escape4

St.Regis hardware is better particularly the bathroom, which I would say is a lot better
Odds of suite upgrade better at StR; quite hard at SGS
Happy hour at SGS is one of the best anywhere if you care about drinks and less about food, StR one drink per person is stingy
Breakfast at SGS is significantly better than at StR which leaves to be desired for a hotel of this caliber
Service is good at both
The views are better from StR if you have a room with a view
Location is good for both

3rdworldresident

I’ve stayed at both.

personally, i found that st regis hard product is more luxurious than SGS, service at both are on par to me.

i thought that SGS treats elite better, with generous happy hour and breakfast policy. (St regis’s one drink/person/night is a real joke = skippable)

Overall, as a local, i prefer St. Regis over SGS.

Kacee

I agree with most all of the comments above. Hard product at StR is decidely more luxe, and the Sports Club views are really nice. The pool is also more to my liking, with lots of sun, a more open feel, and fewer children splashing around.

All that said, I return again and again to SGS for the breakfasts, the high quality room service, the Living Room, the location, and most importantly, the incredibly warm, personalized service.

The StR is certainly worth checking out for yourself though.

Dave510

Agree, although I have to say if you care about food at happy hour, StR is probably not the place to be either. Every single food item they've served along with the drink has ranged from pretty bad to not fit for consumption.

Kacee

It was suggested upthread they're recycling from the breakfast buffet

helvetic

I like the SGS better. The elite benefits are far better there, but the hard product is on the old side for sure.

Dave510

That explains a lot... I feel like not including the food item at all would make them look better. Less sometimes really is more.

escape4

I agree. I used the food qualifier in my comment about SGS having the best happy hour to mean that it's the best for drinks, not necessarily the best all around. If someone cares about food, then SGS does not have the best happy hour - you would have to look for a hotel with a lounge for that. Neither SGS or StR are not the place to be for happy hour food.

Kacee

Well at least not for free happy hour food.

I personally do not share the FT obsession with free lounge food. And I'm pretty confident the StR does not view its target guest as someone who chooses hotel based primarily on free appetizers.

Dr. HFH

It depends on what you're looking for, what you expect. I believe (but do not know) that SGS views what we call "Happy Hour" as a cocktail hour. (I've never been to a Happy Hour at StR.) Drinks and hors d'oeuvres (which some prefer to call canapés) are what is traditionally served at these. Surely most of us have been to cocktail hours/parties with drinks, and staff passing trays of little bites. That's what I'm talking about. It's not meant to be dinner. However, if you view Happy Hour food as a free dinner, then, yes, SGS will not measure up.

tomwhom

To me the room rates also plays a big role when choosing StR. vs SGS. I just spot checked April's weekend rate StR.'s almost doubles that of SGS 72xx vs 38xx, both corporate rates (standard rate 79xx vs 53xx) and StR's has stricter cancellation rule. Guess which hotel I would stay?

By the way, during my breakfast last stay also my very first stay, the lady loyalty manager asked my opinion regarding the Rossini breakfast, she told me that Platinum can have the prawn and crab omelette regardless of the menu shift since they do have cooking material and I did order it which got honored despite another menu the next morning . This alone can tell how they treat and value their elite members, a big thumb up indeed!

I like StR. too and my strategy is either using FHR to book one night stay with free set dinner for two or $100 food credit or using 120K points to book 5 nights off season which I have done for my coming July stay, a terrific value. I do enjoy their Italian dinner set especially the seafood pizza while only gripe is the dinner time is too late for my like, do they offer any late lunch until 3pm or later?

escape4

Well this would be the case for any comparison of hotels A vs B. In this particular case, StR is usually more expensive but 2x is not the normal premium. More often than not the difference is more modest, $50 USD or less.

SGS below 4k is quite rare and at that price it would beat most other options in the city, which is not a knock on StR.

m0hamed

Most properties won’t have loaded realistic dates for 2020 yet.

It tends to happen in Dec/Jan. Rather inconvenient because if you secure the room now with a view to change you’ll drive up the fare.

helvetic

Free lounge HH food is usually on the barely edible side of the quality spectrum. I'd rather have less abundance and something actually tasty.

EGW1

Maybe I’ve been lucky, but the StR small plates are not as bad as is being portrayed in my experience. On the occasions that I’ve had them, I’ve had satay sticks, spring rolls (actually very good and crispy rather than the usual soggy), mini sliders, a Thai dish of minced spicy chicken, bruschetta with Parmesan and Parma. There have also been a couple I haven’t liked - something mushrooms comes to mind. Also, I don’t have any issue handing over a voucher, and I’ve never had any experience of being looked down on or frowned on for using a voucher or two then leaving (and I’ve done so probably 20+ times this year).

All subjective of course because different people want different things - as it goes, I don’t mind having a decent quality drink and small snack in the St Regis bar area, especially in one of the comfy sofa seats with a good book!

As above, for a full lounge experience the St Regis is obviously not the place to be, and the SGS is a good half way between a drinks voucher and a full lounge experience.

I wouldn’t select any hotel based on free drink and nibbles, no matter how good they might be, and any lounge I’ve ever been in I’ve wished for better quality and less quantity.