As I write this, I realize my issues with Grace Bay Club are all first world problems, but I have been to my fair share of luxury Caribbean resorts, and for the price you pay, I don't think I'd come back to Grace Bay Club.
I love that it is close to the airport, you are at the hotel within 20 minutes of leaving the airport. They greet you with water, rum punch, and cool towels. As the week goes on however, you start to plan your next vacation, and it isn't coming back here.
The staff clearly does not receive the same training as employees at other 5-star resorts. Getting towels, whether on the beach or poolside, almost always required me getting up to get them myself. Is that difficult? No, but at other similar priced resorts, When someone sees my family approaching a set of chairs, they have met me there with an over abundance of beach towels.
There is no phone rule for the employees. Over half of the people I did approach for help, were on his or her mobile phones. One of the guys at the pool even carried on his phone conversation while servicing those at the pool.
Noise pollution was everywhere. Apparently the hotel has no policy against drones. We spent our first morning on the beach with one hovering over our heads for over an hour. Several afternoons, different groups would come from the hotel and blast music on the beach. I don't know that there is an answer to this, we just found it extremely annoying. (It isn't spring break, after all). I am also completely aware that my children are annoying and can be loud, and I would like to ban them on occasion. Fortunately for people who don't want to listen to my children, there is an adult's only pool ample distance from the children's pool. Sadly, I can't leave my children alone and go there. Having the pool bar in the children's pool was a brilliant (though I'm not sure planned) move.
They do have a kids club and a game room. Maxine, who runs the game room is delightful and welcoming. She keeps the room clean and stocked with video games that pre-teens and teens want to play. I let my daughter stay here more than I probably should have.
The food experience left much to be desired. The menu was only ok. There weren't a ton of appealing options. It would be nice if they had a few appetizers on the grill menu so that people could order an afternoon snack while having a drink at the pool. They do have a wonderful children's menu for picky eaters and the Pop Up Taco Shop is great. Infiniti had more options for dinner, but this menu was not available during the day. Once again they fall short on service in dining. Breakfast is complementary and is mostly self serve, so you can get on ok. Lunch at The Grill is another story. I had to track down various servers to bring me a water and a salad. I noticed that everyone around me was getting focaccia and olive oil, yet this never came to my table. Requests for anything extra (butter, a spoon, a coke) were either forgotten or ignored.
The rooms are nice, they have been painted and have updated furniture since our last visit, though they are visibly worn in some places. (Again, I realize I am being massively picky, but you have choices when paying this much for a family vacation). The first night we had no air conditioning and temperatures reached 80 in our room. That combined with a horridly loud beeping coming from the hallway right outside our room made sure no one slept the first night. They fixed the ac the next day, however the horrible beeping once again woke the entire family. Not a great way to start a vacation. They did get it fixed by night 3.
One further questions management of this resort when the grounds crew decides to mow the lawn on a Friday afternoon at prime pool time and then fertilize Saturday morning (kicking up all sorts of insects). There was also trash almost everywhere: around the pool (first thing in the morning), the beach, and the restaurants.
There were positives. Kadejah and Adam, our concierge team, were both helpful and very attentive. They made any reservation we needed and checked in regularly (though it was easier just to find them than to use the phones they provided). They also found us a fabulous babysitter so that we could enjoy some time away from the kids.
My daughter lost her bunny in the bed linens when they were changed and Bertha came to the rescue hand delivering bunny back to us.
The beach is one of the prettiest anywhere I have been and it is excellent for the kids.
They are currently building a Ritz not too far from here and it will be interesting to see what happens to Grace Bay Club when that opens. If the service is what it is at other Ritz locations, GBC will need to make some serious revisions to keep up. I know I am eagerly awaiting the Ritz's opening for our next trip to Turks.
