bostongirl7

Booking a room for our honeymoon in April and hoping for some advice - we love sitting outside with a glass of wine or a cocktail, so we were going to do a terrace room; the Ocean King Terrace is about $150 more than the Garden King Terrace. Is it worth it? Any idea what the view is from the Garden rooms? It also sound like some, but maybe not all, terraces are on the first floor, right - not a huge issue, but definitely a little less interesting than having something quieter with a better view higher up.

TWA884

The ocean views are spectacular, however, only you can decide whether they are worth an extra $150 a night.








Those were taken from a high floor, the following, which was posted by @bhrubin, may be more representative of the view from a lower floor.

damon88

Puckman

I just got back from a 5 night stay at the property (11/25-11/30). The stay was booked on points back in August. For reference, this is my 3rd time staying at the property, the other times being in 2013 & 2016. Some general takeaways for those with upcoming stays:
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• Room Upgrades: Unless something was prearranged when they were still the St Regis, no more complimentary upgrades. The resort will still allow you to pay to upgrade, but the prices were much higher this time around. The standard room booked on points is a mountain/garden view. Upgrades offered were: $100/night for an Ocean view (without a doubt 100% worth it in my book), $200 for a premium Ocean View, $300 for a junior suite (with butler service). For reference in with my past stays, I was upgraded to a junior suite for free and the other time offered to upgraded to a Princeville Suite for $100/night. The front desk agent did acknowledge the prices are higher than what was offered in the past.
• Fees: The $30/day resort fee is still in place. New this time around is a $35/day valet fee. I find it weird that they have this seeing that the entire property is valet only. That said, what irked me is that there is no mention of this fee until you check out. No sign when you pull up, no mention at check in, etc. I don't mind paying the fee at all (the valet service there has always been top notch) but do tell me up front if you're going to charge me!
• Food/Drinks: The menu at the pool/lobby bar/breakfast buffet is still the same...which in my book is nice to see. That said, there is no more sunset champagne sabering.
• Late Checkout: Not offered (checkout is at noon) and they no longer offer the use of the spa showers to freshen up if you have a red-eye. They do however have a hospitality suite that you can book the day of your departure which is nice.
• Butler Service: Still available if you have a suite. While Butler service isn't part of the 1 Hotel Brand, the resort was told that they're going to try to keep the butlers in some format after the renovation.
• Occupancy: The resort felt pretty empty this time around, especially at the pool/beach area and at breakfast. It wasn't my imagination either...when asked, many staff said that leaving the Marriott portfolio almost immediately impacted the resort. The week of Thanksgiving and the week after were noticeably lower than usual they stated. It's assumed it will stay this way until 1 Hotels starts marketing the hotel / the renovation takes place.
• Current State: Whenever I stay on points I'm willing to overlook a lot in terms of looks of a property. That said, the resort really started to look dated to me. Carpet is frayed and old, paint is peeling in the rooms in some spots, the stereos in the room have the original 30 pin iPod connector (mind you Apple switched to the lightening connector in 2012), etc. All little things that would be a huge deal if you were actually paying several hundred dollars a night to stay here.
• Renovation: The hotel will be going through a massive renovation starting next year. The property hasn't been told if they'll be shut down during this time or if they'll do half the hotel at a time. We were told it will take 9+ months and almost $200m but they're still sure. The staff said they'll be able to keep their jobs, but how that translates practically is yet to be seen. I have no doubt it's going to look amazing once completed....and be priced accordingly so! Speaking of, everyone is asking all of the staff about the changeover, and they're all more than willing to talk about it.

All that said, I'm sad to see this one not be labeled a St Regis anymore. It's truly an amazing property and the views from the resort never get old. While you might have to pay slightly more now for things (upgrades, valet, etc) tor those who still have reservations your stay should still be great.

flymax77

all points as well - took a few emails of back and forth expressing dissapointment of benefits being whole reason for choosing the hotel over competitors

Traveler56789

Traveler56789

bhrubin

spgplat21

Try reaching out to the lurkers here on flyertalk. It took some work, but they were able to return a couple batches of missing SNAs when my ambassador was not originally able to.

quinella66

quinella66

Traveler56789

manku

Probably stayed there a half dozen times from 2002-2014...it has the best view of any Hawaiian property, and there is no close second. There are few places to stay on the north shore, so they sort of have a monopoly.

However, the beach is only good for lounging and little kids. Snorkeling is decent. There is nowhere to walk, unless you want to walk the golf course which is pleasant, but feels very corporate and bland. The "upgrade" to the St.Regis from Sheraton was really just an excuse to charge more for everything, with a bit of attitude on occasion. The rooms were virtually unchanged, and I missed the bridge and swim up bar in the pool - I guess that was too cheesy for the St. Regis.

I'll miss sitting on the hammocks by the beach or under the big trees...one of the nicest spots on the planet.

bjk497

Anyone cancel a points reservation recently? Curious how long it took to have points refunded to account. Thanks

controller1

I'm not even sure how Marriott would do that. I assume the reservation no longer shows on Marriott.com, correct?