The St. Regis Aruba Resort

Anyone used to 5 star hotels experience will be very disappointed. As with many new hotels the St. Regis is lacking in food choices, activities, and experienced staff. They are not even close to the level you would expect from a St. Regis. I hope that will improve with time. One example of many of the poor service was our experience with the concierge. The first day we asked for a good restaurant for the evening. They recommended one and we asked them to book a reservation for us. The concierge sent us an email confirming the reservation. When we showed up at the restaurant the hostess laughed at us, saying they never take reservations and there would be a 2 hour wait, thus ruining our evening. Inexcusable to say the least…. Especially from the St. Regis. By way of history of the hotel site, the St. Regis was built on a beach the locals have used for years… putting it mildly, the people of Aruba are not too happy with the arrival of the hotel. In fact our first day, there was a protest on the beach with police responding (photo provided). We usually stay at the Ritz Carlton Aruba, but we were excited to stay at the St. Regis given it was the new kid on the block. Aside from what was previously said, the most important problems for the St. Regis cannot be easily solved…….. they are its location, location, and location. To the immediate south of the property is a public parking lot and public Beach. Since the St. Regis does not have wrist bands as other properties in Aruba do, cruise ship passengers and locals get dropped off and use all the amenities and facilities of the St. Regis. ….(Towels, Outdoor cafe, bathrooms, pool, and even beach chairs as many of us witnessed). Not once during our stay did anyone ask us for a room key or our room number to identify ourselves as guests, except when we ordered food. When all the cruise lines learn of this, expect it to be packed with non-St. Regis guests. In addition the beach umbrellas are not moveable since they are cemented down to the ground. Therefore locals and day trippers may sit right in front of the guest chairs on the beach because the first few yards of beach are all public (see photo). I don’t blame the locals or day trippers, I would love to use a resort free of charge. The Aruba people are very nice and respectful. The big problem is guests who pay real money like me are not happy with the St. Regis for allowing this to happen and diluting their experience. To the immediate North is the Riu, more specifically the adult Riu party pool that blasts music all day. This didn’t bother my wife and I but those looking for a quiet beach/ pool experience will be hearing loud music and noise all day. Third, the ocean floor at the St. Regis beach is more rocky than sandy……It felt like walking on jagged uneven cement. Many guests including myself had cuts on our feet just walking in the water, which was cloudy all week so you could not see the rocks. In comparison, the Ritz

I must say I had very high expectations due to my previous stays in St. Regis hotels all over the world and due to the promised butler service St. Regis made its name in the past plus the price of USD 1,500 per night. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met at all. The hotel itself is really nice, nice location in front of a beautiful beach, various pools, friendly staff, all good so far.  But the staff needs to be trained far better and the promised butler service did not exist. Here are various examples: I tried to reserve a table for one of the two nights during my stay and was told that all restaurants at the hotel are fully booked - even though the hotel was not fully booked and later that day I observed various people from other hotels were going to the hotel restaurants. Sorry, but a hotel of this high-end category needs to pre-reserve tables for its guests.  Other example at the beach/pool side: Where other guests were lucky and the staff brought towels - I had to get my own while various staff members watched me getting it. At a hotel at this category with a butler service this is also a no go.  I truly hope for the hotel that these incidences are due to the fact the hotel just recently opened - to become the same super exclusive St. Regis hotel as in other locations.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY! STAY SOMEWHERE ELSE! We had originally booked for the Ritz Carlton Aruba, but the St. Regis opened up just before our trip and so we decided to move our stay here. It is a quick trip, 4 days 3 nights before heading to Curacao, we have never been to either island. Before we got here, the problems began. I received an email for another guest from a guest relations manager. I replied that it was not me she emailed and asked if she would be assisting me during my stay. NOTHING! I sent another email a couple of days later and got an out of office they would be back the next day so I knew my emails were going thru. Again, NOTHING. I had to take care of all my reservations for the stay on my own. I don't want to sound like a Karen, but when you are paying almost $5,000.00 for 3 nights at what is supposed to be a brand new 5 star hotel, there is a base level of service that you expect and one that I have experienced at other St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Edition, Waldorf-Astoria, Ritz Carlton Yacht, and Luxury Collection properties. THEY DO NOT OFFER THEM HERE, or maybe just not to me a lifetime PLATINUM MARRIOTT BONVOY MEMBER. I ended up corresponding with someone via the chat on the app to try to get Distilled Water for my C-PAP (while confirmed, it still hasn't been delivered). I shared my frustration with the lack of service- this is a St. Regis- Marriotts answer to the Four Seasons. The level of service is more Motel 6. When we arrived to the hotel, a bellman came to get our bags, but that was it. We had to open to doors to the hotel ourselves. There was a couple checking in ahead of us, so we waited and waited. Now, two different team members came out of the back office, but not one of them offered to help us. Just walked out, looked at us waiting, then walked back into office. We finally get to our room, I booked a King Oceanfront room, not hoping I would get an upgrade, I booked and paid for an ocean front room. Not partial view, but OCEAN FRONT. You can see the photo, our view was hotel and ocean. This room is $1,500 a night. I had to complain and we finally got moved. We get to our room and there are literally 4 hangers. I called to get more and ask for our bags to be unpacked by the butler, a service I was offered - not asked for but offered. You can see how they unpacked our belongings and left many things laying around. The bags were unpacked, but horribly. I think tonight the straw that broke the camels back was the turn down service. It is one of my favorite things about staying at a 5 star hotel. I LOVE TURN DOWN SERVICE. What did we come back to? They closed the blinds, turned on the lights and that was it. There were dirty towels left laying about, the bed was not fully turned down and once again I had to call, it is now 30 minutes and no one has shown up. Here is my over arching problem, I am not trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear, I AM AT A ST. REGIS that opened two week