skyvanman

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actually it did, because as someone currently staying at this hotel, I find that to be a very apt comparison.
My list of service issues:
1) as a lowly gold was given a double and lied to being told that was only room available and what I had booked (I had booked a king, resolving this took nearly 7 hours, and they never followed up or helped us move rooms)

2) I was told my status doesn’t apply on points stays (my first night’) or non conference rates booked directly with the hotel (obviously not true)

3) I was served raw chicken at the banquet hall area

4) I requested a comb and was told they don’t stock them (isn’t this a 5 star property!!?!? Every 4 star hotel even stocks them)

5) getting anything like a toothbrush or slippers is difficult and requires multiple calls to butler service

6) getting your room serviced requires similar persistence

7) scoffed at for requesting water at the pool from the server (apparently I was supposed to go fetch it myself, fine, but scoffing wasn’t required, just simple directions to the water fountain)

I won’t even get in to the coldness of the hotel or the weirdness of the room.

I should note though that frontline employees seem to want to care (aside from the pool boy who scoffed at my water request) but it’s clear that there is a management vacuum at this hotel. The GM has never run a true luxury property before and his boss at the holdco has no hospitality experience and it shows!

I have never experienced a better example of a penny wise pound foolish business than this hotel and will be very surprised if it’s not deflagged before it’s fifth birthday. I’ve had better service and rooms at a Hyatt House.

beofotch

May I receive from those who know the area or have stayed at the property transportation advice? In August my family of four (kids are 7 and 5) are staying for 5 nights.

1. What are transportation options from the airport? Is uber available or only classic taxis? Can I pay with credit card or is cash a must? And is the public bus a viable way to get from the airport to the property?
2. Once on property are the public buses or ferries a reasonable way to get around and see some sights on the island?
3. What dining outlets are within walking distance from the property (even if a long walk say 30 minutes each way)

Thanks,

Beofotch

escape4

Since you find that it's a good comparison, did you stay in a 4* resort in Russia since the war started?

Not to excuse any of the service-related issues that you encountered which should not happen in any StR, but if I was stuck in a 4* resort in Russia I suspect these would not be my main concerns.

If you have never seen a penny wise pound foolish resort then you don't have to look any further than Fairmont Hamilton Princess only a few km away, treating repeat Accor Diamond guests far worse than you described and making up rules as they go including fighting tooth and nail for a few dollars, weeks after a stay with lengthy exchanges of e-mails. Whereas you are a first-time Marriott Gold at StR Bermuda so it's not even an equal comparison to what I witnessed at Fairmont Hamilton - I cannot imagine how Fairmont treats first time visitors.

So once again, I wish a StR brand hotel anywhere did not have these issues, travel surge or not, but even with local Bermuda standards (let alone Russia standards), this StR might not be as thoroughly uncompetitive as you paint it to be. Bermuda has never been a destination known for top notch service, but I would not compare with Hyatt House or Russia - it makes it easier to discredit your comments which would otherwise be legitimate issues.

And regarding deflagging I would gladly take the opposing side of that bet. Most of the issues you noted are easy to fix, labor market and travel surge shall improve in due course in the next few years which will give ample time for the hotel to improve its standards. A lot can happen in the next 2 years.

schriste

It was actually EuropeanPete that made the 4 star Russian comparison. I was just quoting it. Must admit I find the comparison rather amusing and did google a bunch of 4 star resorts on the Black Sea just to see what they look like.

I have not stayed at the SRB, so I can’t make any serious comments other than looking at the photos and agreeing that the resort has very little that oozes Bermuda.

I have however stayed at the Hamilton Princess a number of times pre Covid and preAccor and found it OK. If nothing else it feels Bermudian. Don’t seem to recall any serious issues or billing issues back then.

escape4

Fairmont is ok, but management is far more penny pinching than StR in my opinion. You might not have had billing issues if your rate type did not include a daily F&B credit and/or if you are not Accor Diamond therefore not entitled to free breakfast on weekends and exposed to how they are going to account for it. Since you stayed at Fairmont pre-Accor, it might even be before they had a dispute and tried to get out of their Fairmont branding contract - they simply don't like giving status perks very much there.

I agree Fairmont feels more Bermudian than St.Regis. That said, as top tier member of both loyalty programs, the upgrade I got last time at Fairmont was for a "view" room which was mostly pool not sea and no additional square footage relative to entry level room, let alone the fact that Fairmont has many unrenovated rooms. Compared to a suite about 4x the size at StR, better views, and of course much newer hardware.

Given that space comes at a premium in Bermuda, for me having decent odds of a huge suite upgrade at StR depending on time of year, makes me willing to overlook some other issues especially since Fairmont has issues of its own which leave a bad taste.

If looking for a hotel with local flavor and top notch luxury service then Bermuda is probably not the place to look. But if you have to go to Bermuda regardless and must choose one hotel among those available, then for me StR beats Fairmont easily except for location.

schriste

Just remembered that during one stay at the Hamilton Princess Gold floor at least 10 years ago (so admittedly not all that relevant today and probably before the current owners), I happened to casually mention to one of the lounge concierges it was my wife’s birthday. Much to my surprise they delivered a bottle of champagne (yes the real thing) and a birthday cake to our room. To this day it remains the nicest gift of that type I have ever received at hotel.

