We just got home from this hotel, there are several things that myself and my family were not pleased with; for a 5* hotel I would not have expected half of the things I witnessed and I would have expected a lot more. If these amenities were available, they were not made known to my party or my family at check-in.
1. Restaurants: There was only one a la carte restaurant - We could only book it twice, no problem. Everything else was buffet, no problem. The special buffets, the food was not good, it was not clean. Kids were not monitored. Food was all over the floor and not cleaned up properly, slipping hazards in the restaurants. The main buffet was good, the food was good, the staff were friendly.
2. Beach: it was dirty in front of the hotel. Trash bins were constantly full, trash all over the beach, no chairs laid out, if you want a chair you had to drag it to where you wanted it or pay someone to drag it for you. No beach service or bar. The line of demarcation (where the resort ends and the vendors begin) was also dirty, shower pads were gross and muddy all around, trash everywhere. There was one trash can for the entire beach area.
3. Pool: understanding the pools are large, there were things floating in them constantly and maybe could have been cleaned more. There were plenty of chair available surrounding the pool, however, it would have been nice if they didn't have bird poop on them. I never saw anyone cleaning them, the chairs at the water park were worse than at the pools. The pool decks were a death trap, we were constantly seeing people fall everywhere, kids, adults, you name it, they fell.
4. Bar service: was atrocious, if you didn't speak Spanish or if you weren't from Costa Rica, you were overlooked, no matter how much you tipped. Some of the bars were worse than others, and unfortunately, the. Ad service wasn't due to the bar tenders being busy, it was due to them not acknowledging their guests.
5. Party Staff: I'm sure are overworked and underpaid. They were great! Fun, entertaining and created a fun and exciting atmosphere for the week.
6. Room: the room itself was beautiful, our view was incredible. However, we had to fight to get towels, everyday we were shorted or didn't get towels. Day one we only were given three bath towels and two wash cloths, never saw a washcloth after day one. There were no bath mats and we were only given two hand towels once. The towels we were getting were also stuff and smelled like wet dog. We were also given two bottles of water for three people for two days, to drink and use to brush our teeth with. Our shower had black mold in the bottom of it as it wasn't cleaned even after I reported it on day one.
7. Cleaners: the main areas of the hotel were well cared for, including the lobby, and the stores. Someone was always mopping the main areas. The side areas like by our elevator was a disaster, broken glass every morning/day trash piled in the garbages.
8. Gardeners: the gardens were pristine, this team is on point, trees were well cared for, grass was well maintained.
9. Facilities: the bathrooms, or lack there of bathrooms... There were three working stalls at the pool, the one pool at capacity could hold over 400 people. That's less than 1 bathroom per woman. There is also only one bathroom for the buffet, steakhouse, outside entertainment area, asian, and American country restaurant to share, and at one point none of the toilets were flushing...
Things I would expect at a 5* resort, that I've experienced at lesser star resorts:
1. Poolside service- drinks and/or snacks brought to you
2. Beach service - beach loungers laid out or brought down for you. Beach bar with drinks or delivered drinks.
3. Clean beach
4. Bar service ...
5. Towels in the room that aren't stiff and smelly
6. Room service
7. Welcome drink
8. Night time vendor market - for souvenirs
9. Tastings - Costa Rican coffee, chocolate, sugar cane, fruits, etc.
10. Shuttles into town
For the amount of money we spent on rooms, it was not worth it, in my opinion.
