location, disappointing wildlife experience (for us anyway).

Hotel del Parque, Guayaquil, Ecuador
A-. Fabulous restoration of old building, flawless room, private location, gutsy food in separate characterful building across the road. Early morning breakfast ruined by large National Geographic tour group.

Sofitel Legend Santa Clara, Cartagena, Colombia
C+. Utterly gorgeous interior courtyard, great food, iffy service, you need to be very careful with your room selection. We loved Cartagena itself and this hotel is wonderfully located.

Belmond Cadogan, London, UK
A. Beautifully renovated townhouse, sumptuous bedroom, great location, noise didn’t bother us. Very homely ambience.

Lucknam Park, Wiltshire, UK
C+. Vastly overpriced, dark full suite, scruffy furniture, many problems with room facilities, stuffy public rooms, bland Michelin-style food, world class indoor pool and spa.

Inverlochy Castle, Fort William, Scotland
A. Iconic hotel, fabulous public rooms, gorgeous restaurant, opulent junior suite with modernised bathroom, a recently relaxed dress code (jacket required), charming service. Palatial yet homely.

Granary Lodge, Mey, Scotland
A. In the grounds of the remote Castle of Mey, a B&B overseen by Prince Charles with rooms of Four Seasons quality and a glorious lounge and breakfast room. No evening meals and dining choices in the area are very limited. They need to fix that somehow. Otherwise, nothing short of a miracle and at £165 for our top suite it’s the best bargain south of the North Pole.

perkerkeem

Park Hyatt Tokyo - A-, despite the general negativity toward the property on FT due to its age/lack of renovation I thought the property was actually quite well maintained & most of the furniture didn't betray the year it was purchased in, service was excellent, my room was massive, bar had a great night time atmosphere. Didn't love the location though so likely would not return and would just swing by the bar.

Conrad Tokyo - A-, solid breakfast, well designed, large room. Service pretty good.

JW Tokyo - B-. Lounge was overcrowded but well designed with decent snacks/breakfast. Room itself was sterile/bland. Not a great location for tourism, but it was really cheap.

Waldorf Astoria Chicago - A - 5/5 on suite upgrades here as a lowly gold. Staff always recognizes me which is a nice touch despite only coming 2-3x per year for 2 years. Property is beautiful, rooms look great, the french restaurant is solid, breakfast is pretty good.

Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne - B - 4/4 on ocean view suite upgrades as a MR gold at this property with warm welcome from the front desk. F&B was pretty good. Thought the room felt new and contemporary in line with the new Ritz designs but I did find the design a bit bland/forgettable. Can't put my finger on it, but it was missing something.

Waldorf Astoria Boca Raton - B - Odd mix of renovated rooms but dated lobby/group areas. F&B was pretty good. Junior suite had OK views of the water (not at the Ocean Club so I faced an island harbor) but was large and well appointed. Design felt distinct but fresh.

Intercontinental LA - C - My second stay I felt less enamored with this property than the one prior. Breakfast is good/diverse, the rooms are clean, large, and modern but the finishes felt cheap. Service was really where it was lacking - restaurant nearly sent my food to another table (good thing I was watching every server that came out since the food was taking so long), I received someone else's french fries, took 30 minutes to check in, A/C wasn't working when I arrived.

SO/ Auckland - B - service was great - we were staying for a special occasion and the property made a strong initial showing - roses and sparkling wine in the room, check in agent knew exactly who we were when we arrived and warmly acknowledged the occasion. Our suite had a great bathroom (water pressure in the rain shower, soaking tub, dual sinks) and large, comfy bedroom, but the separate living room was TINY and we didn't end up using it. Lounge was probably the saddest lounge I've ever seen (tiny, pretty much served nuts and liquor). Breakfast taken in the restaurant however was quite good.