Topher22R4L

Wow - a lot of differing opinions on this resort! I have an oceanfront suite booked at the end of August - traveling with my wife and 18 month old daughter. We stayed at the St. Regis Bahia Beach a few months back and really enjoyed ourselves, but that property was definitely more mature - service, amenities, etc. were exceptional and everything you would expect from a St. Regis. This property being so new, it sounds like they're still trying to work a few things out. My plan is basically 2 pool days, a beach day, 1 day in town. I have a few questions and was hoping for some guidance/reactions from the community (specifically those who have stayed here before). I'm going to just shout them into the ether here and hope for the best

- No rental cars is a bummer considering my 1 year old needs a car seat. I'm hiring a car service for a day to drive us around the island (Hamilton, pink sand beach, etc.) - any suggestions on must see places (with a baby)
- Is the grocery store in St. George's robust? (thinking baby things - diapers, milk, etc.)
- Are there cabanas at the family pool (sounds like a fam pool and an adults only pool)?
- Is free breakfast offered to titanium members? I can't get a straight answer out of the property
- I'm renting a full size crib and other baby stuff from "Little Longtails" has anyone had experience with them? are the reliable?
- How was it getting through customs both ways given the testing requirement? How much time should I allot?
- Most importantly - would you recommend this resort with a 1 year old or is there another resort in Bermuda you would suggest?

We are taking a chance with the weather and hurricanes by going end of August, but figure we'll roll the dice! I appreciate everyone's responses!

beofotch

I am also curious on Topher22R4L's questions about.
Also has anyone stayed here as a family of 4? Most rooms and suites list maximum occupancy of 3 although it appears many of the rooms and suites could accommodate 4 (2 adults and 2 kids). For now we are in a St. Regis Suite Oceanfront and I am hoping with a rollaway bed the 4 of us could stay comfortable (2 adults in the King bed, 1 kid on rollaway 1 kid on the couch/sofa)

RNatlDLgal

I find it so frustrating and difficult to obtain an email address to set up reservations with many properties prior to arrival. I was able to obtain the Butler email for St. Regis Bermuda and thought I'd share here for others.

[email protected]

Also, for inquiring minds, we obtained an upgrade to the Caroline Astor Suite using Suite Night Awards. It cleared 5 days out from our stay. We booked with points for a partial ocean view room. I believe my husband is Platinum Elite, and we booked under his account for this trip.

RNatlDLgal

Well…in the time between me writing that post and earlier today, we have been downgraded from our CONFIRMED Caroline Astor Suite down to a Grand Luxe Oceanfront Room. I am so frustrated and do not understand. The SNA was used and an email was received that confirmed the room upgrade. It is unacceptable for them to then change the room type without even notifying you. And there will be no way for them to honor it as all suites are totally sold out now….what gives. Why be loyal to Marriott?


Update: Upon arrival, the hotel had us in the Caroline Astor Suite. I have no explanation for the room change we saw on the app, as well as the emails back and forth with the hotel telling us there was no suite availability once we inquired. The woman who assisted us checking in was very pleasant and enthusiastic. Her name was Zoe. Service has been very pleasant so far. Hopefully the rest of the stay continues that way.

Marriott Bonvoy Lurker II

Hi RNatlDLgal,

We would like to help look into this issue if you may ask your husband to contact us via the email below. Please provide information such as Marriott Bonvoy account number, registered email address and the reservation details in the email.

[email protected]

Best Regards,

Christina Z
Specialist, Social Media
Marriott International

RNatlDLgal

In room dining menu:
https://qrcgcustomers.s3-eu-west-1.a...51780396875138

Attached: St. Regis Bar Sushi Menu (they also have a small light bites menu in the cocktail/bar menu), Restaurants & Bar Hours, Culinary Experiences & more

Edit: Adding the Poolside Lunch & Beverage Menu

FlyingBear2021

Hi RNatlDLgal - Is your stay complete? If possible, can you provide your thoughts on the overall experience?

RNatlDLgal

Yes, my stay is complete.

Feel free to ask about specific areas, but here are my overall thoughts.

This was fine for a points stay and if you are going and intend to stay at the resort the entire time. You can easily walk to a nearby local beach (with a beach concession) called Tobacco Bay if you want to explore. Beyond that, the resort is at the very end of the island in a sleepy part of town. The nearest area to get dinner is St. George’s. You can rent the “Whip” scooters and ride those into town or walk if you feel adventurous. Otherwise, you’ll need to take a cab. This will run you about $15 each way every time you want to go to St. George’s. There are 3 restaurants there, 2 very similar (Wahoo’s & the Wharf). It can be difficult to get a cab at times because the drivers don’t really want to go all the way out to the St. Regis because they’re not much else nearby. We couldn’t get a cab at all one evening when it rained. We found the “remoteness” of the resort frustrating as we would have enjoyed exploring the island more. We spent $90 round trip twice on cabs to go to Hamilton (once for the block party and once for dinner at 1609 - best meal and service the entire trip.) If we could have had a rental car, we probably wouldn’t have been as frustrated. The electric cars you can rent from Current (Twizzy) are not worth it in our opinion. We wouldn’t have felt comfortable driving them at night anyway, as the locals drive a bit erratically. This would be fine in a normal car, but not in the dark in a tiny electric car with poor brakes.

