The St. Regis Lhasa Resort [Master Thread]
Feb 11, 2011, 11:05 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: NYC
Programs: BA Gold, AS MVP Gold, AA Plat, SPG Plat
Posts: 236
Apply for the Tibetan Permit information: (foreign traveler only)
1: two pages of your passport copy (one page with your photo & one page with your visa to China )
2: your schedule in Tibet must be provided to the local TA, and follow up by TA (per local policy)
3: there are some expenses you will pay it
1: two pages of your passport copy (one page with your photo & one page with your visa to China )
2: your schedule in Tibet must be provided to the local TA, and follow up by TA (per local policy)
3: there are some expenses you will pay it
Feb 15, 2011, 11:47 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: ORD
Posts: 746
Feb 15, 2011, 1:05 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Chapel Hill, NC - UA Nobody (sigh)/0.925MM, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 3,510
Mar 1, 2011, 12:49 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: SPG Platinum, Amex Platinum
Posts: 85
Jun 1, 2011, 5:35 pm
#10
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: In between BRU, BSL , AOI and the rest of the world
Programs: BAEC Gold, LX Sen, HH Diamond, SPG Plat, MR Silver
Posts: 187
Two short leisure stays at the St. Regis Lhasa at the beginning and at the end of a one week visitb to Lhasa and Tibet, in early May. The second stay was actually an upgrade from the 4Points were we had reserved ourb the last night .after a private tour to the Everest base camp. The local guide well organized .the tour .and for local permits (pm if you need name and address) but Hotel did also provide reccomendations for other local companies. They also have some suggestions on tours on their web page . The hotel is brand new, built in a modern tibetan style. Their position is also great, overlooking the Potala palace . Both times we were upgraded to a large Potala view room (the ones on the upper 6th floor at the far right end of the building have the best view) . There is a good restaurant and a relatively well equipped cave. Make sure to also visit the Decanter bar on the first floor (we discovered on our last night that as .a Platinum you are entitled to free soft drinks and wines from a small.selection ( South African Two Oceans red or white blend) . The staff is motivated but in general not very fluent in English . As a matter of fact , the.majority of guests seem to be from China, both on leisure or business. Mixed feelings about the butler service: the first time , on arrival, we had an impeessive tour of the property including a visit to the Presidential suit e balcony . On our second stay the service was unnoticeable. Nice pool and spa, youn could see them but not yet in service when we visited .A couple of additional observations : the Hotel seems managed by the same company of the Lhasa Four points. While not an expert on St.Regis properties, the level of service , while good, seems to me not up to the perfection I would expect from a St.Regis . Internet (wired and wifi) was very slow on our first stay (to the point it could not be used except in the business center) but worked well.on our stay (after other guests also complained).Also noticed some small imperfections on the wall paintings and the moquettes , close to the elevators to the rooms , were not well grounded and dispensing electric shocks any time you would be touching the elevator. Overall and these last observations, we had a very nicev stay at the St. Regis and enjoyed any moment of our week in Tibet .
Jun 1, 2011, 9:26 pm
#11
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Singapore
Programs: SQ *G, BA Gold, Bonvoy Ambassador Elite LFT Titanium , Hyatt Discoverist, ALL Diamond
Posts: 666
Some more information for independent traveler
The option that i had been given for traveling to Tibet was to join a tour... which is really not appealing.
However, the platinum desk came back with some additional clarification. The St Regis has a travel agent on premises. They can design an itinerary for you and take care of the visa requirements. Probably the easiest way to secure the Travel Permit.
Here is the extract from Platinum Desk:
"You can Fax or Scan these supporting to us for apply process; our sales
colleague will contact our partner TA and try our best to assist you.
Our fax No. is 0891-6954138. When the Tibetan Permit has approved, we will
send the original copy to you
There is a tour agency at St. Regis itself, named Snow Pandy. Contact person
is Mr. QiongDa and he will be able to arrange a tour itinerary for you."
However, the platinum desk came back with some additional clarification. The St Regis has a travel agent on premises. They can design an itinerary for you and take care of the visa requirements. Probably the easiest way to secure the Travel Permit.
Here is the extract from Platinum Desk:
"You can Fax or Scan these supporting to us for apply process; our sales
colleague will contact our partner TA and try our best to assist you.
Our fax No. is 0891-6954138. When the Tibetan Permit has approved, we will
send the original copy to you
There is a tour agency at St. Regis itself, named Snow Pandy. Contact person
is Mr. QiongDa and he will be able to arrange a tour itinerary for you."
Aug 12, 2011, 2:22 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2011
Programs: Lifetime Platinum Premier Elite
Posts: 184
Amazing Platinum Recognition - Best We Have Experienced
We checked into the St. Regis Lhasa on August 8th and will check out tomorrow, the 13th of August. Our stay was a five day vacation using 5 of our 17 Free Resort Nights (FRNs) benefits from the recent Starwood "Stay Three Getaway Free" promotion. In summary, we experienced some of the best service quality (if not the best) here than we have experienced at any other Starwood property.
