TBRIC

Have a six night points redemption stay booked in early January. Just received an email asking for confirmation. It says if reservation is canceled after two weeks prior to check-in date a penalty of 99% of the standard room rate for the entire stay will be charged to my credit card. In my case this is over $5,100 USD. Can this be possible on a points reservation? Anyone ever seen this before? Yikes!

longtimereader firstimeposter

look at the W South Beach thread or similar at the StR aspen (maybe deer valley?) a couple of years ago.

TBRIC

Yes, I see a recent post regarding the W South Beach referring to a similar situation. You would think that properties would be doing everything they can to encourage travelers willing to brave the current conditions, not throw roadblocks. There are too many things out of one’s control these days to enforce such a punitive cancellation policy. Amazing.

Jon Maiman

Do a dummy second reservation to see if there is still availability (at the same or better point level). Assuming there is, best bet is to cancel your current reservation unless you really like to gamble. Even if there isn't availability, keeping your current reservation would be very risky. Regardless of if you think leisure travel is okay now, United States, your local state, and/or Mexico regulations may prevent you from taking the trip at the last minute. Good luck....

--Jon

Kacee

The StR Aspen situation was just last year. They were unbelievably aggressive in enforcing the policy. Outrageous No-Show Fee Incurred At St. Regis Aspen

I'd probably bail on any property that asserted this policy, especially somewhere like Cancun where there are many other strong options that are imposing only the more traditional one night's penalty for a no show.

If I did keep it, I'd look at purchasing travel insurance. It won't cover governmental orders or fear of COVID, but most other risks are now covered, including if you cancel due to contracting COVID.

TBRIC

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Maiman

Do a dummy second reservation to see if there is still availability (at the same or better point level). Assuming there is, best bet is to cancel your current reservation unless you really like to gamble. Even if there isn't availability, keeping your current reservation would be very risky. Regardless of if you think leisure travel is okay now, United States, your local state, and/or Mexico regulations may prevent you from taking the trip at the last minute. Good luck....

The StR Aspen situation was just last year. They were unbelievably aggressive in enforcing the policy. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...gis-aspen.html

I'd probably bail on any property that asserted this policy, especially somewhere like Cancun where there are many other strong options that are imposing only the more traditional one night's penalty for a no show.

If I did keep it, I'd look at purchasing travel insurance. It won't cover governmental orders or fear of COVID, but most other risks are now covered, including if you cancel due to contracting COVID.

--Jon

Agree on all counts. Have looked into "Cancel for any reason" policies. They are not cheap, about 10% of trip cost, but offer a good deal of piece of mind, plus cover COVID cancellations, medivac, etc.

Kacee

I used travelinsurance.com and there were a bunch of options at around 5% of trip cost. Not true "cancel for any reason" but covers the situations I'm worried about.

I think you mixed your post quotes

TBRIC

Yes, I did unintentionally mix the quotes. The other thing about the "cancel for any reason" policies is that on top of being pricey, if you cancel for other than the standard reasons, the reimbursement is only 75%. Still undecided about what to do, but I have another week to cancel.

hhoope01

Finishing up a 5 night stay here tomorrow. I booked an Oceanfront Suite back in January. They had a $175/night rate showing for these rooms. This may have been a mistake fare as it was gone within 15 minutes. I had checked with the family to see if we wanted a longer stay and by the time I got the "yes", the rate was gone. I was disappointed that they still have the $45/night resort fee (which the website says is for the Tennis courts and "other" things. But the Tennis courts are being repaired right now and are not usable. As a Titanium elite, at check-in I was given a voucher for 2 free drinks at any of their bars, but that was about it for elite recognition.

During check-in I was given a choice of a few different rooms (maybe this was due to my Titanium status, but they didn't mention that while showing us our room options). I chose suite 2021 as it has a larger, single ocean-front balcony with some overhead shading. There was one option with a larger balcony (4033 I do believe) that has a very large wrap-around balcony. But since it didn't have the overhead covering, we didn't choose it. This room is directly above what I think they call their Cobalt suite. Turns out that this suite (2021) is larger than the normal ocean-front suites. It has a large conference room addition (if you look at the pictures of the Cobalt suite on the website, it looks like the Cobalt suite also has this same conference room/dining room addition as well.). It did rain on us a couple of times. So having that cover over the main balcony was very nice and helpful. Also, this suite wasn't available when we checked-in, so we were given a "temp" room to relax in while we waited until our suite was cleaned.


Conference Room
Entryway just past the Conference Room

Living Room

Bedroom

Main Balcony

There is a lot of construction/repair work going on at the hotel right now. Only the main (larger) pool is open right now. The other pool closed for repairs. They are also rebuilding their Cabanas and doing a lot of landscaping work. The staff though is very attentive especially at the pool areas. We reserved a Cabana for one of the days. It was $230 (plus tip) for the day and included some chips and guacamole, some sliced fruits and waters for everyone. You can order food if you want. They do have chairs on the beach to use for no charge and if you ask, they will put a full sized umbrella up for your use as well.

Overall, the service is good and we had no issues there. We ordered a hot pot of water each morning (along with some cups and cream) for tea (which we brought our own). It was promptly sent up every morning. All the ice machines have been turned off. So we had to call and have ice delivered when we needed it. I'm not sure "dated" is the right word for the decor as I suspect it is a specific RC style. But they could use some modern additions like USB plug-ins in the room. They have dim lighting throughout the rooms. We were lucky in that the extra "conference room" had its own big lamp. We moved it to the suite's living room area to give some extra evening lighting. The phone in the bedroom didn't work, but the ones in the living and conference rooms did.

