St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort [Master Thread]
Apr 17, 2018, 11:17 am
#886
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SF
Programs: UA MM, AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTP, HH Dia
Posts: 1,132
Ha! I'm sure they would do anything to get out of it. Where did you see the part about no longer guaranteed availability? According to their website they mention "no blackout dates"
https://members.marriott.com/redeem/
https://members.marriott.com/redeem/
Apr 17, 2018, 4:50 pm
#887
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New York City
Posts: 801
Apr 17, 2018, 5:46 pm
#888
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Ha! I'm sure they would do anything to get out of it. Where did you see the part about no longer guaranteed availability? According to their website they mention "no blackout dates"
https://members.marriott.com/redeem/
https://members.marriott.com/redeem/
Apr 18, 2018, 7:16 am
#889
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: LAX
Programs: UA 1K MM, AS MVPG, SPG PLAT 100
Posts: 1,497
This place is awful. I checked out half way through an 8 night stay booked at the Paradise is Closer points rate. Happily paid through the nose at a proper Maldives resort. I think the positive reviews of this place must come from people who never experienced true luxury, service and beaches in Maldives. Some of the points in a (much longer) memo I sent to my Ambassador are pasted below.
Bicycles: Bicycles are huge at Maldivian resorts – it’s the main way to get around on demand unless you want to sit around and wait for golf carts (we’re the active sorts, we LOVE riding our bikes in Maldives). So when we arrive with 3 guests booked to our room, we only had 2 adult bicycles at checkin. Even though dying to ride our bikes to lunch and dinner the first day, didn’t have a bike for my 8 year old son until well on my second day. When he finally hops on and rides, he disappears only to WALK back with the bike minutes later. I ask him what happened and informs me that his bike has NO BRAKES! Apparently front and rear brake calipers had been removed and no one had checked before bringing the bike to our room. This could have been a major disaster if he took off and fell in the ocean – mind you our overwater villa is connected to the island by a long narrow wooden pier. Took even longer for a working bike to be found. Meanwhile, the two adult bikes are set for six footers and cannot be adjusted without engineering being dispatched (unlike regular bikes where the rider can adjust with a simple lever – other resorts all have these). So after waiting and waiting for a working bike for my son, when we finally all think we can travel around together by the end of our second day we discover my wife’s bike is set way too high and we would need to wait for an engineer to fix.
Kids Club: The worst part of the trip and the straw that broke the camels back given the other issues. Every year at the beach, Maldives or elsewhere, my son puts on a rashguard for (1) sun protection and (2) to repel water/moisture. Pretty typical for an 8 year old boy. So on Easter Sunday, our 2nd day at the St Regis, my son is very eager to join the kids club for the scheduled activities (egg hunt, races, etc.). I bring him by after lunch and one of the attendants says “maybe your son wont be comfortable with that shirt on.” Knowing my son and what is best for him in the heat and sun, I confirm in her presence that he is indeed comfortable and that I prefer he wear his rashguard top until sundown. Not less than a few minutes later, my wife sees my son riding his bike around the resort (???). Why on earth is he riding around aimlessly? Well, the very same Kids Club attendant who I spoke with told my son he would need to go to the villa to change his shirt. Mind you, he doesn’t have a room key. Mind you, I just had a conversation with this same attendant where I confirmed he would be wearing his rashguard all day. There is no rule or sign about rashguards not being worn to the kids club nor should there be – it’s a BEACH RESORT. Every resort I’ve been to (Maldives, Hawaii, Cancun -- whether Starwood or not) pretty much every like-aged boy is wearing one. So an attendant on her own accord makes up a rule and made my son feel unwelcome. I call the kids club and ask for the name of the woman who I spoke to and who then asked my son to leave. She WOULDN’T GIVE ME HER NAME. I called the front desk and spoke to the manager on duty, Ahmed. Received a disingenuous note from the kids club that evening apologizing for the misunderstanding. Frankly, total BS and a result my son felt unwelcome at the kids club and didn’t want to return. So for the remainder of my (soon aborted) stay at the St Regis, I was the Kids Club. Mind you, I love my son and love playing with him but I too wanted some R&R (read my book, take a nap, etc.) and that was now impossible.
