silverferrari

Amy613

Artemio

WhereAreWe

Currently here as well in OWV on the north side (what I was hoping for, some waves, but a lot of privacy and still great sunset views), amazing butler, she is so nice and attentive to details, really makes the whole experience that much more enjoyable. All the staff is really nice and works very hard to make it a memorable stay for the guests. Coral is not what I remember it from >20 years ago (bleaching), but just from snorkeling around the villa you can see a good selection of colorful fishes. Can’t recommend enough.

chongl

I'm here for another day and a half....will be at the cocktail hour/manager's reception tonight

A few pictures while I'm still editing for my trip report in the TR forum

WhereAreWe

chongl

Sure thing...I'll upload them and send you a link. Focus was slightly off on the astro shot; looks like my peaking wasn't as sharp as I thought

spgplat21

I wrapped up a stay last week, and can't say enough good things about the property. The hard product is among the best I've ever seen. I'll take the time to write up a more thorough review at some point, but overall our stay was wonderful and we would definitely return.

The service was overall very good, but I still don't understand the variance among the butlers (e.g., we weren't told anything about the ($250 for $300) F&B offer above, afternoon tea wasn't mentioned until half way through our stay, and no real treats beyond the initial champagne and fruit). Dinner reservations are also a little weird. I don't know why they just can't send you a list of every restaurant that's open each night of your stay and ask if you'd like to reserve anything in advance. There were some special buffets that we didn't know about in advance and then by the time we were told which night Decanter was open, it was full.

We also had some issues with upgrades, but were ultimately taken care of. I had booked an OWV with points (using an extra 40K points/night), but it seemed that everyone at the hotel thought we booked a garden villa on points and were already upgraded to an OWV. Even after trying to clarify that point, we still weren't upgraded until I pointed out that someone else next to us in the lounge was offered a choice of two different upgrades beyond the standard OWV so clearly there must have been some availability. We ultimately received a Sunset OWV and could not have been happier, but even on the drive to our villa the butler pointed out the garden villa and noted that we will really like our upgrade vs. the garden villa. A little frustrating to have to argue as an ambassador elite, but in the end, the hassle was well worth it. We went from one of the worst OWVs to one of the best Sunset OWVs. As others have mentioned the inward facing OWVs are fine, but privacy is not great. I would definitely choose the OWVs facing north above the inward facing villas, and I would also take a downgrade to a Sunset OWV over the one St. Regis Suite that looks back at the beach villas.

The only other issues we had were with the sea plane transfers. We waited almost 4 hours to depart on the way to the resort because of delays, and then on the way back we had to leave on a 2pm seaplane even though we had a midnight flight out of MLE. I'm not sure how the return flights work, but we were put on an earlier 2pm flight when at least two other couples were able to catch a later 4:30pm flight from the resort even though they both had flights out of MLE several hours earlier than us. So it must not be as simple as going in order from latest to earliest flights.

Obsidian

I keep seeing people post that they were able to upgrade their pre-devaluation 240k/5nts from GV to OWV. Were you able to upgrade using points after the initial booking? I think an extra 200k in points vs $1250 might be a good deal.

escape4

I am late to the party, but as discussed with @brosenberg0 in PM, I can provide another vote for 535. And it sounds like @spgplat21 likes the location of SOWVs around 535 so much that he would prefer a downgrade to 534 or 536 (for example) if given 519.

spgplat21

I'm not sure if you can do this after booking, but I wouldn't think so. I booked the OWV up front with points. This was pre-devaluation and the OWVs were available at 60k/night standard rate plus an additional 40K/night.

spgplat21

It would be a close call for me on 519, but I do think I would prefer the SOWVs from 530-538 to the St. Regis Suites at 508, 517 & 518. The water seemed quite a bit rougher over there, I didn't think the snorkeling was that great on that side, plus the rooms were easily visible (especially at night) from the beach restaurant, other OWVs on that side and the beach villas. Not the end of the world if the privacy piece doesn't bother you, but I would not have liked those rooms at night time with all the shades open.

lagunas2k

Hi all, planning a points stay for 5 nights. Pricing out at 340k points. What is confusing me are the additional taxes and fees. I'm getting $1650 for my 3 year old kid as an extra person. Is this correct, or just an error thinking my kid is an adult? Also I get $2085 in local fees. Is this the seaplane transfer being priced in? I can get to $2085 with $695x3, but that would be pricing my kid at the adult rate. I was told by Bonvoy line that there are 10% service charges etc on room night rate, but don't think that's right. He thought the local fees were simply taxes and not the seaplane ride. I have an email out to the resort, but anyone who has experience on this, your thoughts are much appreciated. Was just about to pull the trigger on this with flights etc, and this is a bit of a wrench.

CPH-Flyer

The local fee is indeed the seaplane transfer, and it does indeed seem that they have then charged your daughter as an adult. That will be fixed at the latest when you send the passenger details for the flight bookings to the hotel. As you will only be charged at check out for the seaplane, there si still tie to fix that.

lagunas2k

Thanks, that helps with some of the sudden heartburn. As I wasn't anticipating an extra $4k in just taxes. Any clue on the charge for a kid?