JNelson113

This is a great hotel, especially given the value. We spent our first anniversary there and were treated extremely well. I only wish it were not so far away.

Starwood Lurker II

Hi BW,

Such a well written review.

Great pictures too.



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gleff

Glad you enjoyed your stay, BlissWorld!

mrs. gleff and I stayed in the two-bedroom villa last summer (3 nights booked in the villa, 3 nights in the royal suite, the latter were upgraded to the villa so we wouldn't have to change). But internet in the room wasn't functional, we had to go up to the lobby for free wireless. And we didn't have the option of breakfast delivered to our room complimentary, or at least it wasn't mentioned to us. Perhaps that was because we had booked the room in Ugandan Schillings?

Still, it was fabulous and the service outstanding. I loved how they brought us 8-10 bottles of water at a time with each service of the room (so when it was being made up and during turndown service). Though perhaps that's because each evening they saw all the water gone -- we stored it in the refrigerator in the kitchen. ^

And I agree with the spa, it's actually one of the better ones I visited in Asia. Even with the Baht at a then-alltime high against the dollar, a 60 minute massage was running ~ US$38 (although while we were there during low season all spa treatments were 25% off! and all food on property was 20% off! Go LM Khao Lak!)

Congrats on the trip!

kyushuman

I'm looking at this hotel for a few nights next week. It seems that SPG Plat recognition has really improved here, so I am considering staying here.
They have a Spa package for 3 nights:
Includes daily BF, RT airport Transfers, and (2) 2-hour Spa treatments per person, per stay. Rate is (US$180+) in Dlx room, (US$275+) in Lagoon Villa. Total price for 3 nts, including taxes: approx. US$700 vs. US$950.
Seems a decent deal, since the Airport Transfers, even when dealing with Taxi mafia, will run around US$100+ RT, and 4 hours of Spa Treatments should go for around US$160+, right?

1) So, just looking for some advice from anyone who's stayed here recently.....if I end up getting a cheapish flight to HKT, would you recommend I save the money, book a Deluxe Room, and hope for an upgrade to suite/villa?
2) From what I see here, at least a while ago, upgrades were at best to deluxe suites. Are they upgrading now to Villas?
3) They don't seem to offer Oceanfront Villas on the site. If they are available, and I'm already booked in a lower-category villa, would an upgrade from Lagoon Villa to higher category seem possible?
Thanks in advance for any help!

gleff

Wow, that spa package is an amazing deal! (It *is* the absolute bottom season for them -- I went last year in July and loved it though, it was hot and rained only once for a short time in 6 days. They'll probably be offering a food discount once you're there.)

Don't know current plat experiences outside of this thread. Why not ask the hotel what you can expect? Personally I'd pay the premium for the Villa.

Thunderroad

Andie007 provided this useful answer to a previous post of mine re whether it's wortwhile to pay 1,000 extra points on an award stay for a pool view versus a garden view room. But things have gotten a bit more complicated in that now I can get cash plus points ($45/2800) for a garden view versus 8000 points for a pool view in January. We plan on staying for 10 days. I've seen posts on Tripadvisor.com about various folks paying an extra $10/night for upper floor rooms (which I guess tranlates into pool view) after originally being put in a ground floor/garden view rooms that were pretty dank. Anyone here have any experience with this? If so, is this a pretty reliable option? And as a Gold do I have even a remot of bagging an upgrade to a suite for 10 days in January?

Thanks for any info.

BlissWorld

I remember walking by the pool area and the garden area. Honestly, you will probably be out and about during the day. And, if you decided to stay at the hotel, you'd most likely be IN the pool, versus looking at the pool. At night, the property is quite dark so you won't see much anyway. So, save your points and just book a garden view room.

Colin

The OceanVillas are an amazing deal at $240/night (buy 2 get 1 free current promo). The equivalent level of accomodation in the Maldives or a Banyan/Aman resort is closer to $1000/night. There is no way I would stay in anything else than the OceanVilla at this fabulous resort. They are simply too nice and too reasonable in price to pass up. How many times in life do you get to live spitting distance from the sand for 10 days?

yosithezet

Did I miss the post where you told us how the Jungle Safari turned out?

Can you give an idea of prices for the safari, the national park and tour to Phi Phi?

Is it worth it to get a car and say drive to the national park independently? Can you rent a car in Khao Lak?

gleff

Wow, where is the $240/night deal on the Villas? I stayed in the 2-bedroom villa a year ago on the UGX promo but would go back at $240/night.

FlyingOnceMore

I presume Colin is looking at the current low-season rate of 10,000THB + taxes. On a 3 for 2 deal, that comes out to an average $240/night.

Starwood Z3R Deals

gleff

That really is a sweet deal on the one-bedroom villa.

Technically IIRC you can't reserve back-to-back Z3Rs. But I guess if you were traveling with someone you could make one reservation in your name, one in theirs, back-to-back. (That's what I did on the UGX Z3R promo.)

FlyingOnceMore

Not sure about that, but you could just do a Z6R (6 nights for 4 deal) instead.

yosithezet

Hrm...I booked back to back. It let me do it so I assume it is ok.

I tried Z6R after seeing this and it isn't available for the same period. I hope there is no problem.

gfowler-ord-1k

The T&C clearly state "Consecutive reservations for this offer will not be honored." I doubt that the reservation system is smart enough to enforce this, but the hotel might. I would do what gleff suggested - change name on one of them if you can -- call Starwood reservations. You could be in for an unpleasant surprise if they don't honor.

You may have taken the last room available on those dates for the buy/get free rates.