KosherKimchee

The funny thing about the cats...asked one of the [sllightly rude] servers at Snorkel's what a cat's name was. She told me "Snorkel." Asked about different cats on subsequent days and also told their names were "Snorkel" Either all of the cats have an identity crisis, or methinks the servers have a canned response for the tourists.

Schutzee

I finally got around to calling SPG customer service. They were not able to assist me in removing the resort charge. I was told this is customary. I have never been charged a penny on previous award stays with Starwood, no on award stays with Hilton, Hyatt or Marriott.

Starwood should really disclose the resort fee on the reservation confirmation. They clearly spell out the cancellation fees, extra person fee, rollawy bed fee, etc. Not very consumer feiendly.

Starwood Lurker

Question...did you book this online or through the Customer Contact Center?

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Schutzee

For some reason, which I have forgotten in the intervening 11 months, I was unable to make the reservation online and called the 800#. I did save a copy of the confirmation.

Starwood Lurker

If you called the 800#, the associate was supposed to tell you verbally that there is a resort charge. If they didn't, you might want to call Corporate Customer Service at 800-328-6242 and file a formal complaint against the associate who made your reservation.

Note, that this doesn't mean the resort charge will be automatically refunded. It only means that Corporate Customer Service will look into the issue. Regardless, good luck.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Schutzee

William,

I'm lucky if I remember what I had for breakfast today no less a conversation from February 2008! I may well have received a verbal notice of the resort charge. All in all, I am very happy with Starwood & SPG and have always been impressed with the service when I need to call and am not willng to file a complaint against an associate.

tommy777

According to the website, the "resort fee" is now USD 40 pr. night .

Does anyone know what it includes and if Plats on award stays have to pay it?

We are going to the island on February 26th for 5 nights. Any experience in how it would be to get an upgrade and what to ask for?

Thank you!

tommy777

Just got off the phone with Plat Concierge. The 40 bucks include local calls, wireless internet, the golf cart service, tennis, health club and free valet parking.

If we take the ferry, it's pretty much wireless internet for 40 bucks a night...

I checked and Hertz wanted 170 USD for a Ford Escape for the 5 nights we are there. Since the car ferry is only 45 USD round trip + a couple of dollars harbor tax, maybe it's smart to skip the whole Westin heavenly rip off ferry and get a car for the entire stay for only 25 bucks extra? And since Valet parking is included in the lovely resort fee, why not have a car??

Westin Heavenly Rip Off Ferry: 200 USD for 2 persons
Hertz Car + Ferry: 225

What would you do?

gozetta

WHOA!!! Forty bucks??? That's insane. These resort fees are getting out of hand. Pretty soon the actual price for the room will be less than the local calling! Do we need congressional action to get these fees back in to the room rates so that not-so-knowledgeable, elderly, etc. people who book these rates in LARGE letters don't see the teeny tiny $40/day charge. I just pulled a rate there and it took me a bit to find it.

The other problem is that when you bid on one of the auction sites, you are bidding for the room price only, not the ACTUAL price to sleep there.

Not to mention that a free award stay is no longer. Even American Airlines has removed the "award fees" from their bookings.

I'm not too knowledgeable about non-SPG properties--are all the chains doing this crap?

gozetta

I would definitely do the car rental, just be sure you get there while they are still open. That rate sounds great. When I was there, I negotiated (I thought pretty well) and ended up paying 75/day for a car. If you're the hiking type, I recommend going to the end of the road (North to Annaberg), bringing snorkel equipment, parking, and hiking to Watermelon Cay. It's about a 30 min walk to and from the snorkel site, around Leinster Bay. Pretty nice and never crowded. Note that the regular Ferry's go into town, so it'll be $4-5 per person for the ride to the Westin after the regular Ferry drops you. Also, the queue for the regular Ferry back to STT can be long, especially during morning/evening commuter hours.

tommy777

Thanks for the advice! Booked the Hertz car and got the confirmation, but the confirmation had this message added to it: HERTZ VEHICLES CANNOT BE TAKEN TO ST. JOHN'S VIA FERRY.

owner1

after getting slammed by the outrageous Westin Ferry fee, I took it upon ourself to take a 2 dollar cab ride downtown and take the ferry to Redhook I believe and then take a $5 dollar cab ride to the airport from there.

The Ferry thing is just a blatant rip off, so is a $40 resort fee.

Cannot believe this property is 20k per night, and the whole island comes to use the pool for free..

We did enjoy ourselves when we stayed, but I just feel the fees are outrageous.

FV

gozetta

Ah...that explains why it was so cheap. I thought you meant you would rent in St. John. St. John rentals are about $75/day. Plus, you don't want to use the car ferry--it's $45 - $53 round trip depending on the carrier you choose.

tommy777

Avis actually don't have this restriction and I found a car there (compact) for 224 all in for a week.

gozetta

Cabs from Redhook to the Airport (quite far) would be about $20-40, not $5. Maybe that cheap from airport to the Charlotte Amalie Ferry dock, where you can also take the ferry to St. John. I recommend this. When arriving to STT, just take the short cab ride to the downtown ferry dock and take the 40 min ferry to St. John. Just a note, you will likely be packed into a van like sardines for this cab ride. That's just the way they work.