My wife and I took our first trip to Bonaire as relatively new divers. We wanted to stay at an upscale resort, understanding that Bonaire is not St. Bart. We were found that the property itself was more than we expected. It was really well designed and maintained. The rooms were large, very well furnished with very large clean bathrooms. My wife really liked the great shower, bathtub, and amenities, (robes, toiletries, etc.).
However, it is clear that the property far exceeds the guest service. Where is everyone? The cleaning and grounds staff seem do a good job but reception and bellman service were really amateur for a “resort” with rates as high as they are. The whole stay seemed to be self-serve. We went on a package deal but it took quite a bit of asking at reception to figure out what was or was not included for meals, dives, etc. Furthermore, we essentially had to give ourselves an orientation to the property and the dive operations.
Checking in an out was a circus. The morning after we arrived,after essentially checking ourselves in the night before, the reception staff seemed to have no idea what the dive shop was doing when we inquired about dive times, orientation dive, etc. Worst of all, there was no coordination or real interest in helping us figure it out either. We had to go to the hotel next door, Eden Rock, to rent our gear and get the required Bonaire dive orientation since the dive masters were “tied up” all day and the woman managing the dive shop seemed to be inconvenienced by our questions. See a theme here.
That put us one day behind on diving in a five day trip. (We never did get all out pre-paid dives in.) In addition, we found it puzzling that the dive shop was really not interested in providing PADI classes. We had wanted to take Peak Performance Buoyancy and Nitrox but just ran into too many scheduling roadblocks. It may be that they get so many experienced divers that they are not well set up to give training. On the other hand, we did like the dive masters and dive boat once we figured out the system. It just seemed to take so much effort. (We were actually impressed with the Eden Rock dive operations next door.)
To give you just one example of the poor service, I bought some good Dutch beer at the large grocery store in town to enjoy back in the room after a dive. I needed a bottle opener. None in the room, reception had no idea where to get one so I went to the bar and asked to borrow one. One of the waiters lent me hers but I had to bring it back immediately. They should be embarrassed I had to traipse around asking for something so basic. Reception, this is your job.
We really liked Bonaire and will definitely go back. However, we’ll try one of the other resorts. The rooms may not be as nice but at least we won’t be paying for services we never got.







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Check in / front desk