Shangri-La Cairns - D - SL needs to deflag this property. Even our recently renovated room looks like it was done 10 years ago. Was denied lounge access by the front desk despite booking a club room because they upgraded me to a better room with a view but no club access (really?). I still had breakfast in my rate and the FAs on my previous Qantas flights loaded me down with champagne but I'd be frustrated if I actually needed club access. Breakfast selection & restaurant were pretty weak.

Four Seasons Sydney - A- - Stayed in an unrenovated 1BR suite in lieu of a renovated junior suite. Decor is a little tired, particularly in the bathrooms, but well maintained and not as tired as I was fearing from pictures online. Views of the opera house and harbor during Vivid Sydney were excellent. Service was probably the best I've ever had - was offered proactively offered the Royal suite for part of my stay at check in which I regrettably declined to not have to change rooms for the Mrs), servers in the lounge knew who we were, what we were celebrating, where we liked to sit, what we liked to drink/eat. Incredibly impressed. Lounge had a fantastic, high quality spread. We ordered room service for breakfast one day and the Mrs agreed the lounge was 1000x better & we didn't bother going to the restaurant for breakfast. Would come back in a heartbeat when the suites get renovated.

Park Hyatt Bangkok - A+ - another property that seems to polarize FT'ers. I thought it was the best Park Hyatt I've ever stayed in. My corner deluxe was large, the modern black & cream PH decor + Thai flares looks great, breakfast rivaled the FS Sydney, the living room was a fantastic place to hang out and work with striking art & soothing colors & decor. Had some food & cocktails here during the afternoons and thought everything was delicious. Front desk did a great job with "customer is always right" when I had a minor bill dispute at the end of my stay. Housekeeping was brilliant: noticing both the little things and adapting their service flow to perfectly match my schedule without being asked.

CMK10

I tend to only stay at chain hotels so these are all by chain

Hilton:
Conrad Chicago: C+ Good location but pretty bad service. I had requested an early check in and I arrived after that time and was told it would be at most an hour and a half until I got a room but more likely way less. It ended up being closer to three hours. They also forgot to deliver room service. The room was nice at least
Conrad London St. James: B. The location worked very well for me and the service was quite good. Decent though not spectacular executive lounge. However the room was tiny. Far too small for two people.
Waldorf Astoria Orlando: B+. The hotel is a little dated (my room felt straight out of the early 90s) but they upgraded me to a very large suite, they have a very nice bar and I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere compared to the giant convention and family Disney hotels.
Waldorf Astoria Shanghai: A. Everything about this hotel was wonderful. Amazing staff. Nice upgrade to a junior suite and a very nice room. Incredible breakfast spread. Late checkout offered without me having to ask. Probably my best stay of the year.

Hyatt:
Park Hyatt Buenos Aires: A. This was my first ever PH and I was really impressed. Able to check in very early in the morning, great staff, a cigar and whiskey bar (yay!), good combination of modern luxury with classical hotel and a really nice room.

Intercontinental:
IC Boston: A-. Good location, friendly staff who fell over themselves to help me, excellent suite upgrade to an incredible room and as a bonus they have suites with two queen beds which can be hard to find. The bar was a little weak though which cost them the A.
IC Los Angeles Downtown: B+. Good location for being in downtown LA. Love the modern luxury feel to it and I had an amazing room with a nice upgrade. However, inconsistent service delivery. I was overcharged for things and not given F&B credits and had to deal with it after the fact. Prices on everything at this hotel are obscene too even for LA
IC Presidente Mexico City: C+. No upgrade worth mentioning, disappointing room, indifferent staff and nothing really luxury feeling about the hotel. Good lounge though
IC Porto: B+. Perfect location for Porto, nice boutique luxury feeling and amazing staff. Good room too and a nice welcome amenity. Their bar is really bad though which disappointed me.
IC Toronto: D+. I made the mistake of letting my brother who has no IC status book the reservation. We had a reservation for two adults and two beds. The hotel tried to give us one bed. They argued with us about what our reservation was. Finally they gave us a bad room with two beds overlooking the indoor pool (?). No service recovery either. I'd never stay here again
IC Willard Washington DC: B-. Still love this hotel though my room this time was pretty bad. Always a good time visiting their bar and the staff were great too

