Stayed in suite 1 between Christmas and NYE and, given the price we paid compared to other resorts in the area (the ones still standing), we thought we were going to have a fantastic service and relaxing time – far from that. No essential amenities in the room, shower didn’t work, cheap plastic toilet seat, tarnished lime-scale encrusted taps, dirty windows, TV doesn’t work, half power sockets don’t work, broken mirror in the toilet, lights above the bed don’t work, sunlounger’s cushions are lumpy, stained and ripped. They never changed our towels until after 3 days when we asked for it and they were only able to provide one – got the other one after speaking to the manager. The beach before the resort could do with picking up bits of rubbish scattered around.
Food was okay although they never had anything we asked for and all they needed to do is go down the market. There was hardly anybody at reception and the music there was too loud. Usually the owner was there drinking and we found ourselves caught up in arguments between him and his girlfriend – this really added to the atmosphere.
When we were showed the room by Josef the owner he tried the lights above the bed and realised half of them didn’t work he said that he would send someone to fix them but that never happened. He told us that he’d give us a curtain tie back but he never did; he asked us whether we wanted the TV connected and he never did anything about it – the TV had the aerial unplugged and could not be switched on as the sockets behind didn’t work.
The staff are pleasant (Mrs Arlene very nice) but generally very lazy and not really geared up to provide a service that justifies the prices they charge. There is no working WiFi although there are big signs saying free WiFi at the entrance! We were caught out in a tropical storm and ended up in a small bar by the market that had a perfectly working WiFi – so it’s nothing to do with the recent typhoon that the resort has sporadic poor connection.
One night I left the aircon on while we went down for dinner to cool the room as I cannot sleep with it on at night; we were then asked to switch it off by Josef (the owner) who complained of possible rising electricity prices. I didn’t regard this being my problem really since I’m sure that with the money we paid he would have been able to cover the extra costs – besides the electricity hadn’t gone up yet.
This place could do so much better. Staff need to give the place a proper clean i.e. taps can be sparkling with a little elbow grease and every morning the beach should be cleaned. The “restaurant” should be equipped with what’s on the menu otherwise what’s the point of having one? A short trip down the market shouldn’t be too painful for them to get what they need.
The icing on the cake, when we left I paid our bill and then got a coffee while waiting for our driver to take us to the port. Then I paid separately for the coffee but the lady at reception said she had no change although I had just given her some change 10 minutes before. We felt coerced to leave a tip and because of it, I didn’t and instead asked her to go to the shop around the corner to get some change or to use some of from the cash I had just given her when I paid the bill.
The owner calls this it a boutique hotel – yeah right. Don’t be fooled by the pictures, the place is pretty but there is nothing else special about this resort unless they change. P.s. bring mosquitoes repellent!!
