banzani

@alanslegal: this deal is hard to beat. The LM is in a lower league for sure, but if you just want to hang out it's still in a nice spot (decent beach) and good overall location on the island. If it's a special occasion and one-in-a-lifetime visit then I'd say go for StR or at least Westin. If it's just a quick/easy getaway then I'd leave as is. Of course this is just my view.

fdem

I would avoid Le Meridien as it is full of big package tours and needs a good refurb. My favourite is the Westin which I preferred to St Regis and spy recognition at Westin is great - don't know how points payment compares but cash is very reasonable.

supatight80

Was able to brg a Jr. Suite Ocean View at this property for 222 euros (tax included) with breakfast for 2 pax. For a 5 nights stay.

Hope this is a good deal. Can't wait for some horseback riding on the beach :-)

Since I'm booked at a Jr. Suite. What are the chances of getting a real 1 bedroom suite at check-in? Thanks!

fred8ab

If you don't let us know your arrival date, it's hard to find out if it's a good deal or not.
If its for 2 p and in feb/march it's looks like a good deal.

supatight80

Middle of May for 5 nights. Jr Suite Ocean view, breakfast for 2 @ 222 euros/night, tax included.

Also tried to brg the property for half board 228/night for 2. Unfortunately, brg desk couldn't find the rate

fred8ab

Something to share with you guys. We arrived now at this place and the beach is fantastic. The food is fine and we had a good dinner last night.

When we arrived, with our rental car the laguage was taken from the car and I was asked to park my car "overthere" at the parking spots. Well, ok why not. At the Westin this was done by the boys.

We gave our passports and and reservation number and it took some time while we were seated. A welcome drink, very tasty, arrived and we were waiting. Them dunno 15 min later we were told check in could be done in our room. Well ok.

We were seated in the golf card and asked for our room number! Well we even did not checked in so how can we know it. Some confusion in the round and we made our way.
We arrived in our room which was on the groundfloor. (In my SPG staypreference is cleary stated, higher level. - I know nothing is guaranteed but if a booking has been done month before this could have been taken into account)

So we asked for a room on a higher the first floor which is the higest level. The buttlers first question, if we agree to a supplementary! FYI we received exactly the room we booked, Junior Suite Ozean view. No further upgrade.

Minutes later a room was found and we have to wait in our Interim room. After over an hour we called the buttler, time is running for dinner... we were asked using this room for showering and we went to dinner.

Late at night we changed the room and buttler asked for CC, which did not work with the machine used in room. "You have to come tomorrow to the rezeption..."

Now it's 5 pm and our room has not been cleanded. Reception said, after we called them, we've used the privacy sign! How would she know without asking stuff. And this is for sure not true.

The funny thing is, that even the request in SPG profile looked into, nor the E-Mail exchange of the buttler service some weeks before has been taken into account. Forget all information you give to them upfront (late check out request, my 24, Kite Surfing Course, ...) Its useless it will not taken into account by the buttler who picking you up.

It depents on the stuff like everywhere and we had some very nice stuff at the restaurant. But the checking in failed. (to be continued, room service arrived now.)

fred8ab

Quick update,

dinner last night was again very good. If you have starter & main, yesterday at Flooting Market it was really enough in terms of quantity. The meal itself was great. Quality really good.

Also the breakfast has everything I'm looking for. But the Champagne mentioned in the beginning of this threat I could not find. I believe this has been removed or maybe on order for $?

Today I met someone else from the buttler team and he greated me by name. Very nice indeed. I had a brief discussion with him and he explained usually we should have received a weekly plan of activities (includes the pre-dinner activities and the opening of restaurants) but it was not given to us.

Now we got it for the next week with some really interesting information.

Do they have welcom letters?

fred8ab

Sorry, this will now be a long and detailed review and the negative points are in mojority but only due to the fact that expectaion is high.

First of all the my expectation at the St. Regis is not only high it’’s higher. That’s why I apologize for not having more positive feedback. But having a clean beach or pool should be nothing to mention as other things as well.

The hotel has a new French General manager since app. 3 months and a brand-new Food&beverage manager.

