Pros - The hotel is located on a beautiful stretch of beach on the south east side of the island. There is a sandy part of the ocean and then there is sea grass. But there is abundant sea life is you snorkel past the grass to the reef. Walk south west on the beach, a little bit past where the hotel ends, and you will see a clump of palm trees. Snorkel out to the reef from there since the reef is closer. Amazing fish and live breathing coral!! We were told that two marine biologists had snorkeled the day before and found the reef to be extremely healthy. We saw lobster, barracuda and a multitude of fish. Just watch out for the spiny black sea urchins. If you want to stay closer to the shore snorkel around the peer and you will see schools of fish. Lots of needle nose fish. My husband and son did dive, but this is done on the northern side of the island where the larger reefs are.
Sunrises are unbelievable and you will be the first Americans to feel and see the sun every morning since Point Udall (visible from the hotel) is the farthest eastern point of the US. Every room at the hotel has a view of the ocean!
The standard room we had was huge and clean. It had a refrigerator, microwave and small sink with glasses. Maid service was wonderful.
The food was excellent and above standard though pricey and I would highly recommend the meal plan. Most of the wait staff we encountered were extremely helpful; especially the ladies at the Dockside Cafe.
Front desk staff were helpful. Val told us to contact Douglas (taxi driver) for our return to the airport and he was very reasonable. $12 per person.
Recomendations: Go to Dominos in the rainforest to see the beer drinking pigs (see the picture). Actually they drink non-alcoholic beer for you animal lovers. Do the Tan Tan Tour if you like fourwheeling/adventure and want to see the island from the tops of the mountains. You ride in a jeep and it is a wild ride. Ask for Dean!! Not for the faint of heart and no little kids. Cane Bay Diving is outstanding.
Cons - The hotel is out of the way and you will either need a car or taxi/shuttle to get to town, diving and sightseeing. Taxis are very expensive. To town $20 for two people one way. Use the shuttle for town. It is $10 roundtrip. Cane Bay Diving (satellite site at the hotel) will pick you up if you purchase a dive package and bring you back afterwards. There is no diving at the resort unless you specifically ask to be taken out. The better dive sites are at the north west part of the island.
Make sure to bring tip money if you purchase your meal plan will not include it even if you don't use all the money in one meal. And they expect 18%. We tipped based on service. Also if you go over on your meal ticket for one meal they will charge you the difference at the end of your stay even if you didn't use all your monies on the other meals. Service can be slow at times at all eateries but you are in the Caribbean.
Yes, there are ants on the beach in the evening so stay on the beachchairs or near the water or hotel. And we did find one roach in our room near the end of our trip. We did shake all our clothing outside as a precaution once home. It is the Carribbean though.
Don't lose your towel because you'll pay for it.
There wasn't too much to do in the evening except for the casino which doesn't help when you have two teens. The beach party night was the best night. Karoake was good on another night. Thank god the hotel has three public computers with internet service.
The large city-like petroleum company Hervosa houses many of their out of town employees at the hotel so the bar is full primarily of single men in the evening. We didn't see that many families and were told it was off season though the northeast schools were off for Easter week.
Overall we prefer to stay at an all-inclusive so that we don't have to worry about tipping and meals plus we have teens that eat and drink all day even if the food is not outstanding. We didn't like using the meal coupons and found it cumbersome. Wrist bands would have been better. The hotel could also use more evening entertainment.









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Location (e.g., convenience, views)
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