First time booking with WestJet Vacations. Flight was fine but don't expect to see your rep. for the rest of your vacation! Our check in was smooth and since it never hurts to ask - we were changed to building 24 on the Tropical side - beautiful, then ended up with the Royal Service. It is a large place but after eating all that food it's nice to have a walk after dinner. Trams run about every 15 minutes. The beach restaurant is great for breakfast and lunch. Tried the Thai (nasty wine) but decent food. Italian was just ok. Dominican was good. The private beach, pool and Gabi restaurant for Royal Service was a really nice change for us. That just isn't our usual style but we enjoyed it. The shows were ok - we were there for 10 days and the Flintstone show was on twice. Tennis courts were great on the Caribe side and poor on the Tropical side.This hotel is 26 years old so the grounds are very lush. The beach is second to none and yes, there is grass on the beach (not seaweed). Lots of places to sit. No issues for us! Special thanks to Patrick and Pablo Garcia for making our stay so memorable! Learn a few words in Spanish - it goes a long way!

We were at the Melia from December 11- 29 and we are Club Melia members, Royal Service. This is our fourth visit to this resort and it has consistently been excellent. This time we were there with my sister and brother-in-law.

We were warmly welcomed and checked in quickly by Heidy... Heidy always makes us feel like we are part of the family! Heidy also takes care of other special touches, such as booking restaurant reservations and ensuring our room is just perfect!

From there it was off to our room accompanied by our butler Pablo. If you read tripadvisor much, you probably already know about Pablo. He is a fantastic Melia ambassador and treats us like we are old friends. We joked that the resort will soon be renamed the "Pablo Tropical" Pablo and the other Major Domos, Eddy and Leo treated us to lovely jacuzzi baths with flowers and candles.... Horse and buggy rides and trips over to the shopping mall. Our beautiful room was clean and spacious with sheets and towels changed daily.

Most meals were taken at the Gabi... Evelisse, Marydahlia, Edward, Vladimir, Juan, Arnold, Ramone and Frankie are an amazing team. You will not find a better group of staff who excel at making guests feel comfortable and pampered. They could not do enough for us and we really appreciated their efficiency and the pleasure they take in their work. The Christmas dinner was wonderful with lobster, a whole roasted pig and turkey of course!

Each night before dinner we would stop by the VIP lounge where Raydesther mixed us tasty cocktails with her trademark sense of humour. The VIP lounge is a social hub in the evening and Ray greeted and served each of the many "regulars". Thanks for the great Manhattans Ray!

Evelyn is the Royal Service pool bartender/server and as in other years she was fabulous! Thanks for the Coco Locos :)

Augustin, at the RS pool snack bar, makes the best roast chicken legs you will ever have along with burgers, pizza and popcorn.... Mmmm...

Luis, Jose and Pedro looked after drinks at the Gabi bar. Thanks for the Mamamosa Pedro! (Mamajuana and champagne)

We are golfers and the course was well groomed, lush and full of beautiful flowering bushes and trees. It was not as busy as other years and there was no trouble getting a tee time.

All in all the four of us had a fantastic vacation.
We highly recommend the Melia Royal Service... Treat yourself! You wont regret i

My husband, myself and our adult daughter took a Christmas trip to this resort. We were there for 5 days starting Christmas day 2012. My husband upgraded to the "Royal" service with the suite.

When we checked in, it seemed very unorganized on the "Royal Service Lounge"...luggage all over, lots of talking...we were assigned a'concierge" (Wilson Guzman)who would 'take care of our every need'...He took us to our suite...they didn't give us our room keys...we had to wait for him to go back and get them.

Our suite included a king bed, fold out couch, dining area, kitchen with fridge/cabinetry etc and an oversized whirlpool tub. Looked like a small apartment.

Pros-Very spacious/prob too much space for 3 of us

Cons-One of the TV's did not work. Amenities were of substandard quality. You got shampoo/lotion/body wash/shower cap & sewing kit. I've seen better amenities in a low rent travel lodge. There was also NO conditioner. When I asked housekeeping for it, they said it was NOT provided. The I want to the Royal Service lounge to ask for it...they looked at me like I was crazy and said I could purchase it in gift shop. We had to purchase conditioner in small bottle gift shop for the bargain price of $11.00.

We also did not travel with a large bottle of sunscreen knowing we could not have more than 3 oz. We planned on purchasing it there. Gift shop price-$33.00!! You did not read that wrong...THIRTY-THREE American dollars for sunscreen. Ridiculous!!!!

One would think that if you pay for an 'upgrade", special services and amenities would come with that upgrade. Not so. In fact, I asked my husband , "what were we getting extra to show for the 'upgrade'"?. We couldn't name anything.


Other notes...grounds are massive...be prepared to walk...ALOT. There do have trams and golf carts running you to beach, etc...but it was only by chance that one would come by.

If you want to book an excursion, be prepared to go to the 'other' resort on other side of complex to book it. It's far away too.

We did do some gaming in casino. Many of the slots were out of order or malfunctioning.

The food was good...I would not say world class gourmet. I guess when you're preparing that much for such a huge resort, quantity wins out over quality.

Service-There were a few people who insisted on taking great care of us..."You are on vacation, I do the work for you"...That was great, but unfortunately, only sporadic. Many of the times we wanted/needed something, it was seemingly a bother for the people to help us. Not saying hello when we walked up...engaged in their cell phones/conversations. (This was especially evident when we went to get towels at the kiosk by the VIP pool..there were FOUR people in the booth, not ONE of them looked up to help us)..There's that "Royal" service again. BTW, we never heard from or saw our concierge for the entire trip.

Suggestions-

-Upon our arrival, we should have been given a tour of the ENTIRE facility. Only on my morning walk on the LAST day did I discover the other pool, restaurant, climbing park, ponds and facilities.
We missed out on this stuff.

-The ENTIRE staff needs a refresher course on service. (Perhaps banning cell phones while on duty?)

We spent between $6-$8 THOUSAND dollars on this trip. The "Royal" VIP service upgrade was not even close to its moniker. Don't waste your money on it.

Would we go back? Probably not. With all the descriptions like "Royal", VIP, high end service, top class floating around...they need to look those terms up in the dictionary and start over. They have a lot of work to do.

My guess is with the upcoming Winter/Spring break season..things will likely get worse.

Went to Melia with my family (wife and kids 18 and 20) and another family (2 adults and kids 16 and 18). The good- weather perfect every day. 80 degrees, sunny and a nice breeze. Beach, nice but lots of seaweed. Beautiful grounds. Large rooms The bad- Service was hit and miss. Sometimes very good- bar tenders, maids, staff on gounds, sometimes horrible- Dining, Reception, most desk help. Rude and gave bad information (Thanks for nothing). Ugly- Did not change our sheets for 6 nights and mites in room. Other- Food very average overall.

Would not recommend