RafKa

SkiAdcock

Could someone net out for me about breakfast/lounge, etc, so I can update the exec lounge sticky?

This is what I have currently listed in the sticky:

* Cancun / Westin Resort & Spa / Royal Beach Club lounge; not sure if it's open to elites or have to book RBC room; Open; 10/18 update

So, not having stayed there, is the RBC open to all Plats or just if you get the room? Is there breakfast in the restaurant as an option, or is it part of the platinum arrival gift option, where you have to choose between points or breakfast? Any input appreciated. Thx!

Cheers.

ENIAC

Platinums still get club access. We were upgraded to Ocean View rooms in the RBC building, which is being re-designated as "Westin Club." The signage is mostly changed over, except for a stone marker in front of the lounge. Upgrade to the full breakfast in main buffet restaurant was offered as the amenity, vs. 1000 MR points so breakfast was the obvious choice. That's for two people a day. We were given wrist bands for club access, and the usual cards for breakfast. The buffet is pretty good.

Had two elementary school kids with us. They offered club access (extra wrist bands) for $15 a day per boy, or club access plus main breakfast buffet for $20. Skipped that, as it turned out buying the buffet is just $10 per kid per day, and we enjoyed our drinks more leaving them in the room watching a movie. However many people took their club items out into the pool area, so in practice this isn't really policed.

The evening buffet is pretty dire (as described further up the thread), and a big stop down from what they had on my previous visit in 2007. Bad selection, and poor quality. I can confirm that the mixed drinks are gone from what they still call the "cocktail" service. They refill aggressively, and then present you with an inflated but zeroed out bill (mine had some other charges, presumably for food, as well as the drinks) so that you can add a tip. Seems odd not to have margaritas or guacamole. There was a report on tripadvisor that the lounge staff were faking larger tips so I have been saving the yellow carbon copies, which I don't usually bother to do.

Renovations make the restaurants look quite sharp. Maid service never seems to come until we call. They slide a letter under the door every day asking me to collect my "free gift" welcome package from the concierge, warning about limited quantities of gifts, etc. but none of the offers above seem enough to justify even finding out what they'll give for a timeshare presentation. My 11 year old volunteered to go, but the concierge refused to part with whatever trinket or discount coupon they offer without an adult present.

Renovations in the room are fairly minor, but it has a spacious, airy feel. The balcony is big, but most of the space is wasted as all they put are two unconformable wicker chairs. Relaxing, and good value at old cat 3 (booked before SPG went away) but not at all compelling at 35K points/nightt. I won't be back unless there's a good cash rate.Haven't tried all the options, but the Haciendas are now (mostly) the same price, and for a beach holiday the IC Cozumel is far nicer and a good deal at 50K IHG points.

SkiAdcock

Thanks. I'll update the exec lounge sticky. Also thanks for all the other details.

Cheers.

yule_boy

Thanks for the helpful info. I managed to book a 5 night award stay next month at the old SPG cat 3 rates before the increase

hockeyinsider

I stayed here twice in 2012 and 2013 for $70 a night on Priceline.

ethernal

Perhaps more importantly I don't think you can even find a date where you even get .6 cents per point at the 35K/rate. Even over Spring Break periods, holiday weekends, etc - the rate stays comfortably below $200/night (even when booking direct). I thought 7K Starpoints (so 21K Marriott points) was reasonable even if it wasn't a great deal - 35K is just a joke. You can stay at a lovely hotel like the Boscolo Exedra in Nice for the same number of points. That versus a dumpy Westin in a low cost of living area? Pretty crazy.

hockeyinsider

There are many theories on how hotels get their award-redemption category. Some day it's strictly based on demand. The more redemptions, the higher the category. Others have said owners and properties can game it. Case in point: Brand new properties starting at category 5 or 6, which seemingly contradicts the prevailing belief that the category is based on the number of redemptions. One thing, however, is for certain: There is no correlation between the hotel's award-redemption category, its brand and its quality or star rating.

Cancun was fun in high school and college. I don't see the draw now, other than cheap flights. All things being equal, I would take Los Cabos over Cancun. All the beach resorts in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific are basically the same until you get into the category of super-expensive, luxury resorts on isolated islands, etc.

ENIAC

I do like that the hotel is long and short, so there's no shortage of loungers and even at full capacity the beach area is relaxing. Also free parking, no resort charge. It seems to draw a different crowd from most Westins though -- today the waiter was startled that we wanted to do a room charge rather than use a credit card for the kids breakfast and went to check on his computer that we had presented a credit card at check in before allowing us to sign off. Even though we'd given him out plat breakfast coupon. Don't recall that happening in any other SPG hotel.

The most compelling MR values I've found so far are in smaller cities in Europe -- 25K at the Baden Baden Roomers hotel, and 15K at the AC Innsbruck last summer.

ethernal

I agree, except with one minor correction... there obviously is a correlation between brand/quality and category. There are no Cat 1 St Regis and there are no Cat 8 Fairfield Inns . And there is obviously a correlation between average room price and room category. With that said, this can vary significantly - anywhere from .5 cents like with the Westin Cancun to 1 cent+ on some properties. Trying to understand within that range (which can mean a range of 3 categories or so) is the challenge. I do think that, on average, you get lower redemption values at resorts - especially with Marriott. But even this rule isn't consistent.


I agree with this, the primary draw of Cancun is that it is relatively inexpensive (hence why you end up with a lot of high school / college kids). Which again makes it even more befuddling why it has such a high points redemption rate - maybe they don't want the old fogies (defined as 25+ ) messing up the vibe.

hockeyinsider

There were a fair number of Courtyard and Fairfield properties at the upper end of the legacy Marriott award-redemption category chart. Likewise, there were category 2 or 3 Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott properties. I haven't looked at those properties of late to see where they are now.


I wouldn't be surprised if an astute owner can specify the category the property starts at when they sign a contract with Marriott hence why there are new-build properties getting category 6 on their first day.

ethernal

Sure, the Courtyard in Manhattan or a Ritz in low-cost APAC is going to slot into a high and low category respectively. Location is going to be the biggest determinant of cost. Point remains there are no Cat 1 St. Regis because there is no way the average room rate for a St. Regis - even in a low cost area - would go that low.

uppereastsider

The award redemption price for this hotel just further confirms to me that 25k for the Hyatt Ziva /Zilara Cancun is a significantly better redemption for Cancun (but yes, not everyone has Hyatt points)

It's a shame, because I loved back in the day redeeming this hotel for 7k points/night and getting a 28k 5 day beach point vacation (with 5 night free) and combined that with an Aloft stay on the arrival into Cancun.

ILuvParis

I was beginning to get antsy about my 5K AA bonus miles for the time share presentation, since it had been about 8 weeks. Today they showed up in my account and the good news is that they gave me 10K instead of the 5K I was expecting. Quite happy.

margarita girl