flyingdaved

Checked in yesterday afternoon at CN, which is very crowded, particulary at breakfast on peak time! Luckily the beach is calm enough to enjoy sunny days there. What is annoying is the very low attitude the staff has in recognising Plat status and benefits going with. But, from what I understood by reading past posts, it seems to be a tradition of the house at CN! Several months ago I asked for a 10 Suite nights award to upgrade my cash&points reservation: bad news, no (standard) suites available till the last day before my arrival. The end of the story is that no upg at all, but "if something will become available, we'll change your room". I do know that there're suites available, but no news yet. Second remark: they had some problems with credit cards pre-authorizations, so they asked me to try on both my Amex and VISA. At the moment they tried nothing happened, but one hour later I got SMS from both my Amex and my VISA noticing me that the same amount was charged on both the cards. When I said to the guy at the reception that finally the pre-authorization succeeded and asked him to cancel one of them, he replied by saying me that no authorization had been done! Finally, even though much less serious: at 3pm today our room was not cleaned yet (it was when we came back at 6,30, but no complimentary water in room - this is a very very basic amenity everyone of us gets also at Aloft properties!).
I'm seriously considering the option of checking out much sooner than foreseen and move to some other place.

The_Daddy

Third day at Costa Navarino:
So far so good!

No mosquitos at all....the Resort is running full capacity but we did not esperience any real inconvenient. Plenty of space for anyone, always bed free at any pools, always tables free at any restaurants (those we tried untill now at least, including breakfast), no waiting for buggies to take you around, good attitude of most of the staff that seems genuinely relaxed even with the resort full!

Considering the price I'm paying for the family suite, in the busiest time of the year, i really consider the quality/price ratio excellent at the moment.
Finger crossed and will post a complete review at the end of the stay.

Daddy

Starwood Lurker II

If all standard suites at the property have been fully booked during the period of your stay, the SNA won't be useful at all.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

flyingdaved

I've very much appreciated your reply, especially because it only regards an aspect, quite obvious, of my complaint. Btw, when I asked (through the spg website) for the SNA redemption, the complete list of all types of "theorically" available suites at CN was shown, super top infinity suite included. So, my question now is: why asking people to chose among several possible options if the only one you'll get is standard suites (i.e. junior suite)?

Starwood Lurker

I only have some anecdotal experience to offer, but from what I can tell, a property can choose to offer above the select standard suite on SNA requests if they wish to do so. So, I guess the question is, did you select all of the options available? And, if you did, were any of them actually selling for the entire length of your stay?

Otherwise, if you were depending upon the hotel offering above the select standard suite category without using SNA's, they don't have to do that. We revert back to the general program rules for complimentary suite upgrades in that case, which is select standard.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

flyingdaved

To be honest, since my request has been done on May or June, I can't remember if I selected all or just some options, but from them there was the super infinity bla bla suite, which is not a standard suite, that for sure. Unfortunately there's no mean to retrieve the request on the website - or I don't know how to do that - and I can't check.

Different question is about normal SPG Plat upgrade: since I'm preparing an official complaint to SPG, all the relevant documents (bookable options from website day by day) will be attached, to show that if they wanted, they could.

Anyway, as you may easily understand, and I'm sure you do, Plat members are frequent travellers who know and understand that some difficulties, problems and inconveniences can happen. Several times I've not been upgraded because the hotel was full: every single time I got the apologies of the staff, always very friendly and helpful. Here there's not even a bottle of complimentary water! And please don't ask me if I checked the water is in the regulation!

Don't want to bother forum readers any longer, so if you like, feel free to pvt me.

Tx and best regards

The_Daddy

Rumors Are out here at the property that this will be the last season the Resort operates under the Starwood management!

Anyone can comment on it?
We Are having a great time and it will be' a pity if Starwood loose such a property.

terminalfive

Arriving in a few days and hotel looks like it is sold out for the next couple of weeks

Have been contacted by personal e mail - so far excellent^ Really looking forward to our trip

StarwoodCostaNavarino

Hi terminalfive,

We have seen your question and we would like to reassure you that this is not the case. You may continue to enjoy Starwood quality at Costa Navarino for the years to come.

Thank you and best regards,

StarwoodCostaNavarino

Dear flyingdaved,

We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. We believe a member from the management has already spoken to you directly prior to checking out and we certainly hope to have you staying back with us.

Should you require any further assistance please contact us directly.
Warm regards,

terminalfive

Not my Q I think you mean the Q from The_Daddy!!

Beach really amazing - very close to Hotel with perfect wind to allow you to enjoy the sun

sapman986

Am also here this week. You'd never know the place is full. As previously mentioned, ample capacity in pools, restaurants, buggy rides. The service has not changed in the last year in that most employees are doing their best, but the lack of training leads to an inconsistent and sometimes shoddy experience.

sapman986

After spending the whole week here I am going to revise my comments on the service to say that it has has actually got worse than last year. While the eager to please attitude is somewhat endearing, it begins to grate when it is accompanied by incompetence regularly throughout the day.