Currently, it is not easy to plan a trip to Tibet because you have to get a Tibet Travel Permit (after you get your China visa) and the dates must match your travel details exactly. In addition, now is the peak season for Tibet, and it can be quite hard to align the dates of the Tibet Travel Permit with the airfare (we flew from Bangkok to Chengdu, stayed at the Sheraton Lido Chengdu there a few days) and the hotel reservations. Having said that, we received excellent service from the management team at the St. Regis Lhasa who, without their help, we would cancelled the trip because of problems with permits and also with return air fare.
When arrived at the hotel by private car from the Lhasa airport and were well taken care of. The management team met us upon arrival, including the very passionate about Tibet GM (Mr. Magdy Anis), with a warm traditional Tibet welcoming ceremony. The GM gave us a very enjoyable tour of the facilities before handing over the remainder of the tour to our personal butler, whom we owe our gratitude for such great trip.
Our St. Regis Lhasa personal butler was Chief Butler Billy Yang, who was outstanding in every possible way. We have never experienced such great service, warm friendly, caring, helpful, attentive but not intrusive; in short, the service from Billy was unsurpassed in our Starwood travels, including other St. Regis properties.
We were assigned one of the most beautiful suites we have ever stayed in which was very spacious, modern, well equipped and very comfortable with an unsurpassed view of the Potala Palace. The room was nearly perfect in every way and with such an outstanding quality of service, we enjoyed every day to the fullest.
Every detail was managed perfectly by the staff, all orchestrated by our amazing Chief Butler, whom we felt more like a family member soon after meeting him. We were escorted to breakfast, evening cocktails and just about every step of our journey was managed perfectly by Billy. We have never experienced anything like this at any property anywhere in the world. People tend to rave about the service in Thailand; let me tell you, the service we received at the St. Regis Lhasa far exceeded the best of the best in Thailand (and we have stayed at just about every property there hundreds of nights, including SGS, WGS and the new St. Regis Bangkok.)
Every coin has two sides, and so there is some room for improvement from our perspective; but I don't think our ideas will reflect most guests desires because we are very active (non-smoking, fitness training and scuba diving travelers) and for some reason, we did not experience any problems with altitude sickness as many travelers seem to when they ascend rapidly to 3500 meters. Oxygen was in the rooms if we needed it, but we did not need it; nor did we need any medication for altitude sickness. We felt great the entire trip.
So, for that reason, we were a bit disappointed that were was no fitness center, table tennis (ping pong) or billiard room; or similar activity to enjoy on the St. Regis property. We toured the local area one day out of the six we were there as we have seen many temples, palaces and lakes in our lifetime; so we prefer activity on the property in addition to outside guided tours. Hence, we would have loved to also have had access to a fitness center or game room; because we need and enjoy exercise and other resort activities even in high altitude places.
The management and staff constantly kindly reminded us to "take it easy" because of the altitude; but honestly, climbing hundreds of steps at Potala Palace (highly recommended by the resort team) exerts more energy than weight and resistant training in a resort fitness center. Our feeling was that the St. Regis Lhasa needs more "on property" activities; but others who want to tour every day may not have this feeling at all. There is a beautiful "golden swimming pool" which we really liked so much; you must try this pool!
Overall, we loved the St. Regis Lhasa and accomplished our goals of visiting Tibet and staying at a luxury Starwood resort using some of our FRNs. The service quality is unsurpassed thanks to the kind attention by Chief Butler Billy Yang and the management team lead by GM, Magdy Anis. We highly recommend this property if you like amazing service, superior Platinum recognition and the idea of touring Lhasa, Tibet and the surrounding area.
In closing this brief SW FRN report, we would like thank Starwood for such a great "Stay Three Getaway Free" promotion, because we probably would not have visited Tibet in our lifetime; but we decided that five free resort nights at the St. Regis Lhasa would be a nice change, and indeed it was. In addition, we will never forget the kind attention to our travels by the GM and Chief Butler, and indeed the entire team, at the St. Regis Lhasa.
Both the suite we were upgraded to, and the service quality and Platinum recognition, was among the best (if not THE BEST) we have experienced in hundreds of stays at Starwood properties worldwide.
Thank You Starwood and Thank You St. Regis Lhasa!
Currently, it is not easy to plan a trip to Tibet because you have to get a Tibet Travel Permit (after you get your China visa) and the dates must match your travel details exactly. In addition, now is the peak season for Tibet, and it can be quite hard to align the dates of the Tibet Travel Permit with the airfare (we flew from Bangkok to Chengdu, stayed at the Sheraton Lido Chengdu there a few days) and the hotel reservations. Having said that, we received excellent service from the management team at the St. Regis Lhasa who, without their help, we would cancelled the trip because of problems with permits and also with return air fare.
When arrived at the hotel by private car from the Lhasa airport and were well taken care of. The management team met us upon arrival, including the very passionate about Tibet GM (Mr. Magdy Anis), with a warm traditional Tibet welcoming ceremony. The GM gave us a very enjoyable tour of the facilities before handing over the remainder of the tour to our personal butler, whom we owe our gratitude for such great trip.