Trash Floating by Water Villa: Reason I mention call to the front desk above is that as I’m complaining about the ridiculous treatment of both my son and me by the Kids Club attendant, a field of trash appears floating outside my water villa. Bottles, construction debris, papers, etc. Sign was on the wall that I should leave at this point. Of course, the St Regis didn’t pro-actively dispatch anyone to remove all the trash and told me tide would take it out (it did, but it’s beyond acceptable and disgusting at a resort of this caliber).
Beach & Main Pool: The main beach is almost unusable. Because the water is shallow for a fair distance from the beach, one must walk through the shallow water to get to a swimmable depth. However, the way the beach was constructed a field of dead coral pieces was left exposed under water on top of the sand. Seems like many of the guests realized this, as there were never more than a half-dozen people attempting to ford out away from the shore. Coincidentally, spoke with a (former) St Regis employee who now works at the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru who explained that when the St Regis beach was constructed (not a naturally formed beach) dead corals were buried under the sand rather than hauled away (which would have cost more money). Of course, with the tide sand is carried away from the beach and shallow areas and the result is a field of exposed sharp corals.
The beach had plenty of guests using the available chairs. However, there was never an attendant around to bring fresh towels or remove old towels from abandoned chairs. Nor was there any central repository of clean towels, which even if it were setup somewhere was out of towels by 11am. It is shocking there are no attendants circling the beach to provide water, small snacks or provide any services whatsoever. For purposes of comparison, the beach at the Four Seasons has 7 (SEVEN) attendants working a similar sized (but much nicer) beach providing fresh towels, cold refreshment towels, water, fruit bites and even sunglass cleaning! Lower resorts provide all of the above, maybe not the sunglass cleaning though, lol.
The main pool behind the beach was no solace from the beach situation. By the afternoon, the filtration system of the pool would be overwhelmed and there would be a film of murky goo on top of the water by the filter inlets. Presumably it was accumulated sunscreen but this is something that wouldn’t be expected at a 2 star resort, let alone this property.
Restaurant Service / Water: It’s hot in Maldives. Really hot. When we sit down for a meal, first thing we want is a cold glass of water. For our first 3 meals, we could not get water for the life of us. We asked and asked and asked. Mind you, this is to get a ridiculous $14 bottle of Evian (other Maldivian resorts somehow provide complimentary water, but that isn’t the point). I’m parched, I’m happy to pay $$$ to quench my thirst. 5-10 even more requests are made. 10-15 minutes go by. This is multiple meals. This is ridiculous.
Restaurant Availability: Speaking of meals, for two of our first 3 nights we could not get a seating at any restaurant at the resort before 9pm. We have an 8 year old son for crying out loud, how about a little earlier? Sorry, cant do, we’re fully booked. At least one restaurant on the island was closed each evening. No one could tell us what restaurants would be available until the morning of. Then that same morning of, everything is booked until late at night. On our own accord one night, we went to Orientale at 8:30 when we kept pressing for earlier availability and told we could be fit in 30 minutes earlier. The restaurant WAS EMPTY, only a few table were occupied. So we were kept waiting in our room for a late dinner for no reason. Of course, even though we got them to accommodate us 30 minutes early, getting our place settings or water was another waiting ordeal (see paragraph above)
Lack of Management / Understaffing: Every request had to go through our butler, Riyaz. The guy worked hard. But after pressing him about the massive amount of issues we encountered (and there’s more than the above, but it’s hard regurgitating it all) he admitted that the resort had reached full capacity at the last moment and the resort was understaffed in all areas. There was not a manager in site, during normal operations or after our experience went off the rails with problems. I only met a single duty manager (Ahmed). The GM (or so we were told) was off island which is shocking during Easter week during high season at 100% occupancy. No one in management below the GM approached us at any time before the departure – just the front desk manager Ahmed. Disturbing given that we’re frequent travelers and SPG Platinum guests. Disgusting once you consider the fact that we had it with the resort’s constant problems and had demanded a seaplane off island -- why isn't management investigating what happened?
Departure: I think this tells the whole story but on 4/3 we asked for a seaplane out at 6am on 4/4 so we could change to the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. Sleep didn’t matter, breakfast didn’t matter. We needed out of the St Regis ASAP to salvage our vacation and long travel time invested in coming all the way to the Maldives from LA. Cost was no object, saving our vacation was the goal. And boy did we save it, the Four Seasons experience was flawless as usual and highlighted all (The MANY) shortcomings with the St Regis operation, management and beach. Mind you, the St Regis has far superior rooms to the Four Seasons. Yet the Four Seasons blows the St Regis out of the water on all other fronts.
