Potential Wasted: Luxury Price For Mediocre Stay.
Jan 23, 2025 jsnader Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Let me start this review with saying there are some positives for this resort and we ran into some wonderful staff. Overall the resort is beautiful, relaxing, and some wonderful staff that go out of their way to make you feel at home. But unfortunately there also so major issues that prevented me from giving this resort a good… Read more
Let me start this review with saying there are some positives for this resort and we ran into some wonderful staff. Overall the resort is beautiful, relaxing, and some wonderful staff that go out of their way to make you feel at home. But unfortunately there also so major issues that prevented me from giving this resort a good review. Highlights One of the highlights of our trip was our interactions with the entertainment staff. Ace and Alrick both were wonderful and super friendly. They would come up and talk to you and take time to get to know you. Alrick even learned our names and remembered them throughout our stay. They both kept us informed, entertained, and laughing. Another stand out employee was Jaci, she was our server at the Jamaican restaurant, you couldn’t ask for a sweeter server. She went out of her way to take care of us and we really appreciated her. The resort needs more staff like these three. Airport Transfer The resort offers free transportation to and from the airport and also “resort credit”. Upon arrival at the airport. The booth for the transfer to the hotel was at a different number than the instructions said. Found it thanks to the helpful other airport employees. The lady at the booth was however less than pleasant. She looked at our confirmation paper and said to stand by the phone, nothing else whatsoever. So we stood there and after about 10 minutes another employee came by and I showed him our confirmation and he led us outside to wait for our ride. I get these people aren’t directly employed by the hotel but as I compared this service to the other transfers in the transportation hall, I felt like this one greatly lacked the care and attention of the others. But I guess that what you get when you go with the free option. Waited another 15 minutes for the van to pick us up and then we were on the way to the resort. The Gimmicks Finally made it to the resort and was greeted by friendly staff and got checked in. Then we were approached by our “concierge”. She gave a friendly front, but as mentioned by other reviews her main job is to sell you on the Iberostar Club, which is the resorts timeshare scheme. She offered a special breakfast which we naively accepted at first and she said she was going to do all these things for us such as reserving dinner. We eventually decided we weren’t interested in the sales pitch so we canceled our breakfast and did not hear from her again. Which we were okay with, but it really just reinforced her friendliness was only directed at selling us something. A note on the resorts credits, upon investigation. You only get them after meeting with the concierge and do not expect them to be used like credit. They are actually coupons, each with their own limitations and requirements that you spend a certain amount of money above the coupon. It is not just free credit to use. Another gimmick. Property Upkeep and Maintenance Exterior public portions are not that bad in terms of upkeep and the resort exterior for the most part is beautiful. They are kept pretty clean and visually pleasing. Looking from the outside the hotel looks nice. Beautiful pool area and the beach is pretty well kept. Inside is a different story, especially in the room area. Old smelly carpet in the halls. Ceiling falling apart and stained. It’s actually pretty bad how the ceiling and walls look in the halls. Elevator are aged and some lights weren’t working on them. Room keys were also an issue, sometimes had to swipe bracelet multiple times to get into the room. In our room, there was no coffee maker, or coffee. In the bathroom the tub was stained and multiple jets in the tub did not work. The spray nozzle on the tub was broken and unusable. The toilet seat was installed crooked, the phone in the bathroom was barely hanging on, and there was obviously a door missing between the toilet and the rest of the bathroom. The TV had a line down through the middle of it and the picture quality was off, obviously broken but never replaced. The rooms also have funky smells, and the hallway carpet is clearly in need of replacement as it looks outdated and smells. As far as the mini bar, do not expect it to be refilled. We had to ask for that to be refilled multiple times and also had to ask for refills of water. That seems to be a frequent oversight. Housekeeping also failed to replace towels and cups, even when requested. Staff and Service Slow and lack luster service was another issue. Expect to wait fifty minutes or more for room service or other requests to be filled. Room service was often out of food items. Beach drink service from the app is not super reliable, sometimes drinks never came, was better to just go to the bar or ask a server. Staff seemed largely friendly, though at times it came across as forced. Actions spoke larger than words, for example at buffets it would take forever to get water glasses filled. On a good note, another employee we appreciated was the one towel hut attendant. She helped us find the scuba instructor and was so helpful. Dinner Nightmare Restaurants were another issue. Upon arrival we were told that restaurants did not require reservations beyond the Japanese restaurant. We went to go to eat the first night and were told the waitlist was full at the surf and turf restaurant and that we could check back later, so we tried another restaurant, there we were told our only option was the buffet. We tried the first restaurant again and they said to try back again later. So after being frustrated with the run around we gave in and went to the buffet so we could get some kind of food. The hostesses at the restaurants seemed annoyed that we came and were less than helpful figuring out dinner. Things did not get any better on the third night. We were told we had a reservation for the Japanese restaurant from the concierge desk. From the start there was seven people in our group and we made that clear. We found out that the concierge had made the reservation for six. (did they expect 1 person to miss out?) We thought surely adding one person would not be a problem. We could not have been more wrong. The hostess initially seemed like she might help us but upon going to check with her supervisor she returns and says she cannot add another person and that it is not their problem and we need to contact the concierge to figure it out. They wanted us to figure out their problem, their mistake and spend our time figuring things out and miss our dinner. After getting no where with the hostess, we asked to speak to the supervisor, she was stern that it was not her problem and she didn’t want to work with us or figure it out. She said she will call upstairs and have them figure it out but she could not even get ahold of anyone upstairs herself. After some persuading we convinced her to squeeze us in with an extra chair, which seemed like such an inconvenience. She was going to turn us away and deny us our dinner until WE presented that idea just to get into our reservation. Unfortunately the damage had been done and we were unable to enjoy our dinner because of how we were treated and because of the error and them trying to make it our problem and not trying to accommodate us one bit. Booking Troubles We should have seen the red flags early on. They were advertising a promo sale on certain rooms, we needed four for our group and we for some reason were only able to book one on our first try. We went to book the rest at the promo price and were unable to do so. We called the call center and they said the same rooms were available but that we would be no longer able to get the promo price. I explained the situation and they refused to accommodate the original sale price. After booking at the higher price we followed up with the hotel and the response from the hotels contact center via email was less than courteous. Conclusion: Potential Wasted In summary, while this resort has some beautiful areas and great employees, there were too many issues that made our stay frustrating. The maintenance of the rooms and hallways needs immediate attention, and the resort could really benefit from improving customer service procedures. From booking issues to timeshare pressure, slow service, and lackluster dining experiences, there were too many missteps for us to recommend this resort. If you’re looking for a luxury experience, there are definitely better options out there. We left disappointed, as the resort has so much potential, but the lack of attention to detail and the sheer number of issues with our stay will keep us from returning, it’s simply not worth the price you pay. Read less
