We had a short time to visit but snagged a room at the Koi Resort St. Kitts, Curio Collection by Hilton … it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
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We arrived in St. Kitts & Nevis on a cruise and had a day to see the islands. Rather than take a tour, we wanted to sit in front of the ocean, take a dip in the pool, and relax. We had looked at a few options through a service that offers entry into resorts for a fee but the costs were as expensive as booking a room and getting the same benefits.
However, Koi Resort had the ability to get us in right away to an ocean view room, came with the same benefits, and was a less expensive option than others. We opted to give it a try, earn some points, and add another elite qualifying night.
Location
Just a ten-minute ride from the airport or 20 minutes from the cruise port, Koi Resort is located right on the beach and next to a golf course. It’s an incredibly quiet, otherwise residential area with beautiful sweeping views of the ocean and gorgeous terrain that encompasses the islands.
Address: 100 Koi Resort Drive Basseterre St. Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis
Phone: +1 869-465-4499
Property
We arrived at about 1 pm and there wasn’t a light on in the lobby or exterior hallways. It was noticeable because it was a little dark by shade. The hotel has a restaurant and bar, the restaurant was busy but there are few alternatives in the area.
At the back of the property is a half-circle pool with a small structure at the center. The pool has a shallow seating area around the edge (great for kids) but dark features make it tough to see stairs and built-in seats below. There’s a separate small children’s pool adjacent to the main pool as well.
The ocean is absolutely stunning, and the golf course next door provides wide sweeping views of waves rolling in. However, the beach is not accessible. During high tide, it would have been too dangerous to swim for most, and the large rocks at the edge of the beach would have caused a general safety concern. But the stairs leading to the beach have been damaged and two bars of rebar with tired caution tape block the entrance. We came for the beach and while we had excellent views and probably couldn’t swim it anyway, the website clearly shows the steps leading to the beach but there is no beach access.
Service was lacking throughout the property. We were approached just once during a three-hour stay about halfway through for food and beverage. Less than ten people were at the lounge chairs facing the ocean or at the pool throughout the day and never more than six at one time so it wasn’t an issue of staff being too busy.
A staff member had allowed in some friends who shared the pool with us. They brought their own music with them which conflicted with a local hip-hop station on the speakers, not exactly a Curio Collection experience.
Hilton Honors Benefits
As we heard from several in the lobby, the property does honor the breakfast benefits for Gold and Diamond Honors members. We were able to check in early as lowly Silver elites (we are actually gold but there’s an issue with my account displaying properly.)
Ocean View Room
We were pleasantly surprised by the room we received. While a little plain, it was fitted with modern furniture, a pair of clean and comfortable beds, a large TV, and a desk.
The show stopper was the balcony view. Views down the St. Kitts coast and of the golf course were exceptional. The balcony space wasn’t huge but it was sufficient for a breakfast for two or a lovely evening after a day in the sun.
Bathroom
The bathroom was shockingly large. It featured both a stand-alone shower and a separate tub. The room didn’t have any towels, neither bath towels nor pool towels (none were stocked at the pool.) Though staff indicated they would send some up, they didn’t arrive within the 20 minutes we spent changing and using the restroom. I had to go back to the desk and stand there until they called for pool towels, which took another 15 minutes or so to arrive to us outside. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but on a three-hour pool stay, it mattered a lot.
Value
The cost of this stay (essentially a day rate though we booked an overnight because they do not sell day rates) was $183 with all taxes ($147 without.) When compared to booking access to a resort, it was cheaper to book the whole room, use the facilities, and earn the stay credit and points. Frankly, I’m torn as to whether we would return. The views of the ocean were so good that it has my heart, but the state of the “resort” was poor, the service was bad, and I don’t know if we could stay there for more than a few days without being restless. Don’t even think about using your points at 55,000 per night – that’s an outright joke.
What do you think? Have you visited this property? How was your experience? Did we get what we paid for?
55k isnt a terrible redemption for a nice(ish) Caribbean stay considering Amex transfers 1:2 to HH. Especially if you can hit a transfer bonus like the recent 20%. Can you do better? Sure. But still not terrible, especially for the points rich booking an aspirational island getaway.
The destination is aspirational, the property is not.
Welcome back Kyle!
Where did I go?
If I had to guess, Santastico is referring to the actual quality of the content this Sunday vs. the obvious recent spiel of trying to get others to subsidize your river boat tour.
Anyways, good job today.
