Admiral Ackbar

I spent a lot of winters at the Sea View hotel (with my friends David Brinkley and Bob Dole amongst others) in my teens back in the 80s, is the St-Regis the old Sheraton next door?

ElevatorEnthusiast

It's the same land as the Sheraton but a completely new structure.

svo242

Hah, yes a credit is always nice! Thanks for the info on the buffet - good to see it's opening up a bit more. In April, it was all served by staff and the selection was pretty limited compared to years prior. Sad to hear there is still no bread pudding though...they used to have a white chocolate raspberry bread pudding that was absolutely delicious!

yerffej201

what are the room categories that SNA clear into?

WasKnown

Highest should be Astor Luxe and then Grand Luxe. A lot of data points in the Ambassador fb group of people getting subsequent upgrades on top of this.

Astor Luxe > Imperial suite > Atlantic suite > Royal suite

However, they are mostly pre covid so ymmv. I did not get a suite earlier in the year.

duhe

I received an upgrade to an Imperial Suite without the use of an SNA during the latter part of last year. It was, however, noted with the Ambassador team as my first stay in a Marriott (or any) hotel since the beginning of the pandemic.

WasKnown

That’s awesome. How was the suite? Would it be worth paying for an upgrade if they don’t grant you one?

seegs

I keep going back and forth between St Regis Bal Harbour and Ritz Carlton SOBE for my next stay. I am concerned about the recent negative reviews of the St Regis...are these just one off anomalies or has the hotel really deteriorated that much?

duhe

The suite was fantastic. It features two full balconies overlooking the pool and the beach. Each with some very comfortable seating and sufficient shade conducive to working outdoors.

It was actually a fully stocked living unit, complete with 1.75 bathrooms, full kitchen (stove, full fridge, dishwasher, microwave), and washer/dryer. Easily the nicest complimentary upgrade I’ve ever received. I believe you and I both were granted the Astor Suite in San Francisco and that suite (nice as it may be) doesn’t come close to comparing.

Whether it’s worth the price…I lean yes. A definite yes if I was trying to impress or entertain someone. I was there for almost a week and appreciated feeling as if I was test driving a vacation home.

WasKnown

Wow… I am returning to Bal Harbour in December and will try my luck at an upgrade. Will purchase the upgrade if the rate is reasonable for my stay. Thx.

TerryK

Congrats on scoring Imperial Suite. Imperial Suite, however, is not SNA eligible.

duhe

Apologies if my post created confusion. The post above mine referenced discretionary upgrades beyond the SNA request and I only meant that I did not even put in an official (or unofficial for that matter) suite request and was upgraded anyway.

I do think it had something to do with my return to travel altogether as the Ambassador with whom I spoke was very excited about that fact and I was welcomed back both to Marriott and traveling at the FD at checkin.

svo242

FYI, we're going in April and already got an email about a discounted upgrade. The quoted upgrade for the Imperial Suite was $1,600 per night...

They used to be quite generous here with upgrades, but it seems something has changed since COVID. They have been telling people they can't upgrade to any suites that are now in a resident program (?). Imperial Suites aren't in that program, but there are very few (like 3-4, I believe). We received one in April 2021 as Platinum members, but only after our Astor Luxe room (which we used an SNA for), still wasn't ready at 5pm. At that point, we asked to speak to a manager who suddenly found us a true suite, after being told they were sold out and nothing else was available. They definitely play games with inventory :/

svo242

If you've stayed here before, you will notice some differences, for sure. We stayed here in April, and it was still wonderful overall but definitely not at the same level it was pre-COVID. (Examples: breakfast buffet is of lesser quality, no treats by the pool/beach, must pay for umbrella on the beach, limited days for champagne saber, no turndown service, no late check-outs)

blackavar

We will be going there as a family shortly -- we went in November of 2019 (almost immediately pre-pandemic) and had a fantastic time, including a fabulous upgrade. My SNA already cleared into Astor Luxe Room upgrade, but we'll see if there is any additional upgrades after that (which is what happened in 2019).

I'll give a quick trip report on +/- and compare directly to our visit in 2019.

This is our first "major" trip post pandemic as a family....so will see how they handle kids as well.