mtacchi

Impressions from opening day Aug 1 , 2010.

Some background about myself to put the below into context.
I’m 35, married with kids and have lived in South East Asia for 7 years since leaving North America.
I have a pool villa near Laguna in Phuket and commute from Hong Kong.
Phuket has been my second home for about 5 of those years. I am very familiar with both Thailand and Asia, and my expectations are a result of all the above.

Your expectations of service, cleanliness ect.. will certainly vary.. as we say on FT.. YMMV..

Ok.

getting there'

We drove over from our place arriving about 2:30pm. The details provided on the website are rubbish. If you follow the signs from the Heroines roundabout south for
SIRE or SIREN Bay (all spelled differently...) you’ll get there.. trying to read all the street names provided when most streets are only in THAI on the signs is rather tough.

I imagine most people will have drivers and not rent so unlikely to affect the vast majority of guests. 40 minutes from airport to the resort would be a minimum.

checkin:

This took a little longer than expected, there were photographers, balloons and lei’s.
We were given seats overlooking the bay and all the documents were brought to us.
Initially, as platinum we were upgraded to a Elevation Suite, but due to a last minute failure of some sort in that room, we were moved to a Discovery Suite with pool.

The standard amenity card was provided, as well as a new one the Hotel Mgr Sean has implemented that allows guests to choose a room amenity, ie fruit, cookies, chocolate..that is delivered later in addition to the standard SPG choices.

The other Platinum benefits are stated in the opening thread include
*upgrade to best available room
*free breakfast
*free internet
*free drink 6-7pm

and some other things.. those are the relevant ones to me..

A golf cart then carries my tribe up to our suite 2213 that overlooked the resorts pools and Siran Bay.

the room:

Initially, not a big wow factor. Its a short corridor that with large bathroom leading directly to the bedroom. Opposite the bedroom thru 2 sliding doors is the living room, that has a lot of empty space. I’m puzzled why you didn’t enter the living area and the bedroom placed in the opposite room. It would have been more ‘suitesq” that way.. however.. it works. 1 flat screen and dvd player in each room and a long (maybe 40 ft by 5 ft) pool running along the length that you can access from either room.
There are 2 chairs and a small table on the outdoor patio.
Heavenly bed, as always, was heavenly...

There are numerous issues of deficiencies in many rooms at this point, in fact the hotel is only half open. To mention them seems a waste as the majority are being fixed as the come up. It’s highly unlikely you will have the same experiences in coming weeks. We were prepared for it, and not really put off.

The resort:

One word. TERRACED. if walking up and down is an issue, then perhaps this place isn’t for you. However, being so, makes for beautiful views and every room is a sea view. Golf carts are available on request to drive you up and down. We walked down, but always came back via golf cart.

The design of it all reminds of the Westin in Cabo San Lucas on a smaller scale. Lots of open areas with sweeping view. It’s been rainy the last few weeks here (we’ve been down for 6 weeks) but in the heart of dry season, the sky and sea views are going to be legendary.

The layout doesn’t lend itself to wandering. I think one knows where they intend to go prior to embarking on the trip.

The beach is the best (IMHO) of any of the Phuket hotels. At the Sheraton, generally its too rough to swim, @ the LM near Patong, there is a nice cove, but its small and does get some rough water, as does the LM Yacht club. Sea Kayaks were available to paddle about the bay.

My kid’s loved the Kids’ Club and were always harping to go back..you can leave yours from 9-6 and they will do lunch with them (you still pay ~200 baht ish) if you chose. They go to the beach, swim, and have all sorts of different activities.


Service / Staff:

Simply outstanding. Motivated, helpful, committed are only some of the words I could use. I met the hotel mgr Sean, front desk mgr Yah (who is worth her weight in gold), and many of the staff. Every time I turned around they were doing something for us (or our kids). They’ve all worked at other properties in Thailand and SE Asia. We spent a bit of time chatting to the restaurants mgr’s Jone and Sade whose enthusiasm for it all was contagious. We nearly stayed another day, but commitments elsewhere wouldn’t allow it.

On arriving back at our home, I had an email from the hotel telling me my 7yr old had forgot her iTouch and housekeeping found it. Very impressed that the cleaning staff turned it in. I likely wouldn't have noticed till she asked after it in a day or two..

To put it succinctly, the staff are there to make sure you leave with a smile.

And we did.

mtacchi

I suspect these units were used for some promo events due to the setup prior to opening..

Just got back from dinner...

Good..
reasonable price (1200 baht adults/600 Kids) 4 of us with drinks was 4500 baht or so.. I had 6 lobster tails personally.. but if I wanted a wood fire pizza, it wasn't included.. kinda dumb. Pizza food cost less than $2.00~Me eating another lobster tail $10-15.. whatever.. All four of us enjoyed it, and MILKY the hostess really went out of her way to entertain my daughters.

Bad.

Called Westin Service express prior to dinner to turn down room... Still not done 2 hrs later. Bathroom full of wet towels, and kids bed not made.
A/C still not working in living room, mini bar fridge still not chillin' beverages..

However. They are trying. Saw YAH again this evening and she offered my kids a DVD to watch (they are now doing so in the other room). She is a jewel here.

JCBR

I have booked this Westin and also LM over New Year period so depending on your comments and photos one will get cancelled.
What is your opinion ?

Starwood Lurker II

Dear mtacchi,

Thank you for your comments. I have forwarded them to the property.

Any feedback to your stay at this newly opened property, be it positive or negative, do keep them coming.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

m0hamed

Lurker, why are my future reservations for this property missing from spg.com? I can't even look them up manually be reservation number...

olliwi

Not yet - mine is still missing! Anyone else with this problem???

mtacchi

Which LM?

Starwood Lurker II

I have a feeling the issue with the property's IPS migration is still existing. Let me find out.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Starwood Lurker II

It seems that the confirmation numbers for most of your reservations have been altered due to the migration to the new system.

I am going to offer two suggestions: 1. Contact the property by phone or email to check on your reservation. 2. Send me a PM with your full name on the ressie and date of travel. But I might take some time to get back to you. Do bear with me. And this is a "one-time offer".

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

JCBR

LM resort Phuket

yosithezet

There you go. See, I'd never book LM Phuket to begin with, so a no-brainer. Cancel it unless proximity to Patong is what you are looking for.

JCBR

Thanks for the kind offer - my res also vanished. here is the confirmation number 944669360

mtacchi

yeah, no brainer.

Unless you want to be near Patong for whoring ect.. not worth it as a resort. Been there a few times, as I wanted to be in the middle bit of the island (for whoring ect.. )

Back @ my villa near Laguna and about to put together a report on the Westin Siray Bay. It surpass's the LM in every way other than location if you want Patong type action.


***EDIT*** Hotel just contacted me to let me know my daughter left her Ipod touch. Very honest. ***!!


Full review available in new master thread.

m0hamed

Hi, is this a private pool because it is described as "pool access" on the website, and as a result we booked a One bedroom Sala Pool villa.

Starwood Lurker II

My dear, I doubt I am able to trace with your old ressie number if it has been replaced with a new one.

But I shall try.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd