wizzy

My wife and I just returned from our third stay at the St Regis Punta Mita. We love the place, but got to wondering if there were other comparable properties? I've done scans of beach threads, but the legacy Marriott properties seem to be huge, or remote with questionable service. Looking for US/Mexico/Carribean so as to not make the travel too long from the Midwest.

Some of the things we like most about the St. Regis Punta Mita:
- Rarely feels crowded even when sold out
- Clear separation between adult spaces and family spaces
- Personable / attentive service; staff who (generally) seem to be happy doing what they're doing
- Good food options on-site; even better when there are good food options near-by
- Good platinum breakfast
- No need to get up early to save a chair at the pool
- Good room size

karenkay

EuropeanPete

I doubt it - the closest in the system in terms of quality and style is probably the St Regis Bali, but that's almost as far away from your preferred geographical area as possible. Within the US/ Caribbean, maybe the St Regis Bal Harbour? Very different, but at least at a reasonably high level.

Maybe the St Regis Bahia Beach?

Mr. Vker

Scrub Island or Ritz Aruba? (Some may not like the Ritz Aruba because Aruba itself can be very crowded, but the Ritz is the last hotel on the beach and has many of the things you list.)

hhoope01

I've never stated at the St. Regis Punta Mita, but we just finished a stay at the JW Cancun and thought it was a very nice beach resort. It didn't feel crowded (but I do know that at least on a couple of nights there were completely booked) and we didn't have any issues finding a chair with some shade. It has an adults only pool area where you can get away from the families if you want. There are about 7 different onsite restaurants (between it and the regular Marriott next door). The Teppanyaki steakhouse restaurant was my favorite. While you won't get access to the Club 91 lounge from your elite status, I do believe they offer breakfast for Plats and above in their main restaurant. Note that if you can upgrade to the Club 91 level, the lounge there is closer to an RC lounge than to a normal Marriott hotel lounge. The beach there is very nice with clear water.

VCURamFan

Just finished a stay at Solaz. It may be my favorite resort in Bonvoy (sigh) collection. Incredibly lanscaped, great service at all times without being pushy/stuffy, three massive infinity pools (with two swim-up bars), a great hotel gym, awesome platinum breakfast. The beach is just ok, but everything else about this resort was spectacular. I need some time to decide whether this beats StR Bal Harbour and Maldives for me, but first impression is that this is my new #1 .

Dsm1012

wizzy

Thanks for reminding me about this place; I'd seen it at some point while poking around but had forgotten about it. With the service, did you typically work through a concierge / "service express" for requests, or did they have the butler concept? One of our favorite parts about the StR is the ability to text our butler with pretty much any request and have them deal with it; that single point of contact removes much of the frustration I experience at other properties.

CLEguy

Solaz is outstanding. I can't compare it to StR Bahia, but I am on record saying it's better than StR Bal Harbour. It's worth the trip.

CLEguy

It's not a butler service so much, but their term is "artisan", which is essentially a mesh of the concierge and bell staff. We had a single point of contact throughout our trip. In fact, the day before we left our contact found us at the pool specifically to ensure we were taken care of for all our departure details (flight time, ensuring we had transport and when it was arriving, etc.)

doggiefizzle

karenkay

this is what we've come up with as well, and curtain bluff sounds lovely--thanks for the tip!
(will check out solaz also, thanks VCURamFan)
the trick, of course. is that if one stays in the ::cough:: bonvoy universe, one can benefit from status upgrades and 'pay four get five nights' perks...it's all that luxury at a discount, which appeals.