St. Regis

In this installment of our our travels we saved up Avios miles from every conceivable way, Pick n Pay Smartshopper points conversion to BP fuel spend to local domestic flights + what ever transfer bonuses came up.
* This trip has its own Youtube video review, click HERE.

In this we got our return flights under a cost of Zar 4300 ($288) for all 7pax.

For the 13x nights accommodation I used a minimal amount of IHG points, earned from our previous trips lengthy stay in Saudi Arabia Dec/Jan 2019. The bulk of Marrott points came from our stays through USA, Thailand, Hong Kong, Maldives in the 12 months prior, SPG’s merge of 3x points benefited the account in a healthy and pleasant way.

Our itinerary went as follows:

2x nights @ Holiday Inn – Booked FREE @15k IHG points per night.

10x nights @ St. Regis – Booked FREE with 480k Marriott points.

1x night @ Holiday Inn – Booked FREE @15k IHG points per night.

Day 1: off the plane – into the pool.

So why Holiday Inn?

Tip 1: They offer a FREE airport shuttle being an airport hotel, they also offer FREE shuttle service to their beach house on the East Side, that we made good use of on this and previous visits. As flight times landed late it made no sense to go to straight to St. Regis, rather have a rest and do a early check in on day of arrival to maximize the value of the main accommodation. Like wise on day of check out, make it a late one and then go to Holiday Inn where you can give the rental car back and use their FREE shuttle service on next day of departure.

I planned everything to the Tee by weekend landing to score the 50% off snacks and mocktails at Holiday Inn to getting full moon at St. Regis the week later. The sunsets and full moon sets on the West side are amazing, thus I learned from Mauritius trip1 many moons ago..

Tip 2: Also, as Im often packed for many other journeys ahead, convenient hotels I can return to later again I tend to leave my extra luggage with clean clothes, extra baby formula, nappies, clothing for a different season ect at the hotels storage room, this takes the extra baggage not needed off my shoulders for a short duration. I tend to do this at most destinations the world over.

Day 2: using the beach house, a 3 bedroom beachfront property for Holiday Inn guests, accessible from a complimentary 10 minute shuttle drive.

Happy hour has 50% off yummy snacks in the evening. Savouries galore like you think its Ramadhaan.

Upgraded value:

Holiday Inn upgraded us a IHG Spire Elite members to King Executive Suite worth 145 Euro per night. Total Value: 435 Euro.

St. Regis upgraded us as top tier Bonvoy members to Beachfront Grand Suite worth $1750 per night. Total Value: $17,500

Car rental upgrade, apologies here, I did not take note what the 7 seaters go for per day, but we rarely used the car as the St. Regis resort was so awesome, however a quick search yields a value of $600 for 10days. Fuel however, shew, its pricey.

Flying in:

Finaly we got to use our saved up Avios miles on BA/Comair,  per person charges were 17,000 Avios + R700 taxes for a return ticket between Johannesburg and Mauritius. This goes under domestic/regional routing on the award chart. Its the best value for Avios by far.

17000 Avios + Zar700 tax for a return International flight.

We also booked our vehicle through Avios. When the rental vehicle arrived unfortunately it was not the type booked so next best thing for upgrade the consultant offered his 7seater much to our travel needs as I could now load the coffin surfboard in the car and not tie it to the roof.

The booking.

Maximizing points with 5th night free we redeemed a total of 480k Marriott Bonvoy points, much thanks to the triplicate SPG points conversion of the merger, for a total of 10 FREE nights.

480,000 Bonvoy points redeemed at St. Regis Mauritius.

This is what the standard cash prices are during peak.

The upgrade.

We were upgraded to a Beachfront Grand Suite as per below. Superb views on the sands edge, so close I could wake up and cast my fishing rod from the balcony into the ocean.

This is the value we received. $17,500 in upgrades. That’s heaps more than what we spent touring the world 12 months prior racking up the points needed. This is #theSMARTERway to travel.

Last cloud out its time to tan about.

The Suite.

Views comes standard with oohs.

Family shower at its best, perfect if you have many small kids.

The complimentary breakfast.

I’ve surfed, I’ve snorkled, I’ve splashed with the kiddies and its only 9am, hunger at its peak.

Options, this I love. We had the option of the buffet area and the A’la carte restaurant across situated on the beach that had a stellar five star service bespoke with what ever you could dream up.

A’la Carte bespoke options.

Mille-feuille with some extra custard to dip into , my favourite.

Not for eating, this was provided for bait to fish later on.

The resort.

Whew, what a place. We only ventured out at night time as the day has us so engulfed in the relaxation and prime location of the property.

The spa at night.

Full moon setting at 4am.

Empty bliss.

What I got back after checkout:

Honestly not alot as this has been an award stay. I had a few extra special dinners planned as well as some spa treatments that awarded me about enough points for one free night that I redeemed at another Marriott brand of airport hotels saving me close to Zar 3500, hey thats just about what I paid in eats n spa treats to get the points….