The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort

We chose St. Regis Punta Mita for a five-day stay with our two kids, February 15-20, as a Platinum Marriott member. It was an easy choice in the area, and we weren’t disappointed by the beautiful resort or its ample amenities. The service has been inconsistent, though there have been some great moments. At the Las Marietas breakfast buffet, we’d been told for the first two days that breakfast was included with the room, and we weren’t charged. On day three, we got a bill for the kids’ breakfasts. I assumed it was a mistake, but the manager said the servers had been wrong not to charge us for the kids earlier. I’ve owned restaurants and understand that mistakes happen. With thousands of dollars spent over five days, the charge itself wasn’t much. The problem was how it was handled. They could have apologized for the misinformation, adjusted the earlier bill, and explained that kids’ breakfast would be charged from the next day. As it was, the interaction didn’t feel right from a service standpoint.

The room was stuck at 85 degrees overnight, and it took more than 24 hours to get the air conditioning fixed. The first maintenance attempt didn’t work, apparently because of a language barrier. I followed up several times and heard nothing, then finally called the front desk directly. This was while my fiancé was sick and uncomfortable. A staff member kindly offered to send coconut water to the room, but it never arrived, and our butler stopped answering messages after being attentive for the first 24 hours. Communication was disorganized, with several text threads and no clear contact. There were food problems, too. As a vegetarian, I received pepperoni pizza instead of cheese through room service, and other meals weren’t good. At breakfast, nobody told us about the food stations outside, which we only found on our last morning. For the price, neither the food nor service was what I’d expect from a St. Regis. The property is beautiful, but checkout was chaotic, with no organization or attempt to get feedback. We stayed in April, and the hotel still hasn’t replied to several follow-up emails. That lack of response adds to an already very disappointing stay, with service and accountability far below expectations.

A month after check-in, the hotel charged my card an extra $3,500. I’d asked repeatedly for an itemized list and copies of the receipts, but they still haven’t sent them all. At checkout, they said they’d remove the charges for the day we waited 1.5 hours for food, but they never addressed the other problems. The delayed food service was painfully slow, and the meals were overpriced. I also had to keep asking for water and cutlery at the restaurants, which is unacceptable for a supposed 5-star property. Our dirty towels and face cloths were taken from the room each day and not replaced. I had to text the butler service for fresh ones, and it took 30-60 minutes. There were bugs in the room as well. The extra card charge is unacceptable and, in my view, illegal. It was an incredibly frustrating stay. I’d avoid this property.

A good stay was overshadowed by jewelry being stolen from a bag in our room by hotel staff. It had been passed down in my family and can’t be replaced. This has affected how safe we feel at St. Regis hotels.