Bicycles: Bicycles are huge at Maldivian resorts – it’s the main way to get around on demand unless you want to sit around and wait for golf carts (we’re the active sorts, we LOVE riding our bikes in Maldives). So when we arrive with 3 guests booked to our room, we only had 2 adult bicycles at checkin. Even though dying to ride our bikes to lunch and dinner the first day, didn’t have a bike for my 8 year old son until well on my second day. When he finally hops on and rides, he disappears only to WALK back with the bike minutes later. I ask him what happened and informs me that his bike has NO BRAKES! Apparently front and rear brake calipers had been removed and no one had checked before bringing the bike to our room. This could have been a major disaster if he took off and fell in the ocean – mind you our overwater villa is connected to the island by a long narrow wooden pier. Took even longer for a working bike to be found. Meanwhile, the two adult bikes are set for six footers and cannot be adjusted without engineering being dispatched (unlike regular bikes where the rider can adjust with a simple lever – other resorts all have these). So after waiting and waiting for a working bike for my son, when we finally all think we can travel around together by the end of our second day we discover my wife’s bike is set way too high and we would need to wait for an engineer to fix.
Kids Club: The worst part of the trip and the straw that broke the camels back given the other issues. Every year at the beach, Maldives or elsewhere, my son puts on a rashguard for (1) sun protection and (2) to repel water/moisture. Pretty typical for an 8 year old boy. So on Easter Sunday, our 2nd day at the St Regis, my son is very eager to join the kids club for the scheduled activities (egg hunt, races, etc.). I bring him by after lunch and one of the attendants says “maybe your son wont be comfortable with that shirt on.” Knowing my son and what is best for him in the heat and sun, I confirm in her presence that he is indeed comfortable and that I prefer he wear his rashguard top until sundown. Not less than a few minutes later, my wife sees my son riding his bike around the resort (???). Why on earth is he riding around aimlessly? Well, the very same Kids Club attendant who I spoke with told my son he would need to go to the villa to change his shirt. Mind you, he doesn’t have a room key. Mind you, I just had a conversation with this same attendant where I confirmed he would be wearing his rashguard all day. There is no rule or sign about rashguards not being worn to the kids club nor should there be – it’s a BEACH RESORT. Every resort I’ve been to (Maldives, Hawaii, Cancun -- whether Starwood or not) pretty much every like-aged boy is wearing one. So an attendant on her own accord makes up a rule and made my son feel unwelcome. I call the kids club and ask for the name of the woman who I spoke to and who then asked my son to leave. She WOULDN’T GIVE ME HER NAME. I called the front desk and spoke to the manager on duty, Ahmed. Received a disingenuous note from the kids club that evening apologizing for the misunderstanding. Frankly, total BS and a result my son felt unwelcome at the kids club and didn’t want to return. So for the remainder of my (soon aborted) stay at the St Regis, I was the Kids Club. Mind you, I love my son and love playing with him but I too wanted some R&R (read my book, take a nap, etc.) and that was now impossible.
Trash Floating by Water Villa: Reason I mention call to the front desk above is that as I’m complaining about the ridiculous treatment of both my son and me by the Kids Club attendant, a field of trash appears floating outside my water villa. Bottles, construction debris, papers, etc. Sign was on the wall that I should leave at this point. Of course, the St Regis didn’t pro-actively dispatch anyone to remove all the trash and told me tide would take it out (it did, but it’s beyond acceptable and disgusting at a resort of this caliber).
Beach & Main Pool: The main beach is almost unusable. Because the water is shallow for a fair distance from the beach, one must walk through the shallow water to get to a swimmable depth. However, the way the beach was constructed a field of dead coral pieces was left exposed under water on top of the sand. Seems like many of the guests realized this, as there were never more than a half-dozen people attempting to ford out away from the shore. Coincidentally, spoke with a (former) St Regis employee who now works at the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru who explained that when the St Regis beach was constructed (not a naturally formed beach) dead corals were buried under the sand rather than hauled away (which would have cost more money). Of course, with the tide sand is carried away from the beach and shallow areas and the result is a field of exposed sharp corals.