Can’t see the line, can you Russ? RUSS?!?
I literally just booked this place yesterday for a stay in the spring. Given that I have the Aspire card, the price seemed pretty reasonable once you take into account free breakfast and the $200 resort credit.
Most of the reviews I found online are quick to highlight that there is no beach access – I’m a little surprised that you hadn’t run across it before arriving. I’ll have a rental car, so I plan on being out and about most of the day and the lack of beach access doesn’t bother me.
We looked at the images online (which are still live as of this morning) and it clearly shows a path to the beach. When Googled (on the island, no less) Koi Reef came up as the best beach in St. Kitt’s and the Hilton (which wasn’t otherwise on our radar) was recommended.
This is what I wrote on Trip Advisor after a stay of 2 weeks in April 2023. I had 2 weeks of it. You can clearly see my review echoed almost everything you experienced:
You won’t want to come here if you are after service….. but……
Review of Koi Resort Saint Kitts, Curio Collection by Hilton
Reviewed April 30, 2023
What was very likable :
Liked The size of the room
Liked The killer views from the room
Liked The living room
Liked The bedroom
Liked The very comfy bed
Liked The large bathroom ( and the bath in it )
Liked The guest bathroom
Liked The mini-kitchen
Liked The kitchen bench space
Liked The large verandah
Liked The 2 large flat screen tv’s in the room
Liked The air-conditioning system ( worked a treat )
Liked The quietness of the resort being so isolated
Liked The quality of the food in the very expensive and only restaurant
Liked The in-room lighting and lamps
Liked The blackout curtains in the bedroom
Did I mention the killer views from the room?
What’s not especially likable
Didn’t like that everything is done on the cheap
Didn’t like the once a day shuttle to a beach
Didn’t like the lack of a beach ( it’s a beach resort!! )
Didn’t like the expensive restaurant
Didn’t like the pool hours ( 7 am til 7 pm when there is no beach! )
Didn’t like the restaurant closing ay 9pm when there is nothing else around the resorts isolation
Didn’t like the lack of the gym’s opening hours
Didn’t like the room service team ( full of attitude )
Didn’t like the Jam served in plastic packets
Didn’t like that awful American jelly chemical they pass off as jam
Didn’t like the room service collection ( plastic and poly-styrene containers )
Didn’t like having no filtered or bottled water in room on arrival
Didn’t like the blocked drain in the shower recess
Didn’t like the blocked toilet ( 3 times in 2 weeks )
Didn’t like the tiny fridge
Didn’t like the rations of tea, coffee in the room
Didn’t like the ants ( don’t dare leave any food matter laying around )
Didn’t like the dirt on the tiles in the shower recess
Didn’t like the lack of storage space in the room ( 1 tiny cupboard in a massive size room )
Didn’t like the cheap and nasty plastic chairs on the verandah ( get some nice wooden outdoor furniture folks )
Didn’t like the very slow wi-fi ( it actually worked but frustratingly slow, download a VPN service before you come, by connecting to a faster server speeds it up slightly )
Didn’t like the wi-fi continually dropping in and out every hour ( island problem apparently )
Overall: Served it’s purpose, on beautiful St Kitts, even though no beach and very isolated. The biggest issue is the staff. A few times I was in the full-service restaurant , I had to go to the Bar to place my order, I have no problem doing that, but spare me the attitude when there was no Tip forthcoming.
I also found it interesting there is absolutely zero Hilton or Curio branding. It was all simply “Koi Resort”
If you check the Hilton website, Curio brand by Hilton is part of their “Curated Collection”.
The Hilton’s website states: “Bespoke and uniquely designed hotels in remarkable destinations” and this “Each Curio Collection by Hilton hotel is handpicked for its distinct character, offering travelers authentic, curated experiences through distinctly local touches and unexpected amenities”. “Each property is part of the destination it calls home, from urban landmark hotels to grand beach resorts”
The only brand value Koi Resort meets: “Part of the destination it calls home”. I experienced none of the “Bespoken-ess”.
Certainly it isn’t uniquely designed. I am not sure if this hotel offers an “authentic” or “curated” experience either. Maybe this level is typical for St Kitts & Nevis?
As for “Unexpected amenities”, maybe that means calling yourself a “Resort” when you don’t have a Beach. Otherwise, nothing unexpected here. All stock-standard.
If I was management, I’d fix one major flaw. The service. it’s dreadful. Get the team some proper training on Customer Service.