Last edit by: chrisdeaner
Expert Review (posted in Luxury Forum) from Jan 2018 from Villa stay:
https://www.flyertalk.com/hotel-revi...encounter-2352
Restrictions on the Acceptance of US Currency
Due to recent local regulations, the acceptance of US Dollars in cash is now restricted across Mexico. Payments with credit/debit cards remain unaffected. Please provide arrangements to settle your accounts and other expenses with a credit card or in Mexican Pesos. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause our guests.
FYI - the hotel also can't exchange USD<>MXN but they do have an ATM near the lobby (downstairs by the meeting rooms) that dispenses Pesos.
https://www.flyertalk.com/hotel-revi...encounter-2352
Restrictions on the Acceptance of US Currency
Due to recent local regulations, the acceptance of US Dollars in cash is now restricted across Mexico. Payments with credit/debit cards remain unaffected. Please provide arrangements to settle your accounts and other expenses with a credit card or in Mexican Pesos. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause our guests.
FYI - the hotel also can't exchange USD<>MXN but they do have an ATM near the lobby (downstairs by the meeting rooms) that dispenses Pesos.
St Regis Punta Mita Resort, Mexico [Master Thread]
#631
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,411
I would be very surprised to see that at the St. Regis, and in general I'm not familiar with this practice.
#632
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 145
It really comes down to your preference of vacation style, however. A couple weeks ago someone was telling me they went to Cabo. They weren't thrilled with the food/pricing at the resort they stayed (Auberge). But they were opposed to eating off property due to concerns about safety. Someone with this mindset will be far better off at the St Regis. But I can't go to Punta Mita without driving up to Sayulita for street tacos (Ivans) and churros (just find the cart by the hippie market). I prefer dinners in the village to at the St Regis. Although I do enjoy the tacos from the Mita Mary for lunch when lounging by the pool.
#633
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,411
#634
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 494
After two stays at the St Regis we have never made it off-site to eat. No concerns, simply that on a 5 night beach holiday we like to be very lazy and enjoy wandering to and from dinner from our room. We have found enough variation at the hotel to make this decent enough, if not amazing (we did really like Carolina actually). I also like that taxes and tip are included in the bills, water is free, and i even get (or did, maybe this was SPG) a 15% discount on the bill.
#635
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,411
After two stays at the St Regis we have never made it off-site to eat. No concerns, simply that on a 5 night beach holiday we like to be very lazy and enjoy wandering to and from dinner from our room. We have found enough variation at the hotel to make this decent enough, if not amazing (we did really like Carolina actually). I also like that taxes and tip are included in the bills, water is free, and i even get (or did, maybe this was SPG) a 15% discount on the bill.
1) You are seriously missing out on some great restaurants that are a 5 minute drive away. With black car taxis waiting outside the hotel and the restaurants, they could not make it easier. The food is better and in many cases less expensive than on property, and it's all still catered to tourists (english menus, ice/water is all safe, etc).
2) Re: tipping at the St. Regis. I was curious exactly how this works and so I asked about it. The 10% automatic service fee gets split between all service staff on the resort (gardeners, housekeeping, etc), so it does not end up being a standard restaurant tip to your wait staff, but much less.
When you add a tip to your bill over and above the service fee, it gets pooled and split only between the folks at the particular place you are (so on the beach, the beach staff split that, at Carolina those staff split it, etc). Most guests, according to staff I spoke with, leave a tip in addition to the 10% service fee (and tip housekeeping and others as is customary), and those tips are the primary source of income for many of the people who work there. The hotel only pays minimum wage (under 5 USD per day) but many people take the long shuttle ride up from PV to work there because the tips are good enough that they can provide for their families and live a good life.
So it's important to know that most hotels guests do tip (beyond the service charge), as is customary (and especially at luxury hotels) and the tipping is both expected and greatly appreciated by the staff, even though they are not allowed to tell you that outright. What's nice is that if you want to be cashless, you can still always add a tip to the bill. The only people you'll need cash for tipping are housekeeping, butlers and bellhop, and those people can all be tipped from cash you keep in your in-room safe, so it's all kept very easy.
