I haven't stayed at the Hyatt, however I recall that booking a Deluxe Pool it was smaller and more expensive than a Sala Pool villa on SPG50 which is far superior in terms of size, pool and view. The Cocktail Hour at the Westin is exceptional.

Indulge Suite vrs Elevation Suite
 

I have the choice of Indulge Suite vrs Elevation Suite for SNA. Is any one of these better than the other to just select one or am I fine selecting both to try and get my SNA approved?

Or should I not even waste my SNA on trying to get either one of these suites?

Personally, i will not stay in Elevation Suite again, though i've never stayed in Indulge Suite.

We had an Elevation Suite last year for 7 nights. We were upgraded from the cheapest room with no SNA needed. The extra space in the Living Room upstairs was OK but, to be totally honest, after exploring the suite when we checked in I don't think we went upstairs again. It just wasn't practical for our needs.

Just wondering if anyone has stayed here recently? I asked for a menu/prices for the restaurants but have not received anything back.

Also a little confused about the balcony pools.. It looks like some of the cheaper rooms (not just the pool villa) has these? I believe connected with other rooms which is fine.. but what rooms have these? Is it "pool access" rooms?

Yes, specifically:
- Superior Sea View Room - pool access
- Discovery Suite - pool access (received this as a Platinum upgrade once)

Personally, I wouldn't stay in the shared pool rooms. You can be seen by your neighbours which is just weird and also from guests below.

The Sala Pool, One Bedroom and Two story villa (unpublished on the website) are the best rooms by far, although construction quality is not great for such a young hotel.

Thanks! That clears up what "pool access" means.

There is one on the website but looks pretty expensive. I'll look into the one you're mentioning as well.

Use SPG50.

One more question. Does the "Indulge Suite" feature anything cool like a pool?

Some answers can be easily answered by looking at the hotel website: http://www.westinsiraybay.com/rooms/indulge-suites

There have been several times in prior years when I had reservations for this property, but I always ended up cancelling and going elsewhere. This year, I finally followed through, and boy, was I surprised. Last I checked this thread, the property had some ringing endorsements, such as:

This seems to have taken a significant turn for the worse. We were given coupons for the bar in the lobby lounge, to be used for one drink per person per day during the 5-7 happy hour, ordered from a special menu (limited to beer, wine, soft drinks, or choice of mixed drinks -- Mojito or Hurricane). Further drinks past the first round are chargeable (300THB for two drinks during happy hour). We sat down just after 5pm, and the two bar staff became flustered with an influx of conference attendees; our drinks arrived almost half an hour later, and our "canapes" (each person gets three fried items -- spring roll, wonton, shrimp) took an hour to arrive. The environment was busy and noisy, and frankly, this experience can be beat by most airport Sheratons. (m0hamed -- I realize this is an older post, and I'm not quoting it to pick an argument, but but because I've read many of your posts and know your exacting standards; this quote stuck in my mind, and was the reason I wanted to visit this hotel).

We received an upgrade to, I believe, a Discovery Suite in building 16 (at the highest point of the resort). Certainly a nice view, but not a very spectacular room -- Ikea-ish furniture in a bit of disrepair. Breakfast (included in our rate) was fine, but not at all memorable.

The disappointment with the Plat benefit pus the overall vibe of the hotel, coupled with rainy weather, lead us to depart after the first night. That may sound like an overreaction, and the hotel certainly isn't horrible enough to cause one to run away -- provided one goes in with the right expectations (which we didn't). This was our last beach hotel at the end of a two month trip that included some spectacular hotels (The Siam in Bangkok, IC Danang), some great elite experiences (GH Bali, GH Tokyo, LM KUL, IC HK), some laid-back but pleasant lower-end hotels (HR Danang, Sheraton Lombok), and we thought that Westin Phuket would be a nice conclusion to this trip; given our parameters, it was a huge letdown.

Is it possible they closed the Prego Moon Deck for the conference?

IMO the stand out feature was the drinks on Prego Moon Deck, canapes and live music.

If they have changed this Platinum benefit it is indeed a significant downgrade.

The Prego Moon Deck drinks and canapes were not in operation in June when we were there. We were given the same treatment as jpdx.....one drink coupon each per night.....and were somewhat disappointed since the Moon Deck experience was so nice.

With the loss of Khao Lak and Krabi, southern Thailand is becoming less attractive. :/