GetSetJetSet

Interesting, this is not in line with the popular opinion. FS Sydney is often considered the worst FS property in the world, a view to which I ascribe

Aventine

I must have stayed in some alternative universe PH Bangkok then.

perkerkeem

I've only stayed in 4 FS and this one definitely tops the other 3 (Palm Beach, Houston, Boston). For me, the service really set it apart. In most hotels I feel they're just going through the motions with limited quality interactions. This is one of the few hotels where I felt the staff knew my preferences and were proactive in delivering on them.

Yeah the hard product is a little tired in the unrenovated suites (mostly due to the color palette & bathroom fixtures imo), but the views, lounge, and service were enough to make this an A+ stay for me. My grading system is also entirely subjective and there can be flaws and still get an overall experience A+

blueline7

Rosewood Bangkok - would not return to it. Was fine, but hallways smelled of sewage. Overall pleasant, but wasn't sufficiently great to justify the price point, particularly for the suite. Service was generally poor (shortly after opening though), with them forgetting to arrange the transfer to the airport and forgetting to bring additional milk for coffee on several occasions. BION, I had a better stay at the Hilton Millenium for 1/8th the price! Would just add, that I am generally not a huge fan of hotels without a street level presence, and this was one of those.

Amanpulo - My second trip here after 7 years. Incredibly, food was worse than last time. Would not return due to that factor alone. Beach was riddled with debris. Plus got bad weather so left early. Not their fault of course...

Four Seasons Hoi An - A good stay. Food was unremarkable, and I have had better Vietnamese food in Toronto. General Manager only introduced himself on the last day, but other than that service was good. Beach was good though nothing special. Four-Villa compound was very good. Wouldn't go back as it just was not a special enough location and place.

Amanjena - Excellent. Amongst the best service I have ever had. Amongst the best food I have ever had. Pool villa was very comfortable. Would love to go back. One of my top Amans.

St. Regis Osaka - Very good. Would stay here again. Straight forward, comfortable city hotel in good location with very good service.

St. Regis Geneva - Would definitely stay again. Great location, large very comfortable rooms, excellent service. Perfect for a city/business stay.

Four Seasons Disney/Orlando - Would definitely stay here again. BUT, I will never go to Disney again. Service was great, food was very good. Location was good. Rooms were a bit small but very comfortable.

St. Regis Atlanta - Would definitely stay again. Great location. Very comfortable and large suite. Excellent service. Very nice pool.

Perry Lane, Savannah - Would definitely stay again. Outstanding service. Very good on site restaurant. Very nice decor and great location.

chinmoylad

MY FAVS
In no particular order except for number 1:
Amankila: Still my favourite hotel in the world. Just incredible. I could (and will) write a few thousand words about this place, so not going to do it here.

Four Seasons Hong Kong: I've had mixed views on some of the Four Seasons I've stayed at. This one really knocked it out of the park, a most excellent stay. Convenient/great location, most excellent service and tremendous food.
Only issues for me are the dated rooms and the atmosphere (lobby) just feels so business-like but that also really depends on what you're looking for from your stay - since it's a city hotel, definitely willing to give it a bit more leeway.

Capella Ubud: Bill Bensley, gone wild. You'll love it or hate it. I loved it (although perhaps would place a ~3 night max on this...I stayed 2. If you're like me, I can see the design getting to you a little bit after time) - technically north of Ubud in Tegalalang, but it's quite secluded/in the jungle. Not a place to do daily trips to Ubud town from (25-40 min into town), but one to just sit and enjoy the place it. Run by Mark Swinton, formerly of Aman/Aman Indonesia.
Special mention for the food, which was some of the very best I've had in Bali at a resort.
Couple of minor issues with service/housekeeping. Pool was frigid.

Special mention to The Datai Langkawi. I didn't stay. Hard to get blown away by hotels I'm only visiting rather than staying at for a few nights, but this is one of them (keen to return to stay this time).

THE REST
Also in no particular order
Amandari: Feels like going back home.
Pool temp was much better this time around compared to previous (but didn't have a pool villa here - just the main pool).
The service was absolutely exceptional (even compared to Capella where it was quite good - Aman just blew that away from landing until I left Amankila), and food was good.
I have very mixed feelings about this one - I find it to be a very underrated Aman (especially in design), yet can see easily why people don't rave about it (as they usually might with Amanjiwo, Amankila or even nearby Amanoi etc).
Biggest issue for me, more than anything else with regards to rooms etc that people often bring up, is the small footprint of the resort. If you aren't here to do many excursions, it can start to feel very cramped to an extent - certainly for an Aman. Unlike Amankila where there are a multiple of places you could be at any given time, at Amandari it's either the room or the main pool - and with ALL the dining outlets centred around the main pool, and the rooms only being a 2-4 minute walk away (at most!) from the pool, if you're here for multiple nights that can start to be a minor pain point.
With all that said - would I go back (again)? Hell yes. I love it here, it feels like home! The staff are lovely, the place is lovely.

The question I had from many comparing Capella vs Amandari - they're two TOTALLY different resorts. Amandari really does feel like living in a Balinese village (albeit a very luxe one of course), and you're closer to town and some of the key sites nearby - while it is peaceful here, you do know that it's not totally remote/secluded as you venture just at the gates. Capella is a fun-themed resort that's a bit of an escape and definitely more of a jungle resort. If you are going to do multiple nights in Ubud and not going to swap them out for Amankila/Soori, then 2+2 at Amandari/Capella is actually quite a good combo.

Ritz-Carlton Singapore: Views are just incredible, and I'm always there for a huge convention type thing so I'm always surprised at how good the service is, considering that. Don't really get to enjoy the hotel/facilities that much, though the concierge team did go out of their way to assist with some very specific shopping I needed to do. As per my last stay, the room really could do with a refresh, but other than that it's quite a spectacular place to be within Singapore, and to enjoy views over Singapore from. Despite being a huge city hotel and the rooms needing a bit of work, this one is really growing on me though - mostly for the service. I definitely enjoyed my stay here more than last time, and look forward to seeing it improve over time - hopefully the rooms.

Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong: If ever there were a hotel to get club access at, this is it. It makes SUCH a huge difference to your stay/experience, particularly with regards to how easily/better things can get done (check-in, check-out, simple requests etc).
I dislike the common areas of the hotel, as well as the location - which of course also means it has one of the most spectacular views in all of Hong Kong (on a good day anyway - the entire first night I was there, I was right in the thick of the clouds and couldn't see anything).

St Regis Hong Kong: I can see this being a wonderful hotel at a very specific price point. The rooms are big (or at least sizable) for Hong Kong, the product is new its a small hotel by city standards, and there's an outdoor pool (not common in Hong Kong...)
L'Envol for dinner was most excellent. Lunch at the Chinese restaurant was good too, but not exceptional.
Had issues with the very sparse breakfast spread.
Biggest issue for me is location and views (or lack thereof - which in itself I don't mind, but perhaps not the view that the St Regis has).

Four Seasons Langkawi: The location is decent, relatively secluded and with a very large practically private beachfront (vs the much smaller one at The Datai).
My favourite part was definitely the mangrove excursion with our excellent guide Aidi.
Also really like the little 'cabanas' at the main pool (although the umbrella design here is a bit silly - wait for the full review...).
Food was decent throughout, service was quite mixed(at times, very personalised - Liverpool won the European Cup and without mentioning it, they brought me a congratulatory cake the next day. On the other hand, had some minor issues with housekeeping...it's a trend y'see).
Biggest issue for me was the really dated rooms, and the bizarre decor (Bill Bensley). The room decor actually grew on me over time, and it's quite warm - but those 'blues' scattered around the resort in various hues (mostly walls/outer facades) are quite off putting.