But back to the resort…I would not have been pleased if I paid money (not points) to stay here. I would have been rather pissed actually. The breakfast buffet is atrocious. When you compare it with other 4/5 star resorts, this seems like a 2 star continental breakfast. The elite status free breakfast will only get you the buffet, regular coffee, and eggs to order. The buffet sits from the time they open in the morning until 11am. The breads dry out, there are flies constantly on the food, and they provide tiny portions of mixed diced fruit. I am used to big bowls of individual chunked fresh fruit. There are drips and spills left all over the buffet from oatmeal, milk, or other food dipped from the bowls. The honey and syrup containers are sticky all over. The waffles, pancakes, and French toast sit out after being cooked in batches. The “heat lamp” leaves them at room temperature. Overall, the selection is small, quality poor, and it is very unkept. You will then pay a mandatory $16.66 service fee for the breakfast each day. You cannot order off the menu for an item the price of the buffet or less. The wait staff is hit and miss. Some are great, others never filled our water cups once. It was total chaos when we arrived at 10:30 am one morning. The staff was removing the buffet already, no one attended to our table to ask about coffee or drinks. We literally walked back out to the lobby to pour ourselves coffee and went to the stations scattered about the restaurant and filled our own water cups up. We rushed to get a plate of breakfast before it was all removed for the day. I have no clue why we would be sat for breakfast when the food is being taken up within the next 30 minutes or less. If we paid full price for the buffet, I would have lost it. One trip up in a rush is no buffet experience.
We had dinner in the St. Regis bar one evening. There were two other couples in there, they were not busy at all. Our order of salad and two sushi rolls was not delivered until 1.5 hours of waiting. Our waiter apologized and said he had no clue what was taking so long. The drinks were slow to be replenished. This didn’t make sense when they were so slow anyway. There were 3 servers and a manager working.
The spa is a poor excuse for a spa. The locker room is tiny with no relaxing space to sit. There is a sauna and steam SHOWER each in the male and female locker rooms. The only shared space is a jacuzzi outside the staff must turn on behind a fence for you. It is romantically sitting in a small space with fences surrounding it and other guests sitting on their balconies staring down at you on the side of the hotel opposite the oceans. We listened to people have breakfast and conversations on their balconies while we spent about 2 minutes in the jacuzzi and gave up. They are clearly short staffed as there was no availability to schedule a spa appointment when we checked in. So schedule far in advance if you are interested in a treatment.
The Caroline Astor Suite was nice, but so very basic. Minimal decor in a huge suite, the room felt empty and awkward.
You set up your own chair/towels and get your own water around the pool and beach. I can absolutely do that, but that is not typical St. Regis service. Typically, someone greets you, assists you in finding a place to sit, sets up chairs with towels for you, makes a little headrest with a towel, and offers to bring you a bucket of bottled water. You just won’t get that level of luxury 5 star service here.

So many small things add up to make this feel like you are not at a St. Regis. The breakfast was the main annoyance.

Some positive things…there are a good handful of staff who a trying really hard and do care. From room attendants, to front desk staff, to pool wait staff, to front door bellman, we had some lovely conversations and great interactions with locals working at the resort that genuinely care. The cab drivers and other locals we encountered really enjoy their island. It shows.

If we visited Bermuda again, we absolutely would not stay at the St. Regis. This resort is owned by the same group that owns The Ritz in Turks & Caicos and it shows. We had an equally underwhelming experience there last September. I will be sure to avoid any of their other resorts. I would not stay at their properties again when visiting Bermuda or T&C.

If you have other questions, let me know. I am happy to answer them. Fortunately, it seems the service issues at the St. Regis have been resolved, but further consistent complaints since opening have not been addressed. A staff member who has worked at other high end Marriott properties throughout the world agreed the small things are lacking (and the breakfast buffet was very insufficient for a resort of this caliber.)

ao40

We found the Twizzy cars absolutely fine. They are proper road worthy cars with fully operational brakes. The only issue is with getting one at busy times, as they are very popular. The larger Amy ones are also more comfortable for longer trips.

We did try a rental from another company, Rugged Rentals, and it was dodgy - a golf cart with a hummer chassis. We did still use it to drive to the far end of the island, but it was an “adventure”.

Also did not notice any issues with the local’s driving - it is much more calm than many countries in Europe, for example - but suppose if you are not used to driving on the left it might be off-putting.

We stayed for 6 nights and went out exploring the island every day, and to different places for dinner most nights, we found it very easy. It is not a big island.