The beach had plenty of guests using the available chairs. However, there was never an attendant around to bring fresh towels or remove old towels from abandoned chairs. Nor was there any central repository of clean towels, which even if it were setup somewhere was out of towels by 11am. It is shocking there are no attendants circling the beach to provide water, small snacks or provide any services whatsoever. For purposes of comparison, the beach at the Four Seasons has 7 (SEVEN) attendants working a similar sized (but much nicer) beach providing fresh towels, cold refreshment towels, water, fruit bites and even sunglass cleaning! Lower resorts provide all of the above, maybe not the sunglass cleaning though, lol.
The main pool behind the beach was no solace from the beach situation. By the afternoon, the filtration system of the pool would be overwhelmed and there would be a film of murky goo on top of the water by the filter inlets. Presumably it was accumulated sunscreen but this is something that wouldn’t be expected at a 2 star resort, let alone this property.
Restaurant Service / Water: It’s hot in Maldives. Really hot. When we sit down for a meal, first thing we want is a cold glass of water. For our first 3 meals, we could not get water for the life of us. We asked and asked and asked. Mind you, this is to get a ridiculous $14 bottle of Evian (other Maldivian resorts somehow provide complimentary water, but that isn’t the point). I’m parched, I’m happy to pay $$$ to quench my thirst. 5-10 even more requests are made. 10-15 minutes go by. This is multiple meals. This is ridiculous.
Restaurant Availability: Speaking of meals, for two of our first 3 nights we could not get a seating at any restaurant at the resort before 9pm. We have an 8 year old son for crying out loud, how about a little earlier? Sorry, cant do, we’re fully booked. At least one restaurant on the island was closed each evening. No one could tell us what restaurants would be available until the morning of. Then that same morning of, everything is booked until late at night. On our own accord one night, we went to Orientale at 8:30 when we kept pressing for earlier availability and told we could be fit in 30 minutes earlier. The restaurant WAS EMPTY, only a few table were occupied. So we were kept waiting in our room for a late dinner for no reason. Of course, even though we got them to accommodate us 30 minutes early, getting our place settings or water was another waiting ordeal (see paragraph above)
Lack of Management / Understaffing: Every request had to go through our butler, Riyaz. The guy worked hard. But after pressing him about the massive amount of issues we encountered (and there’s more than the above, but it’s hard regurgitating it all) he admitted that the resort had reached full capacity at the last moment and the resort was understaffed in all areas. There was not a manager in site, during normal operations or after our experience went off the rails with problems. I only met a single duty manager (Ahmed). The GM (or so we were told) was off island which is shocking during Easter week during high season at 100% occupancy. No one in management below the GM approached us at any time before the departure – just the front desk manager Ahmed. Disturbing given that we’re frequent travelers and SPG Platinum guests. Disgusting once you consider the fact that we had it with the resort’s constant problems and had demanded a seaplane off island -- why isn't management investigating what happened?
Departure: I think this tells the whole story but on 4/3 we asked for a seaplane out at 6am on 4/4 so we could change to the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. Sleep didn’t matter, breakfast didn’t matter. We needed out of the St Regis ASAP to salvage our vacation and long travel time invested in coming all the way to the Maldives from LA. Cost was no object, saving our vacation was the goal. And boy did we save it, the Four Seasons experience was flawless as usual and highlighted all (The MANY) shortcomings with the St Regis operation, management and beach. Mind you, the St Regis has far superior rooms to the Four Seasons. Yet the Four Seasons blows the St Regis out of the water on all other fronts.
Last edited by KosherKimchee; Apr 18, 2018 at 7:22 am
Apr 23, 2018, 11:59 pm
#890
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 114
I just tried to book these Garden Villas with points now but apparently only the overwater villas are available on points?!
Apr 24, 2018, 1:13 am
#891
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,026
Apr 24, 2018, 1:32 am
#892
formerly leemaj
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: California
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium and LTP, Hyatt Globalist, UA Gold, SW Companion Pass
Posts: 217
I booked Overwater Villa on points through paradise is closer promo. They had an additional offer to upgrade to overwater for free at the time. Cost me 234k SPG points for 5 nights (with the 5th night free)
Apr 24, 2018, 2:40 am
#893
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,026
This a recent booking?
Apr 24, 2018, 12:22 pm
#894
formerly leemaj
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: California
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium and LTP, Hyatt Globalist, UA Gold, SW Companion Pass
Posts: 217
No, sorry it was a couple months ago. The offer to upgrade to a suite was a St Regis specific offer I believe. The first rep I spoke to on the phone told me about it, but when I called back to book the second person didn't know about it. I had to tell him and he went to go look it up and eventually found it.