GetSetJetSet

I've seen that sentiment in this forum a few times re RC Singapore, but personally I don't find the rooms dated at all. What elements of the rooms do you think need a refresh? For sure agree re. RC HKG ^

mike_la_jolla

That was my thought. This might be the only good review of this dismal FS in the last 10 years.

sophialite

Local Ratings and Global Ratings below. If you want specific feedback, happy to provide.

The Norman Tel Aviv: B, C-
Four Seasons Florence: A+, A
Four Seasons Geneva: A+, A-
Four Seasons SF: A, B+
St. Regis SF: A, B+
Ritz SF: B-, C-
Maison de La Luz New Orleans: A, B
Villa la Coste: A+, A
Mandarin Oriental Barcelona: A, B+
Amantaka: A+, A-
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok: A+, A
Crillon Paris: A+, A
Raffles Singapore: A+, A-
Chiltern Firehouse: A-, B+
Crosby Street Hotel: A-, B-
Four Seasons Philadelphia: A+, A-
Shinola Hotel Detroit: A+, C+
Hamyard Hotel/1 Denman Place: B+, B-
Hotel Cafe Royal: A-, A-
Dolder Grand Zurich: A, B+
Park Hyatt Zurich: B, C+
Park Hyatt DC: A-, B
Fendi Suites Rome: B, C-
Urso Hotel Madrid: A, B

Remaining for 2019: Crillon, Four Seasons Philadelphia, and Greenwich Hotel NYC

FlyerEC

The AMANs


A ++ Zoe


A Aman Villas at Nusa Dua
A + Kila


A + AmanCGV


A + Nemu
A ++ AmanTokyo


A Galla
A Wella

A+ Puri


FS - Four Seasons Hotels


A ++ FS Gresham Palace , Budapest , Hungary

A FS Singapore


MO - Mandarin Oriental


A++ MOBKK , Bangkok , Thailand

B MOKL , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia

A + MOHKG , Hong Kong , China SAR

A MOMLN , Milan , Italy


Others

B The Banjaran , Ipoh , Malaysia

A Chiva Som , Hua Hin , Thailand

A Epoque Hotel , Bucharest , Romania Very pleasantly surprised

B Grande Bretagne , Athens , Greece

B The Imperial , Vienna , Austria

A+ Lupaia , Tuscany , Italy

B Majestic , Melaka , Malaysia

B Shangri La Makati , Manila , Philippines

A The Suiran , Kyoto , Japan

Think missed out a few .. will add as & when , or perhaps not .
Am still trying to squeeze in another hotel but with year end functions , a bit difficult and airport crowds too makes the prospect rather a dampener . Missed out on Baur au Lac last weekend .
Then there are some which do not quite qualify as a whole but certain suites within do , like PanPacific Seattle & Vancouver

Baghoarder

I agree. Even worse, ours had the shower over the tub.

Pierre&Cédric

I travel much less since Pierre is not here anymore.
This year:
- Hotel Bel Air - one of my favorite hotel in the world. Over the years we tried canyon suites which are nice but overpriced, the Herb Garden suite which is amazing, and even basic rooms with patio in the clasic part are ok. The heated swimming pool is gorgeous.
- Bulgari London - still my favorite hotel in London, again for the beautiful swimming pool
- Amanjena - Maison Jardin #42 has the best swimming pool, it was built after the initial set of pavillons / maisons and I like it is slightly remote from other rooms.
- Marina Bay Sands - not a luxury hotel but I went there with a friend who was willing to try the pool. It was a nice surprise, I was expecting terrible service but actually staying in a suite makes it acceptable. The swimming pool is not busy between 11am and 3pm (when guests staying one-night only are not there)/
- Bawah Reserve - absolute bliss. I loved it!
- Aman Venice - I did not see the new GM, but the concierge team is still there and I like the residential feel. Going with the Aman boat to Torcello to have lunch at Locanda Cipriani is a must.

Final trip of the year will be Four Seasons Budapest, it will be my first visit, I can't wait