Last edited by jdrtravel; Jul 15, 2019 at 8:27 am
#636
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Marin County, CA
Programs: Marriott LT-TE, United Gold
Posts: 467
Just got back from a wonderful 6 night stay at the St. Regis Punta Mita and we're already planning our return trip Nothing major to add over what's been posted recently but a few highlights/tips:
Lastly the reason for the car rental was we went to Sayulita for the day. The driver that took me into town to pick up the rental recommended Si Senor there as he said the food is always good but they have an amazing view of the whole town and of the sunset. It's a chain and bills itself as being higher end so the prices are higher than you'd pay at some other spots (dinner for 2 adults and 2 kids with a few beers for the adults was ~$100 including the guacamole prepared tableside) but he was right, the food was excellent and the views from the little patio directly over the ocean were phenomenal. We ate early so didn't get to see the sunset but I'm sure it would be a great place to watch from. It's also away from the main beach area so much calmer and easier to enjoy the food and surroundings.
Lastly I wasn't able to find a property map online before we left. Here is the front and back of the one we were given as a reference. I'll upload it directly as a separate post.
- The breakfast buffet is amazing and I'm always thankful for the Platinum/Titanium (not sure where it starts with the new Marriott structure) benefit for free breakfast. It's especially worth it here as the buffet is ~$45 USD for adults and half for kids. Don't forget to go outside for the amazing tacos (yes I had tacos for breakfast every day ) and daily Mexican breakfast specials (and waffles)
- The hotel doesn't charge for food/drinks under 5. I never got the official word on what is/isn't included but they never charged us for a food or drink item we ordered for our 2yo, including things we split with her and our 6yo. This was the case at every restaurant and for every pool or beachside order we made.
- Most food orders had a 10% SPG loyalty discount
- The two employees running the kids club (Yasmin and Dennys) were amazing with our 6yo - she loved going to the activities!
- The revised menu at the Altamira restaurant (in the lobby where check-in is handled) is very good. It's now more authentic Mexican versus Spanish tapas. The Al Pastor tacos for 2 were amazing, can't recommend them enough.
- I'm not sure if this is an on-going thing but the Friday night evening ritual (with the champagne sabering) was followed by 2 for 1 al pastor tacos (same ones we had for dinner the night before which we were 100% ok with ) and 2 for 1 weekly and monthly special cocktails. They also did 2 for 1 champagne prior to the sabering. If you're going to eat dinner at Alta Mira on Friday night I'd recommend going before or at least 45min after the sabering (7pm) since it was very crowded and the food we ordered for our kids came out much slower due to the additional people.
- All bars have 2 for 1 Mexican Beers, champagne and classic margaritas from 5-6pm each evening. It's advertised in very small print on the daily events flyer that gets delivered each morning but all the waitstaff were aware of it and promoted it to us.
- The daily 2pm cooking or cocktail classes at the Sea Breeze bar were fun and informative - definitely recommend. One of our favorites was the surprise cocktail class on Friday where we learned how to make a Paloma and only wish we had known about it sooner!
- Someone mentioned that the catch of the day ritual (I believe it was on Thursday) wasn't very good. We though it was really fun - they had a small catch with 2 snappers (one was pretty big!) and 2 jacks but they gave us an overview of both kinds of fish and the chef made an amazing ceviche and grilled versions of the Jack (served on chips) that we loved. We also ordered grilled fish tacos from the snapper that we had beachside for lunch that were awesome!
- We had no service issues (besides the delayed food after the sabering mentioned above, which they didn't charge us for) whatsoever - everything we ordered, including room service came extremely fast and everything we ate and drank was amazing.
Lastly the reason for the car rental was we went to Sayulita for the day. The driver that took me into town to pick up the rental recommended Si Senor there as he said the food is always good but they have an amazing view of the whole town and of the sunset. It's a chain and bills itself as being higher end so the prices are higher than you'd pay at some other spots (dinner for 2 adults and 2 kids with a few beers for the adults was ~$100 including the guacamole prepared tableside) but he was right, the food was excellent and the views from the little patio directly over the ocean were phenomenal. We ate early so didn't get to see the sunset but I'm sure it would be a great place to watch from. It's also away from the main beach area so much calmer and easier to enjoy the food and surroundings.
Lastly I wasn't able to find a property map online before we left. Here is the front and back of the one we were given as a reference. I'll upload it directly as a separate post.