May 17, 2018, 8:13 pm
#895
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,838
I would like to stay at St.Regis followed by Park Hyatt. Is there a flight that can bring me directly from StR to PH or the only option is to fly back from StR to MLE then fly from MLE to PH?
May 17, 2018, 8:56 pm
#896
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Discussed in this thread a few times and the answer is no - you’ll have to pay for both transports.
May 18, 2018, 2:12 pm
#897
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, UA Mileage Plus 1K, AA Executive Plat, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 2,344
This place is awful. I checked out half way through an 8 night stay booked at the Paradise is Closer points rate. Happily paid through the nose at a proper Maldives resort. I think the positive reviews of this place must come from people who never experienced true luxury, service and beaches in Maldives. Some of the points in a (much longer) memo I sent to my Ambassador are pasted below.
Bicycles: Bicycles are huge at Maldivian resorts – it’s the main way to get around on demand unless you want to sit around and wait for golf carts (we’re the active sorts, we LOVE riding our bikes in Maldives). So when we arrive with 3 guests booked to our room, we only had 2 adult bicycles at checkin. Even though dying to ride our bikes to lunch and dinner the first day, didn’t have a bike for my 8 year old son until well on my second day. When he finally hops on and rides, he disappears only to WALK back with the bike minutes later. I ask him what happened and informs me that his bike has NO BRAKES! Apparently front and rear brake calipers had been removed and no one had checked before bringing the bike to our room. This could have been a major disaster if he took off and fell in the ocean – mind you our overwater villa is connected to the island by a long narrow wooden pier. Took even longer for a working bike to be found. Meanwhile, the two adult bikes are set for six footers and cannot be adjusted without engineering being dispatched (unlike regular bikes where the rider can adjust with a simple lever – other resorts all have these). So after waiting and waiting for a working bike for my son, when we finally all think we can travel around together by the end of our second day we discover my wife’s bike is set way too high and we would need to wait for an engineer to fix.
Kids Club: The worst part of the trip and the straw that broke the camels back given the other issues. Every year at the beach, Maldives or elsewhere, my son puts on a rashguard for (1) sun protection and (2) to repel water/moisture. Pretty typical for an 8 year old boy. So on Easter Sunday, our 2nd day at the St Regis, my son is very eager to join the kids club for the scheduled activities (egg hunt, races, etc.). I bring him by after lunch and one of the attendants says “maybe your son wont be comfortable with that shirt on.” Knowing my son and what is best for him in the heat and sun, I confirm in her presence that he is indeed comfortable and that I prefer he wear his rashguard top until sundown. Not less than a few minutes later, my wife sees my son riding his bike around the resort (???). Why on earth is he riding around aimlessly? Well, the very same Kids Club attendant who I spoke with told my son he would need to go to the villa to change his shirt. Mind you, he doesn’t have a room key. Mind you, I just had a conversation with this same attendant where I confirmed he would be wearing his rashguard all day. There is no rule or sign about rashguards not being worn to the kids club nor should there be – it’s a BEACH RESORT. Every resort I’ve been to (Maldives, Hawaii, Cancun -- whether Starwood or not) pretty much every like-aged boy is wearing one. So an attendant on her own accord makes up a rule and made my son feel unwelcome. I call the kids club and ask for the name of the woman who I spoke to and who then asked my son to leave. She WOULDN’T GIVE ME HER NAME. I called the front desk and spoke to the manager on duty, Ahmed. Received a disingenuous note from the kids club that evening apologizing for the misunderstanding. Frankly, total BS and a result my son felt unwelcome at the kids club and didn’t want to return. So for the remainder of my (soon aborted) stay at the St Regis, I was the Kids Club. Mind you, I love my son and love playing with him but I too wanted some R&R (read my book, take a nap, etc.) and that was now impossible.
Trash Floating by Water Villa: Reason I mention call to the front desk above is that as I’m complaining about the ridiculous treatment of both my son and me by the Kids Club attendant, a field of trash appears floating outside my water villa. Bottles, construction debris, papers, etc. Sign was on the wall that I should leave at this point. Of course, the St Regis didn’t pro-actively dispatch anyone to remove all the trash and told me tide would take it out (it did, but it’s beyond acceptable and disgusting at a resort of this caliber).