Our St. Regis Lhasa personal butler was Chief Butler Billy Yang, who was outstanding in every possible way. We have never experienced such great service, warm friendly, caring, helpful, attentive but not intrusive; in short, the service from Billy was unsurpassed in our Starwood travels, including other St. Regis properties.
We were assigned one of the most beautiful suites we have ever stayed in which was very spacious, modern, well equipped and very comfortable with an unsurpassed view of the Potala Palace. The room was nearly perfect in every way and with such an outstanding quality of service, we enjoyed every day to the fullest.
Every detail was managed perfectly by the staff, all orchestrated by our amazing Chief Butler, whom we felt more like a family member soon after meeting him. We were escorted to breakfast, evening cocktails and just about every step of our journey was managed perfectly by Billy. We have never experienced anything like this at any property anywhere in the world. People tend to rave about the service in Thailand; let me tell you, the service we received at the St. Regis Lhasa far exceeded the best of the best in Thailand (and we have stayed at just about every property there hundreds of nights, including SGS, WGS and the new St. Regis Bangkok.)
Every coin has two sides, and so there is some room for improvement from our perspective; but I don't think our ideas will reflect most guests desires because we are very active (non-smoking, fitness training and scuba diving travelers) and for some reason, we did not experience any problems with altitude sickness as many travelers seem to when they ascend rapidly to 3500 meters. Oxygen was in the rooms if we needed it, but we did not need it; nor did we need any medication for altitude sickness. We felt great the entire trip.
So, for that reason, we were a bit disappointed that were was no fitness center, table tennis (ping pong) or billiard room; or similar activity to enjoy on the St. Regis property. We toured the local area one day out of the six we were there as we have seen many temples, palaces and lakes in our lifetime; so we prefer activity on the property in addition to outside guided tours. Hence, we would have loved to also have had access to a fitness center or game room; because we need and enjoy exercise and other resort activities even in high altitude places.
The management and staff constantly kindly reminded us to "take it easy" because of the altitude; but honestly, climbing hundreds of steps at Potala Palace (highly recommended by the resort team) exerts more energy than weight and resistant training in a resort fitness center. Our feeling was that the St. Regis Lhasa needs more "on property" activities; but others who want to tour every day may not have this feeling at all. There is a beautiful "golden swimming pool" which we really liked so much; you must try this pool!
Overall, we loved the St. Regis Lhasa and accomplished our goals of visiting Tibet and staying at a luxury Starwood resort using some of our FRNs. The service quality is unsurpassed thanks to the kind attention by Chief Butler Billy Yang and the management team lead by GM, Magdy Anis. We highly recommend this property if you like amazing service, superior Platinum recognition and the idea of touring Lhasa, Tibet and the surrounding area.
In closing this brief SW FRN report, we would like thank Starwood for such a great "Stay Three Getaway Free" promotion, because we probably would not have visited Tibet in our lifetime; but we decided that five free resort nights at the St. Regis Lhasa would be a nice change, and indeed it was. In addition, we will never forget the kind attention to our travels by the GM and Chief Butler, and indeed the entire team, at the St. Regis Lhasa.
Both the suite we were upgraded to, and the service quality and Platinum recognition, was among the best (if not THE BEST) we have experienced in hundreds of stays at Starwood properties worldwide.
Thank You Starwood and Thank You St. Regis Lhasa!
Last edited by starpoint_galaxy; Apr 21, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Aug 15, 2011, 1:18 pm
#13
Senior Moderator; Moderator, Eco-Conscious Travel, United and Flyertalk Cares
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Fulltime travel/mostly Europe
Programs: UA 1.7 MM;; Accor & Marriott Pt; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 17,833
Thank you starpoint_galaxy. I'll be staying there in October so was very happy to see your report and positive review.
Did you use St. Regis' recommended travel agent for the permit and guide or did you use another travel service? Also, it sounds like you stayed in the hotel most days so did you have to get the required guide on those days? Also, I've read not to tip in Tibet, but I'm curious if you tipped the butler or any other staff members at the St. Regis.
Did you use the hotel spa?
I'm also disappointed to hear there's no gym. I'm glad to hear you had no issues with the altitude. I'm hoping I don't either given the way I train and not having experienced it before at high altitudes.
If you happen to have any tips for places you went and loved, places you ate off property or anything else, I would love your suggestions.
Thanks!
Did you use St. Regis' recommended travel agent for the permit and guide or did you use another travel service? Also, it sounds like you stayed in the hotel most days so did you have to get the required guide on those days? Also, I've read not to tip in Tibet, but I'm curious if you tipped the butler or any other staff members at the St. Regis.
Did you use the hotel spa?
I'm also disappointed to hear there's no gym. I'm glad to hear you had no issues with the altitude. I'm hoping I don't either given the way I train and not having experienced it before at high altitudes.
If you happen to have any tips for places you went and loved, places you ate off property or anything else, I would love your suggestions.
Thanks!
Last edited by l etoile; Aug 15, 2011 at 1:42 pm