Last edited by chrisdeaner; Jul 15, 2019 at 1:51 pm
#637
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Marin County, CA
Programs: Marriott LT-TE, United Gold
Posts: 467
St Regis Punta Mita Property Map
Here's the property map I linked to above as a direct attachment. This was from July 2019 but as a data point very little changed since we last visited in 2011
St. Regis Punta Mita property map from July 2019
St. Regis Punta Mita property map from July 2019
#638
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,111
We just spent 5 nights with points as a lowly Marriott Gold there. Overall it was a very good stay. I am going to add some points below that may be of interest to others. We had stayed before about 4 years ago and as has been mentioned above little has changed & this is not a bad thing at all. We were a party of five (wife, three daughters 10,7,7). We stayed in one room with two queen beds. No issues at all from the staff about the additional person. We got room 1602. 4 years we got the exact same room, however, as it was overlooking construction of a golf course at the time, we asked to switch rooms. This time this was not an issue and we stayed put. The ground floor rooms tend to have more insects. We had everything in our room including a small crab and a gecko. It does not bother us but something to keep in mind.
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- We did get the 10% SPG discount on most orders. A couple of times it was forgotten and I forgot to ask about it at the time as well.
- Pool happy hour is currently from 3-4 PM. It is BOGO. I only realized this when I ordered a Pacifico during happy hours and the waiter came with two.
- One of my daughters has special needs and the wait staff had zero issues bringing a cup of ice.
- Mita Mary is in my opinion the only restaurant worth having dinner at. However, I have not been to Carolina.
- We rented a car from Alamo and included the third party liability insurance. No issues / sales push at the counter to buy anything else which I much appreciated. The drive to and from PVR to the St Regis is easy and safe.
- We had dinner at Sufi as well, which is fine, however, nearly every person from the resort ate there as well. The resort does not use golf carts anymore for transportation. We had to take the black taxi for 150 Pesos each way.
- As Golds we had to pay for breakfast. The prices have doubled from four years ago. The adult buffet is now USD $40+. A la carte items are about 350-400 Pesos. Kids items about 200 Pesos.
- We enjoyed dinner the most at Tuna Blanca. This particular dinner was perceived as best in food quality and coincidentally was least in cost.
- Si Senor was liked least. It is a very produced Mexican experience. Food-wise it is perfectly fine, just so over the top, in your face.
- We drove to Sayulita and enjoyed it a lot. Tons of small restaurants. I forgot where we ate but it was very good. I recommend it, if you want to get out of the resort and experience something else but the same 4-5 restaurants that everyone else is going to as well. It was a little challenging to discern exactly where to get off from highway 200 to enter the actual village. I recommend arriving during day light as signage is not great.
- I booked the Island Paradise tour for USD $129 each for my oldest daughter and I. I did this by myself four years ago and got to go to the 'secret' Marieta beach then. It is not so secret anymore and apparently the Mexican gov't put the lid on it. To my surprise the tour did not take as there this time. So if this is what you are expecting, be sure to ask in advance what it takes to get there. The guide's responses on the boat were nebulous. It seemed to be still open to the public but required special passes, a private tour, a big tip, who knows?
- The butlers do bring coffee (and refills) every morning for free to the room. Not everyone in the resort knew about which is why I am adding it here.
- The water in all pools are bath water warm in July. My guess is 93-94 degrees, not hot tub like but not too far off from that either, unfortunately.
- Bring mosquito spray, if you are prone to be bitten. The hotel does provide a bottle, but I prefer spray with deed in it as it seems to work the best. We all got bitten more than once times. If I were to go again, I'd bring a bottle and spray the outside areas of our patio doors and entry doors. It is not terrible at all, just the nature of the beast.
- Because one of my daughters has special dietary needs, we emptied the mini bar with a note to not restock it. This was not an issue.
Last edited by michaelr; Aug 17, 2019 at 8:24 am
#640
#641
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Seattle
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Alaska MVPG 75K, National Executive Elite
Posts: 46
SNA options
The beachfront villas with hot tub and plunge pool were available as options there when we stayed in Feb 2019.
#642
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 299
#643
Join Date: May 2017
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Gold, IHG Spire, Langham Voyager
Posts: 38
Managed to get a 5 night booking for USD$1235.00 including taxes and service charges later this year, thanks to the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit. I am thrilled, and frankly shocked to find a rate that low at this resort. After several great trips in the past, this will be a nice return. Now if only the SNA's will clear for a beachfront whirlpool villa...
#644
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Managed to get a 5 night booking for USD$1235.00 including taxes and service charges later this year, thanks to the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit. I am thrilled, and frankly shocked to find a rate that low at this resort. After several great trips in the past, this will be a nice return. Now if only the SNA's will clear for a beachfront whirlpool villa...
No matter what, you know you’re in for an amazing stay.