I will begin by saying that I am comparing my stay to a previous stay from August 2019. I am satisfied with my stay because my son enjoyed it, but it was just okay. I would recommend going to a different resort unless your child/children really want to go here. The resort is lacking in so many areas. Arrival: Our room was ready upon arrival but on the downside, no one greeted us with a cold drink or a memorable greeting. My issue with this is that instead of greeting guests who have been traveling for hours with a cold face towel, a snack, or a cold drink it’s literally let’s get someone in their face to try to sell them an exclusive membership/excursion. Hotel Room: We booked the Swank Suite, and the air conditioner did not work properly. The temperature was at 25C (77F) and the lowest it would go was 24C (75F). The same day of arrival I called the front office because it was hot. It was extremely hot outside and inside. They had maintenance come out and he told us that it should start working in 20 minutes. That never happened. So, the next day I called again, and they had maintenance come back out. Around 9:00 p.m., I walked over to the front desk and requested to be moved to another room. Mind you it was very humid and it had been raining on and off. They sent someone to come and move us and I told them I needed to check the room first to make sure the air conditioner worked. As I expected, the room was at 25C and felt hotter than the room we were in. I called the front desk again and they told me that they would switch us to another room. By 11:00 p.m., we were moving to another room. As soon as we walked into the room, I noticed that it was at 18C. The room they switched us to the flat suite. The con here is that instead of enjoying our vacation we were packing our stuff to move to another room and had to deal with several maintenance workers when we could have been moved from the beginning. Food: The food is a 2 out of 10. The food is not good. The food quality was better when we went in 2019. The room service food was better, and they had more options. The Wok Wok restaurant was disgusting. The Italian restaurant was okay. We were able to dine there by keeping it simple with pizza and pasta with tomato sauce. The buffet made it easy to find something to eat. For breakfast, we stuck to eggs and toast. We did notice that a lot of the food was undercooked. There was one night when the food looked delicious, but the chicken was not thoroughly cooked. The stations that were open in 2019 were no longer open. There was a milkshake station and that was no longer open. They also had another section with fresh drinks and frozen drinks. The space walker used to be a part of the all-inclusive restaurants and now you must pay to eat there. We opted out of dining there because the food was not good when we went in 2019 and by looking at the menu it seemed to not be worth the additional charge. Service: I would give the service a 6 out of 10. The service is really based on whether you’re an exclusive member or not. Even when checking in, the exclusive members have their own entrance. For example, my husband had asked one of the waiters working around the pool at Aqua Nick for drinks and we never got those drinks. Instead, we saw the waiter getting drinks for those who were in the closed-off Cabanas section. This could have easily been fixed by sending someone else to serve us. Tips: We gave really good tips and tipped everyone. We tipped the popcorn man, the young lady who did the face painting, and even the maintenance guy because he came back to check on us. The problem that I have is that it’s very noticeable that the staff gets upset if you do not leave a tip. At the coffee shop, I tipped the young lady who made my coffee, but I had no more cash to tip the waiter who threw my cup in the trash. There are no trash cans inside the coffee shop, so I left my cup on the table. I was on the phone with my husband and as I turned around to make sure my son was next to me; I saw that the waitress turned around to look at me and was upset. I did not say anything because I had no more cash on me. This did make me a little upset because it was the one time that I had run out of cash and it was just one cup, not a sit-down dinner. Service should be outstanding regardless. I enjoy giving tips especially when I know that the individuals are nice. For example, at the buffet, there was a young lady who was expecting. She was really nice, and we gave her a tip and saw that another server went over to her, and she gave it to him. We really did not like that because we wanted her to keep it. We discussed going back to give her another tip but then thought we would stay out of it. Not sure how they do tips, but it would be nice to know that the tip is kept by the individual serving us. Spa: The spa was the best part of the trip. They provided outstanding service. Everywhere we went, I would always ask for ice water, and Elsa at the Spa was the only one that gave me ice water. No one else gave me ice water, all they would say is the water is already cold. The massage experience was amazing. We got a family massage, and it truly was the only place where we really got OUTSTANDING service. I would give them a 10 out of 10. Additional thoughts: The resort itself needs to be upgraded or at least maintained. The paint is peeling, the elevators stink, and the furniture in the room needs some touching up. I understand that it’s not a luxury resort but for the price, they really should be able to keep it updated. …
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.