Mr. Vker

Not that one-its run by Marriott. Its the page that replaced the Insiders forum.

JRG2025

After an e-mail to the GM, I heard back that their reservations would reach out to me by the end of the week. I am still waiting.

esc2476

We have a reservation beginning August 22nd. How concerned should I be?

JRG2025

I am sorry, but I don't have any information on the closure or renovation other than what I have read on Loyalty Lobby and FlyerTalk. The hotel is yet to reach out and formally advise me that they will not honor my reservation. The information I have read is that the closure is for June and July. I honestly don't understand. It is my understanding the that hotel was closed for some time during COVID. If they were planning renovations, why were they not completed then?

esc2476

Very true. My only guess is that they did not want to spend the money with an uncertain future.....

Enishi

I also have a reservation for mid-June and nobody reached out to me. I made another booking for May in case as a backup.

Side question: does anyone know if StR charges extra for a 3rd adult? I emailed RC and they replied back saying they charge 330USD + tax for the 3rd person even though their OW villas have max occupancy of 3. Is this normal?

westcoastscott

Yes there is a charge for a third adult. I don’t know exactly for each season but simply enter a booking with two then alter to three and you probably will see the difference.

noeatbutgo

Checked-in yesterday- gratefully assigned to a room amongst 2-bd SOWVs which I had requested for.

First impressions- very warm and flawless welcome from the airport to the resort, better-than-expected privacy in the room, luxurious furniture and interior, noisy A/C, don't understand why the resort/butler had pre-booked dinner for all nights without my permission, villa pool way too small (especially vs. the WA's)

More to follow, cheers!

Mr. Vker

Agreedl At a min, the seaplane transfer will be additional.

mb123

I wouldn’t consider it as binding Reservation, more like a suggestion. Many people in this thread complained about fully booked Restaurants. Especially during high season, they wanted to give you the chance to try each Restaurant, if you don’t like just say no thanks and let your Butler cancel.

friedablass

The pools at WA are probably the largest private villa pools you'll get, but the pools at the 2 bedroom villas at STR are even smaller than at their regular OWVs which are a decent size (although not as big as WA). The STR suites have the largest pools and I was very happy with it but I think WA was still a bit bigger.

joecool1885

I mean, yeah the restaurants are "fully booked"... because they automatically book everyone into them. Read a few reviews up above where people just showed up and there was hardly anyone there.

This is a terrible practice, IMO.
I dont want the impetus to be on me to have to say no to the plans. I'm on vacation, I should be making my own plans. If on arrival they want to suggest I make reservations ASAP, thats perfect (and what they did at W.A).

For me it caused a family strife, because my relatives arrived before me, saw the itinerary and thought I had made all the reservations for us and that they weren't being given a say in what we were doing. They were already upset before I had a chance to say I had nothing to do with it.

Dn10

Whale Bar dinners have like ~5 tables so those book up. Orientale can get close to full or full around peak season, but if you get in at the first dining window you should usually be fine even though they say it's booked. Alba never really fills up for dinner. Not sure about Cargo, but guessing space is limited there as well.

I just never understood how 7 days from now they'll try and say that a certain restaurant is fully booked. I don't think everyone is making reservations before they get there.

Jay66

Can you have dinner at Whale bar? I thought it was just for drinks and small bites.

Is there a preferred dinner time that books up first? Maybe right after sunset? (At Orientale or Cargo)

Dn10

Right after sunset is probably best for Whale Bar. Usually open a few times a week and quite good. Orientale is usually pretty empty right after sunset but fills up ~30-45 mins after. I think the first seating time is most popular, but people tend to run a few mins late.