I agree about everything you say, Revolution. The decor here gives me nightmares. Isn't it interesting what happens to certain designers when they are sans their gurus (Adrian Zecha). Tuttle is a magician when he works with Zecha, but much less so with Hyatt, and no, I do not believe it is all about budget.

This is an interesting thread. Thanks to the moderators for turning it back on. My list:

- FS Maui during Thanksgiving. A truly disastrous stay at >$1000/night. I will never return. Dark, cave-like, ocean view room with no ocean view. Resort overcrowded: no chairs at pool and no chairs at beach unless waving $100 bills. No parking unless valet at $50 day(?). 2-hour wait for bar seat at restaurant. Puck’s restaurant, Spago, leaves much to be desired and should be turned into an Applebee’s (or Denny’s or In & Out).

- FS Whistler. Stayed during summer when resort was at 0.1% capacity (or less). Room had horrific ‘road and pool and construction’ view, an interesting trick in scenic Whistler. Bartender was as hostile as could be: ‘NO YOU CAN’T TAKE THAT WINE BACK TO YOUR ROOM. ORDER ROOM SERVICE!!!!!!!’ Huh? For a glass of wine? Not a single spa appointment was available in our 5 day stay. Not one. Restaurant poor and long walk into village. That this resort ranks high worldwide for skiing is a total mystery to me. I’d prefer to camp in the mud.

- Caneel Bay. The whole place should be blowtorched to the ground and renovated. So much went wrong that I’m not going to rant. We had a terrible stay there. 10 days of a moldy prison. At least the Zebras were fun to watch. Couldn't wait to leave.

Aww, I love that hotel - but we were in a lovely (seemingly recently renovated) suite. I actually bought the perfume based on the scent you mentioned (but I am a female/my husband didn't care for it). I have to agree on the food though, that is their weakness.

My worst ever -- The Boca Hotel. I still get shivers thinking of the room, and that wasn't really even the low point.

I had that issue there; although they weren't hostile and had a staff person bring the drink I had already purchased up to my room.

Wow...tell us how you really feel!

Horrified to hear about the FS Maui ordeal...I was planning to stay there later this year.

I too have stayed at FS Whistler, and on many occasions both on this board and others have stated I don't understand why people like this property so much. It's pretty and it's clean, but the service is non-existent! It would make a great Fairmont, but a Four Seasons it is not.

Never been to Caneel Bay, but this is the first negative I've heard about it.

I would urge you to consider the FS Hualalai instead. But make sure to check the construction schedule. Every time we've stayed at the FS Hualalai there has been construction and management lies about the extent. I just tolerate it. The place is that good. “Light Painting in adjoining units’ MEANS “Jackhammers, metal ladders, nail guns, saws, and LoudCussingConstructionWorkers.’ But this FS doesn’t have the resource issue that FS Maui has. I would note that FS Maui might be OK if not at 70-100% capacity, but I’m never gonna bother to give them another chance. At >70% occupancy FS Maui is a complete disaster, and that number could be as low as 50%. I remember being told at the bar that the ‘resource trick’ was to send your nanny down to the pool at 4am to reserve the lounges before the FS pool personal arrived to demand tips and hold chairs. That’s tough since I don’t travel with my nanny (we’re childless) and I don’t appreciate competing with people that do. Let me clarify my FS Maui problem: At >$1000/night, I get upset that I cannot get two lounges at the pool or beach without a fight.

If I get drunk enough tonight, I’ll spew my REAL opinion about Caneel Bay. Blecck! I’m getting angry just reminiscing. If that post appears, make sure to duck …

This has to do with BC liqour laws, not Four Seasons.

My only really bad luxury hotel experience. Clueless and dishonest staff for starters. The club lounge was only open from 6-8 pm each day, and I was prohibited from taking a bottle of water to my room. The worst part was the
saggy, lumpy mattress on one of those rickety frames that moves when you do. I dragged the mattress to the floor, hoping for a better sleep closer to the ground. That's when I found the original purchase receipt on it, dated 1999 (the trip was in 2007). When I went down to the front desk (for the third or fourth time, there were that many things to complain about) they said that they had never heard that complaint before and that I couldn't be moved to another room until 1 pm the next day (and the hotel was not full). Suffice it to say that I checked out at 6 am and moved to better hotel that was about half the price.