Beach & Main Pool: The main beach is almost unusable. Because the water is shallow for a fair distance from the beach, one must walk through the shallow water to get to a swimmable depth. However, the way the beach was constructed a field of dead coral pieces was left exposed under water on top of the sand. Seems like many of the guests realized this, as there were never more than a half-dozen people attempting to ford out away from the shore. Coincidentally, spoke with a (former) St Regis employee who now works at the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru who explained that when the St Regis beach was constructed (not a naturally formed beach) dead corals were buried under the sand rather than hauled away (which would have cost more money). Of course, with the tide sand is carried away from the beach and shallow areas and the result is a field of exposed sharp corals.
The beach had plenty of guests using the available chairs. However, there was never an attendant around to bring fresh towels or remove old towels from abandoned chairs. Nor was there any central repository of clean towels, which even if it were setup somewhere was out of towels by 11am. It is shocking there are no attendants circling the beach to provide water, small snacks or provide any services whatsoever. For purposes of comparison, the beach at the Four Seasons has 7 (SEVEN) attendants working a similar sized (but much nicer) beach providing fresh towels, cold refreshment towels, water, fruit bites and even sunglass cleaning! Lower resorts provide all of the above, maybe not the sunglass cleaning though, lol.
The main pool behind the beach was no solace from the beach situation. By the afternoon, the filtration system of the pool would be overwhelmed and there would be a film of murky goo on top of the water by the filter inlets. Presumably it was accumulated sunscreen but this is something that wouldn’t be expected at a 2 star resort, let alone this property.
Restaurant Service / Water: It’s hot in Maldives. Really hot. When we sit down for a meal, first thing we want is a cold glass of water. For our first 3 meals, we could not get water for the life of us. We asked and asked and asked. Mind you, this is to get a ridiculous $14 bottle of Evian (other Maldivian resorts somehow provide complimentary water, but that isn’t the point). I’m parched, I’m happy to pay $$$ to quench my thirst. 5-10 even more requests are made. 10-15 minutes go by. This is multiple meals. This is ridiculous.
Restaurant Availability: Speaking of meals, for two of our first 3 nights we could not get a seating at any restaurant at the resort before 9pm. We have an 8 year old son for crying out loud, how about a little earlier? Sorry, cant do, we’re fully booked. At least one restaurant on the island was closed each evening. No one could tell us what restaurants would be available until the morning of. Then that same morning of, everything is booked until late at night. On our own accord one night, we went to Orientale at 8:30 when we kept pressing for earlier availability and told we could be fit in 30 minutes earlier. The restaurant WAS EMPTY, only a few table were occupied. So we were kept waiting in our room for a late dinner for no reason. Of course, even though we got them to accommodate us 30 minutes early, getting our place settings or water was another waiting ordeal (see paragraph above)
Lack of Management / Understaffing: Every request had to go through our butler, Riyaz. The guy worked hard. But after pressing him about the massive amount of issues we encountered (and there’s more than the above, but it’s hard regurgitating it all) he admitted that the resort had reached full capacity at the last moment and the resort was understaffed in all areas. There was not a manager in site, during normal operations or after our experience went off the rails with problems. I only met a single duty manager (Ahmed). The GM (or so we were told) was off island which is shocking during Easter week during high season at 100% occupancy. No one in management below the GM approached us at any time before the departure – just the front desk manager Ahmed. Disturbing given that we’re frequent travelers and SPG Platinum guests. Disgusting once you consider the fact that we had it with the resort’s constant problems and had demanded a seaplane off island -- why isn't management investigating what happened?
Departure: I think this tells the whole story but on 4/3 we asked for a seaplane out at 6am on 4/4 so we could change to the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. Sleep didn’t matter, breakfast didn’t matter. We needed out of the St Regis ASAP to salvage our vacation and long travel time invested in coming all the way to the Maldives from LA. Cost was no object, saving our vacation was the goal. And boy did we save it, the Four Seasons experience was flawless as usual and highlighted all (The MANY) shortcomings with the St Regis operation, management and beach. Mind you, the St Regis has far superior rooms to the Four Seasons. Yet the Four Seasons blows the St Regis out of the water on all other fronts.