I understand that training employees in a seasonal resort that is likely to have a large turnover of staff from year to year has to be difficult, but that does not make failing to do so acceptable (especially at the price point of this resort). There are far too many people working at Costa Navarino that simply do not know enough to do their job. It was mentioned already that often this means that in order to get anything done that is any way deviating from the employee's core tasks, it needs to be escalated to someone.

e.g. -

1. A couple at the pool told us that kids under 3 eat for free at all resort restaurants. I thought if this was true, it is a great benefit that was either unpublished or under-published. Upon asking for the bill at our next meal, I mentioned it to our server and the charge for our son's meal was removed. I continued to do this at every meal until the restaurant manager at lunch on one of our last days told me he would have to check on this. He appeared 10 minutes later and told me that no such rule exists. I didn't argue, but checked with the front desk later who didn't know but promised to call me back about it. They didn't. Is it unreasonable for at least the manager at each restaurant to know clearly what the resort's policy on this is?

2. My rate did not include breakfast, yet unlike last year, nobody was checking if diners at breakfast were supposed to get it or not. I asked the front desk about this also and it seemed to not concern them. Seems like this is a pretty large revenue leak that would be easy to fix.

3. Flame restaurant. We had a good meal there last year, but this year the service was atrocious. Our waiter/manager was awful. Unable to answer basic questions about the menu and just a bit too aggressive to be working in a customer facing role, I don't think I have had to deal with a more unpleasant member of staff in a restaurant before. When she made a mistake with our order and was called on it, she marched in to the indoor room in full view of our group and started a full on, flailing arms rant to her co worker while pointing at our table. The food wasn't great there this year either. My medium rare steak came out barely seered. What was described as a strip steak had far too much fat (not marbled) for that type of steak. Conversely, the complete lack of fat on the rib eye made it look more like a fillet. It is a shame, as the restaurant could be a gem with just a little bit of work.

4. The beach. The location of the beach is wonderful, but again, it is let down by the service. On the busiest summer holiday week they ran out of bottled water (and nearly everything else) at the beach restaurant/bar by early afternoon Thursday. Ridiculous. Again, with a little training, this could easily have been avoided.

There are lots of other examples, but I won't bore you with them. This resort would be perfect if they could just iron out the training issues. I think I will pass on Costa Navarino next year and try somewhere else.

To the poster who mentioned the lack of complaining americans as a plus, I think this is more than offset by the manners exhibited by some of the europeans at the restaurants. Pigs at a trough are more civil.

terminalfive

i'll make my mini TR with bullet points - overall it breaks my heart but the overall stay for us was negative

I read through this thread serveral times - as many people who have written TR's are very accurate in their descriptions vis a vis other hotels but here unfortunately I just have to disagree

Have to say resort was very full (sold out on some nights) but..

-> very little SPG / plat recognition. You have to virtually beg for your "rights" and I hate begging
-> was told three times on three different days that I would be contacted via phone. Was only telephoned once (penultimate day). Had to chase small problems and this annoyed me (making them bigger..)
-> beach restaurant had very very poor service. Ordered Calamari - after 15 minutes was told that I would have to make another choice as they had finished the Calamari for Lunch. Small point but niggling and my "second choice" dish was awful (I made a hasty change) and what really annoyed me was that nobody checked to see if everyting was OK. Poor service and didn't return
-> gave tips but ultimately didn't often think that the service merited my tipping. This is my fault but I didn't want to argue / complain. Again my fault not complaining but I felt that complaining wouldn't achieve anything so ultimately I left my complaints to my myself
-> asked for late check out. Granted a "mini" late check out - better than nothing but annoying as the only time you want a 4 pm check out is on holiday (again I go back to point 1 though - SPG plat recognition is not enough, in my view)
-> wierd point was my plat amenity. I asked for the Olive Oil which never arrived. Didn't bother to chase it up but I have noticed I have been credited the 500 point amenity.. Misunderstanding probably - maybe I wasn't clear

On the + side

-> breakfast very good (selection excellent) and although there were lots of guests at breaky the staff were excellent at controlling the crowds. Agree with sapman986 that room number etc. were not asked for on some days
-> rooms are OK. Not all features (some parts were very "worn" which is wierd for a new hotel) but no complaints
-> prices throughout the Hotel OK. Minibar actually quite low. Room service only was a bit "steep"
-> parking OK although on one night it was TOTALLY full and we had to park on a street but the staff were good at helping^ If you get proper help from the staff you really appreciate it. In this case the Associate was excellent and the "problem" of driving around the resort for 20 minutes looking for a space was quickly forgotten
-> beach excellent. And very very nice deck chairs - some of the best I have seen
-> surrounding area very beautiful with some excellent restaurants both near the resort and in Pylos
-> wi fi worked fine ^
-> weather excellent on whole trip (side point but whereas in some parts of Europe it can be unbearably hot in certain locations in AUG here there was a breeze etc.)

Ironically my girlfriend (who travels far less than I do) was more negative than I was. She summed it up "I didn't feel at home"

Would I go back?

Maybe to the Westin. If I can persuade my girlfriend!!! If you look at my points I have no real problems with the Location / Hotel / food. What lacked, desperately, was the service. Certainly not 4 or 5 class / Luxury Collection service. Nowhere near. At +++€ prices you have to deliver on service. Will be interested to read futher TR's and hear if people who have been recently agree with my points

The_Daddy

We had a memorable holidays in this stunning resort.
I originally booked 12 days and then extended to three weeks because we were really enjoing it so much. And we were so sad to live yesterday...i actually tried to extend it even more but the resort is solidly booked.

The area where the resort is located is wonderful in every aspect, the grounds are state of the arts and everything worked fine from the beginning to the end....
of course here they do not evian spray you at the pools and do not clean your sunglasses (maybe....if you ask...), but this level of service in my experience comes at a different price level.
We are very happy about everything and will soon post a detailed reviews on tripadvisor and then link it here....

will certainly be back.