We booked eleven paid nights in an ocean view junior suite with half board. Original price over SPG €930 per night (best rate €362/night)

Occupancy Feb/March about 35-50%, people mainly stay for 2-5 nights (our estimation)

Positive

+ butler Jaysen and Ritish were very friendly and helpful - made our stay very pleasant and took care of everything
+ SPA very positive feedback from my wive, even though on a high price level, fine if the quality is equal level
+ Quiet property if you want to
++ Location, location, location!
++ very friendly and considerate stuff at the morning buffet ( mainly female chefs preparing eggs)
++ very friendly stuff at the beach bar and very quick
++ excellent food (esp. Simply India and Le Manoir); Executive Sous Chef at Le Manoir (Ravi Aukhaj) prepared meal not on the menu without supplement, cause we had most of the menue already

Negative:

-- poor welcome at the hotel
-- were asked to park the car by ourselves
-- no welcome letter neither in the room nor given by the butler
- preference was a room upstairs but we have been given a room on the ground floor. when we asked to switch rooms the first question from our "butler" was "what about a supplement?" (for information: SPG platinum, got room as booked, no upgrade and did not ask for) Highly professional!!! Anyway, she got a room upstairs but it would take some time to get the room ready which was absolutely fine with us. our butler advised us not to touch our luggage or to leave the originally given room. after being there left for one and a half hour without any update we dialed the butler service and asked about the status and whether it might be possible to shower somewhere. they told us to use the room and after dinner the room upstairs would be ready which was the case.
-- no information about activities or restaurants upon arrival (only given after requested days later) or any other useful information
-- butler showed up 3 days after arrival only, was there for 4 days another 2 without buttler and a 3rd one on Monday, also done a good job. But 5 of 11 nights no buttler.
-- several issues with the TV e.g. remote did not work properly, frozen screen,
-- even after waiting for more than 20 minutes at the main bar we could not order drinks though waiters were cleaning tables next to us.
-- after booking St. Regis hotels an email is being sent out by the butler service with general information and personal preferences. Amongst others, there has been some communcation about sports activities and check-in resp. check-out times. However, not only were those preferences not being taken into account we even have been asked the same questions again when we arrived. We have been asking for a possible earlier check-in and late check-out. This has been denied immediately referring to the standard check-in and check-out times. After asking for platinum benefit we have been granted a tasting menu at the Atsuko (as a long stay bonus). All information given in these mails have not been communicated or were not known by the butler.
- on the plus side, we want to specifically mention that our butler took care - after showing him the mail - that the menu could take place. The butler arranged for a late check-out as well. So thanks a lot.
--Not one morning at breakfast we have been automaticly asked for a 2nd cup of coffee. We always have to start the activity and look for someone.
- used napkin was not removed by room service for 3 days; same happened resp. not happened to the empty laundry basket after cleaned clothes had been returned
-- no communication about activities not happening (bonfire)
--check-out process at main reception: 1st person had no password and was looking for another one. 2nd person started check-out process but picked up the phone and started talking with someone on the phone, the first person was still there but ignoring us.. In the meantime a 3rd person arrived and showed us the invoice. No questions were asked (e.g. about the stay). Very unprofessional
- looks like no standard procedures are known to the stuff
- check-out reflects check-in and does not meet reputation of a 5star hotel
- had to wait 20 minutes for luggage on parking ground
--neither the correct amount of points (only food and beverage) nor the nights or stay have been credited to my account. Of course, the 500welcome points have not been credited either. (was not a prepaid stay and 2 weeks are now over)

- management seemed to be invisible, probably saw the GM several times he did not speak to us. By coincidence, we met a Manager on duty the last evening and gave her all the above information but not sure as to whether this was welcome or not.

My conclusion:
If not for the great location and Jaysen showing up after 3 days we would have cancelled our stay and gone back to the Westin where they have provided us with a warm and comfy stay. They even gave us a nice little room-upgrade.

Price vs. service does not meet my expectation. Once again the food was on a high level.

This was no positive signboard for St. Regis and I will for sure not return on this price level.

I highly recommend to the management to have once a week a meet & greet with Platinum and revenue customers (like Interconti Resorts) and ask for their thoughts and not only to run behind travel agency groups selling the property in future.

supatight80

I'm really quite surprised with some of the negative reviews here as I have experienced quite the opposite.

First off, was pre-allocated to a 1500+ square feet Manor Suite on level 1 over a week prior to my arrival without using any SNAs and on a BRG rate of 225 euros with breakfast.

When I arrived at 9 AM, immediately assisted by someone and they were so apologetic that my room wasn't wouldn't be ready until 1 hour later. While I waited in the bar area, Frederic Chretien the new GM personally welcomed me and came to me 3X to see if everything was fine while I waited for my room. I ordered 2 Mojitos while waiting and the bar person said don't worry about it, it's free.

Then 2 butlers came (one of them was vaneshree) assisted me with the formalities and assisted me to my room. The suite bathroom is very big. There are 2 massage tables in the bathroom, a very large shower area, and three sinks. As for the room, the Manor Suite has 2 tvs, a living area, bed area, and quite large veranda with a several chairs and sofa and a king.size lounge bed. All in all the suite is over 1500 square feet.