Bicycles: Bicycles are huge at Maldivian resorts – it’s the main way to get around on demand unless you want to sit around and wait for golf carts (we’re the active sorts, we LOVE riding our bikes in Maldives). So when we arrive with 3 guests booked to our room, we only had 2 adult bicycles at checkin. Even though dying to ride our bikes to lunch and dinner the first day, didn’t have a bike for my 8 year old son until well on my second day. When he finally hops on and rides, he disappears only to WALK back with the bike minutes later. I ask him what happened and informs me that his bike has NO BRAKES! Apparently front and rear brake calipers had been removed and no one had checked before bringing the bike to our room. This could have been a major disaster if he took off and fell in the ocean – mind you our overwater villa is connected to the island by a long narrow wooden pier. Took even longer for a working bike to be found. Meanwhile, the two adult bikes are set for six footers and cannot be adjusted without engineering being dispatched (unlike regular bikes where the rider can adjust with a simple lever – other resorts all have these). So after waiting and waiting for a working bike for my son, when we finally all think we can travel around together by the end of our second day we discover my wife’s bike is set way too high and we would need to wait for an engineer to fix.
Kids Club: The worst part of the trip and the straw that broke the camels back given the other issues. Every year at the beach, Maldives or elsewhere, my son puts on a rashguard for (1) sun protection and (2) to repel water/moisture. Pretty typical for an 8 year old boy. So on Easter Sunday, our 2nd day at the St Regis, my son is very eager to join the kids club for the scheduled activities (egg hunt, races, etc.). I bring him by after lunch and one of the attendants says “maybe your son wont be comfortable with that shirt on.” Knowing my son and what is best for him in the heat and sun, I confirm in her presence that he is indeed comfortable and that I prefer he wear his rashguard top until sundown. Not less than a few minutes later, my wife sees my son riding his bike around the resort (???). Why on earth is he riding around aimlessly? Well, the very same Kids Club attendant who I spoke with told my son he would need to go to the villa to change his shirt. Mind you, he doesn’t have a room key. Mind you, I just had a conversation with this same attendant where I confirmed he would be wearing his rashguard all day. There is no rule or sign about rashguards not being worn to the kids club nor should there be – it’s a BEACH RESORT. Every resort I’ve been to (Maldives, Hawaii, Cancun -- whether Starwood or not) pretty much every like-aged boy is wearing one. So an attendant on her own accord makes up a rule and made my son feel unwelcome. I call the kids club and ask for the name of the woman who I spoke to and who then asked my son to leave. She WOULDN’T GIVE ME HER NAME. I called the front desk and spoke to the manager on duty, Ahmed. Received a disingenuous note from the kids club that evening apologizing for the misunderstanding. Frankly, total BS and a result my son felt unwelcome at the kids club and didn’t want to return. So for the remainder of my (soon aborted) stay at the St Regis, I was the Kids Club. Mind you, I love my son and love playing with him but I too wanted some R&R (read my book, take a nap, etc.) and that was now impossible.
Trash Floating by Water Villa: Reason I mention call to the front desk above is that as I’m complaining about the ridiculous treatment of both my son and me by the Kids Club attendant, a field of trash appears floating outside my water villa. Bottles, construction debris, papers, etc. Sign was on the wall that I should leave at this point. Of course, the St Regis didn’t pro-actively dispatch anyone to remove all the trash and told me tide would take it out (it did, but it’s beyond acceptable and disgusting at a resort of this caliber).
Beach & Main Pool: The main beach is almost unusable. Because the water is shallow for a fair distance from the beach, one must walk through the shallow water to get to a swimmable depth. However, the way the beach was constructed a field of dead coral pieces was left exposed under water on top of the sand. Seems like many of the guests realized this, as there were never more than a half-dozen people attempting to ford out away from the shore. Coincidentally, spoke with a (former) St Regis employee who now works at the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru who explained that when the St Regis beach was constructed (not a naturally formed beach) dead corals were buried under the sand rather than hauled away (which would have cost more money). Of course, with the tide sand is carried away from the beach and shallow areas and the result is a field of exposed sharp corals.
The beach had plenty of guests using the available chairs. However, there was never an attendant around to bring fresh towels or remove old towels from abandoned chairs. Nor was there any central repository of clean towels, which even if it were setup somewhere was out of towels by 11am. It is shocking there are no attendants circling the beach to provide water, small snacks or provide any services whatsoever. For purposes of comparison, the beach at the Four Seasons has 7 (SEVEN) attendants working a similar sized (but much nicer) beach providing fresh towels, cold refreshment towels, water, fruit bites and even sunglass cleaning! Lower resorts provide all of the above, maybe not the sunglass cleaning though, lol.
