Luxury SPG hotel for March honeymoon?
 

Looking to the collective wisdom of the board to help with some options for an early March honeymoon location. I think I'd like to keep it SPG to use points to offset some/all of the cost, and I'd hope that a well managed property would go out of their way for a platinum member on their honeymoon...

The thought process of what we like/want:

-We like luxury hotels (OK who doesn't?)... favorite hotel we've been to thus far is St. Regis Bali...

-We want beach/resort ... if it happens to be in/near a city, then fine--doesn't have to be super secluded--but not really interested in exploring a new city.

-Pluses and minuses of going far away from wedding location (Seaside, FL)... plus is may be tired after wedding weekend, minus is we love long haul F travel, so it would almost be not "us" not to do it for honeymoon.

-We want somewhere that's as likely as possible to have great beach weather in March. Don't really want to risk it on weather somewhere like Tahiti/Fiji, I don't think...

-It would be ideal if I could use my 35% off point redemption (so Cat 1-6) coupon for plat re-qualification, but not a deal breaker if not.

-Will likely be using AA miles and UR->KE if we do Asia, so somewhere that Oneworld/KE flies is preferable, though I guess UR->UA is an option, too...

-We would like to go somewhere we haven't been, which in the past 3/4 years (including time between now and wedding) includes beach destinations:
Puerto Rico
Miami
Phuket
Abu Dhabi/Duabi
Maldives
Bali
Mauritius
Crete (not that it's warm enough in March)
Dalmatian Coast (same)


Options I've come up with so far...
-St Regis Punta Mita
-W Koh Samui
-Andaman Langkawi (honestly may be a tough sell to go to Malaysia and likely fly MH ... fiancee is a bit skittish about MH370)


Any suggestions?

St Regis Punta Mita is a gorgeous property. I liked the Andaman Langkawi property. It's not nearly as luxurious as the StR Punta Mita, but it does have a beautiful beach in the midst of an ancient rain forest.

Check out reviews for Vana Belle, Koh Samui. I stayed at the Conrad Koh Samui which was spectacular, all individual villas. An FT friend spoke very highly of this property.

Are there AA routes MIA-Carribean to islands far enough south for beach weather?

If you're willing to take long flights, northern Australia would be good for the weather but check that it's swimming season in terms of the irakongi (spelling?). Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, Sunshine Coast, and Gold Coast are the areas I'm thinking of, but you could also go to Darwin or the coast north of Perth. QF is in oneworld although IFC award availability might not be easy for two.

My sister was just at the W Koh Samui 6 weeks ago for part of her honeymoon using points. She's not platinum so can't comment on treatment of plats. Her room had a private pool which looked amazing based on her pictures. I arranged a couple of things for her at the resort so had to coordinate with folks there ahead of time and they were all very helpful. They even asked about me when my sister arrived for her stay. She had a wonderful stay but did remark compared to other places she went in Thailand prior to ending up at the W that the resort could have really been anywhere. But if that doesn't matter to you, don't think you could go wrong w the W Koh Samui.

W Koh Samui beach is not that great. Your best bet on Koh is the Conrad or Four Seasons. However if you must stay at a Starwood property then Vana is your best bet.

Same thing on Phuket. There are so many better properties when you look outside of Starwood.

Lastly I would consider StR Bora Bora.

Best advice is it is your honeymoon and do not limit your thinking to Starwood. Just pay for the room you want, so you don't need to worry about the upgrade game.

Just FYI, the 35% plat cert is only good for 6 months after you registered for your gift, so if you are looking at March 2015, I don't believe you can use your cert for a future stay beyond the 6 month expiration date.

Maybe the OP is assuming that the Plat requalification gift will again be the 35% off a points stay cert with the same T&C. If so, good luck to him/her.

Agreed. I don't recall ever seeing a requalification gift being replicated.

Yes, this. I was there for five days in November, just before Thanksgiving. It was GREAT!! I was in a Deluxe Suite, easily the largest hotel room/suite in which I have ever stayed. Ground floor suites (like the one I was in) also have huge outdoor showers off the bathroom. (Don't worry, they have indoor ones, too!) It was 1,140 square feet. Only possible negative to this property is that the restaurants can be a bit pricey. But it's a StR, and you expect that. GM is lovely, and omnipresent on the property. You will NOT be disappointed.

Congratulations! We recently spent 11 nights at the Andaman and loved it. I've been meaning to write a review here but have just been too busy. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about the place. But briefly, it's on a beautiful stretch of beach with lots of exposure to wildlife - monkeys, flying lemurs, hornbills, sea eagles, etc - at or right near the resort. Some nice nature tours to be had. Between the beach and especially the wildlife, it's really a unique location.

And while we only explored Langkawi for a day in a rental car, we found it a pleasant, very relaxed island. Much more laid back than Koh Samui or Phuket, for instance. Very easy to drive around.

Only downside of Andaman from your point of view is I don't think you can count on a great Plat upgrade without paying. We lucked out, but we were probably the exception to the rule. It might be worth investigating how much a guaranteed upgrade to one of the better suites would cost. Of course, if you write ahead to tell them it's your honeymoon, that couldn't hurt. FWIW, the regular rooms aren't bad, and some of great views of the beautiful bay.

It's a Plat 5, so relatively cheap compared to other SPG premier properties in terms of points or cash plus points.

(Now, having said all this, I don't think the resort is in the same class in terms of the rooms and service compared to the St. Regis Punta Mita, which I haven't been to but is also on my radar screen.)

As for getting there, with your AA miles I'd definitely look into bagging CX F tickets. It's one of the best F experiences you can find on any commercial aircraft. You'd fly MIA on AA to any number of places CX flies from, including I believe DFW, SFO, LAX, ORD and a couple of Canadian cities. Then on from there to HKG and from HKG to either SIN or KUL. (KUL slightly closer to Langkawi, but SIN a nicer city if you wanted to stop over on the way out or back.) Having flown Malaysian, I really wouldn't be worried about flying it. But if your fiance is concerned, there are safe budget airlines you can fly from KUL to Langkawi or from SIN to Langkawi for that short hop. You'd shell out a bit flying KUL-Langkawi on one of those alternatives instead of using Malaysian as part of your award ticket, but it wouldn't be much.

Wherever you're thinking about going, try to bag the award tickets ASAP for distant destinations. (Not such an issue if you end up going to Punta Mita, obviously.) Under the new AA regime, getting great F award tix (such as on CX) might well become tougher than it used to be.