As for Covid/Pandemic, I don't think I saw any employee at any time during this stay without their mask fully on (whether they were inside or outside.) Most everyone staying at the hotel, had on their masks while inside and a majority had them on when moving around even outside. This was definitely different than our first 3 nights where we stayed at the Hyatt Ziva in an Oceanfront Corner suite. There the workers had on their masks, but most people staying there didn't (whether inside or outside.) For those who have stayed at both resorts, I'd say the RC's Oceanfront suite, especially the balcony and views are much better. The service and food options are also better at the RC, but with the Ziva, there isn't the constant nickel and diming (and of course it is all-inclusive - for the most part ).

[Update] Upon check-out I again asked about the resort fee. This time they gave me a $100 room credit for the Tennis courts not being open. That covered 2 of the 5 nights of resort fees. While not great, it was better than nothing.

nevansm

A short report. I stayed 3 nights between Christmas and New Years, and was pretty unimpressed. I booked 2 nights on a virtuoso rate of $300 with a $100 F&B credit and breakfast which I thought was pretty good given I booked a week out. I also used a free night cert for the third night.

When I checked in, later in the day, I was given a room on the entry floor that while had a view of the ocean, was small, and had pillars outside, and was right above the kids club (room 2011). I was told they were sold out, and that literally no other rooms were available (asked 3 different people). The room inside itself is ok, though just felt like an upscale Marriott. There was no power next to the bed, and little natural light.

I had intended my 3 days there to be pure relaxation and didn't leave the property once on purpose. Breakfast was ok, but a small, American style buffet, with a few Mexican items, but nothing astounding I couldn't get in Des Moines. Pool food was ok as well. I didn't eat at either of the full service restaurants for dinner as they were fully booked both nights. I did have a burger one night in the lobby lounge which was fine, the service in all areas was very good. I ordered room service one night which was excellent and had some local-ish Mexican flavors that were good. In addition, cocktails were made well, and the wine list is extensive.

By the pool, I was generally able to find a spot (don't forget about the small pool to the south side), and drink/food service there was good. However, the pool area itself is in need of renovation, and many flaws of the building itself could be seen while at the pool including bad stucco areas, mismatches in paint, rusting of metal throughout, not very RC feeling.

I had been checking the app for a better room each day, and finally the morning of my last night, a better room type was available. I visited with the front desk and was assured I'd be given a better room. Indeed I was given an ocean front suite, which was very nice, pictures in previous reviews from others. Still on the 2nd floor, but it was much more roomy.

Overall, I don't feel the value of this property is what they charge. There's better properties for less cost, and you'll get about the same experience.

TheTravelPlaybook

To add to the above, I wrapped up a one night stay yesterday, and shot some video of the property while I was there. I'm Platinum (now Titanium after my new year's stay posted), and didn't really receive anything beyond 1,000 points at check in. We booked a great deal for the one-night at 35,000 points + $100 for a club level upgrade. Given our previous Ritz stays, we figured $100 for two people for drinks and food over one night should more than cover the cost. The food in the lounge was delicious, if small portioned. Service was great in the lounge. Drinks are from 12-8PM and is full bar.

We ordered a quesadilla on the beach and loved it, as well as the best piña colada of our lives at the pool. I thought service was great throughout, though I think the resort's style is decidedly out of date. That being said, everything was in great shape. The $50 resort fee was rough to swallow, too.

TBRIC

Just finished a 6 night stay. Previous three reviews are spot on, so I’ll only elaborate a bit:

• Booked an ocean view room for 6 nights on points. Worked out to 26K/night. A bargain. My experience with many RC stays is that elites will be upgraded one room type if available. Meaning, probably would have been upgraded to ocean front room. Wanted an ocean front suite, so emailed the hotel early on requesting a paid upgrade. They came back with a very reasonable surcharge that I accepted.
• Suite was not ready until after 5PM. Check in is 3PM. My pet peeve. Front desk manager generously offered to pay for lunch while we waited. Politely declined as we had already eaten.
• As others have said, the staff here is outstanding. No issues at all during our stay. Friendly and professional.
• As far as the condition of the resort, the construction mentioned seems to be over with. Both pools were open. The hotel was renovated 5-6 years ago and is starting to wear, especially upholstered furniture and carpeting. Not terribly, but still noticeable. Not a lot of usb plugs. Bring chargers.
• The food pricing I found to be extremely reasonable for an RC resort. Quality was very good. Fantino was outstanding. Drink pricing and wine by the glass is fair. Bottled wine, however, has some of the most aggressive markups I have ever seen anywhere. Be forewarned.
• Covid precautions were very well handled with all employees, even outside, in masks. Guests generally in masks inside, and on the way to beach/pool.
• overall, an excellent vacation, especially considering the reasonable room rates.
  
  

njvandy

I'm at this property right now, happy to answer any questions. Last poster pretty much hit the nail on the head with everything.

beachfan

How's the beach? Much Seaweed? Swimmable ?

Thanks!

njvandy

Yes, there is quite a bit of sargassum along the water line. They do a pretty decent job keeping the sand clean but there's no way to avoid it if you're going in the water.