The main pool behind the beach was no solace from the beach situation. By the afternoon, the filtration system of the pool would be overwhelmed and there would be a film of murky goo on top of the water by the filter inlets. Presumably it was accumulated sunscreen but this is something that wouldn’t be expected at a 2 star resort, let alone this property.
Restaurant Service / Water: It’s hot in Maldives. Really hot. When we sit down for a meal, first thing we want is a cold glass of water. For our first 3 meals, we could not get water for the life of us. We asked and asked and asked. Mind you, this is to get a ridiculous $14 bottle of Evian (other Maldivian resorts somehow provide complimentary water, but that isn’t the point). I’m parched, I’m happy to pay $$$ to quench my thirst. 5-10 even more requests are made. 10-15 minutes go by. This is multiple meals. This is ridiculous.
Restaurant Availability: Speaking of meals, for two of our first 3 nights we could not get a seating at any restaurant at the resort before 9pm. We have an 8 year old son for crying out loud, how about a little earlier? Sorry, cant do, we’re fully booked. At least one restaurant on the island was closed each evening. No one could tell us what restaurants would be available until the morning of. Then that same morning of, everything is booked until late at night. On our own accord one night, we went to Orientale at 8:30 when we kept pressing for earlier availability and told we could be fit in 30 minutes earlier. The restaurant WAS EMPTY, only a few table were occupied. So we were kept waiting in our room for a late dinner for no reason. Of course, even though we got them to accommodate us 30 minutes early, getting our place settings or water was another waiting ordeal (see paragraph above)
Lack of Management / Understaffing: Every request had to go through our butler, Riyaz. The guy worked hard. But after pressing him about the massive amount of issues we encountered (and there’s more than the above, but it’s hard regurgitating it all) he admitted that the resort had reached full capacity at the last moment and the resort was understaffed in all areas. There was not a manager in site, during normal operations or after our experience went off the rails with problems. I only met a single duty manager (Ahmed). The GM (or so we were told) was off island which is shocking during Easter week during high season at 100% occupancy. No one in management below the GM approached us at any time before the departure – just the front desk manager Ahmed. Disturbing given that we’re frequent travelers and SPG Platinum guests. Disgusting once you consider the fact that we had it with the resort’s constant problems and had demanded a seaplane off island -- why isn't management investigating what happened?
Departure: I think this tells the whole story but on 4/3 we asked for a seaplane out at 6am on 4/4 so we could change to the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. Sleep didn’t matter, breakfast didn’t matter. We needed out of the St Regis ASAP to salvage our vacation and long travel time invested in coming all the way to the Maldives from LA. Cost was no object, saving our vacation was the goal. And boy did we save it, the Four Seasons experience was flawless as usual and highlighted all (The MANY) shortcomings with the St Regis operation, management and beach. Mind you, the St Regis has far superior rooms to the Four Seasons. Yet the Four Seasons blows the St Regis out of the water on all other fronts.
May 22, 2018, 2:29 pm
#898
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
It happens and this resort isn't large by any means. Saudis can and do book a resort or quite a few rooms and fly in on a whim. Not making excuses for this property though as if you look back in the thread there are multiple complaints about this and that being booked up but no-one fills the tables etc. Perhaps they are trying to keep everyone at the buffet as they must still be short-staffed.
May 23, 2018, 3:08 am
#899
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
I was there a couple of months ago and they claimed that Orientale was fully booked up but I insisted that it was a special occasion and we would love to eat there. The restaurant was 50% empty once we got there for a 8pm table and stayed that way all night.
BTW we wanted to try out both the Garden bungalow and a OW Villa. Preferred the bungalow as they gave us a villa at the end which got a fair amount of wind from the open sea and the swimming pool never got any sunlight. The water was freezing and we were even colder once we got out as the winds hit you. We used the pool in the OWB twice whereas the Garden Villa one we used all day.
If anyone is going there do ask for a Villa facing the inner lagoon and not towards the sea as these get less sun. I think the villa's to the left as soon should be ok though.
BTW we wanted to try out both the Garden bungalow and a OW Villa. Preferred the bungalow as they gave us a villa at the end which got a fair amount of wind from the open sea and the swimming pool never got any sunlight. The water was freezing and we were even colder once we got out as the winds hit you. We used the pool in the OWB twice whereas the Garden Villa one we used all day.
If anyone is going there do ask for a Villa facing the inner lagoon and not towards the sea as these get less sun. I think the villa's to the left as soon should be ok though.