On the table was 3 hand written welcome letters from different departments and GM welcoming me at the SR Mauritius and they even provided free 1on1 cooking lessons with the chef because I wanted to try cooking lessons since it's so hot outside. Butler also mentioned about the wake up hot beverages such as tea, etc., two free pressing per day, etc. etc.

Ordered room and laundry service, ice bucket and they were pretty fast with all my requests. Every time I pass by a staff, they always ask me if I needed anything or is everything is fine. So so far, everything has been exceptional.

As for the menu prices, I ordered Chicken Curry with some soup and it cost me 35 euros for both. So prices are standard I guess as to my other stays in Europe. But they are in smaller servings I have to admit.

The only negative I have to say, which I'd be mentioning to the GM, is that they should put a note in each suite at the Main house that guests should not bang the door entering/leaving the room. It is very loud and very inconsiderate. It's loud enough to wake me up from my nap

supatight80

Bathroom in the Manor Suite

fred8ab

@supatight80

but it looks liek your ambassador did the work and not the Hotel. The first welcome letter is even signed by The Ambassador Service.

I'm quite sure they would have ignored you as well like they did with us if not the Ambassador would have kocked a the door.

It would have been not so bad at the end if the management would have reacted and have given us a warm "saying goodbye" but nobody showed up. Even worse anotehr waiting fro lagguage.

Ahhh I could even not think about it. Waste of money!

SEA-Flyer

In the middle of a stay here right now - will do a bigger write up later, but SPG recognition has been excellent (also did a stay at the Westin, which was also quite nice).. I'm a Gold, staying on points via a 5 nights award. Was upgraded at check in to a St Regis Grand Suite - 1700+ square feet.

I think both the Westin and St Regis have a lot of package tours this time of year, and not many SPG members - they both seem to have gone out of there way on recognition for me as a SPG gold.

thebluejean

Just did a quick 2 nights stay on each property this past September and this is a mini trip report for Shanti Maurice and a comparison with St Regis Mauritius. Shanti Maurice is a Design Hotel which can now be booked through SPG.

Room: Shanti Maurice won

Shanti Maurice

Junior Suite is the base room. Each building has four units with two on the upper floor and two on the ground. The upper floor unit is cheaper but may have a better view. The ground floor has an outdoor shower with direct beach access. Our first night was booked to the upper floor room but got upgraded to the ground floor room due to low occupancy. The room is decent size with a huge bathroom. I can see the direct beach access appealing but personally we didn’t like this room due to there was a security guard always standing outside of our room. The whole time we were there we felt we were being watched even the security guard is pretty far away. The outdoor shower is small but nice.

Junior Suite


The second night we moved to the Luxury Suite Villa since I was able to secure a good rate that included half board. The villa is huge and comes with a swimmable private pool. When entering the villa, there is a small entry way that leads to building. The living room is a decent size with a round table dinning table on the right. There is a walk-in closet inside the bathroom. The outdoor shower is much bigger than the Junior Suite and we did enjoy showering outside.

Luxury Suite Villa


The highlight is the pool with a fountain water feature. There is a stone curved bed in the pool and a “pavilion” next to the pool. There are some vegetations blocking the view but you can still see the ocean and it’s pretty private since no one walks to this part of the beach with just a handful of villas. The private pool is biggest we have seen among the hotels/private guest house we have stayed in last few years. The down side was the pool was not heated and it was light drizzle on/off so the water is a bit on the chill side. One service mishap was the ground keeper was doing bug spray while we were outside swimming.

Pool


Property


St Regis Mauritius

We were booked to the Junior Ocean Front Suite with half board (BRG rate) and applied SNA. I got notified we got upgraded to St Regis Suite three days prior our arrival and got further upgraded to the St Regis Grand Suite. The property seems to have two types of Grand Suite. We got the one with a small patio while some have a much bigger patio with a day bed. We asked for the upper floor but they were sold out and only the ground floor was available. The suite is located toward the far end of the resort and it’s pretty close to the ocean. When walking into the suite, there is a half bath on the left side and there is a dinning table that’s big enough to sit 6 people. The bath room is huge as we are expected with a large stone carved tub. However there was no hot water coming out on the first night but the engineer was able to fix it pretty quickly but the water temperature was still lukewarm at best.

Overall the room at St Regis is newer but also a lot busier since it was sold out during our stay. There were a lot of people walking in front of our room that we didn’t feel too private. Shanti Maurice has better rooms if you are willing to splurge to get the suite pool villa (not pool villa) for the larger private pool and privacy.

