First of all, this is a very difficult review to write. We have travelled widely and have experienced varying levels of service, from average to amazing. We were attracted to this property because of the excellent reviews on Tripadvisor and reserved well in advance. We arrived and were shown to our room, which had a plunge pool and an amazing view. Immediately, we were offered a very expensive lunch cruise (300 euros per person, apparently on sale from 350 euros). We declined. The hotel made a dinner reservation for us. As we prepared to get ready to leave for dinner, we realized that the hotel had not given us a room key. The security person called the hotel and the employee brought us our key. Mistakes can happen. We had dinner at the restaurant recommended by Karibuni. There, we encountered a server who was quite rude to us. We spoke to the manager and she agreed and all was well. Apparently, the restaurant then called our hotel to explain what had happened. We did not ask them to do that and did not hold the hotel responsible for the restaurant's service issues. The next morning, after a lovely breakfast, our room attendant asked us what time we wanted to go to Pinel Island and what time we wanted to have lunch. We said 12:30. We arrived at Isle Pinel about 11:45 and enjoyed the beach. At 12:30, we went to the restaurant, ready for lunch. Upon our arrival, we gave our names and said that we were guests of the hotel. The employee said that our reservation was for 1:30. We told him that that was wrong. On our way out, another couple we had chatted with earlier asked us if we wanted to join them. We did. After quite a wait, we ordered our lunches. After a wait of approximately 50 minutes, we began to wonder about our lunches. Finally, a different server, the hotel and restaurant owner arrived with a plate of fish and chips, which she gave to me. As the other three people's lunches hadn't arrived, I didn't begin to eat. About two minutes later, the hotel and restaurant owner swooped in and removed my lunch and said "I'm new". She took my lunch and gave it to someone at a different table. No apology, no explanation. None of us had ever seen that before. After an additional wait of approximately 10 minutes, our lunches arrived. We had waited well over an hour to be served. After enjoying the beach, we headed to the dock to take the small boat back to our hotel. There was a boat there and the woman driving it said that she had to take some passengers to a boat and that she would return for us. We said 'fine' and were asked to sit at a table to wait for the boat. About five minutes later, the boat arrived and we proceeded to the dock, ready to take the boat. All of a sudden, several other people arrived and prepared to embark into the small boat. This group included a man in a wheel chair. Then the hotel owner arrived and began to take charge of everyone, without knowing what had happened previously. When it became clear that there would be no room in the boat for us, we said that we were guests at her hotel. She then yelled at us, saying "you just got here, you have to wait". Shocked by her unbelievable rudeness, we asked what was going to happen. She indicated for us to get in. The woman driving the boat remained silent, as did the other two employees, obviously afraid to speak up to the owner. We arrived back on shore after two other stops, one to disembark the man in the wheel chair from the tiny boat. Upon our arrival onshore, we began a conversation with the hotel and restaurant owner. We stated our level of frustration and unhappiness re the manner in which she had treated us. She argued that we had just arrived at the dock and expected to take the boat ahead of the others. I explained (in French) that that was not the case and that we were also guests at her hotel. We said that we were not happy, to which she shouted "You haven't been happy since you got here". We had never experienced this level of hostility in the hospitality industry. Things deteriorated and I referred several times to her to "her tone" and her lack of communication with her staff. She did not apologize. We contacted the Karabuni Hotel via email and said that we were checking out the next day. The hotel refused to refund our money for the remaining 5 nights. We do wish to add that the manager of this property (who is the owner's daughter) was quite kind and professional to us. The rudeness and disrespect shown to us by the owner of the Karibuni Hotel was unconscionable. She was verbally abusive to us. We would suggest that working with the public is not part of her skill set. We left feeling abused and angry about our treatment by this owner.…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.