WWYD: beachfront four star or the pricier (but higher rated) five star?

[balabusta]

So plannign summer holidays. Two adult children coming and one teen. It's special because adult kids live away and this is our time together.

We have a loyalty programme with a hotel chain which gives 2 nights free.

So I'm trying to decide between a swanky 5 star hotel which will cost 960 pounds for 6 nights for 2 rooms (1 room is a bigger family room) or a nice 4 star (big advantage is that it's beachfront but the 5 star need to cross a road to get to beach) for 424 pounds. This price includes the 2 nights free offer. So with the swanky hotel, getting better value for money with the two nights - but for twice the price in the end. Fancy hotel is also better rated on google than 4 star (4.8 vs 4.3).

WWYD? Would you splurge on the fancier hotel and get your money's worth from the loyalty programme? Or would you save the money to spend on days out etc etc? In both cases, the kids are too old to spend all day in the resort and will want to do stuff (me too, I'm not one to sit by the pool all day).

I would dive further into room set up first. If the family room was 2 bedrooms versus a pull out then that would be a factor in my decision.

If no difference then I would look more into the reviews on trip advisor. For me food and facilities are what score next.

It's a good dilemma. In our house DH would airways go for the cheaper option and I would weigh a few things up. Are the bad reviews from a very few pain-in-the-arse type people? After looking at photos, facilities etc do you think the 5 star will be so much more of a treat that it is a really special treat/ memory for your family? If you went cheaper, could you afford some spectacular daytrips? I think only you know that by actually looking at pictures and reviews and knowing the day trip options. If the 5 star is just a little bit better then you may have a better or equal time at the cheaper one... It's not worth paying so much more ONLY to get value for money.

Family room is a king bed and queen bed. Otherwise just one king bed. In the four star, it's twin beds. It's fine for me to share with teen but the family room set up wold be more comfy.
However, loyalty rogramme guarantees room upgrade if rooms are available (but don't want to risk getting stuck with only one bed!).

From the reviews, it seems the 5 star is really a more polished hotel. The 4 star is a bit dated and old, rooms not as nice as in photos, and just not as high a level of service. It's also a bit more isolated than the 5 star. This is nice in the sense that the beach is more private but I'm thinking that having teens and young adults, they might prefer being more central.

I'm now leaning more towards 5 star after digging into the reviews a bit more.

Is the road a main road? That might put me off as its lovely to just be able to wander back and forth between hotel and beach as a continuous thing, rather than be crossing the road when you just wanted to nip back for your sunglasses. But it depends on the road!

What's breakfast like in the two places? Another big deal. If the 5 star one is superior that would carry some weight.

If we use the free nights deal it's without breakfast. The five star breakfast is a bit more expensive but it's highly rated in the reviews.
However, we're not massive breakfast eaters and my older two are notorious late sleepers so we wouldn't necessarily go for breakfast every day in the hotel (it's big buffet style in both).
Five star has restaurants and cafes very close, four star more of a walk away, if we decided to have breakfast out.

Whichever is more convenient and more centrally located I would go for. What country are we talking about that you can get a five star hotel for six nights for £1000?!

I know - and for 2 rooms for 5 people! This is with two free nights so would be more expensive otherwise.
It's monsoon season Asia . Not my first choice but for various reasons it worked out logistically for the entire family and the plus side is great deals on hotels (downside is that it could rain every day! Shouldn't be that bad but always a possibility)

I’d like to know this too!

Tricky one.

It depends what you’re likely to be doing. A beach holiday with a couple of trips, or exploring with a day on the beach.

If the point of the holiday is to relax by the beach and spend time there, then I’d go for a hotel that has its own bit of beach, with its own sunbeds and umbrellas etc.

If you’re going to be sightseeing, and trying different restaurants, then I’d want to be central so everywhere is a short walk.

The stars thing can be a bit misleading as it often refers to facilities (which you may or may not use) rather than quality and decor.

which hotel has more to do in case it really rains the entire time?

Star ratings are misleading as they are based upon facilities rather than level of comfort, room size etc

If indoor and outdoor pools, spa facilities, gym and tennis courts are important to you go for the five star. If you are looking for a comfortable room and a good breakfast sometimes a two or three star will suffice.

Totally agree. You can certainly have a badly run 5 star hotel and an excellent 4 star which is why I'm also looking at customer reviews. But there is also an expectation of a certain level of service at a higher star rating, all else being equal.

Neither really. But we'll hire a car and there are other things to do around and activities if it is rainy. It's usually less that it'll rain the whole time but more that the sea will be rough which restricts the water-based activities you can do

Beach time is nice enough but we won't be there all day. Well, kids might but they don't care if it's private, in fact they might like it more lively.

Main thing is to enjoy family time. If weather allows, we can go snorkeling/diving as well. Do other water-based activities, maybe some other stuff. Just hang out together. But we do like markets, restaurants etc. So I'm thinking more central will be better.

We like to workout so a nice gym is appreciated too but both hotels have that.

Reading that it’s monsoon season Asia, I’d say neither. What a waste of money. It’s all well and good being at the beach, until you can’t go

@cocoonme Thanks for the unsolicited advice. We know what we're doing and why. I'm deciding between 2 hotels, not asking where we should go.

Having just had a very disappointing 4 star experience i would say go 5 star if you can!!

If reviews are saying its not as good as pics then it's probably quite shabby

@balabustabut @cocoonmehas a point. I would go for the hotel you will like to spend more time in, should your activities be limited by the weather.

Your reasoning seems to be cheaper pricing? But what’s the point in going all that way just to be stuck inside all the time because it’s raining?

Yes but I'm fully aware of what the weather might be like. I already said it wouldn't be my first choice but for various reasons this is where we'll be and we'll make the most of it regardless. We've been to this area at thsi time of year before for same reasons and made it work so it's all good. But, yeah, leaning towards nicer hotel in case we do end up hanging out at the hotel more than expected.

If it's Sri Lanka the rains often come heavily but briefly (it's also warm). It can be a bit cloudy but still very warm.

I would go for the 5 star considering location closer to food outlets.

Exactly like that. You can be unlucky and get very rainy days if there's a serious storm passing through but it's not nomrally like that.

OK, given it’s monsoon season Asia, I would definitely go for the hotel that’s more centrally located.

My DH went in December, supposed to be great weather, best time to go, but there were awful storms for a week. Luckily he was just visiting family so it wasn't like a ruined holiday. These days things can be a bit unpredictable anywhere!

Yes, very true. Can rain any time and at least we are mentally prepared for it so wont be disappointed