Grand Suite



F&B: Shanti Maurice won

Shanti Maurice

Each night the dinner could be served at different part of the resort. First night we had a wonder buffet near the garden called “la Kaze Mama”. There were local moms who were there to make fresh dholl pori (like Indian flatbread/naan) with all different kind of curries. It was easy one of our best meals during the whole trip.



Since we were booked on the full board, all our meals are covered. The breakfast and lunch were served at the main restaurant. Guests can choose from two cook items from the breakfast menu with free flow free juices (no buffet) and we were asked to choose either one appetizer and a main or one main and a dessert for lunch. You can upgrade from half board to full board for EU50 per person or breakfast to half board for EU40 per person. I would recommend the upgrade at least to half board since the hotel restaurant was quite expensive like EU 40 for an entree.

St Regis Mauritius

Once again we were booked on the half-board when we stayed at St Regis. There are several restaurants on the property (I believe 6 or 7?) but all these restaurants require a reservation. You can’t just show up. Since it was sold out, our desired time were all booked up that one night we had a dinner at 6 pm and second night at 8:30 pm. But we still went the time we felt like eating (7:30 pm) and were still seated right away. Like Santi Mauritius, we were advised to choose two courses (appetizer/main or main/dessert) so we usually had one person ordered the appetizer and another person ordered the dessert. The first night was at an Asian restaurant and food tasted just okay and the portion was tiny. The whole restaurant was pretty empty and I didn’t know why we can’t dine at a much later time.

The second night we dined at the Indian restaurant and it was much better. However some nights the restaurants are 18 and over only so you may want to check with the concierge when making the reservation.

The breakfast was a let down. The selection was pretty mediocre and super busy. Everything seemed to be picked over. The only good redeeming part was the juicer. There was a server that can hand made fresh juice using the juicer.

Location/Activities: St Regis Mauritius won

Shanti Maurice is closer to the airport (40 min drive) and locates near the south part of the island. St Regis is further away (80 to 90 min drive) and is on a busier area with multiple hotels nearby. But both hotels are pretty isolated in term of finding restaurants nearby. We ate all our meals at Shanti Maurice which was first for us since we loved to try local cuisine. Both locations require a car to get around the island. Renting a car is a better option if you don’t want to be trapped at the property. However during our stay, the tide was unusual low that any swimming or sea activities were impossible at Santi Maurice. We did try the spa treatment and got an additional free 30 min since the message was before 1 pm. St Regis has a lot more activities to offer such as complimentary boat ride (10 min) to a snorkeling site. You do want to get on the boat ride list as soon as you are on the property since the space is very limited. I also saw people horseback ridding on the beach. Windsurfing seems very popular at the beach next to St Regis.

Price/value proposition: St Regis Mauritius won

(all prices are included tax and per night) I used the BRG rate on both hotels and had to change multiple times. It’s definitly a learning curve to BRG a Design Hotel since you have to book the absolute lowest rate which can be prepaid and for 1 person. Shanti Maurice SPG rate was EU 395 for 1 person but I was able to BRGed it down to EU 231 and emailed the hotel to add a second person without issue even the rate was a bit higher for 2 people. I later changed the reservation and added a second night because I found a great price for the Luxury Pool Suite Villa (there are two different type of pool suite villas and luxury pool suite has a much bigger pool) with half board for EU 494. Sadly I can’t BRG this room type to bring down the price.

St Regis Mauritius has an interesting price point. There are C&P rate ($180 + 10K pt) and paid rate at EU 385 so basically both rates are the same. First I was able to BRG it down to EU 266 for the garden view room and applied the SNA. The SNA pool includes either an ocean front junior suite or St Regis suite. Later I found a much better rate on the Junior Ocean Front Suite with half board so my rate dropped to EU 289 and applied SNA. I was glad I booked the junior suite since the hotel did sell out on the first night of our stay. We ended up in the Grand Suite which was asking EU 1400 per night!

Thunderroad

the bluejean, just saw your very useful reviews and comparison with Shanti Maurice, which I hadn't even realized was SPG until your post. Thanks for all of the great info.

worldtraveller73

In April 2016, I stayed at the property for a second time.

The details of our stay are in our trip report on Flyertalk here for those wanting additional information.

Overall, it was a bit of a disappointing stay as a result of high expectations with the St Regis brand and comparable stays we've had at like resort properties with Fairmont and Park Hyatt properties. Based on our experiences here, there are opportunities for improvement to be had. More details can be found in the trip report link.