The JW Marriott Khao Lak is a fantastic resort hotel, located on the mainland of Thailand just over an hours drive north from Phuket Airport. The stand out feature of the hotel is the extensive swimming pool which has canal type sections that pass by a huge number of rooms- as a result many of the hotels rooms have direct access to the swimming pool. I imagine it is quite amazing to be able to slide from your room into the pool and to be able to swim to any of two swim up bars and a number of restaurants.
I have visited this resort twice. On both occasions I have received a very generous upgrade. Both times I booked the most basic room type. Once I was upgraded to a duplex suite, which was huge, and a very pleasant to have stairs leading up to the sleeping area, a downstairs toilet for guests and a huge bath in the en-suite. On my second visit we were given a huge suite on the second floor. The outside shower in the bathroom was awesome. It should be noted that neither of these rooms had pool access......though I would rather have suite without pool access that a room with- not everyone will agree with that.
Marriott elites are valued at this property- during the off-off season, we also benefited from happy hour cocktails in any of the bars. The excellent kids club hours over lap happy hour- which meant we were able to enjoy a cocktail or two without our children, collecting them before heading off for dinner.
In the "off-off" season rooms can be picked up for £60 per night or less. It is still warm, but the sea can be a bit rough and the rain can make the pool a bit chilly. As the main season begins, around October, the sea should be calm, the rain less frequent and the rooms still inexpensive. In the high season, room rates do increase, heading up to around £120 per night.
This resort is a great option for those wanting 5 star luxury on a reasonable budget, especially if you have status in the Marriott rewards programme.
Showing posts with label Khao Lak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Khao Lak. Show all posts
Friday, 15 May 2015
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Marriott Rewards- Why this is my main hotel loyalty scheme
Marriott has been my preferred hotel brand for the last five years. As with airlines I view the miles or points as secondary to a programme, and see the benefits for status as the main reason for concentrating stays with one brand. I have found Marriott Hotels keen to respect the benefits outlined in the plan, and they often go beyond what is required.
For me, the key benefit of elite membership is guaranteed lounge access this starts when you have gold status (50 nights) If the hotel has a lounge, you get access. No arguments. The one downside of this policy is that the lounges can be crowded. I find this more of a problem in Europe than in Asia though.
The room upgrades I have received over the four years have varied from spectacular (JW Marriott Khao Lak) to routinely non-existent (JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur). You get to know the hotels that upgrade, and those that don't. The Rennaissance in Kuala Lumpur is one that always does upgrade, and when I moved from Gold status to Platinum status I have often found myself in a Suite.
One drawback of the programme is that the only way to status is nights, although these can be earned from credit card spend in the UK and US, in general the only way to get nights in ASEAN is to stay. 50 nights for gold and 75 nights for platinum is a lot. But this means they can (and do) reward customers with status well.
A further drawback with Marriott rewards is that their points promotions are less generous than other brands- and the more you stay the worse your targeted promotions seem to get. Finally, I find the lack of centrally located mid range hotels in London a pain. During my next London trip I will be staying at a Radisson- where I have no status, because I wasn't prepared to fork out over £300 for a Marriott room.
If you think that Marriott rewards could be for you, the key is to get status as soon as you can. Customer service will often offer a challenge- stay X nights in 3 months and we'll give you Gold Status- in fact they sometimes give you Gold Status, and then let you keep it if you stay X times in three months. It is certainly worth an email to customer service if you have some Marriott stays in the near future.
Finally, arranging a "rewarding event" in a Marriott results in a 10 night credit to you account. I usually arrange two such meetings a year. The 30 qualifying nights I therefore need to retain gold status is a much more reasonable target to obtain.
For me, the key benefit of elite membership is guaranteed lounge access this starts when you have gold status (50 nights) If the hotel has a lounge, you get access. No arguments. The one downside of this policy is that the lounges can be crowded. I find this more of a problem in Europe than in Asia though.
The room upgrades I have received over the four years have varied from spectacular (JW Marriott Khao Lak) to routinely non-existent (JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur). You get to know the hotels that upgrade, and those that don't. The Rennaissance in Kuala Lumpur is one that always does upgrade, and when I moved from Gold status to Platinum status I have often found myself in a Suite.
One drawback of the programme is that the only way to status is nights, although these can be earned from credit card spend in the UK and US, in general the only way to get nights in ASEAN is to stay. 50 nights for gold and 75 nights for platinum is a lot. But this means they can (and do) reward customers with status well.
A further drawback with Marriott rewards is that their points promotions are less generous than other brands- and the more you stay the worse your targeted promotions seem to get. Finally, I find the lack of centrally located mid range hotels in London a pain. During my next London trip I will be staying at a Radisson- where I have no status, because I wasn't prepared to fork out over £300 for a Marriott room.
If you think that Marriott rewards could be for you, the key is to get status as soon as you can. Customer service will often offer a challenge- stay X nights in 3 months and we'll give you Gold Status- in fact they sometimes give you Gold Status, and then let you keep it if you stay X times in three months. It is certainly worth an email to customer service if you have some Marriott stays in the near future.
Finally, arranging a "rewarding event" in a Marriott results in a 10 night credit to you account. I usually arrange two such meetings a year. The 30 qualifying nights I therefore need to retain gold status is a much more reasonable target to obtain.
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