A friend arranged own birthday party at this lively, low-keyed venue. That sounds like an oxymoron yet it is true. The music at the pool bar was very jazzy/samba type music. There was much activity without it being obnoxious. The view at sunset is 'to die for' while eating mezze type snacks and drinking a large list of brews and letting the breeze play with you. One enchanting area, a firepit with 'hooded' chaise chairs, is delightful.
Drinks pricey. Food delicious.

Place is really something. From the retro decor, the staff, the pool, the often topless bathers (my fiancé included), the food, the booze, the rooms, and that glorious spa. How we already miss the warmed tiles and steam showers of the Haman. Rent the bikes and get the Soul Temple. Breathe, people. It's worth every penny.

My wife and I stayed two nights and a day at The Standard. We had high hopes, and will admit they were only half met.

The spa has nice services, albeit overpriced even by New York City standards. But we can see if you have a membership where this is decent value for money. The Hammam Room was a treat as a guest, and the sauna was in the best shape of the services. The steam room was out of commission. And for the heated marble - one can not resist to curl up on that nice warm stone to warm the chilled bones, especially from the weather-ridden NYC of the last few weeks.

The lobby was pleasant enough and looked updated to a good hospitality decor. This space doubled as a cafe. There is a back room that doubles as a private dining room for large groups - used both mornings as such while we were there, but these groups did not hurt the chilled out vibe of the well apointed lobby. Or at least aspects of the architecture that were not the original envelope, which really showed their age. Really a dichotomy between the veneer of new and the historic aspect of the original property. Regarding their notable profit center of the Food & Beverge, there are decent breakfast options, but one can tell this is one of the areas were their money is made.

The reviews about the rooms are all true. All the other members of our group were saying the same items. In a nut shell the historic nature of the facility as a retirement home on the beach was hard to loose. The rooms make me think of an Ikea crash pad - little room for anythig but a bed, no side tables of note - a need for horizontal surfaces for items meant the floor became a defactor surface for most items. If you travel with more than one overnight bag, you were out of luck for room to manuever in the room. There is no place to set up a laptop but there is seating outside in the garden with wifi - thank gosh everyone else seems to be doing the same thing, sans private conversations.

Speaking of noise, we could hear the conversations of the girls behind us when they got back from the club around 1am. Toilet flushing was a common rumbling of noise in the background.

The highlight of the room, was the historic turquoise blue toilet bowl. This reminded me of the minimum renovation nature of the property masking as sustainability, just with a cool colour.

In summary: Scene yes, luxury no.

A friend recommended The Standard - she is quirky and original and I can see why she loves this place. As a local you can join the Spa or get Day tickets to use the facilities. This makes it quite different on a Saturday from a weekday when it was quite relaxed and more the kind of experience we were looking for. A hotel more for couples than singles. The Spa is excellent. The service was on the whole good although we had to wait to check in (late at 4pm). Most of the staff were helpful and friendly. Our upgraded room was a surprise - definitely compact and bijou but adequate for our needs. Not luxurious. It fits the more retro feel of the hotel but might not suit all. Other reviews echo this. The Fire Pit was excellent and there were some real highlights - early morning sunrise was gorgeous. Just me and the pool man to experience it. Got some great pics but my daytime pics on Saturday were curtailed when I was asked to not take photos (I don't have a point and press - looks more like a Pro camera). Apparently photos are not encouraged - camera phone OK...oh and someone we'd never heard of (Kanye West??) was in the restaurant.

Overall a great experience and different but parking is expensive and weekdays would be the time to visit to ensure the peace you are looking for can be achieved..