+1
This was by far the worst luxury hotel I have stayed at.
Power went off.
Lounge was closed.
Staff were indifferent at best and almost hostile.
Manager said the problems were "beyond control of the hotel"- for example error in billing was because of an outsourced IT system

Another really bad one was the Hemsley on Central Park- NOW I know that this is not a luxury hotel, however years ago (before FT) I naively believed Leading Hotels of the World HA HA HA.

The last time I had an anywhere near decent stay at a Shangri-La was in the 1980s - once in the Valley Wing Singapore (after having screamed at the dismal, dowdy, dark suite they first showed us and demanded to be moved) and in Makati, Philippines, which was, at the time, the best there was and I was pathetically grateful that they had a decent bottle of wine in all-day-dining.

Since then, I feel as though Shangri-La has been hell bent on making my life as difficult and uncomfortable as possible. A suite in Bangkok looked as though it dated from Chairman Mao's era, with dozens of chairs ranged around the walls, as though waiting for an audience with the great one. Food was inedible, so I starved for 2 days, apart from dinner at the next-door Oriental, which restored my sanity for a while.

Then there was the Shangri-La in Abu Dhabi......but honestly, I am still so distressed by this experience that I can barely talk about it, and although I filled in their on-line questionnaire after our stay, I never heard a thing back. Why? Because they don't CARE!

I feel compelled to come to the defense of the hotel here.

We were there in August 2009, a busy time, and there were always pool chairs available.

Were you there Thanksgiving 2008 or before? If so, I'll note that the opening of the new, adults-only pool has greatly reduced the congestion around the pool areas.

In our experience, what might have been difficult to get during certain hours was a cabana, not a lounge chair. If you wanted a cabana, you would have to be at the pool by around 10 AM. If you missed that opportunity, you would have to wait until after lunch, when the morning people left.

Parking was only $20 a day, not $50.

We had a Prime Ocean View room, the room was very bright, and the ocean was openly visible from our bed. Are you sure your room wasn't Partial Ocean View? Those are stated to have an ocean view only from the balcony. Ocean View, which you said you had, is supposed to let you see at least some ocean from inside the room.

Overall, we had a fanstastic time at the FS Maui.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...ml#post1254135

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...you-think.html

To their credit, Hyatt dropped the "Park" designation of these two piles, and the Carmel one has recently gotten very good reviews, so it sounds like somebody fixed it up.

Of course, I could tell you about the time when I was nine and I locked my little brother in a closet at the Waldorf Astoria, and we couldn't get it open, so security had to come in and knock the closet door down. Or the time when I was 8 and my cousin and I wanted to "surprise" my parents in the connecting room, so in the middle of the night we sneaked into their room, and closed the connecting door behind us. We, of course, neglected to notice that the door could only be opened from the inside of our room (not theirs, as expected) and we had double bolted and chain-locked the main door, so we had no way of getting back into our room. Or the time at the Westin Peachtree in Atlanta when we pressed the buttons on the elevator for every floor, and we were caught by security. Or a dozen similar stories, there is even one at the Martinez in Cannes featuring some startled topless bathers, but that's for another time.

Yes. This explains much. My stay was the last week of Jan 2006. Although I'll **never** return to this very poor FS, the addition of a 2nd pool would help.
No no no no no no no no no no. The FS employees were 'reserving' the lounge chairs and then demanding tips for access. This wasn't a well kept secret and was well discussed at the outside bar. That is where I heard about the nanny trick. We studied this carefully after being refused access on the first day. I was dumbfounded that FS management allowed the practice. Our room looked directly down onto the pool and I watched the process unfold several days in a row. Those FS pool employees were making a $$mint$$. My opinion is that I shouldn’t have to fight AT ALL for a lounge chair at a FS. I don’t during the high season at FS Kona.
That isn't what I remember, but I stand corrected. I would note that self park at this FS is very awkward.
Here is the description from my booking:

FOUR SEASONS MAUI - 890.00 WITH LANAI - OCEAN VIEW KING - LOCATED WAILEA

Your 'partial ocean view' description describes the dark room (cave) much better, although getting any ocean view required leaning out of the balcony in a dangerous manner. Perhaps they’ve changed the description? Or perhaps I wasn’t put in the room I paid for? Added note – there are very few ‘Ocean View’ rooms at this resort. Of the 380 rooms, there can’t be more than 50 that count.

There are 66 to be exact (actually 82 if you count the club-level oceanview also). http://www.fourseasons.com/maui/gues...s_summary.html

Actually I just stayed there last week, and posted a lengthy TR here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13680788-post46.html

Construction, thankfully, is complete.